Strange But True: First Christmas Tree Image

By Samantha Weaver

• Between 1659 and 1681, it was illegal to celebrate Christmas in Massachusetts. If you were caught celebrating, you would be fined five shillings.

• St. Nicholas is actually a historical figure, although the name was spelled differently. St. Nikolaus was the bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, and he died on Dec. 6, 343. In different regions of the world he is known as Klaus, Nickel, Sünnerklas, Seneklos, Pelznickel, Knecht Ruprecht, Weihnachtsmann and Christkindl. Sometimes he travels on foot, and sometimes he's shown riding a white horse, a reindeer, a mule or even a goat.

• IN 1712, Cotton Mather said, "The Feast of Christ's Nativity is spent in Reveling, Dicing, Carding, Masking, and in Licentious Liberty ... by Mad Mirth, by long Eating, by hard Drinking, by lewd Gaming, by rude Reveling." Doesn't sound much like today's celebrations, does it?

• If you think that Christmas has only recently become a nightmare of consumerism, consider that as early as the mid-1820s, Santa Claus was being employed to sell Christmas goods.

• Clement Clarke Moore, the author of "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (more popularly known as "The Night Before Christmas"), was born during the American Revolution and died during the Civil War.

• The first image of a Christmas tree to be printed in the United States appeared in Boston in 1836. It was an Illustration to a book written by a German immigrant.

• There is no Biblical or historical reason to place the birth of Jesus on Dec. 25. It was only the fourth century that the Church officially decided to observe Christmas on Dec. 25.

Thought for the Day: "At Christmas play and make good cheer, for Christmas comes but once a year."

— Thomas Tusser

(c) 2013 King Features Synd., Inc.