Every country, each region, each family has its own unique Christmas traditions. How did they develop, we wondered? What are the backstories behind some of the familiar and truly bizarre customs that take place concurrently every year?
Why do villages in Italy have parades of fire? Does Provence really have 13 desserts? Where did the Yule log come from? From the thousands of unique Christmas traditions from around the world we peeked behind the curtain at 14 of them. Here’s what we found.
1. What’s the Story Behind Advent Calendars?
An Advent calendar, from the German word Adventskalender, is used to count the days of Advent in anticipation of Christmas. Because the date of the First Sunday of Advent varies, falling between November 27th and December 3rd, most Advent calendars these days begin on December 1st.
The calendar has 24 doors that open to reveal an image, a poem, a portion of a story, or a small gift, such as a toy or a chocolate. One door is opened each day.
Some places celebrate with a “living” Advent calendar. In the Welsh town of Penarth, a different house lights up their window with a Christmas-themed display every night between December 1st to 24th.
In Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, there is a tradition of having a Julekalender (the local word for a Yule—or Christmas—calendar) a television or radio show. Each series has 24 episodes, starting on December 1st and ending on Christmas Eve. focused on Christmas. It was first introduced in 1957, in Sweden, with the radio series, Barnens adventskalender.
2. Snapping Tubes and Paper Hats: the Curious Tradition of the English Christmas Cracker
Peer in the window of any house in the UK on Christmas day and you may see adults and children alike sitting around the table wearing silly paper hats.
They are only one of the prizes hidden inside Christmas crackers: short tubes of cardboard covered with colored paper, twisted at both ends, each typically containing a novelty or toy, a joke, and that paper hat.
When the cracker is pulled apart by two people, the cracker makes a loud bang and spills its treasures.
Christmas crackers harken back to Victorian England. They were invented in 1846 by an innovative London confectioner called Tom Smith. Today crackers are popular across the UK and throughout the Commonwealth countries. Some statistics say 300 million Christmas crackers will be pulled over the holidays globally.
Tom Smith & Company makes crackers to this day and are available in the US. The $24 box of 6 brightly colored crackers has nice little trinkets like a miniature sewing kit and miniature nail clippers.
Want something higher end? Fortnum & Mason offers the golden Midas Crackers (pictured above), which contain Fortnum’s tea and biscuits, candles, keepsakes, corkscrews, cocktail jiggers, and more, for $854.68. No expense spared here.
Still not sure what to do with those crackers? British comedian Michael McIntyre wonders out loud in this video.
If you would like to learn more, read “The custom and origins of Christmas crackers” on bitaboutbritain.com .
3. Christmas Gift-giving
Do you wonder where the custom of gift-giving at Christmas began?
Thank the Romans, and their end-of-year Saturnalia celebrations that took place between December 17 and 23. Gifts intended to amuse or confuse, and candles and wax figures were exchanged.
Modern Christmas gift giving has come a long way from candles (although they can still make lovely presents). Gobs of brightly wrapped packages pile up under the tree and are exchanged with family and friends (and staff if you live in Downton Abbey).
The National Retail Federation projects consumers will spend more than $1 trillion on Christmas gifts this year. That’s a lot of shopping.
Many of us feel pressure to find the perfect gift for our loved ones. But keeping track of ideas and purchases can stymie the most proficient shopper. Do you remember what you’ve bought for whom? And who you have forgotten?
Fortunately, the tech elves have some solutions for us: gift-tracking apps.
For Apple users there is the Christmas Gift List Tracker, which has a 4.9 rating in the Apple store. Its features include the ability to create gift lists for everyone on your list, track gift ideas and purchases, add a budget and track overall spending, and more.
For the Android crowd there is Christmas Gift List, with a 4.6 rating on Google Play, and the app we’ve used for a few years. No fancy bells and whistles here. It’s a simple way to track gift ideas as you receive them, set a gift budget for each person, and mark the gift as purchased as you do your shopping.
