3rd Quiz
1) In Shakespeare's "Hamlet", one character describes a common belief
that in the Christmas season:
A) Dogs and cats refrain from fighting
B) Roosters crow all night long
C) Unpenned sheep will gather at the church
D) White horses should be ridden only by children
2) "Oidhche na ceapairi" is a term the Irish use for Christmas Eve. It
means:
A) Come to the dance
B) Day of Waiting
C) End of the fast
D) Night of cakes
3) Which well-known fantasy author also created a book called "The
Father Christmas Letters"?
A) Lewis Carroll
B) J.R.R. Tolkien
C) E. Nesbit
D) C.S. Lewis
4) Santa's reindeer are most closely related to which of the following
animals?
A) Caribou
B) Elk
C) Moose
D) White-tailed deer
5) In E. Nesbit's Christmas story "The Conscience Pudding", what is the
problem with the Christmas pudding?
A) It tastes of soap, and is undercooked
B) The family dog has eaten half of it
C) The children used peppercorns instead of dried currants
D) It has rolled behind the stove, and no one can get it out
6) "Oplatek" is an important part of a Polish Christmas. It is:
A) A decoration made from cherry boughs
B) An empty place left at the table during the Christmas meal
C) A special wafer shared by all who are present
D) The name of the traditional gift-bringer
7) Christmas is often associated with particular flowers (like the
poinsettia) and other members of the plant kingdom such as
"Schlumbergera bridgesii", more commonly known as:
A) The Christmas cactus
B) The holly tree
C) The mistletoe
D) The snowberry bush
8) On December 23 in Oaxaca, Mexico, the "Night of the Radishes"
festival is celebrated. On this night:
A) A spicy pudding of radishes and fenugreek is served
B) Red and white radishes are put up for Christmas decorations
C) Children hunt for hidden radishes
D) Radish carvings of Nativity scenes are displayed
9) Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer made his first appearance in 1939, in
a story that was written to:
A) Advertise a new brand of light-bulb
B) Be read on a Christmas radio broadcast
C) Entertain the author's sick daughter
D) Promote a department store
10) A colorful, musical Santa Claus parade marks the approach of
Christmas in many North American cities. The first one:
A) Was Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in New York City
B) Was held in Toronto, Ontario in 1905
C) Included cowboy singer Gene Autry and his horse Champion
D) Had to be postponed until Boxing Day
11) Many of us are quite familiar with the first verses of the
traditional Christmas carols, but how well do you know the rest of
the lyrics? For instance, what is the first line of the second
verse of "Angels from the Realms of Glory"?
A) "Christ by highest heav'n adored"
B) "Shepherds in the fields abiding"
C) "Shepherds why this jubilee?"
D) "Don we now our gay apparel"
12) The jolasveinar, or "yule lads", are a traditional part of an
Icelandic Christmas. The jolasveinar are:
A) A band of thirteen gift-giving goblins
B) In charge of Santa's reindeer
C) Woodcutters
D) The best male singers from each village
13) Near Christmas time, Scottish children may sometimes "cry up the
lum", meaning that they:
A) Weep, upon being given a lump of coal instead of a gift
B) Shout their Christmas wishes up the chimney
C) Sing carols outdoors
D) Moan from stomach ache after Christmas dinner
14) Which Christmas song contains the line "Susy wants a dolly; Nellie
wants a story book; she thinks dolls are folly"?
