I ’m genuinely appal by the nuthatch ’s origin …
1.Some European stories involve Krampus, a horned beast who kidnaps children (omg festive! x).
2.Carollers used to break into landlords' homes and demand their best food and wine.
3.It wasonce illegalto celebrate Christmas.
4.The idea for tinsel could come from spiderwebs.
5.Mince pies (or “tartes of flesh” as they were called in 1390) used to contain real meat. Puritans also attempted to ban them altogether.
6.Allow me to introduce you to Mari Lwyd, a festive horse skull.
7.The Nutcracker is a beautiful ballet — based on a truly terrifying kid’s story.
8.Oh, your town doesn’t have a festive visit from a cannibalistic scarecrow who roams the fields searching for children? Sounds like you’re in need of a Hans Trapp.
9.Santa comes down the chimney for lots of spooky, supernatural reasons.
10.The tradition of making a gingerbread home at Christmas supposedly comes from the deeply spooky (and cannibalistic) Hansel and Gretel fairytale.
11.Mistletoe was once used to pardon criminals.
12.Leaving out milk and cookies for Santa is a tradition that blew up in the hardships of the Great Depression.
13.We could leave out stockings because of an old myth about poverty.
14.Baubles could derive from decorations that were created to deter witches.
15.The “Good King Wenceslas” from aChristmas carolabout helping someone in a snowstorm wasbased on a real person— who died horribly.
16.“Toasting” drinks comes from a frankly gross-sounding food tradition.
17.In Iceland, the Yule Lads take the place of Santa — and stories about their punishments for badly-behaved kids were once so creepy, it became illegal to tell them to children.
