Tis the season…. to know more about your favorite holiday, Christmas! Be prepared to be blown away this Christmas season with these interesting facts:

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  Each year, more than 3 billion Christmas cards are sent in the U.S. alone.

• The Germans made the first artificial Christmas trees out of dyed goose feathers.

• Most of Santa’s reindeer have male-sounding names, such as Blitzen, Comet, and Cupid. However, male reindeer shed their antlers around Christmas, so the reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh are likely not male, but female or castrated.

  

• According to Guinness World Records, the tallest Christmas tree ever cut was a 221-foot Douglas Fir that was displayed in 1950 at the Northgate Shopping Center in Seattle, Washington.

  

• Christmas trees have been sold in the U.S. since 1850 and the trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold.

• Crazy fact, but Christmas wasn’t declared an official holiday in the United States until June 26, 1870.
• President Teddy Roosevelt, an environmentalist, banned Christmas trees from the White House in 1901.

• In the United States, dried Christmas trees cause an estimated 100 fires, resulting in about 10 deaths and 15.7 million in property damage.

• In Poland, spiders or spider webs are common Christmas trees decorations because according to legend, a spider wove a blanket for Baby Jesus. In fact, Polish people consider spiders to be symbols of goodness and prosperity at Christmas.
•  “Jingle Bells” was written for Thanksgiving, not Christmas. The song was written in 1857 by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title “One Horse Open Sleigh”. It was supposed to be played in the composer’s Sunday school class during Thanksgiving as a way to commemorate the famed Medford sleigh races. “Jingle Bells” was also the first song to be broadcast from space.