I
thought that this time on the blog we would play a game of True or False. We do this from time, however, normally the topic is a person, place or even a thing. This time we play our game with Christmas. Do you know your facts? Take a moment and see.
Q1 – The word Mistletoe actually means “Dung On A Stick”?
Answer: While not the exact translation this is true! Most people think of mistletoe as being romantic, but it isn’t, not really. The name derives from mistletan, which means a twig of mistle; the seeds of the plant are propagated through the excrement of birds, notably the mistle thrush. If you now take account that the old Germanic word ‘mist’ means dung, mistletoe’s name translates as Dung plant.
Q2 – The modern image of a fat, red-suited Santa Claus was invented by the Coca-Cola Company.
Answer: Not true although one would think it was. In 1931 Coca-Cola commissioned the artist Haddon Sundblom to create images of Santa Claus drinking from a bottle of Coke. Sundblom depictions of Santa became very, very popular, but it’s not the modern image of Santa. By the early twentieth century, Santa was already commonly being depicted as a fat, jolly, red-suited, long-bearded old man. For instance, a greeting card drawn by Louis Prang in 1885 shows a Santa essentially identical to the one we know today.
Q3 – The bones of the original Santa Claus (St. Nicholas) are preserved in a church in Italy.
Answer: This is true! St. Nicholas was a fourth-century bishop who lived in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Upon his death, his bones were preserved in the town of Myra, but in 1087 these bones were stolen and moved to the town of Bari in Italy. They remain there to this day, located in the church of San Nicola.
Do you like this? You can find more of these true and false blogs at Ron’s Amazing Stories – The Blog. Just click-here to see the entire catalog of articles.
This Week’s Podcast:
On the podcast this week we have three more stories sent in by you, two special science fiction tales from those 50’s pulp magazines, and a Christmas story from Tom. One of the stories sent in by Lizzie is on my top list of most scary ever! You can listen to this podcast on Thursday at Ron’s Amazing Stories, download it from iTunes, stream it on Stitcher Radio or on the mobile version of Spotify. Do you prefer the radio? We are heard every Sunday Night at 8:00 PM (PST) on AMFM247.COM. Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this link.
Ron’s Amazing Stories is produced and hosted by Ronald Hood:
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