4. Christmas in Japan is Finger Lickin’ Good
Christmas is not a national holiday in Japan—only about 1% of the population is Christian– and December 25th is typically a regular working day. The season is still celebrated, in keeping with the country’s ability to adapt and blend foreign customs with its own cultural practices.
The way the Japanese commemorate the holiday might seem unusual to Westerners, though. For Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, they bring home a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Why?
In the post-war era, Japan had limited exposure to Christmas traditions, and there was no established Christmas meal. That was to change soon. In 1970, KFC opened its first store in Japan, and in 1974 launched its “Kentucky for Christmas” (Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii) campaign.
The “Party Barrel” was introduced as an alternative to turkey, which was hard to find in Japan. Colonel Sanders was dressed in a Santa suit.
The centerpiece of the meal is KFC’s iconic Original Recipe crispy fried chicken, hot wings, chicken tenders. along with sides and a special Christmas cake that’s topped with strawberries and whipped cream.
Today, approximately 3.6 million Japanese families eat KFC for Christmas each year.
If you’re tired of preparing the usual feast, surprise your friends and family with a bucket or two of KFC and all the trimmings this year.
Tell them you’re adopting a new tradition. Watch their jaws drop—before they pounce on those sinful morsels like a hungry pack of lions. Serve with a dry Champagne (seriously, it’s the Wine.com recommendation). And some pretty chopsticks. Discourage wearing the empty chicken buckets as hats.
5. The Often Odd Origins of Our Favorite Christmas Carols
You hear them when you’re shopping. They sing them in the schools. The turkey has barely been cleared from the table when the first notes of Jingle Bells float through the air.
Christmas carols seem familiar, comfortable, a predictable presence in these weeks before Christmas. But what do we really know about them? Where do they come from? What do they mean? The answers may surprise you.
The Boar’s Head Carol, one of the oldest, is an enthusiastic, robust, 15th-century English Christmas carol meant to be sung vigorously while marching into a hall and carrying on a silver tray a boar’s head decorated with bay laurel leaves and rosemary prepared for a Yuletide feast. Queen’s College, Oxford, carries on the tradition today.
The Coventry Carol is a 16th-century carol originating from Coventry, England, it was traditionally performed during Coventry Mystery Plays–medieval plays telling New Testament stories. While hauntingly beautiful, listen closely to the lyrics. They begin with the Nativity and end with the Massacre of the Innocents a few days later. Cheery.
Away in a Manger was introduced as a carol by the Lutheran Church in America. It was published in 1885 as “Luther’s Cradle Song,” with creation of the song attributed to Martin Luther in the 16th century. Historians are convinced it was not composed by Luther, but an American in the late 19th century who chose to conceal her or his identity. The title transitioned to “Away in a Manger” by the beginning of the 20th century.
Silent Night is one of the world’s most famous Christmas melodies. It started as a poem by a young Catholic priest in 1818 near Salzburg, Austria, and was set to music by a local teacher and organist. The song was spread beyond Austria by traveling musicians and missionaries. During the famous Christmas Truce of 1914 in World War I, soldiers on opposite sides of the barbed wire sang “Silent Night” in their respective languages. The carol has been translated into more than 300 languages and dialects. and holds the Guinness World Record for the most recorded Christmas song, with over 733 different versions.
What Child is This first appeared in 1580 as an English folk song called “Greensleeves,” with lyrics about a young lady and her boyfriend. Christmas texts for the melody emerged in the late 1600s. “What Child is This?” was written in 1865 by Englishman William Chatterton Dix, after he underwent a spiritual renewal during a severe illness. Although written in Great Britain, it is more popular in the U.S. today.
Jingle Bells, as it turns out, was not conceived as a Christmas carol but was composed in the 1850s to celebrate Thanksgiving. Its popularity grew slowly. By the mid-20th century performances by Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, and Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters propelled it onto the Billboard pop charts. On December 16, 1965, it was the first song performed in space. Gemini VI-A astronauts played the tune on a harmonica and rattled bells to prank Mission Control.