A) Up on the Housetop
B) All I Want for Christmas
C) Grandma's Christmas List
D) Jolly Old St. Nicholas
15) After Scrooge has reformed his life at the end of Charles Dickens'
"A Christmas Carol", he proposes getting together with Bob Cratchit
for some "smoking bishop", which was:
A) A fast variation of chess popular in Victorian London
B) A premium pipe tobacco
C) A hot spiced drink
D) A Christmas pudding, soaked in brandy and set alight
16) Tom Smith, an English confectioner, invented the Christmas cracker
in 1847, drawing his inspiration from packaged French sweets, or
"bon-bons". The original crackers were much like those of today,
but the name was different. Smith called his crackers by the French
word for:
A) Bangers
B) Hiccups
C) Goblins
D) Cossacks
17) The popular Christmas song, "Six White Boomers", tells of Santa
Claus making an extra delivery on Christmas Day in a vehicle drawn
by six:
A) Bears
B) Kangaroos
C) Moose
D) Swans
18) In Lithuania, if Kaledu Senelis, or Grandfather Christmas, appears
to the children on Christmas Eve to hand out presents, the
recipient must:
A) Find the gift while blindfolded
B) Guess what the gift is, or pay a forfeit
C) Kneel to receive the gift
D) Perform a song or poem before receiving the gift
19) Because holly remains green even in the depths of December, it has
been credited with many mysterious powers. In England, if prickly
holly is brought into the house before the smooth-leafed kind,
folklore holds that for the next year:
A) There will be many visitors to the house
B) Knives and needles will remain sharp
C) Illness will plague the family
D) The husband will rule the household
20) The custom of hanging out stockings or setting out shoes in the
hope of receiving Christmas gifts is said to have begun with:
A) A promotional campaign by the Cobblers' Guild
B) The traveler's practice of concealing valuable papers in
one's stocking
C) St. Nicholas supplying the gold for a dowry
D) A method of avoiding a Christmas tax
21) The ancient game of Snapdragon has been part of English Christmases
for over 300 years. Participants are egged on by a chant, part of
which goes, "Take care you don't take too much, Be not greedy in
your clutch, Snip, snap, dragon!" The dragon in this game is:
A) A costumed child
B) Flames of burning brandy
C) The oldest male in the room
D) A "snapper" made from fireplace tongs
22) In many households, part of the fun of eating Christmas pudding is
finding a trinket that predicts your fortune for the coming year.
For instance, finding a coin means you will become wealthy. Finding
a button means that you will be:
A) Poor
B) Famous
C) A bachelor
D) Called away on a trip
23) February 2nd is Groundhog Day in North America, but it is also
Candlemas, which is celebrated by lighting many candles to chase
the winter away. Christmas seems long past, yet there is a
traditional connection. By this day:
A) The last Christmas cake must be eaten
B) Next year's Christmas goose must be chosen and separated
from the flock
C) Persons accused of petty crimes over Christmas must be
released
D) All Christmas greenery must be removed from the house
24) Most of us like to spend Christmas with our families, but sometimes
we must be far away. Even then, most of us get to stay on the
planet. Prior to the continuous occupation of the International
Space Station in 2001, how many people actually spent Christmas Day
in space?
A) None - mission planners have always worked around it
B) Just three - the Apollo-8 team
C) Twelve
D) Thirty-five
25) The idea of Christmas seals began in 1903 with Einar Holboell, a
postal clerk from Copenhagen. By 1904, with the King of Denmark
taking an interest, the first seals were printed and sold, raising
funds that were used to:
A) Help children with tuberculosis
B) Build a statue overlooking the harbor
C) Feed the poor and homeless
D) Throw a Christmas party for the city
26) Christmas tree decorations have changed considerably over the
years. Which of the following well-known products became popular
after being promoted as a Christmas tree "decoration"?
A) The yo-yo
B) Decorative nutcrackers
C) Animal Crackers
D) Doughnuts
27) Christmas is celebrated even at wizard school. On his first
Christmas morning at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,
Harry Potter receives a number of Christmas gifts, including:
A) A pair of gloves and a pointed hat
B) A hairbrush and a wand of lightning
C) A hand-knit sweater and a cloak of invisibility
D) A pet frog and a magic broomstick
28) The Urn of Fate is part of the Christmas celebrations in many
Italian households. What is it?
