The Christmas Quiz

Question: Which ancient civilization celebrated Saturnalia, a December festival that inspired many Christmas traditions?

Answer: Celebrating the Roman god Saturn, the Mardi Gras-like Saturnalia festival started each December 17 and could last up to seven days. Work stopped during the joyful event, and gifts were exchanged.

Question: In A Christmas Carol, who was Jacob Marley, the first ghost to visit Ebenezer Scrooge?

Answer: Jacob Marley had died seven years to the day before the events of A Christmas Carol. Scrooge never bothered removing his partner’s name from the business’s sign.

Question: With an estimated 50 million units sold, what is the best-selling Christmas single of all time?

Answer: The estimated 50 million copies of the single sold make Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” not only the best-selling holiday single but also the best-selling single of any genre of all time.

Question: What is myrrh, one of the gifts the Magi presented to the baby Jesus?

Answer: In ancient times, myrrh was a costly ingredient used in perfumes, incense, and cosmetics as well as in medicines and embalming.

Question: Which U.S. government agency has tracked Santa annually since its creation in 1958?

Answer: A product of the Cold War, NORAD was established to track anything and everything that flies over the United States and Canada. On December 24, that includes Santa.

Question: In the song “The 12 Days of Christmas,” what new gift is given on the 11th day?

Answer: Early versions of the song include different gifts, such as ships a-sailing or bears a-baiting.

Question: True or false: The term Xmas was invented by greeting-card companies.

Answer: In Greek, the language the New Testament was written in, Christ begins with the letter chi, which appears very similar to the English letter x. Writers have used that symbol as shorthand since at least 1551, hundreds of years before the first commercial Christmas card was sold (1843).

Question: True or false: A majority of Christmas trees in American homes are artificial.

Answer: About 75 percent of American households put up a tree at Christmastime. Of that number, about 85 percent use an artificial tree.

Question: Santa’s eight reindeer were first named in which work?

Answer: First published in 1823, “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (commonly called “ ’Twas the Night Before Christmas”) named the reindeer, including “Dunder” and “Blixem,” whose names eventually morphed into “Donner” and “Blitzen.”

Question: According to the classic Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life, what happens every time a bell rings?

Answer: The angel Clarence explains to George Bailey that wings have to be earned and ringing bells signify their successful acquisition.

Question: Which of these holiday mainstays was invented as a promotional gimmick for a department store?

Answer: In 1939 Robert L. May created Rudolph for a children’s book that the Montgomery Ward department store gave away during the Christmas season. It proved so popular that 10 years later a song was written and recorded about Rudolph.

Question: Mentioned in the carol “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” which of these best describes figgy pudding?

Answer: In Britain, pudding can refer to any kind of dessert, not just the custardlike dessert that the term refers to in America. Figgy pudding is a cake loaded with dried fruits—not necessarily figs.

Question: According to the song “Frosty the Snowman,” what does Frosty have for a nose?

Answer: In addition to his button nose, Frosty has a corncob pipe, eyes made of coal, and an old silk hat.

Question: Which British monarch helped popularize the German custom of bringing a tree inside the house at Christmas?

Answer: Queen Victoria and her German-born husband Prince Albert helped popularize the tree tradition in England. An illustration of the royal family trimming the tree appeared in a prominent magazine, inspiring British families to decorate their own.

Question: In Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, the Grinch is afflicted with what condition?

Answer: SPOILER ALERT: The Grinch’s heart eventually grows three sizes.

Question: In the movie A Christmas Story, what does Ralphie want for Christmas?

Answer: A Christmas Story was released in 1983 but was not an immediate hit. In 1986 MGM, the studio that made the movie, sold its film library to Ted Turner, who later chose the movie to be the perennial holiday favorite of his cable channels.

Question: A top-selling Christmas ornament in America called Weihnachtsgurke is shaped like what?

Answer: One version of the American tradition is that the child who finds the hidden Weihnachtsgurke, or “Christmas pickle,” on the Christmas tree gets to open the first gift. Despite its name, few people in Germany have ever heard of Weihnachtsgurke.

Question: Which of these best describes the legendary Christmas character Krampus?

Answer: According to central European popular legend, Krampus is half goat and half demon and punishes misbehaving children at Christmastime.

Question: Which composer called his own 1892 ballet The Nutcracker “rather boring”?

Answer: Although The Nutcracker has become a holiday mainstay for many, composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky thought it was “infinitely worse than Sleeping Beauty” (the ballet he had written prior).