There is a wonderful podcast, Hark! The stories behind our favorite Christmas carols, that looks at the “meaning and the making” of our most loved carols and the traditions around them. It’s gentle and calming. Listen in the car when you’re stuck in traffic at the mall. Or Manhattan, anytime.
6. Nurenberg’s Iconic Oblatenlebkuchen
Many of today’s Christmas customs are of German origins, especially gingerbread, called lebkuchen, a fixture at the country’s Christmas markets. The scent of gingerbread’s warm spices wafting through the air practically screams “Christmas.” And in Germany, when you think of Christmas, you think of Nüremberg Lebkuchen (pronounced layb-koo-ken), the city’s famous gingerbread.
The Christmas gingerbread tradition in Germany began in the 13th century with monks in Franconia (Northern Bavaria). They sourced nuts from trees in the surrounding dense forest and honey from bees. Thanks to its strategic location on ancient spice trade routes, they had warm spices like ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to bake sweet, flavorful biscuits. Over the course of a few centuries Nüremberg, the largest city in Franconia, became the country’s unofficial gingerbread capital.
Today there are many varieties of lebkuchen, all popular for the holidays. What makes them typically German is Lebkuchengewürz, which translates to “gingerbread spice,” a traditional German spice mixture that can include cinnamon, cloves, anise, coriander, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, and sometimes star anise or fennel.
Seventy million Nüremberg Lebkuchen are produced each year and are trademarked by their geographic location under European law.
Oblatenlebkuchen (oh-blay-ten-layb-kook-ken, pictured above) were developed by those medieval monks to prevent the sticky dough from adhering to baking surfaces. They placed the dough on (unconsecrated) communion wafers, which were readily available in the church. These wafers, now called Oblaten, became an integral part of Lebkuchen baking. Oblatenlebkuchen have varying nut content, with “fine” versions containing at least 14% nuts and a low flour content.
A more elevated take on the Oblatlenkuchen is Nüremberg’s special Elisenlebkuchen (ay-leez-en-layb-koo-ken). Legend has it they were named after Elisabeth, the daughter of a Nüremberg gingerbread baker. The girl grew terribly ill, and no doctor could help, so her father started baking a Lebkuchen that contained only the finest ingredients and no flour. And the girl became healthy.
Elisenlebkuchen must contain at least 25% premium nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, or walnuts) and a maximum of 10% flour. They are soft, moist, and chewy due to their high nut and low flour content and feature the distinctive blend of Lebkuchengewürz spices. They are also baked on Oblaten to prevent sticking.
Elisenlebkuchen are considered the highest quality gingerbread made in Nuremberg and are known as “feinste”—the finest.
Braune Lebkuchen (Brown Gingerbread) has a higher flour count than the Oblatenlebkuchen, and therefore can be molded or cut into shapes. Hearts, stars, and rectangles are popular and are commonly found at stands in Christmas markets all over Germany.
The recipe for Nüremberg gingerbread is a tightly guarded secret.
Nüremberg Lebkuchen, especially Elisenlebkuchen, has been granted Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status by the European Union. This means that only Lebkuchen produced within the city boundaries of Nüremberg can be sold as “Nürnberger Lebkuchen.”
Having a PGI helps maintain its authenticity and quality and preserves its unique characteristics, such as the high nut content and blend of spices. Specific recipes may vary between manufacturers, and the exact proportions and techniques used by traditional Nüremberg bakeries are often closely guarded trade secrets.
What about the gingerbread man, ask American children? Well, the tradition originated in England during the 16th century at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, who had gingerbread figures made in the likeness of visiting dignitaries and other important guests. The tradition of gingerbread men spread from England and became popular across Europe and then around the world.
If you visit Nüremberg during the Christmas season you can take a peek at the bakery at the Christkindlesmarkt in a thatched-roof honey and gingerbread house.
Several outlets in the U.S. sell authentic Nüremberg Lebkuchen around Christmastime if you would like to taste a tradition that’s hundreds of years old.
Amazon, World Market, and Walmart sell Nüremberg Oblatenkuchen
European Deli, an online store, carries Nüremberg Elisenlebkuchen.