A) A jar full of fortunes
B) A game in which players toss coins into a cup
C) An actual urn containing presents
D) A special decoration that recalls the fragility of life
29) In the isolated outports of Newfoundland and Labrador on the
eastern coast of Canada, unique Christmas customs evolved. In the
old days, one of these was called "blowing the pudding". This meant:
A) The pudding had to be eaten in a single sitting
B) Putting out the flames of brandy with the fireplace bellows
C) Boasting extravagantly that this year's pudding was the best
of all
D) A gun was fired as the pudding was lifted from the pot
30) Many movies on Christmas themes have been made for television and
the cinema over the years, including literally dozens of
adaptatations - albeit sometimes rather loose - of Charles Dickens'
"A Christmas Carol". One film that has NOT yet been made, however,
is:
A) "The Jetsons' Christmas Carol"
B) "Popeye's Christmas Carol"
C) "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol"
D) "Mickey's Christmas Carol"
19 December 2010
14 December 2010
Christmas Quiz #2 Answers
2nd Answers
1) If you were given some frumenty at a Medieval Christmas party, you
would probably:
A) Eat it
Frumenty was a spiced porridge, enjoyed by both rich and poor. It is
thought to be the forerunner of modern Christmas puddings. It has its
origins in a Celtic legend of harvest god, Dagda, who stirred a porridge
made up of all the good things of the earth.
2) The first charity Christmas card was produced by UNICEF in 1949. The
picture chosen for the card was painted not by a professional artist but by:
C) A seven-year-old girl
The girl was Jitka Samkova of Rudolfo, a small town in what was then
Czechoslovakia. The town received assistance from UNICEF after the
Second World War, inspiring Jitka to paint some children dancing around
a maypole. She said her picture represented "joy going round and round".
3) "Hot cockles" was popular at Christmas in medieval times. It was:
C) A game in which a blindfolded person was struck
"Hot cockles" was still a Christmas pastime until the Victorian era (if
anyone out there STILL plays it, please email us and tell us all about
it!). The other players took turns striking the blindfolded one, who had
to guess the name of the person delivering each blow. Ouch!
4) During the ancient 12-day Christmas celebration, it was considered
unlucky to:
A) Let the log in the fireplace stop burning
The log burned at Christmas time was called the "Yule Log". Sometimes a
piece of the Yule Log would be kept to kindle the fire next winter, to
ensure that the good luck carried on from year to year. The Yule Log
custom was handed down from the Druids.
5) "Mumming plays" with traditional plots have been enjoyed at Christmas
time in Europe since the Middle Ages. In England, the central character
is usually:
D) St. George
Mumming plays were passed down through generations. Some bits seem to
have nothing to do with the overall plot but are demanded by tradition.
In England, St. George fights a Turk, who defeats him, to much booing
and hissing from the audience. A Good Doctor then comes and saves St.
George, to wild cheering.
6) At lavish Christmas feasts in the Middle Ages, swans and peacocks
were sometimes served "endored". This means:
D) The flesh was painted with saffron dissolved in melted butter
In addition to their painted flesh, endored birds were served wrapped in
their own skin and feathers, which had been removed and set aside prior
to roasting.
7) One of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes takes place during the
Christmas season. The tale hinges upon:
B) A blue diamond found in a goose
In "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" Holmes manages to recover the
jewel but, in the spirit of the Christmas season, allows the repentant
thief to go free - on the condition that he leave England for ever.
8) In the Ukraine, if you find a spider web in the house on Christmas
morning it is believed to mean:
A) Good luck
One Christmas morning, a poor woman, who could not afford decorations,
found that spiders had trimmed her children's tree with their webs. When
the morning sun shone on them, the webs turned to silver. An artificial
spider and web are often included in the decorations on Ukrainian
Christmas trees.
9) Postmen in Victorian England were popularly called "robins". This was
because:
B) Their uniforms were red
The British Post Office grew out of the carrying of royal dispatches.
Red was considered a royal color, so uniforms and letter-boxes were red.
Victorian Christmas cards often showed a robin delivering Christmas
mail.
