Brain candy for the holidays

* Christmas traditions have long history that spans the globe.

By Jennifer Johnson

Nevada Daily Mail

From gift giving, to Christmas trees, to the much anticipated Christmas dinner, people and cultures all over the world have their own traditions when celebrating the holiday. Each of these traditions, although different in nature, have common threads of Christmas spirit binding them together. Within these common threads is a wealth of interesting Christmas facts and rituals which have been practiced for hundreds of years.

Food has always found a place to nestle into the Christmas holiday. In Armenia, the traditional Christmas Eve meal consists of fried fish, lettuce, and spinach. The meal is traditionally eaten after the Christmas Eve service, in commemoration of the supper eaten by Mary on the evening before Christ's birth.

In Britain, the mince pie dates back to the 16th century. It is still believed that to eat a mince pie on each of the Twelve Days of Christmas will bring 12 happy months in the year to follow. Nevertheless, it is estimated that more than 400,000 people world wide become sick each year from eating tainted Christmas leftovers.

The actual gift givers also differ in various countries; in England, he is called Father Christmas; in France, Pere Noel; in Germany, Christkind; in Holland, St. Nicholas; and in Spain and South America, he is known as The Three Kings. The recipients of the gifts have different methods of collecting their treasures according to different customs.

In North America, children put stockings out at Christmas time. Their Dutch counterparts, however, use shoes. Dutch children set out shoes to receive gifts any time between mid-November and Dec. 5, St. Nicholas'' birthday. In the Netherlands, Christmas centers on the arrival of Saint Nicholas, who is believed to come on horseback bearing gifts. Before going to bed, children leave out their shoes, hoping to find them filled with sweets when they awaken.

Different countries around the world are also responsible for beginning certain Christmas traditions which are commonly practiced worldwide. The modern Christmas custom of displaying a wreath on the front door of one's house, is borrowed from ancient Rome's New Year's celebrations. Romans wished each other good health by exchanging branches of evergreens. They called these gifts strenae after Strenia, the goddess of health. It became the custom to bend these branches into a ring and display them on doorways.

The tradition of Christmas lights dates back to when Christians were persecuted for saying "Mass." A simple candle in the window meant that "Mass" would be celebrated there that night. England was the first country to design, and sell, the first official Christmas card. London artist John Calcott Horsley was hired by a wealthy British man to design a card that showed people feeding and clothing the poor with another picture of a Christmas party. The first Christmas card said, "Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you." Of the original 1,000 cards he printed for Henry Cole, only 12 exist today.

The real gift giver himself, St. Nicholas, originally lived in Turkey where he was bishop of the town of Myra, in the early 4th century. It was the Dutch who first made him into a Christmas gift-giver, and Dutch settlers brought him to America where his name eventually became the familiar Santa Claus.

And to put an end to the ongoing debate as to whether or not the "Animal Cracker" is in fact a cracker or a cookie; Christmas traditions from the past show us, that it is in fact a "cookie." The cookie was originally imported from England in the late 1800s. Barnum's circus-like boxes were designed with a huge string handle so that could be hung on a Christmas tree.