The Tenth Day
This Newsletter is a continueiotion of this blog series.
On the Tenth day of Christmas the universe gave to…ten candy canes
A traditionally white and red peppermint sweet made in the shape of a shepherd’s crook, Candy Canes were often given out on Saint Nicholas Day celebrations. As they were said to represent the crosier of a bishop – like the one Saint Nicholas would have carried.
Folkloric tales say that candy canes first came into being in 1679 when a German choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral – wanting to make the children in his church shut up for a service, commissioned a local candy maker to make the children “sugar sticks”. And to justify bribing children in church, he ordered the sweets to be made in the shape of Shepherd Crooks to symbolise the shepherds who visited Jesus in his cradle.
I’d usually now go into some official history, but honestly nothing could top that.
The Eleventh Day
On the Eleventh day of Christmas the Universe gave to me…Eleven Shining Cards.
The first recorded Christmas Card was actually sent from Michael Maier to James I of England and his son Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1611. However it wouldn’t be until 1843 before Christmas Cards became commercially available to the general public.
Interestingly these early Christmas Cards did not often feature the kind of images modern people would recognise as a Christmas Cards. No Winter Wonderlands, or Santa Claus, or even religious scenes for that matter – which I found surprising. No instead they featured things like fairies or flowers, or other things heralding the coming of spring.
in the 1840s Queen Victoria began the tradition of “official Christmas cards” – that is cards sent out from important places, like the palace or Ten Downing Street. Which the American Presidents quickly snapped up. However it wouldn’t be until Franklin Roosevelt before they began using the card format instead of just personalised notes.
Which is kind of neat.
The Twelfth Day
On the Twelfth day of Christmas the Universe gave to me….12 creepy elves sitting in my chimney.
This is by far the most recent of the Christmas Traditions we’ve talked about in this series – spanning little more than 15 years in total. The Seemingly Strange notion of leaving little elf-shaped dolls around the house – at least as a globally embraced Christmas tradition – first began with the 2005 book “The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition”. Written by author Carol Aebersold and based on a tradition she began for her own children.
The book tells the story of one of Santa’s ‘scout elves’. Who’s task it is to spy on the children of the world for the big fat man. Each Elf is assigned a family and hides in a different part of their house each day during the Christmas season. The rules say that the family – i.e. the children – can speak to the elf, but they must never touch it. Otherwise the Elf’s magic will vanish and Santa will never know if the family have been Naughty or Nice.
If this tradition / story seems a might creepy, or as The Atlantic columnist Kate Tuttle noted “bullying one’s child into thinking that good behavior equals gifts” – well…it’s not as if that hasn’t been a factor in the Santa Mythos from the very start. I mean taken out of context this is all just breaking and entering.
If you’ve enjoyed this Christmas Folklore / tradition titbit, why not Follow the Wee blog if you haven’t already. And remember to check me out on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Goodreads, Tumblr, TikTok, Kofi and Facebook. Until Next time Wee Subscribers, have a very bonny day and a very merry Holiday season.
The Wee Writing Lassie 