The True Origins Of Your Favorite Christmas Traditions

12 | 12 | 2019  By Trivia Genius

It’s almost that time of year again when we travel from near and far to spend time with friends and family for the holidays. Even if you’re not a big fan of the Christmas season, you’re probably familiar with some of the more well-known traditions such as Christmas trees, yule logs, eggnog, and gift-giving. But where did these traditions come from? Hold onto your hats because Christmas is one of many Christian holidays with an origin that’s going to surprise you.

Christmas Trees

One of the most iconic symbols of the Christmas season is, of coure, the tree. Early Christians decided to “borrow” an ancient pagan holiday known as Saturnalia, and thus, they borrowed other symbols and incorporated them into Christian celebrations. The classic Christmas tree is yet another item the Christians borrowed from pagan religions.

In particular, the Romans were fond of  fir trees during Saturnalia. And as Saturnalia gave way to Christmas, the fir tree continued to be used.

Christmas Stockings

Family room decorated with Christmas tree and stockingsCredit: Alena Ozerova/ Shutterstock

We don’t know about your house, but many people start their Christmas Day celebrations by opening their stockings for little gifts. This is one tradition that is firmly rooted in Christianity.

 There are competing origin stories for Christmas stockings — some of which are controversial. But of them, the most popular include one that also serves as the origin story for a more secular Christmas symbol — Santa Claus.

 We won’t give that one away because Santa is also on this list. But the other story centers on a wealthy man and his daughters and their recent bad luck that left them poor. Naturally, the father was worried that his daughters wouldn’t be able to marry well. As luck would have it, St. Nicholas passed through their town and tossed three big bags of gold coins down the man’s chimney — and those bags magically fit perfectly in the daughters’ stockings that were drying by the fireplace.

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