1016: Mistletoe tends to spring from bird droppings that have fallen on trees, with the seeds having passed through the digestive tract of birds. From this, it should come as no surprise that the name “mistle” or “missel” meant “dung” and “toe,” which came from the Anglo-Saxon “tan,” meant “twig.
” Thus, mistletoe is another way to essentially say “poop twig.” Not only is mistletoe a poop twig, but most varieties of this plant are partial parasites, being unable to fully sustain themselves via photosynthesis, so they leach what they need from the particular tree they are growing on. Nothing like finding one’s true love kissing under a parasitic poop twig…1017: In the 1930s, Montgomery Ward gave away promotional coloring books each holiday season. Up to this point, they simply bought these coloring books from others. In 1939, in order to save on the price of the books, they selected Robert L. May, who was a copywriter for Montgomery Ward in Chicago, to write them a short Christmas story. May was very small as a child and was often picked on, so decided to make it an Ugly Duckling type tale, which he wrote in the same verse as “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” The story was ultimately illustrated by Denver Gillen, who worked in Montgomery Ward’s art department. Needless to say, the little promotion was a hit, with 2.4 million copies given away in the first season after its creation; Rudolph has been a staple of the Christmas holiday ever since.
1018: Copywriter Robert L. May initially earned nothing from writing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer outside of his normal Montgomery Ward salary, as he wrote it as a part of his job.
But when he became deeply in debt due to medical bills from his wife’s terminal illness in 1947, Montgomery Ward gave him the copyright to Rudolph so he could benefit from the substantial royalties from the story.1019: Despite being Jewish, Johnny Marks wrote such songs as: Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree; A Holly Jolly Christmas; Run Rudolf Run; Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer (the song); I Heard Bells on Christmas Day; and 9 other Christmas staples. He also wrote many of the songs in the CBS TV version of “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” including: The Most Wonderful Day of the Year; Silver and Gold; We Are Santa’s Elves; There’s Always Tomorrow; The Island of Misfit Toys; We’re a Couple of Misfits; and Jingle Jingle Jingle. Incidentally, Marks was also the brother-in-law of Robert May, who wrote “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
1020: If you’re looking for a traditional Christmas dinner in Japan, you have to look no further than your local KFC, where this is the Christmas dinner of choice for the majority in the Land of the Rising Sun. According to KFC, this particular unusual Christmas tradition dates back to the 1970s when supposedly a…
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