Christmas Movies
This is the highest-grossing Christmas movie of all time.
What is "Home Alone"? John Hughes, who also wrote 1980s blockbusters like "The Breakfast Club," "Pretty in Pink," and "Sixteen Candles," crafted the first draft of the screenplay for "Home Alone" in just nine days.
This is what the the shape of candy canes is said to represent.
What is a sheppard's hook/staff (or the letter "J")?
The biblical legend of the candy cane, in its origins, explains its Christian symbolism: in Luke 1:31, the J-shape stands for Jesus or a shepherd's staff (Jesus as the Good Shepherd), the white represents purity, red stripes symbolize Jesus's blood and sacrifice (scourging/cross)
This popular December beverage is also known as "milk punch".
What is Eggnog? Eggnog was once thought to be a cure for malaria. Feeling under the weather? Try a cup or two of raw egg! In the 1800s, eggnog was listed in medical texts as a treatment for diseases such as malaria.
This music artist sings "All I Want for Christmas Is You".
Who is Mariah Carey? Mariah Carey didn't want to do the song at first. Before dropping "All I Want for Christmas Is You," Carey had only released two albums and thought it was too early in her recording career to put out Christmas music.
This is where the world-famous Christmas tree is placed in New York City.
What is Rockefeller Center? The first tree at Rockefeller Center was erected by construction workers in 1931 shortly after the site was cleared. Above, the workers line up for pay beside the tree, adorned with garlands made by workers' families.
This is the fictional town featured in "The Grinch".
What is Whoville? The Grinch made his first apperance in a poem by Dr. Seuss, called “The Hoobub and the Grinch”, in 1955. In this poem he’s yellow instead of green, and he tricks the Hoobub into buying a piece of string.
The period of time in Christian theology that marks the span between the birth of Christ and the coming of the Magi, the three wise men, is called this.
What are the 12 Days of Christmas? It begins on December 25 (Christmas) and runs through January 6 (the Epiphany, sometimes also called Three Kings' Day).
The original twelve days of Christmas were a series of religious feast days celebrated as part of the Roman Catholic religion in medieval and Tudor England.
This is what children get from Santa if they’re on the “Naughty List”.
What is A lump of coal? While the fear of Christmas coal has faded, fake coal is sometimes given as a humorous gag gift.
These are the names of Santa's 9 reindeer.
Who are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph? Males AND females grow antlers. Males begin to grow antlers in February and females start in May. Both stop growing around the same time, but a male’s antlers typically drop off in November, while a female’s remain through winter until their calves are born in spring. If you’re following this logic, our good pal Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was most likely a female, because she was rocking her antlers on Christmas Eve.
This was the first company that used Santa Claus in advertising.
What is Coca-Cola? In 1931, Coca-Cola's campaign titled “My hat's off” was the first one to ever feature Santa Claus in the brand's ads.
There is wide debate over whether this classic action film is a "Christmas Movie" or not.
What is "Die Hard"? The debate over Die Hard's Christmas credentials has been raging for years, splitting even those involved in the making of the 1989 film. The director, John McTiernan, has said he did not intend for it to be but was joyed that it “turned into a Christmas movie”.
These were the three gifts given from the Wise Men to the baby Jesus.
What are gold, frankincense, and myrhh?
This mythical Christmas figure is said to punish naughty children in central Europe.
What is Krampus? They believe Krampus derives from a pagan supernatural who was assimilated to the Christian devil. Krampus is usually featured as a man with horns with one grotesque human foot and one foot of a goat. He is typically covered in black hair and has a very long snake or dragon-like tongue.
According to Frank Sinatra, the weather outside is described as this.
What is Frightful? Though the song itself, "Baby It's Cold Outside", doesn't specifically reference Christmas, the lyrics reference the cold and a storm implying wintertime. That apparently is enough to tie it in with the holiday.
Gingerbread houses were inspired by this fairy tale.
