5 Christmas Facts You Probably Didn’t Know

Christmas has rolled around once again — but how well do we actually know this holiday?

Here are a few surprising Christmas facts you probably never heard of.

5 Fun Christmas Facts

1. Gingerbread used to be luxury cuisine

Back in the day, gingerbread wasn’t the everyday supermarket snack we know now. It was fancy. It contained exotic spices, including black pepper, which was as pricey as gold at times.

German sugar bakers introduced gingerbread to Finland in the 1700s, and even in the 1800s the recipes were guarded like state secrets. Pitokokit (feast cooks) weren’t sharing their gingerbread wisdom with anyone.

2. Rudolph wasn’t part of the original team

Sure, Petteri Punakuono (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) is the star today, but Santa’s original eight reindeer came from an 1823 poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas. Their names are Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Dancer, Dasher, Donder, Prancer, and Vixen.

Rudolph only joined the squad later, thanks to the now-iconic Christmas song, and somehow became the CEO of the sleigh team.

3. The world’s first Christmas card was basically Victorian email

Woodcarvers had already been producing religious prints in the Middle Ages, but the first commercial Christmas and New Year card was designed in London in 1843.

Before that, people had to wish each other Merry Christmas verbally. Terrifying.

4. Santa’s roots are… surprisingly scary

The modern, friendly Santa Claus has deep roots in Saint Nicholas, a bishop from 4th-century Myra (in modern-day Türkiye).

But the early Finnish Joulupukki? He wasn’t quite the jolly grandpa we know. He rewarded the nice kids… and scolded the naughty ones with a level of seriousness usually reserved for tax audits.

Eventually, the American Santa Claus from the North Pole softened his image, and Coca-Cola sealed the deal in the 1930s with those now-legendary red-suit ads.

5. Silent Night was born because the church organ broke

One of the world’s most beloved Christmas carols, Silent Night, was written in 1818 by Austrian Joseph Mohr after learning that the church organ was hopelessly broken before Christmas Eve.

He quickly wrote a song that didn’t require the organ at all — and today it has been translated into over 180 languages.

But the best-selling Christmas single of all time? Still Bing Crosby’s White Christmas. No contest.