Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without its many wonderful traditions. Here’s how a few of them began.

GIFTS: The tradition of gift-giving is as old as Christmas itself. According to the Bible, the three Magi brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Early gifts were usually homemade. Parents worked long and hard sewing rag dolls and carving wooden toys. It is still common in Germany to make a gift for the person you love best.

SANTA CLAUS: The story of Santa Claus began with a kindly bishop named Saint Nicolas.  he lived in the fourth century near Turkey, and  he often passed out gifts to children and poor people in secret.

Dutch seamen carried tales of this good saint and of his great generosity back to Holland. The legend grew as people pictured Saint Nicholas in bishop’s robes riding on a white horse.  They said he rewarded children who learned their prayers and behaved themselves.

On the feast of Saint Nicholas, December 6, Dutch children would receive presents. When Dutch settlers came to America, they brought with them their tales of the man they called “Sinter Klaas”.  The English settlers changed his name to Santa Claus.

In 1822, Clement C Moore wrote a Christmas poem for his children. Called “A Visit From Saint Nicholas,” it introduced the Santa Claus with eight reindeer that we know today. In 1862, the well-known cartoonist Thomas Nast was the first to draw Santa in a fuzzy fur-trimmed suit. Through the years, Santa Claus has become fatter and jollier. In 1930, a red-nosed reindeer named Rudolph became part of the Santa Claus story.

CHRISTMAS TREES: Evergreen trees have been a part of European writer celebrations for many centuries. The trees, sometimes decorated or trimmed with candles, were thought of as symbols of everlasting life.

The custom of decorating trees for Christmas began in Germany. An eighth century monk named Saint Boniface wanted people to stop worshipping their sacred oak, so he suggested that they decorate a fir tree in honor of the Christ Child. By the 1500s, Christmas trees were very popular in Germany, and the idea was spreading to other parts in Europe.

Each country developed its own way of decorating the Christmas tree. In Poland, people attached feathers, ribbons, or colored paper to their trees. Lithuanians made little bird cages or windmills of straw for decorations. Germans were first to make glass ornaments for Christmas trees. Just about everywhere, though, people put candles on the trees.

German settlers brought the idea of the Christmas tree to America. In the early days of this country’s history, the decorations were simple: popcorn and cranberries strung and draped over paper ornaments, chains, and stars, and wax candles in simple tin holders. President Franklin Pierce set up the first Christmas tree in the White House in 1856. But it wasn’t until 1895 that a telephone operator named Ralph Morris came up with the truly “bright” idea of stringing the first set of electric Christmas tree lights.

CHRISTMAS CARDS: Early in the 1800s, English schoolboys would send “Christmas Pieces” to their parents, trying to show off their best writing skills. Not until around 1840, however, did the first real Christmas cards appear in England. Often, they were hand-colored. Frequently, people would compete in contests for the best card design. In one contest, the top prize was $10,000—a great deal of money now and a fortune back in the nineteenth century!

By 1870, many people in England were sending Christmas cards, and the idea soon caught on in America. Louis Prang, a German immigrant to the United States, began printing colored cards in his Massachusetts factory in 1875. Today, Americans send millions of cards to each other every Christmas.

CAROLS: Music has always been an important part of Christmas. The Bible tells of the angels’ song over Bethlehem on the first Christmas night. By the fifth century, Christians were writing Christmas hymns in Latin. During the Middle Ages, troupes of costumed actors traveled from village to village, presenting a Christmas story in song. Singing and traveling gradually blended into the custom of caroling.

The true Christmas carol has its roots with Saint Francis of Assisi in Italy. From Italy, carols spread to France, to Germany, to England, and to the rest of Europe. Some of the earliest Christmas carols were folk songs passed down from parent to child.  Many of the songs were lullabies about Baby Jesus.

Caroling now is popular all around the world. In some parts of Europe, carolers are known as “star singers” because they walk behind a huge star hoisted atop a pole. Children dressed as the three Magi join the procession as the carolers sing abut the joys of Christmas.

NATIVITY SCENES: Saint Francis had the idea for the first Nativity scene. He used a live fox and donkey, and he had his students play the parts of Mary and Joseph(with a baby as Jesus) to teach his poor country parishoners the story of Christmas. Some people use the French word creche for the group of traditional figures representing the first Christmas Day.