If you would like to try your hand at making lebkuchen, Food 52 has a recipe for flourless Elisenlebuchen with detailed instructions. (Find the Oblaten on Amazon.) They take some time to make, but less than the flight to Nüremberg.
7. Candles in the Window
One of the prettiest sights in December is that of candles glowing in the windows of homes. But like many Christmas traditions, the origin of the custom has little to do with the holiday itself.
Candles have a rich tradition at Christmas, symbolizing light and hope. Their use dates back to ancient winter solstice celebrations, representing the return of spring. In medieval times, candles symbolized the Star of Bethlehem, guiding the Magi to Bethlehem.
Lighting candles in windows during Christmas, however, is a tradition rooted in Irish history.
The Irish tradition of placing candles in windows during Christmas dates back to the 17th century. The British government enforced oppressive penal laws against Catholics in Ireland, banning the practice of their faith, confiscating the property of Catholic landholders, and forcing priests into hiding in the wilderness or caves.
The priests would sneak back into town at night.
Irish Catholics would place candles in their windows to signal safe havens for the priests, who would find hospitality and could secretly celebrate Mass for the gathered faithful. Should the authorities question the candles, the residents could claim the lights were there as a beacon to the Holy Family.
Over time, this practice evolved into a widespread decorative element during the holiday season, with candles symbolizing warmth and festivity. When Catholics emigrated from Ireland they took the custom with them, and it spread to the US, Canada, and other countries. They also became ecumenical.
Shining lights of hospitality and celebration and defiance against the dark nights can lift many spirits, including our own. For women our age, though, the prospect of putting burning candles in the window is doubtless a precursor to a visit from the fire department.
Fortunately, electric light bulbs were invented.
8. Yule Logs
In the dead of winter in pre-Christian Europe, people are desperate for hope. The sun has abandoned them and darkness reigns.
Enter the Yule log.
In a plea to the gods, massive tree trunks were burned in their hearths, creating a ritual that was part celebration, part magical protection spell. Families gathered around a blazing log, believing they were literally burning away evil spirits and summoning back the sun’s strength.
The logs were chosen with the precision of a military operation. Families would hunt for the largest, most impressive trunk they could find, then burn it over several days, while feasting and otherwise carrying on.
When Christianity swept through Europe, the Yule log transformed from a pure survival ritual to a symbolic representation of Christ’s light. The log was lit on the night of Christmas Eve and kept burning through the twelve days of Christmas. It was unlucky to light the fire again after it had once been started and was tended until it burned away. A large tree trunk fit the bill.
The log was subsequently placed beneath the bed for luck (after it was completely cold, one would hope).
The custom of burning a Yule log during the twelve days of Christmas persisted in many countries, particularly in France, England, and the Scandinavian regions.
By the 17th century, the tradition had developed its own intricate mythology. Families would light the new Yule log using a piece of wood saved from the previous year’s log, a practice that was part practical, part magical lineage preservation. It was their way of saying, “Our family’s story continues, one burning log at a time.”
The tradition of lighting a Yule log, known as “Lou Cacho Fio” (literally meaning “starting a fire”), is a cherished Christmas Eve custom in Provence, France.
The eldest and youngest family members select a large log, typically from a fruit tree such as pear, cherry, or olive. They carry the log around the table three times before the Christmas Eve dinner.
The log is then blessed by sprinkling it three times with fortified wine. As it is placed in the fire, the family sings a traditional song.
But in Paris, where hoisting a tree trunk up to a sixth-floor apartment would be challenging, the yule log morphed into a dessert: the Bûche de Noel. It’s doubtful it lasts for twelve days.
If you need a roaring fire but don’t have a tree trunk, or a fireplace, you can get a Fireplace for Your Home on your TV from Netflix. For night owls, or those who rise with the sun, Roku has a Virtual Fireplace channel, where you can enjoy a, yes, virtual fire, 24/7.
9. Serve 13 Desserts for a Real Provencal Christmas
France is a country with many distinct regions, each with its own Christmas customs. Sun-drenched Provence, for example, maintains more traditional and locally specific customs than cosmopolitan Paris.
