Christmas Resources
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Contents
Advent |
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- Advent & Christmas Season Explore the symbols of the Christmas season and their meanings, get daily Scripture readings, prayers, and more.
- Everything You Need to Know about the Advent Wreath Catholic News Agency explores the meaning and orgins of the advent wreath.
- How to Celebrate Advent like a Catholic Describes what the Advent season is and describes fifteen traditions done while preparing for Christmas.
- The Purpose and Symbolism of the Advent Wreath and Candles Describes the meaning of the advent wreath and its four candles.
- Resources for Liturgy and Prayer for the Seasons of Advent and Christmas Describes the Advent and Christmas seasons including their origins, symbolism, readings, music, and more.
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Christmas from the Past and Traditions from Around the World |
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- Christmas Traditions Around the World Explore the different Christmas traditions from over sixty countries and regions.
- Museum of Science and Industry's Christmas Around the World and Holidays of Light An annual exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, this site briefly tells about different traditions around the world.
- From the Archive: Marshall Field's Christmas Windows Presents an 2000 episode of Chicago Stories that explores the history of the Christmas window displays at the State Street store of Marshall Field's.
- 30 Best Holiday Cookies from Around the World Recipes Christmas cookies are a tradition all over the world. Here are thirty cookie recipes from Argentina, China, Brazil, France, Mexico, Finland, Poland, Germany, Spain, Japan, Greece, Russia, Italy, and more.
- Why Christmas? Discover how Christmas is celebrated around the world and how some of our beloved traditions came to be.
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Christmas Carols, Hymns, and Songs |
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- Christmas Carols Provides the lyrics and history of a variety of Christmas carols, songs, poems, and more.
- The Hymns and Carols of Christmas Presents lyrics and known history of many Christmas hymns, carols, and songs.
- PNC Christmas Price Index PNC calculates how much it would cost you if you sent your true love everything mentioned in the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas.
- A Short History of The Christmas Song Tells the story of how Mel Torme and Bob Wells wrote The Christmas Song and convincing Nat King Cole to record it.
- Silent Night Web Discover the origin of Silent Night.
- White Christmas: The Story Behind the Song Gives details on the history of Irving Berlin's Christmas classic, White Christmas.
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Christmas Literature |
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- Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol View an autographed handwritten copy of A Christmas Carol, from the Morgan Library & Museum.
- Christmas Stories A collection of Christmas stories, poems, and carols including works by Hans Christian Andersen, O. Henry, Louisa May Alcott, Henry van Dyke, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Washington Irving, Charles Dickens, and many more.
- Christmas Bells: A Christmas Carol's Civil War Origin Tells the story of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his Christmas poem "Christmas Bells."
- Dickens & Christmas An online article that describes how Charles Dickens influenced how Christmas is celebrated in Great Britain and the United States with his Christmas stories especially A Christmas Carol.
- The Gift of the Magi Project Gutenberg presents the full text of O. Henry's short story, The Gift of the Magi.
- The Night Before Christmas: A Descriptive Bibliography of Clement Clarke Moore's Immortal Poem This site is advertising a book, but contains a biography of Moore, complete text of the poem, and the history of the poem.
- The Nutcracker The Russian State Ballet and Opera House presents The Nutcracker ballet performed by National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Mari El. Music composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
- The Nutcracker Ballet Explore the story, music, history, and more.
- The Polar Express Learn more about Chris Van Allsburg and his award winning picture book, The Polar Express.
- Writing "Rudolph:" The Original Red-Nosed Manuscript Did you know that Rudolph was born right here in Chicago as a promotion for a department store? This site tells the story of the red-nosed reindeer's creation and includes images of the original manuscript.
- Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus In 1897, an eight-year-old girl wrote to The Sun asking if Santa Claus really exists. The response, written by Francis Pharcellus Church, captured the hearts of all Americans. This site provides a digital printing of the letter to the editor and the newspaper clipping.
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Christmas Symbols, Traditions, and Customs |
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- The Art of Christmas Stamps The Smithsonian's National Postal Museum presents this slide show of Christmas stamps from 1965 to 2007.
- Candy Cane History Summarizes the origin and symbolism of the candy cane.
- Christmas Card History Describes the history of sending Christmas cards with images of old, rare and unusual cards.
- A Christmas Story House and Museum Fans of the 1983 classic film will love this site. Raphie's house is now a museum!
- History of the Christmas Tree Presents the history of the Christmas tree from its pagan origin to present day.
- How Fruitcake Works Presents an article about fruitcake including its origin, what it is, and more.
- Live North Pole Cam 2023 Watch live Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the elves prepare for Santa's big night. Set up by Festive Studio.
- NORAD Tracks Santa The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has been tracking Santa's voyage around the world on Christmas Eve throughout its history. This is a fun site about Santa and NORAD for all ages.
- Poinsettia Pages From the University of Illinois Extension, this site is all about poinsettias, including its history, facts, selection, care, and more.
- Saint Nicholas: Discovering the Truth about Santa Claus Discover the story of St. Nicholas, the origins of Santa Claus, and how St. Nicholas Day is celebrated around the world.
- Wassail! British History: A History describes the tradition of wassail and wassailing which goes back to the Anglo-Saxon era.
- What Is the History of Eggnog? PBS's The History Kitchen looks into the origin of eggnog and even how it once started a riot.
- Why Do We Have Christmas Trees? National Geographic examines the history of the Christmas tree and its traditions around the world.
- Wishbook Web View the Sears Christmas catalogs from 1937-1996.
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