We do them every year without a second thought: hang the stockings, trim the tree, hide the pickle. But behind almost all of our Christmas traditions is a story most of us have never heard. Here are five of our favorites from Buchheit’s Christmas Unwrapped.
1. Why We Bring a Tree Indoors
Decorating evergreen trees at Christmas took hold in Germany in the 1500s, but it didn’t catch on in America until much later. A big turning point came in 1848, when a London newspaper printed a picture of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert gathered around a decorated tree with their children. Families on both sides of the Atlantic wanted the same thing in their own homes, and a tradition was born.
2. The Mystery of the Christmas Pickle
Many Americans hang a glass pickle on the tree and give a prize to whoever finds it first, often calling it an old German tradition. The twist? Most people in Germany have never heard of it. Historians still debate where it really came from, and the leading theories involve imported German glass ornaments and some clever American marketing.
3. Why Japan Celebrates with KFC
Christmas isn’t a traditional holiday in Japan, but today millions of families celebrate with a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, and many reserve their meals weeks in advance. It all traces back to a hugely successful 1974 advertising campaign called “Kentucky for Christmas,” which turned fried chicken into a holiday tradition.
4. How the Candy Cane Got Its Hook
One popular legend says a choirmaster in Germany handed out sugar sticks bent like shepherds’ crooks to keep children quiet during long Christmas services. Whether or not that’s true, the red stripes came much later, around the start of the 20th century.
5. Why We Hang Stockings by the Fire
The tradition is tied to a legend about Saint Nicholas, who secretly helped a poor family by dropping gold coins down their chimney. The coins landed in stockings hung by the fire to dry. Clement Clarke Moore’s 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas (“‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”) helped make stockings a fixture in American homes.
Hear the Full Stories
These are just a few of the stories you’ll hear on Buchheit’s Christmas Unwrapped. Listen three times a day on your local participating radio station from November 1 through December 31, or catch every episode, plus bonus stories, on the podcast.
