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When did 'Merry Christmas' start?
When did 'Merry Christmas' become 'happy Christmas'?
Is Merry Christmas a Merry Christmas?
When was 'Merry Christmas' first used as a seasonal salutation?
What's the origin of the phrase 'Merry Christmas'? “ A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You ” was the verse that was shown on the first commercially available Christmas card in 1843.
Dec 8, 2021 · But "Merry Christmas" has been used since at least 1534. A dated letter from bishop John Fisher to Henry VIII's chief minister Thomas Cromwell reveals as much. The English carol, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," which was introduced in the 1500s, also uses the popular phrase.
- rebekah.lowin@hearst.com
- 2 min
- Editor
Jun 30, 2021 · There aren't many documented changes to the use of Merry Christmas as a seasonal phrase until the beginning of the 19 th century, when the performance of Christmas traditions began becoming solidified across Europe and the United States.
- “Merry Christmas” Greetings
- The TV Yule Log
- “Do You Hear What I Hear?“
- Snow Globes
- “Silent Night”
- NORAD’s Santa Tracker
Brian Earl’s Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions traces the first known instance of “Merry Christmas” to a 16th-century letter from a bishop to England’s Chief Minister, in which the religious leader hoped God would bless the politician with a “Merry Christmas.” The carol “God Rest Ye Merry, gentlemen” a...
Americans without a fireplace can just turn on their TVs at Christmastime and get an hours-long loop of a burning log, often with a soundtrack of Christmas carols. The first televised yule log dates back to 1966, filmed at a fireplace in Gracie Mansion, then the home of New York City Mayor John Lindsay. The TV station WPIX found itself short on pro...
Six decades ago, in Oct. 1962, husband-and-wife songwriters Nöel Regney—yes, Nöel—and Gloria Shayne wrote “Do You Hear What I Hear?” as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis, according to Michael P. Foley’s Why We Kiss under the Mistletoe: Christmas Traditions Explained.That’s clear from the line “Pray for peace, people everywhere!” Coin...
According to Earl, the common wintertime souvenir—a plastic or glass orb filled with liquid and fake snow that falls on a landscape—was originally developed as a way to light surgical operating rooms in the era before widespread electricity. In 1900, Erwin Perzy, who made surgical instruments in Vienna, Austria, tried placing a water-filled glass g...
Another Christmas tradition of Austrian origins, the Christmas carol “Silent Night” was first performed in 1818 and was written by Joseph Mohr, a priest at the Catholic St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf. As Foley tells TIME, Mohr was “an Austrian priest who was very eager to celebrate a high mass for his congregation on Christmas, but the organ brok...
In 1955, a child was trying to reach Santa from a phone number listed in a Sears Roebuck ad and, due to a misprint, ended up reaching the red phone at the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. At the height of the Cold War, the phone was only supposed to ring if there was bad news. Air Force Col. Harry...
Oct 27, 2009 · The first official Christmas card debuted in 1843 England with the message, “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.”
Dec 12, 2021 · The earliest known use of the term “Merry Christmas,” dates back to 1535 when Bishop John Fisher used it in a letter to Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VIII’s chief minister.
Dec 13, 2014 · The first reference I can find in the OED to "Merry Christmas" is from 1534. This date very roughly corresponds with the English Reformation and Henry VIII's breach with Rome. From that time the idea of a "Merry Christmas" seems to take off with several entries in the 17th century.
