Hot History - BONUS: Ho Ho Hot History

Episode Date: December 22, 2023

Get in the festive spirit with some of my favourite Historical Christmas traditions from Austria to Japan! Have a blessed and happy Holiday season xx

Hello and welcome back to another episode of Hot History, the podcast where we talk about the things in history that you probably should know, but don't. I am so excited to have you listening along for this bonus episode of Hot History as we dive into some fun, festive facts to get you in the Christmas spirit. From Austrian half-goat demons to Victorian holiday games, we will unpack some of the most fascinating historical Christmas traditions around the globe. Class is in session. Christmas means a lot of different things to a lot of different people around the world, but it is first and foremost known as the Christian Festival, which celebrates the birth of Jesus. So, let's just get that out of the way first.

Pre-Christianity, December 25th was known to the pagans as Dea Sosolos in Victor Sinardi, or the day of the birth of the conquered sun. Now you may ask, who the fuck are the pagans? Well, generally speaking, a pagan is a Christian term used to describe anyone who they believed worshipped false gods. In this time period, the pagans that we are talking about are the Romans, who believed in multiple gods such as Apollo and Jupiter. But back to the 25th of December. The significance of this date as a key point in the winter solstice is seen as a symbol of the resurgence of the sun, which kicked winter to the curb and bought about the rebirth. birth of spring and summer. Now the New Testament in the Christian Bible provides no actual date

for the birth of Jesus, and it wasn't until about 220 years after Jesus' birth that the first Christian historian, sextus Julius Africanus, identified the 25th as the date, which seems rather convenient, given the push for Christianity to be adopted by pagans of that time, and what better way to do that than repurposing another. date of significance in their own calendar. And indeed, many Christian historians since have looked at the similarities between the winter solstice as the rebirth of the sun, S-U-N, and Christmas as the birth of Jesus, as the sun, S-O-N, of God. But now that we've got the religion and the origin out of the way, how was Christmas celebrated throughout time? The answers are so diverse that we've

be here for days, so I'm going to focus on five of my favorite, fascinating, festive frivolities. And of course, we have to look first and foremost to the big guy, Saint Nicholas. St. Nick was the bishop of Mira, a city in Turkey in the 4th century AD. He was imprisoned and likely tortured during the persecution of Christians by the Roman Emperor deacletian, but was released under the rule of Constantine the Great, who instituted Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. Once released, St. Nicholas devoted himself to giving, and his reputation for generosity and kindness gave rise to legends of miracles he performed for the poor and unhappy. He was reputed to have even given marriage dowries of gold to three

girls whom poverty would otherwise have forced into lives of prostitution. In the Middle Ages, devotion to Nicholas extended to all parts of Europe. He became the patron saint of Russia and Greece, of charitable fraternities and guilds, of children, sailors, unmarried girls and more. However, after the Reformation, Protestant countries dropped St. Nick, except Holland, where his legend persisted as Sinterclass, a Dutch variant of the name St. Nicholas. Dutch colonists took this tradition with them to New Amsterdam, now New York City, in the American colonies in the 17th century. Sinterclass was then adopted by the country's English-speaking majority under the name Santa Claus, and his legend of a kindly old man was united with the old

Nordic folk tales of a magician who punished naughty children and rewarded good children with presents. The resulting image of Santa Claus in the United States crystallized in the 19th century, and he has ever since remained the patron of the gift-giving festival of Christmas. Now, Santa is the undisputed most famous Christmas tradition and is known by several other names throughout the world, most notably as Father Christmas in the UK. No matter what you call him, if you're good, then he'll sure pay you a visit. But what about if you're naughty? Well, if you're in Austria, then coal in your stocking is the least of your worries, because you may instead get a whipping from Crampus. According to Central European legend,

