Christmas Quiz

elf the santa helper cartoon in where is your present

Gather the family together and see how many of these Christmas questions you can answer!
Which Christmas tree fact is NOT true?

A. Artificial Christmas trees have outsold real ones every year since 1991.

B. Nova Scotia leads the world in exporting Christmas trees.

C. Franklin Pierce was the first president to decorate an official White House Christmas tree.

D. The Christmas tree was chosen to represent the season because its shape points the way to heaven.

 

2. Can you name the popular Christmas song that was actually written for Thanksgiving?

A. Jingle Bells

B. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

C. I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus

D. Away in the Manger

A. Jingle Bells

 

3. Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in which year?

A. 1865

B. 1895

C. 1905

D. 1932

 

4. Good King Wenceslas was king of what country?

A. Bohemia

B. England

C. Germany

D. Morocco

 

 

5. Can you name Scrooge’s dead business partner from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol?”

A. Jacob Marley

B. Tiny Tim

C. Bob Cratchett

D. Old William

 

 

6. One of the pagan traditions that Christians have incorporated into their Christmas celebration includes hanging mistletoe. Which of these is NOT a former pagan belief?

A. Ancient Europeans believed that the mistletoe plant held magical powers to bestow life and fertility as well as protect against disease.

B. French girls used to slip branches of mistletoe beneath their pillows to dream of their future husbands.

C. The Celts believed mistetoe brought about peace and goodwill.

D. Northern Europeans associated mistletoe with the Norse goddess of love, Freya and developed the custom of kissing underneath mistletoe branches.

 

 

7. While today the Christmas tree is an enduring symbol of the season, it wasn’t always a holiday tradition. Which historical fact is NOT true?

A. According to legend, Martin Luther, the founder of German protestantism, while walking through the forest on Christmas Eve was so moved by the starlit fir trees he brought one indoors and decorated it with candles to remind his children of God’s creation.

B. In 1841, Prince Albert of Germany gave his wife, Queen Victoria of England, a gift of a Christmas tree. This was reputedly the first Christmas tree in England, but the custom quickly spread.

C. German immigrants brought the Christmas tree to Europe, the United States and Canada, where it soon became a popular tradition.

D. On a bet, 11-year-old P.T. Barnum started hawking trees in Connecticut in 1821, telling his marks they were all the rage. Soon the fashion spread throughout the country and it became tradition, thus establishing his maxim “There is a sucker born every minute.”

 

8. Many people are familiar with the term “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” but not everyone knows where it originated. Can you pick out the right explanation?

A. The Twelve Days of Christmas represents the number of days Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem.

B. The Twelve Days of Christmas represents the length of time that the three wise men from the East traveled to reach Baby Jesus after his birth.

C. The Twelve Days of Christmas represents the number of reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh.

D. The Twelve Days of Christmas represents the length of time required to celebrate Good King Wenceslas’ birthday.

 

9. Everyone loves to receive them, but some dread performing the annual holiday ritual of sending Christmas cards. So who do we NOT have to thank/blame?

A. Medieval Europeans who exchanged wood prints of religious themes for Christmas.

B. English illustrator John Calcott Horsley who created the first modern Christmas card in 1843 that depicted a family celebration with the caption “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.”

C. German-American printer Louis Prang who made advances in colour lithography allowing him to mass produce colourful Christmas cards in 1875.

D. Desmond Hallmark who had a surplus of cards left over from Arbor Day depicting a fir tree and decided to unload them by the box by simply printing Merry Christmas across the trees in red ink.

 

10. Who started the Christmas gift giving tradition?

A. The three wise men who visited the stable where Jesus was born.

B. The ancient Romans who exchanged gifts to bring good fortune for the new year.

C. Mark Antony who was always looking for new ways to please Cleopatra.

D. The ancient Greeks who sought to placate the gods on Mount Olympus.

 

 

 

Answers:

  1. D
  2. A
  3. B
  4. A
  5. A
  6. B
  7. D
  8. B
  9. D
  10. B

courtesy of thequizqueen.net