It’s the most wonderful time of the year! While everyone adores celebrating Christmas with festive decorations, yummy foods, and exciting gifts, I think we can all agree that the best thing about the holidays is spending time with dear friends and family. Jazz up your social gatherings this holiday season with some Christmas trivia for seniors! You can test your family’s knowledge by making these fun facts into a game, or simply sprinkle them into the conversation.
Our Favorite Holiday FUN FACTS
St. Nicholas was born in modern-day Turkey.
The Christian bishop was known to be kind, generous, and devoted to helping the poor. He provided the inspiration for Santa Claus.
Your Christmas tree is around 7 years old.
That’s right! It takes an average of 7 years for a pine tree to reach the height of a typical Christmas tree. Of course, this varies from tree to tree. In some cases, a tree will reach the appropriate height in just 4 years; in other cases, it takes a full 15 years.
A total of 364 gifts were given in the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
So, although the song takes place during Christmastime, the recipient of those gifts will have a gift for every day of the year! If you’re scratching your head, check out the math.
Gingerbread houses became more popular following the publication of “Hansel & Gretel” by the Brothers Grimm.
Although gingerbread houses have been around since the 16th century, they weren’t especially popular at first. They gained popularity due to the fairy tale’s inclusion of a house made entirely of sweet treats.
“Jingle Bells” was originally intended to be a Thanksgiving song.
Crazy, right? “Jingle Bells” was first performed at a Thanksgiving church service and was never intended to be a classic Christmas song. If you listen to the lyrics, you’ll notice that it never mentions Christmas — to be fair, it doesn’t mention Thanksgiving either. “Jingle Bells” was also the first song ever broadcast from space! In 1965, during NASA’s Gemini 6A space flight, astronauts played it using a harmonica and miniature sleigh bells.
Coca-Cola was the first company to use Santa Claus in advertisements.
Santa Claus began appearing in Coke ads in the 1920s, but he didn’t look quite like the Santa we all picture today. Then, in 1931, the soft drink company hired illustrator Haddon Sundblom to develop a new version of Santa — a jolly, plump, wholesome, realistic Santa. Sundblom based his illustration on the poem “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clark Moore, and this iconic depiction became the basis for countless Santas to come.
Tinsel was originally made from strands of silver.
It originated in Germany around 1610. Back then, people made it from strands of hammered silver.
In Japan, people celebrate Christmas by eating KFC chicken.
Strange, but true! When he heard that people were looking for alternatives to turkey for Christmas, Takeshi Okawra, manager of the first KFC in Japan, decided to advertise a fried chicken party bucket with the slogan “Kentucky is Christmas!” This was back in the ’70s, but Japanese people still love to eat fried chicken on Christmas today. In fact, a third of KFC’s annual sales come from the holiday season in Japan.
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How will you use this Christmas trivia for seniors? Whether you bust it out for a competitive game or store it in your noggin for future use, we hope you enjoyed learning a few new things about this beloved holiday.
At Springhouse Village, we’re delighted to provide a place where our residents can joyfully gather with family and friends. We know how important it is to enjoy an active retirement in a lively and welcoming environment. We make it easy for our residents to participate actively in our community. Whether that means encouraging residents to join an exercise class or assisting them in starting a garden club, we strive to help our residents thrive. To learn more about our amenities and services, contact Springhouse Village today by sending us a message online or calling 417-708-3403.