Have you tried my fun Christmas quiz? Answers below:
Q1 Thomas Smith invented the Christmas cracker in 1847. What was his occupation (according to the 1851 census)?
Tom Smith was a confectioner. In the 1851 census, he is living in Islington with his wife, servant and two young sons. (Sons Thomas, Henry and Walter would continue the business after their father’s death.)
Q2 "I will honour Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year." Where - in 1812 - was the author of A Christmas Carol baptised?
Charles Dickens was baptised in Portsea, Hampshire. The Dickens family moved back to London when Charles was aged three.
Q3 Who is credited with bringing the Christmas tree to Britain?
Although Prince Albert is often given credit for introducing the Christmas tree to England, it was actually Queen Charlotte, wife of George III who set up the first recorded Christmas tree – a yew – in 1800.
Q4 According to the popular carol: “Good King Wenceslas looked out on the Feast of Stephen…” When is the Feast of Stephen?
The feast of Stephen is on 26 December (Boxing Day).
Q5 In 1532 Henry VIII accepted gifts from Anne Boleyn but rejected gifts from his wife, Katherine of Aragon. On which day were the gifts presented to the king?
Gifts were traditionally presented on New Year’s Day.
Q6 From 1659 to 1681, “whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or the like” was subject to a fine. In which location was Christmas banned?
The Puritans in Massachusetts banned Christmas from 1659 to 1681. (The 1647 English Parliament banned the observance of Christmas and other Holy Days, repealed by Charles II in1660. Meanwhile, the Scottish Parliament officially banned Christmas in 1640. This ban was not revoked until 1712.)
Q7 In the Middle Ages a choirboy was elected to act as bishop for the Christmas period. Which Tudor monarch first banned the practice of boy bishops?
The practice was first banned by Henry VIII, restored by Mary I and finally abolished by Elizabeth I. Salisbury Cathedral revived the practice in the 1980's. Each December, a young chorister is installed as Bishop and delivers an Evensong service.
Q8 In 1939, copywriter Robert May was tasked with creating a Christmas promotion for his employers at a Chicago department store. What was Robert May’s idea?
The department store Montgomery Ward tasked Robert May with creating a new children’s book as part of their Christmas promotion. That book would become Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Q9 Queen Elizabeth II's first Christmas broadcast was delivered live from Sandringham in 1952. But in which year did the queen not deliver a Christmas broadcast?
The Queen did not deliver a Christmas broadcast in 1969. The documentary A Royal Family had been made in the summer in connection with the Investiture of the Prince of Wales, so it was decided not to do a broadcast at Christmas.
Q10 In 1944, the Minister of Food addressed the House of Commons: “At Christmas we think first of the children and I have decided that everyone between the ages of six months and 18 years shall be entitled to an extra ration of-“
Children received an extra ration of a half pound of sweets for the Christmas period.
Sources & Further Reading
Brain, Jessica, “A Puritan Christmas under Cromwell”, Historic UK, https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Cromwell-Puritan-Christmas/
“Christmas banned in Boston!”, New Boston Post, https://newbostonpost.com/2015/12/03/christmas-banned-in-boston/
Gaunt, Peter, “An Expert Explains…The Myth that Oliver Cromwell Abolished Christmas”, University of Chester, https://www1.chester.ac.uk/news/expert-explains%E2%80%A6-myth-cromwell-abolished-christmas
Flanders, Judith. Christmas: A History, Picador, 2018.
“New Year’s Day and the Tudors: A Lesson in Celebrations”, Historic Royal Palaces, https://blog.hrp.org.uk/curators/new-years-day-and-the-tudors-a-lesson-in-celebrations/
“Orders for the Boy Bishop Ceremony”, St Nicholas Center, https://www.stnicholascenter.org/how-to-celebrate/resources/liturgical/orders/boy-bishop-ceremonies
Pupovac, Jessica, “Writing ‘Rudolph’: The Original Red-Nosed Manuscript”, Heard on Morning Edition, https://www.npr.org/2013/12/25/256579598/writing-rudolph-the-original-red-nosed-manuscript
Stoyle, Mark, “Did Oliver Cromwell ban Christmas? The Puritan assault on Christmas during the 1640s and 1650”, History Extra, https://www.historyextra.com/period/stuart/no-christmas-under-cromwell-the-puritan-assault-on-christmas-during-the-1640s-and-1650s/
Tourgee, Heather “How the Puritans Banned Christmas”, New England.com, https://newengland.com/yankee/history/how-the-puritans-banned-christmas/