crampus is a half-goat, half-demon monster that punishes misbehaving children at Christmas time. He's also known to be the companion of St. Nicholas, with his origins lining up in the 12th century Germany as the name derives from the German word crampin, meaning claw. Crampus was thought to be part of pagan rituals for the winter solstice and symbolizes the onset of the dark nights and the pressure of surviving in the cold alps during the winter. This piece of pagan supernatural belief was prevalent in this part of Central Europe when the Romans conquered the region in the late 1st, century BC during the reign of Emperor Augustus. But with the spread of Christianity, Cranbus became associated with Christmas, despite the best efforts by the Catholic Church to ban him, and I mean, look him up. The dude's scary as hell. According to legend, Cranpus and St. Nick are meant to arrive on the evening of December 5th, and while St. Nick

rewards nice children by leaving presents, Cranbus beats those who are naughty with branches and sticks. In some cases, he's even said to eat them. One of the festivals involving crampus includes the crampus lough, aka the crampus run, in which usually drunk people dress up as crampus and parade the streets chasing spectators, hitting them with branches. Beginning in the late 20th century amid efforts to preserve cultural heritage, crampus runs became increasingly popular in Austria and Germany,

and it's still done to. day. So much so that my entire TikTok for you page was full of crampuses or crampi or whatever the plural is, but probably two weeks earlier this December. And they have like properly scary and there's no pretending to be whipping either. If you don't run, they will whip you with Austrian tree branches. And I don't think they care if you've been naughty or nice. If we look next to Scandinavia, we have the Yule log. And no, I'm not talking about the sponge. dessert, although, yum. Yule is the name of the old winter solstice festivals in Scandinavia and other parts of northern Europe, and the burning of the Yule log could have started out as an entire

tree, or at least a very, very large log that was carefully chosen and bought into the house with great ceremony. The largest end of the log would be placed into the fire hearth while the rest of the tree stuck out into the room. The current log would be lit from the remains of the previous sea's log, which had been carefully stored away and put into the fire throughout the 12 days of Christmas. The concept of the Yule log was picked up all over Europe throughout the ages. In France, it's traditional for the whole family to help with it, and if any of the log is left, it's kept in the family's safehold. In the Netherlands, the log has to also be stored under a bed. Now, the Scandinavians, of course, came to England as Vikings, and the Yule log tradition

stuck throughout the medieval era, with kings burning logs in the bed. their hearths. Speaking of England and the Middle Ages, they had some absolutely whack Christmas games. During the medieval era, we had hot cockles, where blindfolded victims had to guess who'd slapped them from behind, and if the guess was right, then the slapper became the victim. In the early Tudor era, we have the king of the bean, where a bean was baked into a cake, and the person who got it in their slice became the king. If it was a woman, she would elect a person, who would then become the king, which everybody had to imitate all night long. In the Elizabethan era, Queen Elizabeth I had her own tradition for the cushion dance, where a man laid a cushion

before his wished for partner, which she knelt on, kissed him and then joined dancing. Then she chose her partner in the same way until everybody was dancing. Sounds like a hornfess to me, but perhaps the dancers got their energy from sugar rather than hormones, which Richard tutored people loved. They drank sweet wine and held Christmas sugar banquets where elaborate sugar models of castles, dragons, holy and even goblets were all edible. As a fellow sweet treat lover, this has to be one of my faves. But there is, of course, one element of Christmas we have missed. And what good is Chrissy without presents and a tree? Well, for those, we have to thank two horny cousins. That's right. The Notorious

Seriously, sex-loving Queen Victoria and her husband and first cousin Prince Albert gave birth not just to nine children, but to the modern Christmas traditions we know and love. Christmas, particularly the Christmas tree, were a largely European trend, and while the English aristocracy had been aware of the German Christmas tradition of a tree since the early 1800s, it was Prince Albert, originally from Germany, who helped to make Christmas trees fashionable in Britain. Indeed, if it's good enough for the Queen, it's good enough for a all. As well as trees, the Victorians decorated their houses with things such as Holly and Ivy and began putting a star of angels on top of the tree. Another Victorian Christmas tradition is

the Christmas card and not just any kind. The Victorians loved creepy ones, a la crampus kind of vibe. With the advances in railroads also making it easy for family and friends to see one another, Christmas became an event to spend time with others and celebrate. Indeed, the popularity of a Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens in 1843 featuring the humbug Ebenezer Scrooge is primarily due to the fact that it encapsulates the idea that charitable giving and spending time with family is the reason for the season. The Victorians believed also that this charity should be extended to those beyond friends and family, so much so that in 1851 a marquee was saying. set up in Leicester Square in London to feed people who are homeless or struggling.