In Paris the Christmas dinner ends with the Bûche de Noël, an elaborately decorated rolled sponge cake usually covered in chocolate.
Provence, on the other hand, has a unique tradition called “Les Treize Desserts“ (13 desserts).
The tradition of 13 desserts goes back several centuries with roots in religion: they represent Jesus and his twelve apostles at the Last Supper.
The 13 desserts vary from village to village, and even from home to home. But they always include dishes of nuts, fruit and sweets plus an orange flavored cake. It doesn’t matter if there are more than thirteen desserts on the table, but there should be no fewer. A small glass of sweet wine, such as Muscat des Beaumes-de-Venise, accompanies the sweets.
The first four desserts are known as “les quartre mendiants”, the four beggars, nuts and dried fruits that represent the four mendicant monastic communities.
- walnuts or hazelnuts for the Augustinians
- almonds for the Carmelites
- raisins for the Dominicans
- dried figs for the Franciscans
The dried fruits and nuts can be arranged on a platter. Or, if you feel like splurging, you can buy them embedded in chocolates. We would call it chocolate nut bark.
The next group, fresh, dried, and candied fruits, symbolize the region’s agricultural heritage and the bounty of the autumn harvest. The inclusion of exotic fruit alludes to the rare gifts delivered from far flung lands by the three magi.
- Apples
- Pears
- Grapes
- Winter melon (particularly the green verdau melon, nicknamed “melon de Noël”)
- Dates, which represent Christ’s connection to the Holyland
- Figs—fresh, dried, stuffed with marzipan
Candied fruits and confections represent wealth and prosperity.
- Pâte de coing, quince paste
- Pâte de fruit, sugarcoated squares of fruit jelly
- Fruits confits, brightly colored candied fruits (the best are from Apt)
- Callisons (pictured above), oval almond and melon-paste candies from Aix-en-Provence
- Marrons glacés, candied chestnuts.
The centerpiece of the dessert display is la Pompe à l’Huile—literally, the olive pump–a rustic olive oil bread. The most common forms are fougasse and gibassier, sweet breads similar to brioche, scented with orange and anise.
But wait, there’s more!
Light and dark nougat represent purity, good versus evil. They are the only sweets that must be included in the thirteen.
- White nougat (good), made with whipped egg whites and honey and pine nuts, pistachio, or hazelnuts
- Black nougat (evil), made using honey and almonds
Other sweets can be added to round out the thirteen desserts. They represent decadence.
- Almond cake
- Beignets or merveilles
- Gingerbread
- Galettes de lait
- Truffles and chocolates
And yes, they may sneak in a Bûche de Noël.
Here are some useful sources if you would like to replicate the Provençal 13 Desserts at home.
- Nuts.com has nuts, dried fruit, and some candied fruits
- Maxim’s de Paris has calissons, nougat, fruit jellies, and other French confections
- Amazon has calissons, nougat, glacéed chestnuts, as well as nuts and dried fruits, although they may not be at the best price around. Convenience has its rewards.
10. The Legend of the Mexican Poinsettia
Once the Christmas season begins, it seems Poinsettias are everywhere. It’s no wonder. They are an easy and colorful way to turn a bland lobby into a holiday extravaganza. While they are ubiquitous at this time of year, we owe their presence on our coffee tables and churches and malls to a wandering 19th century diplomat.
Let’s begin at the beginning.
The story of the poinsettia begins in the Aztec Empire, long before Christianity, in the Aztec Empire. Known as Cuetlaxochit (pronounced “kwet-la-SHO-she”) it was far more than a simple decoration.
The Aztecs valued it as a versatile treasure, using its milky sap to treat fevers and extracting dyes for clothing and cosmetics. Emperor Montezuma would dispatch caravans to transport poinsettias to his capital.
The plant’s metamorphosis into a Christmas icon began quietly in the small Mexican town of Taxco de Alarcon. Franciscan monks, seeking to bring beauty to their Nativity processions, began incorporating the vibrant red and green plant into their religious celebrations. It was during this time that the legend of Pepita and the “Flowers of the Holy Night.”