10) "Little Jack Horner" in the nursery rhyme may refer to the man who
was chief steward to the Abbot of Glastonbury in the early sixteenth
century. If so, then the "plum" he pulled from his Christmas pie was
actually:
D) A deed to a manor in Glastonbury
The Abbot of Glastonbury, seeking favor with the king, sent Jack Horner
to the palace with the gift of a pie in which had been placed twelve
deeds to manor houses. When the King received the pie, there were only
eleven deeds - the deed to the Manor of Mells was missing. The Horner
family lives in the Manor of Mells to this day, but they have always
denied that the rhyme refers to them.
11) As early as 1822, the postmaster in Washington, D.C. was worried by
the amount of extra mail at Christmas time. His preferred solution to
the problem was to:
D) Limit by law the number of cards a person could send
Even though commercial cards were not available at that time, people
were already sending so many home-made cards that sixteen extra postmen
had to be hired in the city. The proposed law was never passed, however,
which in turn made possible Werner Erhard's entry into the Guinness Book
of Records in 1975 for sending the most Christmas cards: 62,824 in a
single year.
12) George Frederick Handel's great Christmas oratorio, "The Messiah",
was first performed in 1742, in:
B) Dublin
Handel (1685-1759) seems to have been a kind and generous man. "The
Messiah" was written for the benefit of charities in Ireland, and was a
success at its original performance, though it was not immediately
popular in England. Handel's favorite charity in London was the
Foundling Hospital. He conducted performances of "The Messiah" there
until 1754.
13) For the winter solstice, Druids in ancient Britain would gather a
forest plant that we now associate with Christmas. It was:
C) Mistletoe
In the time of the Druids, mistletoe was believed to have magical
properties. People who met under a tree bearing mistletoe were forbidden
to fight, even if they were enemies, and anyone who entered a home
decorated with mistletoe was entitled to shelter and protection.
Mistletoe may even have been part of Druidic wedding ceremonies.
14) In Victorian England, turkeys were popular for Christmas dinners.
Some of the birds were raised in Norfolk, and taken to market in London.
To get them to London, the turkeys:
D) Were supplied with boots made of sacking or leather.
The turkeys were walked to market. The boots protected their feet from
the frozen mud of the road. Boots were not used for geese: instead,
their feet were protected with a covering of tar.
15) America's official national Christmas tree is:
C) Located in King's Canyon National Park in California
The tree, a giant sequoia called the "General Grant Tree", is over 90
metres (300 feet) high. It was made the official Christmas tree in 1925.
16) The Philadelphia Mummers parade is a Christmas tradition of long
standing. Many members of Mummers clubs call themselves "two-streeters".
This is because:
C) The original Mummers clubs were mostly located on Second Street
Twenty Mummers clubs are still located on Second Street. There are four
types of clubs: the Comics, the oldest type; the Stringbands, who play
live music; the Fancies, with enormous costumes; and the Fancy Brigades,
the newest type. The parade takes place on January 1.
17) The first commercial Christmas card is generally agreed to have been
the one illustrated above. The card had a hostile reception from some
people because:
A) It depicted a family, children as well as adults, drinking wine
The card was the brainchild of Sir Henry Cole, a leading cultural light
in Victorian England who was later to become director of the Victoria
and Albert Museum, among many other accomplishments. The card was
painted by John Calcott Horsley. It depicts a family feast, under which
appear the words, "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You". Side
panels illustrate Christmas charity - feeding and clothing the poor.
18) The Irish custom of "feeding the wren" on December 26 consists of:
B) Carrying a wren door to door, to collect money for charity
The custom is based on a legend of St. Stephen. Once he was forced to
hide in a bush, but a chattering wren gave him away. Children cage the
wren to help it do penance for this misdeed. Often the children carry a
long pole with a holly bush at the top - which is SUPPOSED to hide a
captured wren.
19) A modern Christmas custom borrowed from ancient Rome's New Year's
celebrations is:
C) Displaying a wreath on the front door of one's house
Romans wished each other "good health" by exchanging branches of
evergreens. They called these gifts "strenae" after Strenia, the goddess
of health. It became the custom to bend these into a ring and display
them on doorways.
20) St. Nicholas is a very hard-working saint, being the patron saint of
children, merchants, apothecaries, pawnbrokers, scholars and:
C) Mariners
St. Nicholas is reputed to be able to calm storms and rescue sailors.
