We all think we know the holidays. It's that time of year filled with specific traditions, familiar songs, and the same old stories we’ve heard since childhood. But peel back the layers of tinsel and wrapping paper, and you’ll find a history that is far stranger and more fascinating than the Hallmark movies suggest.

Jingle Bells Was Written For Thanksgiving

"Jingle Bells" is arguably the most recognizable Christmas song in the world. It’s played in malls, sung in schools, and hummed by just about everyone come December. But its original intent had nothing to do with Christmas at all.

Written by James Lord Pierpont, the song was originally titled "One Horse Open Sleigh." Pierpont intended it to be sung during Thanksgiving celebrations. The lyrics recount the fun of drag-racing sleighs in the snow—a popular pastime in 19th-century New England—rather than anything specifically religious or related to Saint Nick. It wasn't until decades later that the song became exclusively associated with Christmas.

Artificial Christmas Trees Were Once Made Of Goose Feathers

Before we had the realistic-looking plastic pines of today, or even the shiny aluminum trees of the 1950s, artificial trees had a much more organic origin. In 19th-century Germany, deforestation was becoming a concern, and people wanted a way to celebrate without cutting down real trees.

The solution? Dyed goose feathers. The feathers were dyed green and attached to wire branches, they were then wrapped around a central dowel. These "feather trees" eventually made their way to the United States in the early 20th century. While they looked surprisingly convincing from a distance, they were notoriously fragile and couldn't hold heavy ornaments.

Christmas Lights Were A PR Stunt

Before electric lights, people decorated their trees with candles. As you might imagine, balancing open flames on drying pine branches inside a house was a recipe for disaster. Fire buckets were a standard accessory next to the tree.

Thomas Edison’s partner, Edward Johnson, had a brighter idea. In 1882, shortly after the invention of the lightbulb, Johnson hand-wired 80 red, white, and blue lightbulbs and wound them around a rotating evergreen tree in his parlor window. He invited reporters to see the spectacle, effectively creating the first electric Christmas light display. It took several decades for the technology to become affordable enough for the average family, but Johnson’s PR stunt changed holiday decorating forever.

The Term "Xmas" Isn't Disrespectful

Many people believe that writing "Xmas" instead of "Christmas" is a modern attempt to remove the religious aspect ("Christ") from the holiday. Actually, the abbreviation has deep Christian roots.

In the Greek alphabet, the letter Chi (which resembles an "X") is the first letter of the word Christos, or Christ. For centuries, the "X" was used as a holy symbol and a standard abbreviation for Christ in religious texts. Using "Xmas" is historically just a shorthand way of writing the holiday's name, dating back to the 16th century, rather than a secular slight.

Keep The Conversation Going

The holidays are often a blur of activity, making it easy to overlook the fascinating history hiding in plain sight. So, the next time you hang a string of lights or hear "Jingle Bells" on the radio, you'll know the real story. Share these facts at your next gathering—you might just start a new tradition of learning something new every year.