Christmas traditions trivia

Christmas traditions trivia questions and answers

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

1. 'The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition,' the book behind the scout-elf custom, was first self-published in which year?

   1. 1995
   2. 2000
   3. 2010
   4. 2005
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   D. 2005 Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chanda Bell self-published it and held their first book signing at a museum in Marietta, Georgia.

2. Which upstate New York newspaper was the first to print 'A Visit from St. Nicholas,' on December 23, 1823?

   1. The Troy Sentinel
   2. The Albany Argus
   3. The Schenectady Gazette
   4. The Poughkeepsie Journal
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   A. The Troy Sentinel The New York State Library preserves an original copy of that first printing of the poem.

3. Tiny Tim in 'A Christmas Carol' has a well-known blessing that starts 'God bless us.' How does it finish?

   1. Great and small
   2. One and all
   3. Every one
   4. Each and all
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   C. Every one Tiny Tim speaks the line in Charles Dickens's 'A Christmas Carol,' written in 1843.

4. Which Prussian-born printer and lithographer became known as the 'father of the American Christmas card'?

   1. Louis Prang
   2. Nathaniel Currier
   3. James Merritt Ives
   4. Milton Bradley
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   A. Louis Prang Prang started selling Christmas cards in 1874, a step credited with a major impact on American culture.

5. Beginning in 1863, which cartoonist's Harper's Weekly drawings largely shaped the modern American image of Santa Claus?

   1. Winslow Homer
   2. Thomas Nast
   3. Norman Rockwell
   4. John Tenniel
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   B. Thomas Nast Nast produced 33 Christmas-themed images for Harper's Weekly between 1863 and 1886, starting with 'Santa Claus in Camp.'

6. In 1897, 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote to which newspaper to ask whether Santa Claus was real?

   1. The New York Times
   2. The New York Sun
   3. The New York Herald
   4. The New York World
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   B. The New York Sun Editorial writer Francis Pharcellus Church answered her with the famous reply 'Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.'

7. Who commissioned the first commercial Christmas card in 1843, with art by John Callcott Horsley?

   1. Charles Dickens
   2. Prince Albert
   3. William Thackeray
   4. Henry Cole
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   D. Henry Cole About a thousand copies were printed, and the cards went on sale for a shilling apiece.

8. The sleigh in 'A Visit from St. Nicholas' is pulled by a team of tiny reindeer. How many are there?

   1. Twelve
   2. Eight
   3. Nine
   4. Six
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   B. Eight The poem shrinks everything: the sleigh is 'miniature,' the reindeer are 'tiny,' and St. Nicholas himself is 'a right jolly old elf.'

9. Who assembled the first electric Christmas tree lights, shown at his New York City home in December 1882?

   1. George Westinghouse
   2. Edward H. Johnson
   3. Thomas Edison
   4. Nikola Tesla
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   B. Edward H. Johnson Johnson was an inventor and longtime associate of Thomas Edison; a Detroit newspaper reporter described his lighted tree on December 22, 1882.

10. In 1933, which New York City landmark held its first Christmas tree lighting ceremony?

    1. Times Square
    2. Central Park
    3. Rockefeller Center
    4. Grand Central Terminal
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    C. Rockefeller Center Two years earlier, workers at the Rockefeller Center construction site had pooled their money to buy a 20-foot balsam fir.

11. In 'A Visit from St. Nicholas,' the family's stockings are hung up with care. Where are they hanging?

    1. By the front door
    2. On the bedposts
    3. By the chimney
    4. Under the tree
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    C. By the chimney Just after that line, the children lie 'nestled all snug in their beds' as visions of sugar-plums dance in their heads.

12. Night after night in the Elf on the Shelf tradition, the scout elf has one job to do. What is it?

    1. Wraps Santa's presents
    2. Feeds Santa's reindeer
    3. Reports back to Santa
    4. Makes toys for Santa
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    C. Reports back to Santa The idea grew from Fisbee, the Aebersold family's own elf, who turned up in a new hiding spot after each nightly report to Santa.

13. Whiskey smuggled in for a Christmas eggnog party set off an 1826 riot at which US military academy?

    1. West Point
    2. The Citadel
    3. Virginia Military Institute
    4. The Naval Academy
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    A. West Point Ninety of the school's 260 cadets could have faced charges, and about 20 were court-martialed after the night remembered as the Eggnog Riot.

14. In what year did Christmas become a federal holiday in the United States?

    1. 1870
    2. 1889
    3. 1912
    4. 1845
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    A. 1870 English customs, Christmas among them, had fallen from favor in America after the Revolution, and Congress acted only in 1870.

15. The tradition of building decorated gingerbread houses began in which country?

    1. Sweden
    2. Germany
    3. England
    4. France
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    B. Germany The Brothers Grimm's tale of Hansel and Gretel features a house of sweets in the forest, though it is unclear whether the tale or the houses came first.

16. NORAD's Christmas Eve Santa tracker is traced to a 1955 newspaper ad inviting children to call Santa. Which store ran the ad?

    1. Woolworth's
    2. Gimbels
    3. Macy's
    4. Sears
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    D. Sears A child's call reached watch commander Col. Harry Shoup at the air defense command; a press officer alerted the wire services, and the tradition passed to NORAD.

17. In 'A Christmas Carol,' the ghost of Scrooge's dead business partner visits him first. What is the partner's name?

    1. Mr. Topper
    2. Jacob Marley
    3. Bob Cratchit
    4. Mr. Fezziwig
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    B. Jacob Marley Dickens's narrator says of Marley that 'Scrooge and he were partners for I don't know how many years.'

18. Which two reindeer in 'A Visit from St. Nicholas' got their names from Dutch words for thunder and lightning?

    1. Dasher and Dancer
    2. Prancer and Vixen
    3. Donder and Blitzen
    4. Comet and Cupid
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    C. Donder and Blitzen The first 1823 printing spelled the pair 'Dunder and Blixem'; later versions shifted to 'Donder and Blixen' and then 'Donder and Blitzen.'

19. The poinsettia takes its name from Joel Roberts Poinsett. To which country was he America's first minister?

    1. Spain
    2. Peru
    3. Mexico
    4. Brazil
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    C. Mexico Poinsett found the plant in the town of Taxco in 1828 and brought it home with him to South Carolina.

20. Which Montgomery Ward advertising copywriter created the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1939?

    1. Denver Gillen
    2. Gene Autry
    3. Robert L. May
    4. Johnny Marks
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    C. Robert L. May May wrote Rudolph for a promotional giveaway, and artist Denver Gillen illustrated the 1939 booklet.

21. In 1931, Coca-Cola commissioned which illustrator to paint the Santa Claus of its holiday magazine ads?

    1. N.C. Wyeth
    2. Norman Rockwell
    3. J.C. Leyendecker
    4. Haddon Sundblom
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    D. Haddon Sundblom Sundblom's Santa oil paintings ran in Coca-Cola advertising from 1931 to 1964 and were adapted for billboards, posters and store displays.

22. Mistletoe, hung indoors for Christmas kisses, grows in the wild as what kind of plant?

    1. A parasite on trees
    2. A woodland fern
    3. A climbing vine
    4. A desert shrub
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    A. A parasite on trees There are about 1,300 mistletoe species worldwide, more than 30 in the continental US and Canada, and all of them grow as parasites on trees and shrubs.

23. Which president took part in lighting the first National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse in 1923?

    1. Calvin Coolidge
    2. Woodrow Wilson
    3. Warren G. Harding
    4. Herbert Hoover
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    A. Calvin Coolidge The first ceremony took place on December 24, 1923, and presidential participation in the lighting became an annual tradition.