According to the legend, Pepita was a young girl too poor to purchase a gift for the baby Jesus. Feeling ashamed, she gathered a bouquet of weeds that were growing by the roadside. Her cousin consoled her, reminding her that a gift given with pure love would be acceptable to God. As she entered the chapel and presented her humble offering, the weeds transformed into brilliant red flowers. This story helped establish the poinsettia as a symbol of Christmas miracle and generosity.
Fast forward to the 19th century. U.S. ambassador Joel Roberts Poinsett took a diplomatic trip to Mexico on behalf of President John Quincy Adams. While wandering around the Taxco countryside he became enchanted by the brilliant red leaves of an unfamiliar plant.
Poinsett kept a greenhouse on his property in South Carolina and began shipping the blooms back to his home where he studied and cultivated the plants. Before long he began sharing the plants with his friends and colleagues around Christmas time. That’s when the upper leaves, what we think of as flower petals, turn red.
In 1829, Poinsett displayed the then-unknown plant to the public at the inaugural Philadelphia Horticultural Society Flower Show, where it was introduced to the public. The poinsettia’s appearance at this prestigious event helped set the stage for its future association with the holiday season.
When were they first called poinsettias?
In the 1830s. Robert Buist, a prominent botanist and floral import-export executive in Philadelphia, introduced the plant to Europe and christened it “Euphorbia Poinsettia” in honor of Ambassador Poinsett. While the Latin name was soon forgotten, the name “poinsettia” stuck with Americans and Europeans.
The legend of Pepita, combined with the plant’s natural beauty, gradually transformed the poinsettia from an Aztec medicinal plant to a resplendent Christmas symbol.
How popular are poinsettias?
It is estimated that almost 200 million poinsettias are sold worldwide annually, with sales revenue just over 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion). Poinsettias are America’s top-selling potted plant, contributing about $250 million to the nation’s economy each year—during a sales season that’s only about six weeks long.
Don’t forget to get yours. December 12th is National Poinsettia Day.
11. A White (Sand) Christmas in Australia
Did you ever wonder why red became the predominant color of Christmas? Why not yellow, or orange, or blue?
The story begins with holly and mistletoe.
In Celtic, Germanic, and Norse cultures the winter solstice was celebrated as a time of hope and renewal. Because they remained green during harsh winters, holly and mistletoe symbolized renewal and eternal life and were used in decorating during the dark days.
Green, symbolizing life and nature, was represented by these evergreen plants, which were used to signify endurance through winter.
Red, associated with the berries of these plants, symbolized protection and prosperity.
As Christianity spread across Europe, December 25th—the date set as the birth date of Jesus by Emperor Constantine in the 300s—converged with these existing solstice celebrations, and many local customs were carried over to Christmas celebrations.
Fast forward through the Tudors and Oliver Cromwell to the Victorian era, when Christmas decorating really took off, and the use of red in Christmas cards, garlands, ornaments, and candles popularized the color.
As Christmas became more commercialized in the late 19th century, red was increasingly used in decorations and marketing materials. The color’s association with warmth and joy made it appealing for holiday advertising.
Santa evolved from a thin man in a blue robe to the jolly, portly gent we know now, thanks to Coca-Cola’s advertising campaigns in the 1930s and beyond featuring Santa Claus in a red suit. It is no great surprise that Coca-Cola’s packaging is red.
Before long, the fashion industry embraced red, influenced by the widespread adoption of red as a Christmas color following the Coca-Cola Santa campaign, incorporating it into designs for festive Christmas collections.
The color red has endured and evolved as a symbol of protection, prosperity, warmth, and joy for millennia, eventually relegating its partner green to a supporting role. After all, what is a wreath without a red ribbon?
These days, when it comes to conveying the festive and celebratory atmosphere of Christmas, red reigns supreme.
