Christmas Fun Facts
I can’t vouch for the veracity of the following, random bits of information. I suggest you take these with a “grain of ginger” and in the spirit of good will with which they are tendered . . . along with hopes that you and your loved ones find joy and peace enough this Christmas to last all year.
Ninety percent of all processed nutmeg in the U.S. is consumed in November and December, half of it in pumpkin pies.
Before Rudolph the Reindeer passed away at the age of 37, his nose had faded from a bright red to a pale mauve.
Mistletoe was first rejected as a pizza topping not because of its toxicity, but because of its taste.
Not all elves who work at the North Pole believe in the generosity of Santa Claus, and many have unionized.
The carol “Away in a Manger” was originally composed as a march for trombones.
In a 2013 survey, seven out of ten sugarplum fairies admitted to being at least five pounds overweight.
A new tax under consideration in Congress may force Santa to substitute recycled aluminum cans for lumps of coal in the stockings of naughty children.
The expression “nutty as a fruitcake” was coined in 1927, a year that saw bumper crops of walnuts and pecans.
In central Pennsylvania, Amish arboriculturists have genetically engineered a self-illuminant fir that uses no electricity.
Once, when the Starship Enterprise traveled back in time, the crew briefly mistook the star over Bethlehem for a Klingon vessel.
A nine-year-old lad in Saginaw, Michigan, says he would, indeed, prefer to get back his two front teeth for Christmas rather than receive a new Xbox.
The title of the film It’s a Wonderful Life (Or So It Seems) was shortened due to size limitations of many theater marquees in the 1940s.
According to the official, published list of People’s Top Christmas Peeves (2010), “dull scissors” ranks third, right behind “clove-flavored anything” and the expression “holly jolly.”