Christmas Quiz
1. What fact about the Christmas tree is NOT true?
A. Artificial Christmas trees have outsold real Christmas trees every year since 1991.
B. Nova Scotia is a world leader in the export of Christmas trees.
C. Franklin Pierce was the first president to decorate an official White House Christmas tree.
D. The Christmas tree was chosen to represent this sacred holiday because its shape points the way to heaven.
D. The Christmas tree was chosen to represent this sacred holiday because its shape points the way to heaven.
QQ: Well, maybe that’s true, but QuizQueen can’t prove that fact, reasonable as it sounds, because it wasn’t in any of the posts she dug up for this quiz.
2. Can you name the popular Christmas song that was actually written for Thanksgiving?
A. bells
B. A midnight clearing came
C. I saw mom kissing Santa Claus
D. Absent in the manger
A. bells
QQ: The song was composed in 1857 by James Pierpont and was originally called One Horse Open Sleigh. When you think about it, words make a lot more sense that way …
3. In what year were the electric Christmas tree lights first used?
A. 1865
B. 1895
C. 1905
D. 1932
B. 1895
QQ: American Ralph E. Morris had the brilliant idea that electric Christmas lights would be safer than using candles.
4. Good King Wenceslas was king of what country?
A. Bohemia
B. England
C. Germany
D. Morocco
A. Bohemia.
QQ: Who knows why those bohemians always have such a bad reputation? Although, history says that Wenceslas, who lived in the 10th century, was only a duke, not a king at all.
5. In 8971, the New York Sun newspaper famously wrote a response to a young girl’s question: “Yes, _______, there is a Santa Claus.” Can you name that girl?
A. Maria
B. Charlotte
C. Vidalia
D. Virginia
D. Virginia
QQ: Virginia O’Hanlon to be exact! Shame if you missed it.
6. Can you name Scrooge’s dead business associate from Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol”?
A. Jacob Marley
B. Tiny Tim
C. Bob Cratchett
D. Old William
A. Jacob Marley
QQ: The first of the four spirits that appeared to Scrooge that fateful Christmas Eve was that of Jacob Marley, his old business partner.
7. One of the pagan traditions that Christians have incorporated into their Christmas celebration includes the hanging mistletoe. Which of these is NOT an ancient pagan belief?
A. Ancient Europeans believed that the mistletoe plant had magical powers to grant life and fertility, as well as to protect against disease.
B. French girls used to slip mistletoe branches under their pillows to dream of their future husbands.
The Celts believed that the mistetoe brought peace and goodwill.
D. Northern Europeans associated mistletoe with the Norse goddess of love, Freya, and developed the custom of kissing under mistletoe branches.
B. French girls used to slip mistletoe branches under their pillows to dream of their future husbands.
QQ: That was a difficult question, wasn’t it? QuizQueen is so smart …
8. While the Christmas tree is an enduring symbol of the season today, it was not always a Christmas tradition. What historical fact is NOT true?
A. According to legend, Martin Luther, the founder of German Protestantism, while walking through the woods on Christmas Eve was so moved by the starlit fir trees that he brought one inside and decorated it with candles to remind his children of the creation of God.
B. In 1841, Prince Albert of Germany gave his wife, Queen Victoria of England, a Christmas tree as a gift. This is said to be the first Christmas tree in England, but the custom quickly spread.
German immigrants brought the Christmas tree to Europe, the United States, and Canada, where it soon became a popular tradition.
D. On a gamble, 11-year-old PT Barnum started selling trees in Connecticut in 1821, telling his brands they were hot. Soon the fashion spread throughout the country and became a tradition, thus establishing its maxim “There is a fool who is born every minute.”
D. On a gamble, 11-year-old PT Barnum started selling trees in Connecticut in 1821, telling his brands they were hot. Soon the fashion spread throughout the country and became a tradition, thus establishing its maxim “There is a fool who is born every minute.”
PQ: Good old PT Barnum tried to sell almost everything, and he may have actually sold Christmas trees, but I doubt he sold them at that age!
9. Many people are familiar with the term “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, but not everyone knows where it originated. Can you choose the correct explanation?
A. The Twelve Days of Christmas represent the number of days that Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem.
B. The Twelve Days of Christmas represent the amount of time the three wise men traveled from the East to reach the Child Jesus after his birth.
C. The Twelve Days of Christmas represents the number of reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh.
D. The Twelve Days of Christmas represent the time necessary to celebrate the birthday of Good King Wenceslas.
B. The Twelve Days of Christmas represent the amount of time the three wise men traveled from the East to reach the Child Jesus after his birth.
PQ: And did you think you hadn’t learned anything practical in Sunday school?
10. Who has not wondered what “wassail” is and why people would ask for it at Christmas. Let’s see if you can guess …
A. Wassail comes from the Old Norse “Ves Heill” and means “to be in good health”, so when neighbors visited on Christmas Eve, they drank for the health of others.
B. Wassail comes from the Old German “Ves Heill” and means “avoid hell”, so loved ones would share this sentiment with each other on Christmas Eve in preparation for the birth of Christ.
C. Wassail comes from the ancient Celtic “Ves Heill” and means “to drink”, so it is naturally associated with all party occasions.
D. Wassail comes from the Old English “Ves Heill” and means drink of angels and was eventually associated with Christmas.
A. Wassail comes from the Old Norse “Ves Heill” and means “to be in good health”, so when neighbors visited on Christmas Eve, they drank for the health of others.
QQ: Sometimes QuizQueen can be very, very silly.
11. Everyone loves to receive them, but is afraid to go through the annual holiday ritual of sending Christmas cards. So who do we NOT have to thank / blame?
A. Medieval Europeans who traded woodcuts of religious themes for Christmas.
B. English illustrator John Calcott Horsley, who created the first modern Christmas card in 1843 depicting a family celebration with the caption “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
C. German-American printer Louis Prang who made advances in color lithography, allowing him to mass-produce colorful Christmas cards in 1875.
D. Desmond Hallmark, who had a surplus of leftover Arbor Day cards depicting a fir tree and decided to unload them down the box by simply printing Merry Christmas on the trees in red ink.
D. Desmond Hallmark, who had a surplus of Arbor Day cards depicting a fir tree and decided to unload them down the box simply by printing Merry Christmas on the trees in red ink.
PQ: While everyone except poor Desmond can be held responsible, The QuizQueen really blames Louis!
12. Do you remember that fuchsia sweater Aunt Edna knitted for your Christmas present last year? Don’t blame Aunt Edna, she wasn’t the one who started the tradition of giving Christmas presents, so who is she?
A. Those three wise men who visited the stable where Jesus was born.
B. The ancient Romans who exchanged gifts to bring good fortune for the new year.
C. Mark Antony, who was always looking for new ways to please Cleopatra.
D. The ancient Greeks who sought to appease the gods on Mount Olympus.
B. The ancient Romans who exchanged gifts to bring good fortune for the new year.
PQ: Of course Aunt Edna is to blame for choosing that color. The Romans cannot be blamed for that.