Hey, Whyvillians. I'm here to discuss with you the reasons why Christmas traditions are what they are.

Let's start with the word itself, "Christmas." Christmas actually means "Christ's Mass." This is a holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus for the religion of Christianity.

Secondly, I've always wondered why people exchange gifts on Christmas. Well after some research, I finally dug up the anwer. It is said that people give gifts because the three wisemen brought gifts to baby Jesus.

Oddly enough, no one really started exchanging presents until the late 1800's.

Next, no one really knows for sure whether baby Jesus was really born on December 25th or not. I found this interesting, because I never really thought if we knew for sure, since it was so long ago, and no one is around now to tell the story of the birth.

I also found out why people buy Christmas Trees to decorate their homes. It was a tradition that started in Germany, in 700 A.D. The tradition was passed on through many countries soon after.

And on to the mistletoe tradition. In Scandanavia, the goddess of love is hugely associated with mistletoe. The linking to romance in this situation is thought to be where our mistletoe tradition came from.

On to my favorite tradition: stockings. According to tradition, the original Saint Nicholas left his first gifts in the stockings of three girls living in poverty who needed money for their wedding dowries. Until recently, it was typical to receive nuts, fruits, vegetables, etc. in your stocking. Then it became popular to get more expensive gifts in your stocking.

And finally, everyone's most beloved holiday tradition, Santa Claus! I read an article about this jolly old fellow, and it gave me lots of information. First off, according to the Encyclopedia, Santa Claus stared with a real person named Saint Nicholas, just a saint from the fourth century.

I did not know any of this until recently, when I had a school project about Christmas. I hope you enjoyed reading this informational article, and I was really shocked at some of the information.

Well, this is kewlkid18, signing off.
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