Christmas is taking place on the 25th December
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HAPPY CHRISTMAS :-)

They should move it to July, the shops are always busy in December.

ive got a lecture on christmas in my 19th century popular culture module on thursday, i have done it briefly before but im sure its going to be a good refresher.

santa was originally green and it was one of those american brands that turned him red!

Yeah he used to be evil and feared too before coke changed that

haha, bingo, it was coca cola, thats why all these red suits and red hats are all a commercial thing and not in the spirit of xmas itself.

Don't say Santa was evil, you'll end up on his naughty list!

Anyway, the links with paganism are most likely to be because of similarities between Santa and the Norse God 'Odin' who had a flying horse, a bit like Santa with his flying reindeer.

The idea that Santa was originally green is also questionable:-

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2007/dec/10/coke-denies-claims-it-bottled-familiar-santa/

I really hope saying this helps keep me in his good books...

Happy xmas Weeman and all of Wiki xx

So do we think its going to be a white christmas?

Hope so Tony!

its deffo looking like its coming, we have 12 days to wait and see!

has anyone got a class of coke? im thirsty after reading all this Cheers MERRY CHRISTMAS x .

hi mike, it does the job does it not, what a marketing tool!

YES wish i had shares in the company! I believe in santa i wont him to bring me a BIG train set for christmas?.

Dont we all, it just shows how a clever piece of marketing can become so global and can last for so long.

Yes Santas suit was originally green back when he was known as St Nicholas, he then had a totally different meaning to the Santa Clause we know today.

The truth behind the Santa we see in our times came about in the early 1950's and someone we all know very well helped to create this image.

Coca Cola had a problem with sales in some European contries at the time due to 2 reasons.

1. Post war depression

2. Unknown product hard to introduce due to the depression.

To make the product saleable world wide they had to come up with a sales pitch to capture this market. One clever sales marketer sent to Europe was studying up on childrens stories whilst there and came across St Nicholas, a man who gave willingly to children so that they may have some joy in their poor lives and decided to spread the sales of cola with a jolly fat man in a red and white suit, which perfectly matched their product colours, and instilled a feeling of joy about a man like St. nicholas who gave presents one day of each year to enrich their lives even just for a while.

Not knowing this was created just to sell a product the Europeans took to it like a duck to water in the thought that America had stories similar to their own fabled St nicholas.

Tony, Tony, Tony....

Coca-cola's marketing of their product at Christmas with Santa began well before the 1950's. It was during the 1930's that they started showing Santa clutching a bottle of Coca-cola. And they didn't change his colours from green to red. Even their own web-site says it's a myth...

http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/cokelore_santa.html

That's you on the naughty list now...

Do you know this for a fact or did your mate see it on someone's wall on Facebook

St Nicholas
www.whychristmas.com/customs/fatherchristmas.shtml

Tony, Tony, Tony..

Santa wasn't nailed to the cross so you could get your facts wrong.

Ooo geekus you learn something new everyday

You see Tony, that's why he was red, not green.

...and to think that, as an historical researcher, you're supposed to be a future bert1.

only did a quick copy and paste job from google. i accept my punishment

No worries mate. Just don't be telling us in another few months time that the Easter Bunny was a member of the Hitler Youth...

Fascinating stuff from all you "clever clogs".
I really enjoyed reading all your information on this subject

was he not? haha

Not as strange as it sounds is it Geekus, Nazi communion and all that.

The way that the Nazi Party tried to re-write the history of the World it wouldn't surprise me if some people believe that he was.

If you've ever read George Orwell's novel '1984' you'll be well aware of the slogan 'he who controls the past, controls the future'.

Sounds more like any wife rather than 1984.

I was however referring to the Nazi party new influx of youth at Easter time every year, but of course you are right, he who controls the past........

I must dig out my documents from when i did the christmas origins briefly whilst doing history at A level.

I will write some of it up and we can clarify the whole Christmas malarky.

Easter being a time of re-birth and resurrection, I wonder if symbolically they were trying to create a myth of Germany's 'rebirth' and the Hitler Youth being the future of that new nation?

Anyway, I digress. Some of our British Christmas traditions do, of course, come from Germany, what with the influence of Prince Albert in Victorian times.

Jerry does the best Christmas Markets and gluwein isn't bad either. They celebrate Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day and Christmas Eve is when they have their Christmas dinner. Gen.

I reckon we should forego the christmas dinner and just get on with the party. :-)

Agreed, don't like roasts

my mums roast would change ur mind

The roast is the best part!!!

Roast tatties and parsnips. Droooooooooooooooool !

Well if it involves anything other than yorkshire puddings, stuffing and apple sauce then I doubt it

homemade yorkshires and my homemade apple sauce yum yum yum

Nutritionaly not as bad as other diets I have read on here!

I thought my diet was pretty bad till I read that what are you eating thread, takeaways every friday, yeesh!

Didn't know that Angel Delight was still available, thought it had been banned. Maybe you can only buy it in Scotland, they are renowned for their poor diets!

Bread sauce,bring it on,yum yum!

Nope we bought some butterscotch angel delight about a year ago but I'm sure I've seen it quite a few times in the shops!

and the Pigs in Blankets. Gorgeaus!!

Don't like the idea of bread sauce though P.P, imagine it would taste like chyme!!! Bleugh (sorry to be graphic)lol

In some cases, several times a week!!! Not a vegetable, in sight

Aww Rude don't spoil it for me,thats the only thing i eat which is different to my normal sunday roast.
sprouts parsnips, pigs in blankets are the norm,and i don't like turkey so never have it anyway,and you can keep the cranberry sauce too,sweet stuff with a roast is just not right!!

As a kid, I could never get my head around why there was a pot of 'jam' on the table!! lol

Sorry hun, you enjoy your bread sauce xx

I probably wouldn't eat a vegetable if I was living alone to be fair

lol at the Jam. I'll enjoy my bread sauce,especially on a butty with chicken the next day.

I also can't stomach mince pies,christmas pudd or chocolates with liquers in,yuck!

Where do Wiki-ites stand on the Christmas dinner staple- Sprouts!!!

I tolerate them.
Plusone loves them.

I am a fan of sprouts, but like one or two, I go off them after that
Also really don't like christmas pudding, bleurgh!

I love sprouts have them most weeks frozen, but they are deffo better fresh and supposedly better after they have had a frosty night,according to an old farmer!

Don't bother with the Pud, or liqueurs, or Stollenburg, or Yule Logs, well....you saw my Christmas Food rant
We don't go o.t.t atall. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day we have a 'party tea' and Lunch with the trimmings on Christmas day and Boxing day.
Then its back to 'normal food' til NYE!!

Don't even bother with Gateuxs/ Cheesecakes and the likes- there is only 4-6 of us- so why buy a 12-14 serving mahoosive cake?
We just get the platter from iceland and defrost one of each 'item' per person. it suits us-plus we tend to weigh the same at the end of the festivities!!

Ooh, fresh is deffo better than frozen,i agree.
Thanks for that tip,may leave them outside over night.

Same here Rude,melting chocolate puds from Marks with their extra thick double cream or trifle without the sherry.

I think he meant picked out of the field after frosty nights,lol but it may work.Mum chops bacon up,fries it quick and then mixes it with sprouts before serving,yum yum.

sprouts

Oh Gawd -trifle!!! Plus is raving on about my mums trifle, so i said " i can make bloody trifle as well, you know"

So now, it looks like I'm having a Trifle-Off, with my mum- haha.
She dousn't know it yet!!

( mum );)

@ P.P lol,must be having a blonde moment. lol.

@ Jabber, Not a fan then?