Christmas Eve [1223334444]

Yuletide Favorites

100

"Oh bring us a figgy pudding, oh bring us a figgy pudding, oh bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of"

good cheer

200

In 1947 this singing cowboy co-wrote and recorded the perennial favorite "Here Comes Santa Claus"

Gene Autry

300

The subject of a Christmas carol, this good king was not a king, but the Duke of Bohemia in the 10th century

Wenceslas

400

In "Away in a Manger", it's what "The Little Lord Jesus" was "asleep on"

the hay

500

6 years before "Seventy-Six Trombones", he wrote "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"

Meredith Willson

Christmas Movies

100

Now a Christmas classic, A Christmas Story was first featured as a serial in this magazine

Playboy

The screenplay for A Christmas Story is based on material from author Jean Shepherd's collection of short stories, In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash. Three of the semi-autobiographical short stories on which the film is based were originally published in Playboy magazine between 1964 and 1966.

200

In the movie Home Alone, these are the names of the two burglars trying to break into Kevin's house

Earn double points if you can also provide last names

Harry and Marv

The characters of Harry Lime and Marv Merchants were inspired by two notorious real-life criminals. The film's writer, John Hughes, based the characters on the "Wet Bandits," a duo known for leaving water running in the houses they robbed to flood them.

300

Famous for its Animagic puppets featured in movies like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and The Year Without a Santa Claus, Rankin/Bass Productions created this many Christmas/winter television specials

Eighteen

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), The Cricket on the Hearth (1967), The Little Drummer Boy (1968), Frosty the Snowman (1969), Santa Claus is comin' to Town (1970), 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974), The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow (1975), Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976), Rudolph's shiny New Year (1976), The Little Drummer Boy: Book II (1976), Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977), The Stingiest Man in Town (1978), Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979), Jack Frost (1979), Pinocchio's Christmas (1980), The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold (1981), The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985)

400

The name of the rabbit pulled out of the magic hat in Frosty the Snowman

Hocus Pocus

500

At the end of It's A Wonderful Life all the characters sing this song together

Auld Lang Syne

"Dec" the Halls

100

Many cats have undergone this process

Declawing

200

Originating in the late 17th century, this was originally used to easily serve and separate wine from the dregs (sediment)

Decanter

300

Dr. Ludwig Roselius' research into this process led to the coffee brand Sanka in 1923

Decaffeination

400

6-letter word for an authoritative order having the force of law

Decree

500

It's another, earlier name for Memorial Day

Decoration Day

The History of Traditions

100

The French word "Noel," often used around Christmas, means this

Birth

200

The "12 days of Christmas" originally ran from Winter Solstice to the New Year in celebration of this Germanic pagan holiday

Yule

300

X was first used as shorthand to mean "Christ" in Xmas in this century

11th century (1021)

Jesus was known in Greek as Christos (χριστός), which means "the annointed one" or "the chosen one." The early Christian church used the first two letters of Christos (χ "chi" & ρ "rho") to create a symbol to represent the name of Jesus: ☧. This was first used as shorthand by a 1021 Anglo-Saxon scribe who wrote "Christmas" as Xp̄es'mæsse.

400

For Italian-Americans, it is customary to celebrate Christmas Eve with a feast of seven different types of this

Fish

The Feast of the Seven Fishes is an Italian-American tradition celebrated on Christmas Eve where the number seven is believed to symbolize the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The specific types of fish dishes can vary, but popular choices include baccalà (salted cod), calamari (squid), shrimp, clams, and more.

500

The modern depictions of Santa Clause can largely attribute their designs to this cartoon included in a 1881 issue of this once popular magazine

Harper's Weekly

Miscellaneous

100

Including Rudolph, Santa has this many reindeer

Nine: Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, comet, Cupid, Doner, and Blitzen

From the Poem Twas the Night Before Christmas:

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

200

In Japan it is a Christmas tradition to order from this fast food restaurant

KFC

300

Brenda Lee was only this old when she recorded "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"

Thirteen

400

Contrary to popular belief, Mary and Joseph stayed in a "manger" not because inns and family houses were full, but because there was no space for them in this

The guest room (κατάλυμα katalyma)

A mistranslation of the Greek word katalyma which the King James Version was first rendered as "inn." There is a separate Greek word pandokheion that does refer to a commercial inn, however, the word katalyma usually refers to something more like an "extra room" added onto a house that could be used for a variety of purposes. The other linguistic misunderstanding comes from the Greek word topos which is translated as "room" in the KJV. Topos means something like "space" or "place," so in this context, it means "there was no place/space (topos) left in the spare room (katalyma)."

500

The first ever "commercial" Christmas card was produced in this decade

The 1840s (1843)

In Victorian England there was an expectation that you responded to any letter you received. Sir Henry Cole, who amongst other things was an assistant to Sir Rowland Hill in the introduction of the penny post, commissioned the first commercial Christmas card in 1843 to easily respond to every Christmas letter he received.