Why Does Santa Wear Red?: …and 100 Other Christmas Curiousities Unwrapped!

Sure, you can sing all the verses to "Jingle Bells" and recite `Twas the Night Before Christmas by heart, but how much do you really know about everybody's favorite holiday?

Where did Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer Get His Start?
At Montgomery Ward's! Copywriter Robert May wrote the story as a giveaway to attract families with children to do their holiday shopping at the store.

Which famous carol is actually a secret Christian code?
It's "The Twelve Days of Christmas!" The partridge "in the pear tree" is code for Jesus! The two turtledoves stand for the Old and New Testament! And the ten lords a-leaping-you got it!--are the Ten Commandments.

Why Do We Buy Poinsettias?
One Christmas Eve long ago, in Mexico, a poor boy cried because he had no gift for the baby Jesus. He knelt outside the church window and prayed and--lo and behold!--in the spot where he knelt blossomed a beautiful red poinsettia. To this day, Mexicans still call this lovely plant "Flower of the Holy Night."

Open this holly jolly gift of a book, and you'll find it overstuffed with Christmas treats like carols, crafts, recipes, legends, songs, and of course more tinsel trivia! With this ultimate Christmas collection, you'll fall in love with Christmas all over again!

Meera Lester is an artist and author of a dozen books, including several about early Christianity and the saints. She prepares for Christmas, her favorite holiday, throughout the year and has fond memories of an old-fashioned celebration from her childhood. Lester is the author of Saint's Blessings: Wisdom and Guidance Inspired by the World's Most Beloved Saints, The Everything® Gnostic Gospels Book, and The Everything® Women of the Bible Book.