12. Quebec’s Christmas Tradition is Sticky
Christmas in Quebec retains many of the customs brought by settlers from France. There is one ingredient from the New World, however, that has become deeply woven into the fabric of Quebec’s Christmas celebrations: maple syrup.
The Quebecois Christmas celebration is often centered around the réveillon, a festive meal traditionally held on Christmas Eve. The menu might include tourtière (a spiced meat pie), ragoût de boulettes (meatball stew), ragoût de pattes de cochon (pig’s feet stew), and pickled beets.
For dessert there is the tarte au sucre (sugar pie). The first French settlers from the northwest France, the regions of Normandy and Nord-Pas-de-Calais, where sugar pie was traditional, brought it to New France. But since sugar was hard to get in those days, they exchanged the sugar for maple syrup. A new tradition was created.
Maple syrup plays a significant role in Quebec’s economy. Quebec produces an average of 72% of the world’s maple syrup supply, contributes $1.1 billion to Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP), and creates more than 13,000 full-time jobs. In 2024, Quebec had a record-breaking harvest of 239 million pounds of maple syrup.
It is so valuable that between 2011 and 2012, approximately 2,700 tonnes of maple syrup were stolen from a storage facility in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford, Quebec in what has become known as The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist.
The stolen syrup was valued at nearly C$18.7 million.
The Sticky, a new series on Amazon Prime, is “absolutely not the true story of the heist,” but whatever, it’s close enough. And hilarious. And an enjoyable way to spend a snowy afternoon.
Maple syrup and maple sugar are used in many other Quebecois holiday dishes. But the one children and families look forward to making together during the holiday is tire d’érable, maple snow candy, a cherished part of Quebecois culture.
It makes the most of two of Quebec’s natural resources, maple syrup and snow. On average, cities like Quebec City receive approximately 118 to 157 inches of snow per year. Snowfall is a key feature of Quebec’s climate, contributing to its winter sports culture and seasonal activities between November and April.
To make maple snow candy pour boiling maple syrup in trails onto clean packed snow (looking at you, dog walkers), then touch a stick to one end of the trail and roll it up into a lollipop. stand the lollipops into the snow to harden so you can enjoy them.
Want to make your holiday menu sticky? Try maple roasted Brussels sprouts, or salmon with maple Dijon mustard sauce. And a Quebec sugar pie.
13. From Oranges to Gadgets—the Evolution of Stocking Stuffers
A row of colorful stockings hanging on the fireplace mantel is the picture postcard of Christmas. You see it in every catalog that’s been filling up your mailbox for weeks, in ads on TV and online. Wherever you turn, there are stockings waiting to be filled with hoped for treasures.
Imagine the disappointment when you wake at dawn on Christmas morning and find a toothbrush in yours. Or deodorant. Not that that has happened to anyone here.
But let’s not get distracted, yet.
The custom of hanging stockings for Santa results from several traditions that merged over the centuries.
The O.G. is the 4th century’s St. Nicholas of Myra (in modern day Turkey), who secretly gave some gold coins to a family that had fallen on hard times and could not afford dowries for their daughters. He dropped the coins into their stockings, which were drying by the fire. The girls discovered the coins and went on to make advantageous marriages and live happily ever after.
Word of St. Nicholas’s generosity circulated. Children were inspired by the story and began to hang their own stockings in hopes of receiving gifts.
As Christianity spread to Europe, so did the legend of Saint Nicholas. In Holland he was known as Sinterklaas, who travelled the country on his noble white steed. Dutch children would leave treats in their wooden shoes, and Sinterklaas would fill them with small gifts.
During the Victorian era, it became the fashion to hang stockings by the fireplace, filled with small gifts and treats like oranges, nuts, and candies. Fruit, particularly oranges, symbolized wealth and were considered a luxury item.
European settlers brought these traditions with them to the New World, where hanging stockings for Santa to fill with goodies became a Christmas tradition.
Clement Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” published in 1823, popularized the tradition of hanging Christmas stockings “by the chimney with care.” This jolly old man captured children’s imaginations and filled them with anticipation of a visit from Santa while they slept.
