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A Christmas Cornucopia: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Yuletide Traditions

The unpredictable origins and etymologies of our cracking Christmas customs For something that happens every year of our lives, we really don`t know much about Christmas. We don`t know that the date we celebrate was chosen by a madman, or that Christmas, etymologically speaking, means `Go away, Christ`. Nor do we know that Christmas was first celebrated in 243 AD on 28 March – and only moved to 25 December in 354 AD. We`re oblivious to the fact that the advent calendar was actually invented by a Munich housewife to stop her children pestering her for a Christmas countdown. And we would never have guessed that the invention of crackers was merely a way of popularizing sweet wrappers. Luckily, like a gift from Santa himself, Mark Forsyth is here to unwrap this fundamentally funny gallimaufry of traditions and oddities, making it all finally make sense – in his wonderfully entertaining wordy way.