Christmas Retail
This 1996 holiday toy caused massive shortages, national news coverage, and store fights due to overwhelming demand.
What is Tickle Me Elmo?
In Home Alone, this household item is famously used by Kevin to injure burglars on the stairs.
What are paint cans?
This singer’s 1994 holiday song has become one of the best-selling Christmas singles of all time.
Who is Mariah Carey?
In several parts of Europe, children receive gifts on this holiday rather than on Christmas Day.
What is St. Nicholas Day?
This biblical symbol is commonly placed at the top of Christmas trees to represent the guiding light of the Nativity story.
What is the Star of Bethlehem?
This gaming console’s November 2006 holiday launch led to overnight lines, and early resale listings on eBay frequently exceeded $1,000 due to extremely limited supply.
What is the PlayStation 3?
This 2003 Christmas comedy stars Will Ferrell as a man raised at the North Pole.
What is elf?
This Christmas song features the lyric “Everyone dancing merrily in the new old-fashioned way.”
What is Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree?
Japan’s Christmas Eve differs sharply from the U.S. in that it centers less on family tradition and more on this.
What is romance?
This 4th-century bishop from Myra later became the inspiration for the modern figure of Santa Claus.
Who is St. Nicholas?
In 1983, this children’s toy craze led to nationwide shortages, store fights, and the use of “adoption papers” to personalize each purchase.
What are Cabbage Patch Kids?
This Christmas movie was originally marketed as an action film and did not initially emphasize its holiday setting.
What is Die Hard?
This Christmas standard was originally written for a 1942 film starring Bing Crosby.
What is White Christmas?
In much of Latin America, Christmas celebrations often culminate with this late-night feast following Midnight Mass.
What is Nochebuena?
This Charles Dickens novella, published in 1843, helped revive public interest in Christmas traditions in Victorian England.
What is A Christmas Carol?
This everyday household item became so culturally iconic during early-2020 panic buying that it later appeared on Christmas ornaments sold during that year’s holiday season.
What is toilet paper?
In A Christmas Story, this actor serves as the adult narrator, reflecting back on his childhood Christmas memories.
Who is Jean Shepherd?
This Christmas song, written in 1963 and famously covered by Nat King Cole, was originally titled “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.”
What is The Christmas Song?
This Alpine tradition involves costumed figures with horns, bells, and masks roaming the streets in early December to punish naughty children.
What is Krampusnacht (or Krampus)?
This 19th-century poem, first published anonymously in 1823, helped define the modern image of Santa Claus and popularized flying reindeer.
What is “A Visit from St. Nicholas/Twas the night before Christmas”?