Advent Facts

December 26th is actually called St Stephen’s Day, and has only recently become referred to as Boxing Day in the past few hundred years. Although it remains unclear as to how it acquired this name, one theory has it that it is due to tradesmen in the UK collecting their ‘Christmas boxes’ (money or presents) from their customers on the first day after Christmas, while another theory believes it may have come from the lords and ladies of England who would traditionally give gifts wrapped up in boxes to their servants on December 26th.

In 1647 the English Parliament, under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell, made the celebrating of Christmas illegal by law. This has never actually been repealed so technically it is still illegal to eat mince pies and Christmas pud!

Early depictions of Father Christmas’ often portrayed him in a variety of different coloured costumes, depending on which country you were in. From the 1920s onwards it was agreed that the colour of his costume should be red. Contrary to popular misconception, this had absolutely nothing to do with Coca Cola Company.