Stockings became more elaborate, with embroidery, appliqué, and other decorative elements. By the end of the 19th century, bright red felt stockings were the popular choice. Today they can be quite ornate and play a starring role in home Christmas décor.
The gifts in stockings evolved, too, into a variety of fun and festive treats such as jams, preserves, and handmade toys.
Over time, cultural differences have emerged.
Many Europeans keep to the traditional gifts of oranges, nuts, and sweets. But next door in Germany beer-themed items are popular. French children place their shoes or slippers by the fireplace for Père Noël to fill them with sweets, fruits, and small toys.
The United States unsurprisingly leans toward practical items like gift cards, snacks, 19-in-1 gadgets, and personal care products, i.e., toothbrushes or batteries. Even tape, according to a survey by Duck Tape®.
And that brings us to the present day.
Santa, as you make your plans: We’re women over 60 and we don’t want tape. Or deodorant. Please put gifts in our stockings that delight us. Beauty and self-care products. Techy things that make life easier. Jewelry. And chocolate. Always chocolate.
We made our lists and checked them twice. Read them here.
14. The ‘Ndocciata of Agnone, Italy
Christmas in Italy is both a religious observance and a boisterous celebration. Every town and village has its own traditions, some of them grand, others embedded in ancient practices. Wherever you turn, there is wonder and delight.
Venice is adorned in Murano glass, exquisite, handcrafted ornaments that showcase the island’s renowned glassmaking tradition.
The Basilica of Saints Cosma and Damian in Rome has a grand nativity scene, measuring over 19 feet long and 13 feet tall, featuring nearly 200 handmade figures, depicting a bustling village scene celebrating the birth of Jesus.
Naples has its own Christmas Alley (via San Gregorio Armeno), a 200-foot long pedestrian street lined with artisan workshops and hundreds of presepe (nativity scenes)—set in Neapolitan villages.
Perhaps the quirkiest tradition, though, is the ‘Ndocciata of the small mountain village of Agnone, population under 5,000, about 100 miles east of Rome.
On Christmas Eve in Agnone hundreds of torch bearers wend their way through the village’s narrow medieval-era streets carrying 10-foot-tall flaming torches. The torches (‘ndocce), are built by hand with white fir wood and dried broom stalks and assembled into the shape of a fan. They are carried on the torch bearers’ shoulders so the fires flow behind their necks (pictured above).
The procession is always accompanied by villagers singing traditional songs and Zampognari, traditional mountain bagpipers. The music is a connection to the town’s ancient history and its ancestors.
The grand finale is a torch bearer who carries 26 flaming torches weighing over 300 pounds. At the end of the route the torches are tossed into a massive bonfire. The people gather around the bonfire to say goodbye—and symbolically burn away—anything negative from the year.
(Watch a short video of ‘Ndocciata here.)
Villagers return home to Christmas Eve feasts of local specialties of their mountainous region: Christmas Eve Soup (Zuppa di Cardo) made with cardoons. Baccalà arraccanato. Maccheroncini di Campofilone, a 600-year-old silky, egg-based pasta. And a local specialty, Calciuni del Molise (chestnut fritters) made from the chestnuts that grow abundantly in the surrounding forests.
The ‘Ndocciata is a symbolic ritual that goes back hundreds, or even thousands of years to an ancient Italic tribe, the Samnites. Like the Celts and other tribes in the north, they used fire during solstice celebrations to ward off evil, scorch the earth to prepare it for next year’s crops, and welcome the rebirth of the sun. Also to keep away witches.
More than 20,000 visitors have flocked to this tiny town to witness as many as 600 participants carrying more than 1,000 torches. (Seriously, how do they not burn the place down?)
If you would like to replicate ‘Ndocciata in your community simply set your broom on fire, fling it over your shoulder, and walk around the neighborhood. Encourage others to join you—they’ll probably be as galvanized as you by this Italian mountain town’s blazing Christmas Eve custom.
Prepare a steaming bowl of Zuppa di Ceci e Castagne (chickpea and chestnut soup). Invite the fire department.
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