♫ Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells ♫

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, but adding in some unusual facts about the occasion just to put my own quirky twist on things! haha

So, you think that "dashing through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh" is the quintissential Christmas song, but did you know it was originally written for Thanksgiving?

James Lord Pierpont wrote the tune back in 1857, as a tribute to the (famous at the time) Medford Sleigh Races held on or near to U.S. Thanksgiving. Some say that the song was for Pierpont's Sunday School class but the fact that it was actually written in a tavern and that the sleigh races were the olde day version of "drag races", it's more likely that it was a "drinking song". 

What about love and romance associated with this time of year?

Two of the world's most romantic and loving occasions, Valentine's Day and Christmas, are also the two dates that see the most breakups leading in to or out of the occasion. In the case of Valentines Day, many breakups occur two weeks after, but for Christmas it's the two weeks before the day that see many couples call it quits!

Nothing says Christmas like Kentucky Ducky!

Yes, back in 1947 the U.S. based food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken tried to appease tourists and ex-pats living in Japan with a "holiday meal" of  their secret recipe fast food. The idea caught on with the locals and has been a tradition in Japan ever since. Even odder, since most Japanese are not Christians and don't actually celebrate Christmas.

Battle With The Pagans!

I've written about this sort of thing on numerous occasions and think Christmas is another example of cultural appropriation by "the Church" . If one is to believe in the birth of Christ as told by the Bible, it is most likely that it occurred in Spring. However, the Pagan ritual of Saturnalia was a merrymaking and gift giving festival typically held in December, and circumventing it was a great way for the Christian movement to take over the occasion and push the Pagans aside.