Christmas has so many traditions. They vary from country to country and even from family to family. Some practices may come from earlier generations, while others are quite new, for example Elf on the shelfand some are – just plain – weird.
Christmas expert James has shared some of the weirdest Christmas traditions around Christmas trees. “Well, the first public Christmas trees were set on fire! It dates back to the late 1400s/early 1500s. There is a dispute between the cities of Tallinn in Estonia (in 1441) and Riga, Latvia in 1510 to find out who had the first large public tree – both claim that!The trees were erected by the “Brotherhood of the Blackheads”, an association of unmarried merchants, shipowners and foreigners in Livonia – what is today Estonia and Latvia (thus the trees would have started near Lithuania, Bored Panda’s homeland!) We don’t know much about the trees except that they were planted in the squares of the town, danced around, then set on fire!
While the Eastern Europeans chose to dance around the burning trees, the Spaniards put a log under the tree.
“In the Catalonia region of Spain, you might find something quite unusual under your tree – the ‘Tió de Nadal’ (the Christmas log) otherwise known as ‘Caga tió’ (poo log!). He is a small hollow log supported on two legs with a smiley face painted on one end (a log version of Thomas the Tank Engine) and he wears a red hat. From December 8, Catalan families give the log treats to “eat” and a blanket to keep it warm. On Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, you sing a special song and hit the log with sticks to help its “digestion” and the log drops candy, nuts, and dried fruit. When a garlic or onion falls from the log, all treats are over for the year! shared James.
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