What is Hansel and Gretel? Some people believe that the house in the fairytale Hansel and Gretel written by the Brothers Grimm in 1812 was made from gingerbread. However, in the original story the house was actually made from bread, with a cake roof and sugar windows.
There are this many ghosts that visit Ebenezer Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol".
What is FOUR? The ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, but also the ghost of Jacob Marley, Scrooge's partner
What is the day after Christmas called?
Boxing Day
Historically, women in England who wanted to find a husband ate these at Christmas for good luck.
What is Gingerbread men? It is said that the very idea of Gingerbread be made in the shape of Husbands (or, “men”) was in fact inspired by Queen Elizabeth I who would order them baked and decorated in the likeness of her suitors.
Elvis isn’t going to have a white Christmas, he’s going to have this instead.
What is a Blue Christmas? "Blue Christmas" was one of the first sad Christmas songs to gain popularity.
This Christmas decoration was originally made from silver.
What is Tinsel? Tinsel was originally made from extruded strands of silver. Because silver tarnishes quickly, other shiny metals were substituted. Before the 19th century, tinsel was used for adorning sculptures rather than Christmas trees. It was added to Christmas trees to enhance the flickering of the candles on the tree.
This actor played Santa in "The Santa Clause" movie franchise.
Who is Tim Allen? Tom Hanks and Tom Selleck were also considered to play Scott Calvin in The Santa Clause.
This branch of the military runs “Toys for Tots”.
What are The Marines? It all began seventy-eight years ago with one Marine, Major Hendrickson, and his wife, Diane.
This type of novelty calendar inspired by Christian tradition is popular around the holidays.
What is the Advent Calendar? In 1908, Gerhard Lang, a German printer, created the first printed advent calendar. Inspired by childhood memories of his mother making a calendar with 24 candies attached to a piece of cardboard, Lang's creation featured 24 doors that opened to reveal a picture or piece of candy.
Frosty the Snowman’s nose was made from this.
What is a button? The original song was written in the 1950s. Carrot noses were later made popular to depict snowmen largely because of illustrations and cartoons.
There are this many towns in America that are named “Christmas”.
What is "2"? Christmas, Michigan and Christmas, Florida
In the movie "A Christmas Story", Santa tells Ralphie this when Ralphie says he wants a BB gun for Christmas.
What is the phrase: "You'll shoot your eye out!"
For the scene in which Flick's tongue sticks to the flagpole, a hidden suction tube was used to safely create the illusion that his tongue had frozen to the metal.
This holiday tradition began in 1955 all thanks to a misprinted telephone number on a newspaper ad for the Sears Santa hotline.
What is the Santa Tracker?
In 1955, at the height of Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union, a general at the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) in Colorado received a call on a top-secret hotline. Bracing himself for news of a missile attack, the general instead heard the shaky voice of a young boy asking, “Are you really Santa Claus?” The number had been mistakenly published in the newspaper as a Sears Santa hotline, but instead of dismissing the incident, CONAD (renamed the North American Aerospace Defense Command or NORAD in 1958) embraced the role as the official Santa Tracker, using its massive satellite network once a year to broadcast Santa’s exact whereabouts. Today, 1,500 NORAD troops and volunteers answer phone lines on Christmas Eve.
This tradition dates back to the Great Depression in the 1930s in the United States as a way for children to say "thank you" to Santa.
What is a plate of Milk and Cookies? Parents wanted to teach children about gratitude and generosity, even during hard times, so kids began leaving snacks for Santa as a way to say “thank you.”
This Wizard of Oz actress was the original artist to record the Frank Sinatra hit “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”.
Who is Judy Garland? Songwriters Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine wrote the classic song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" for Judy Garland's 1944 movie, Meet Me in St. Louis, along with dozens of other songs for MGM and Broadway musicals.
This is the New York City theater that the Rockettes perform at.
What is Radio City Music Hall? The "Parade of the Living Soldiers" and "The Living Nativity" have remained unchanged since the show premiered in 1933.