50+ Lifestyles

December Fun Facts

By Eloise Graham

When I was growing up, the December birthstone was listed as the blue zircon. Now it seems to have expanded to many blue stones: blue topaz, turquoise, and tanzanite. They are all beautiful and express the clear, cool blue shades in snowflakes reflecting a clear December sky.

For all of the chocolate lovers out there, did you know that December 16 is National Chocolate-covered anything Day?

Christmas Pig or Boar

Do you know the real tradition is to have a boar (pig) for Christmas and not a Goose or Turkey? This dates way back to the Norse folklore where boar was served in Valhalla, the mythical hall where Odin received the souls of heroes who had fallen in battle. Having a Christmas Ham is about as close as we get to this old tradition.

Christmas Cards

The first Christmas card printer was Lewis Prang in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and the artwork featured biblical nativity scenes as well as characters like Santa Claus and social events like shopping and hanging stockings.     

Christmas Trees 

The Christmas Tree came to the U.S. from Germany. However, the origin is not in Germany but is actually from Egypt. The Egyptians held a mid-winter festival in honor of their god Horus, and they used a palm tree with 12 sho0ts (one for each month).