So as you yourself sit down to open your presents or get stuck into your lunch on December 25th, then perhaps you'll spare a second for Prince Albert and the venerable Victorians for giving us the Christmas we know and love today. But of course, not everyone celebrates like this. In fact, in Japan, Christmas is practically spelled with a K and an F and a C. In the 1970s, a campaign started to tempt tourists and expats to travel to Japan for Christmas, and it did so by providing them chicken when they couldn't find turkey to eat. This campaign was started by Takeshi Okawara, the manager of the very first KFC in Japan.

After opening his first branch, the westernised red and white signage confused locals who thought it was a barbershop. So with his business on the line, he went on radio and explained that in the West, The custom of KFC at Christmas was what people did instead of Turkey, and it stuck. So many Japanese people, Christians or not, began eating KFC for Christmas, so much so, that by 1973, KFC had 75 chains. And in 1974, they launched marketing campaign Kentucky for Christmas. And still today, December is gangbusters for the fast food giant, with some stores daily steak in the Christmas period being 10 times,

higher than that of normal. Perhaps not the most historically groundbreaking Christmas tradition on this list, but certainly one of the funnest. Now last, but certainly not least. Let's talk about mistletoe. And for that, we are going way back to the grandson of Norse god Thor. Baldur, as he was known, woke up one morning certain that each and every plant and animal on earth wanted to kill him. his mother consult him, his wife consult him, but all to no avail. As Boulder cowed in his room, his mother and wife decided to ask every living thing to leave their poor child and man in peace. They begged the kindness of the oak tree, the pig, the cow, the crow, the anne and even the worm. Each agreed. Then, as Baldar, paused to celebrate his release from torment. He felt a pain

in his chest. He had been stabbed and killed. by an arrow made from the wood of a mistletoe plant. Missletoe was the one species on earth his wife and mother had failed to notice. Bauda died, but a lesson was learned. Never forget the mistletoe. As such, mistletoe would come to hang over doors as a reminder to never forget. We kissed beneath it to remember what Boulder's wife and mother forgot. We can also look to the ancient Celtic druids of the first century AD,

as mistletoe could bloom even during the frozen, winter. The druids came to view it as a sacred symbol of vivacity and they claimed it for both humans and animals as a hope of restoring fertility. Missile-toes association with fertility and vitality continued through the Middle Ages and by the 18th century had become widely incorporated into Christmas celebrations. Just how it made the jump from sacred herb to holiday decoration remains up for debate, but the kissing tradition appears to have first caught on amongst servants in England before spreading to the middle classes. As part of the early customs,

men were allowed to steal a kiss from any women caught standing under the mistletoe, and refusing was viewed as bad luck. How very convenient for the men. Kissing under the mistletoe has become synonymous for Christmas, particularly in pop culture. It appears in Charles Dickens a Christmas carol and just about every Hallmark movie ever made

to symbolise love, and often used as a Christmassy meat cute. Interestingly, the name Missletoe comes from two Anglo-Saxon words, Missal, which means shit and tan, which means twig or stick. So you could really translate Missletoe as shit on a stick. Not exactly romantic and not exactly Christmassy, and certainly not to the point. But the more you know. No matter how you celebrate Christmas, whether it's with some crampas runs,

eulogs, shit on a stick, or perhaps. not at all. I wish you were restful and blessed holiday period and of course a very, very happy new year. And that brings us to the end of another episode of Hot History. If you'd like to support us, then you can find us on Spotify and Apple Podcast as Hot History. Follow us on TikTok at hot dot history and on Instagram at Hot History Club. As always, it is a pleasure getting down and dirty in time with you and make sure to tune in with us early in the new year as we discuss the beautiful, bashful and incredibly vain Empress Sissy.