Dale’s Daily Data: Christmas Traditions & Superstitions

In Italy, instead of Christmas trees, they decorated small wooden pyramids with fruit.

Ukranians decorate their trees with an artificial spider and matching web.  A spider web found on Christmas morning is believed to bring good luck.

In Caracas, Venezuela, they block off the streets on Christmas eve so that people can rollerskate to church.

A British Christmas tradition is that a wish made while mixing the Christmas pudding will come true only if the ingredients are stirred in a clockwise direction.

A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard.

In Japan - it's bad etiquette to send anyone a red Christmas card.  That's because funeral notices there are usually printed in red..

In Norway on Christmas Eve, all the brooms in the house are hidden because it was always believed that witches and spirits came out on Christmas Eve and would steal their brooms for riding.

Some European superstitions - eat an apple at midnight on Christmas Eve and you'll have good health for the next year.

Refuse mince meat pie at Christmas dinner and you'll have bad luck for the next year.

The fire in your fireplace must burn for the entire 12 days of Christmas.  It's bad luck to let the fire burn out.