Christmas traditions quiz

Christmas traditions quiz questions and answers

25 questions. Tap a question’s answer line to see it.

1. The first royal Christmas radio broadcast in 1932 was set for which time of day, chosen to reach as many Empire countries as possible?

   1. 3pm
   2. 1pm
   3. 6pm
   4. 9am
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   A. 3pm The first broadcast actually began at five past three and lasted two and a half minutes.

2. Mince pies once held real meat. Which meat goes into the pie recipe in Gervase Markham's 1615 book The English Huswife?

   1. Rabbit
   2. Goose
   3. Venison
   4. Mutton
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   D. Mutton By the twentieth century the only trace of meat left in a mince pie was the suet.

3. In Scotland's first-footing custom, visitors calling after midnight at New Year traditionally bring which fuel as a gift?

   1. A bag of charcoal
   2. A lump of coal
   3. A block of peat
   4. A bundle of kindling
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   B. A lump of coal First-footers also bring gifts such as whisky or shortbread, and the visits to friends and neighbours are meant to bring good luck.

4. In which year did the Royal Institution's Christmas Lectures for young people begin?

   1. 1825
   2. 1851
   3. 1876
   4. 1799
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   A. 1825 Michael Faraday gave his first Christmas Lecture in 1827, on chemistry, and presented 19 series in all - more than anyone else.

5. In which year did Parliament abolish the feasts of Christmas, Easter and Whitsun?

   1. 1607
   2. 1647
   3. 1687
   4. 1627
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   B. 1647 Holly and ivy decorations were banned, and even singing carols was outlawed.

6. During the unofficial Christmas truce of 1914, what game did some British and German soldiers play together in no man's land?

   1. Football
   2. Rugby
   3. Tug of war
   4. Cricket
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   A. Football Soldiers also swapped food, tobacco, badges, buttons and caps, and the one recorded football score was a 3-2 win for the Germans.

7. Who set up the first known Christmas tree in England, at Queen's Lodge, Windsor, in December 1800?

   1. Queen Victoria
   2. Queen Charlotte
   3. Queen Caroline
   4. Queen Adelaide
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   B. Queen Charlotte Prince Albert, usually given the credit, imported several spruce firs from his native Coburg in December 1840.

8. Wassailers visited orchards on Twelfth Night, singing to the trees and banging pots and pans. What was this meant to secure?

   1. Rain in the spring
   2. Good health for livestock
   3. A good harvest
   4. A mild winter
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   C. A good harvest Revellers shared a warm, spiced drink from a communal wassail bowl, sometimes with an apple topping known as lamb's wool.

9. Which king delivered the first royal Christmas radio broadcast, speaking from Sandringham in 1932?

   1. King Edward VIII
   2. King Edward VII
   3. King George VI
   4. King George V
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   D. King George V Two rooms at Sandringham were temporarily converted into broadcasting rooms for the occasion.

10. Who wrote the text of the first royal Christmas broadcast, delivered in 1932?

    1. J. M. Barrie
    2. John Masefield
    3. A. A. Milne
    4. Rudyard Kipling
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    D. Rudyard Kipling The speech, read by King George V from Sandringham, included the line 'I speak now from my home and from my heart to you all'.

11. Which civil servant, the V&A's founding director, sent the first commercial Christmas card in 1843?

    1. Rowland Hill
    2. Henry Cole
    3. Anthony Trollope
    4. Charles Dickens
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    B. Henry Cole A thousand copies were printed, offered at a shilling apiece, and the venture was a commercial flop.

12. It became customary for British pantomimes to open their run on which day?

    1. Boxing Day
    2. Christmas Eve
    3. Twelfth Night
    4. New Year's Day
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    A. Boxing Day After the Theatres Act of 1843, witty puns, word play and audience participation joined pantomime's repertoire.

13. Which charity launched Christmas Jumper Day, the December fundraiser where schools and offices wear their daftest knitwear?

    1. Barnardo's
    2. Oxfam
    3. Save the Children
    4. Comic Relief
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    C. Save the Children The first Christmas Jumper Day was held on 14 December 2012.

14. Which monarch delivered the first televised royal Christmas message, broadcast live in 1957?

    1. Queen Victoria
    2. King George V
    3. Queen Elizabeth II
    4. King George VI
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    C. Queen Elizabeth II The royal Christmas message had begun on the radio twenty-five years earlier, in 1932.

15. The Welsh Mari Lwyd, carried from door to door at Christmas by singing groups, is built around the skull of which animal?

    1. A horse
    2. A sheep
    3. A cow
    4. A goat
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    A. A horse The jaw was fixed on a spring so the mouth shut with a loud snap, and a long white cloth hid the person carrying it.

16. London's Trafalgar Square Christmas tree is a yearly thank-you for Britain's support during which conflict?

    1. The First World War
    2. The Second World War
    3. The Napoleonic Wars
    4. The Crimean War
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    B. The Second World War The switching-on of the tree's lights signals the countdown to Christmas in London.

17. Tradition says the Christmas pudding should be stirred from east to west in honour of which group?

    1. The apostles
    2. The angels
    3. The Wise Men
    4. The shepherds
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    C. The Wise Men Silver coins were sometimes stirred into the mixture, said to bring the finder health, wealth and happiness.

18. Which artist designed the first commercial Christmas card, sent in 1843?

    1. John Everett Millais
    2. John Callcott Horsley
    3. Edwin Landseer
    4. George Cruikshank
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    B. John Callcott Horsley The card showed three generations of one family raising a toast, with scenes of charitable giving at the sides.

19. Parliament's 17th-century ban on celebrating Christmas ended with the restoration of which king in 1660?

    1. James II
    2. William III
    3. Charles I
    4. Charles II
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    D. Charles II During the ban, New Model Army soldiers patrolled London streets and seized food being cooked for Christmas.

20. Tom Smith's Christmas crackers grew out of a French sweet he came across in Paris. What was it called?

    1. The bon-bon
    2. The praline
    3. The macaron
    4. The nougat
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    A. The bon-bon Bon-bons sold well at Christmas, so Smith slipped small love mottoes inside the wrappers to lift sales through the year.

21. On Stir-up Sunday, each member of the family traditionally takes a turn stirring the Christmas pudding mixture while doing what?

    1. Lighting a candle
    2. Ringing a bell
    3. Singing a carol
    4. Making a wish
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    D. Making a wish Stir-up Sunday falls on the last Sunday before Advent, named after a prayer that begins 'Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord'.

22. In a traditional British pantomime, the dame is played by whom?

    1. A woman
    2. A child
    3. A man
    4. A puppet
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    C. A man Samuel Simmons played Mother Goose as early as 1806, and in the 19th century the dame's obvious masculinity was part of the gag.

23. Which weekly paper published an 1848 drawing of the royal family celebrating around a decorated Christmas tree?

    1. Punch
    2. The Times
    3. The Illustrated London News
    4. The Graphic
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    C. The Illustrated London News Decorated trees caught on fast, and the first advertisements for tree ornaments appeared in 1853.

24. In 1947, which country began sending London a Christmas tree to stand in Trafalgar Square each December?

    1. Norway
    2. Sweden
    3. Finland
    4. Denmark
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    A. Norway The tree is usually a Norwegian spruce more than 20 metres tall, decorated in traditional Norwegian style with vertical strings of lights.

25. What do Scots call their New Year's Eve celebration on 31 December?

    1. Hogmanay
    2. Burns Night
    3. Samhain
    4. Beltane
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    A. Hogmanay The celebration's origins reach back to ancient winter solstice festivities and Viking midwinter festivals.