Even pirates have claimed his protection. There are almost 400 churches
of St. Nicholas in England, more even than churches of St. George,
England's patron. As for the other choices in our question: St. John de
la Salle protects teachers, St. Lawrence librarians, and St. Cecilia is
the patron saint of music.
21) The fifth Sunday before Christmas has been called "Stir-up Sunday".
On this day, it is considered lucky to:
B) Have everyone in the family help to stir the Christmas pudding
The day got its name from a prayer-book verse used on that Sunday. The
verse begins, "Stir up, we beseech..." It was also considered the last
day that cakes and puddings could be made and still be ready in time for
Christmas.
22) The tradition of erecting a tree at Christmas is believed to have
started in:
C) Germany
Christmas trees are known to have been popular in Germany as far back as
the sixteenth century. In England, they became popular after Queen
Victoria's husband Albert, who came from Germany, made a tree part of
the celebrations at Windsor Castle. In the United States, the earliest
known mention of a Christmas tree is in the diary of a German who
settled in Pennsylvania.
23) In Britain, the Holy Days and Fasting Days Act of 1551, which has
not yet been repealed, states that every citizen must attend a Christian
church service on Christmas Day, and must NOT:
A) Use any kind of vehicle to get to the service
There must be a large number of Britons who break this law every year.
The law may have been intended to encourage humility by forcing even the
wealthy to attend the church on foot, or perhaps it was simply to avoid
the traffic and parking crush that universal attendance would otherwise
have brought about.
24) Some people like to hide a coin or trinket in the Christmas pudding.
This may have originated in the ancient custom, in Rome and elsewhere,
of concealing a particular object in food. The object was:
D) A dried bean
During the Roman festival of Saturnalia, a dried bean would be hidden in
the food. Whoever found it was then "master of the revels" - a king for
the holidays. Even a slave could be the lucky one. In medieval times, a
cake was eaten on Twelfth Night (January 6), during the most boisterous
party of the year. The "King of the Bean" ruled the whole party.
25) Louis Prang, a 19th-century German immigrant to the United States,
made an important contribution to Christmas in popular culture by:
D) Popularizing the sending of printed Christmas cards
Prang was a Bavarian-born lithographer who settled in Boston,
Massachusetts in the 1850s and established a successful printing
business. He invented a way of reproducing color oil paintings, the
"chromolithograph technique", and created a card with the message "Merry
Christmas" as a way of showing it off. He went on to produce a series of
popular Christmas cards. By 1881 he was printing more than five million
cards annually.
26) In many countries, Christmas is considered a propitious time for
fortune-telling. In Switzerland, an onion and salt are traditionally
used to predict:
B) The weather for the coming year
On Christmas Eve, the grandmother of the house cuts an onion in two and
peels off twelve layers. Each layer represents one month in the coming
year. Each is filled with salt. If the salt is dry on Christmas morning,
the corresponding month will have fair weather; if damp, there will be
rain.
27) An ancient religion, which has since died out, celebrated the birth
of a god on December 25th. The god was:
B) Mithras, the Persian god of war
Although the cult of Mithras began in Persia, it later spread and became
popular in Rome. Romans celebrated the birth of Mithras on December 25.
28) All through the Christmas season in old England, "lambswool" could
be found in the houses of the well-to-do. It was:
B) A brew of hot ale with roast apples floating in it
The drink that filled the wassail bowl was known as "lambswool". Sugar,
eggs and spices were added to the ale, and toast floated on top with the
apples. Poor people would bring their mugs to the door hoping for a
share of the steaming drink.
29) One Christmas ritual NOT drawn from an ancient tradition is the
British monarch's broadcast on Christmas day. The tradition began in
1932 with a speech written by:
C) Rudyard Kipling
No doubt Kipling's fine writing contributed to the enormous success of
the broadcast, which was also heard overseas. It began, "I speak now
from my home and from my heart, to you all..." Queen Elizabeth II
continues the tradition to this day.
30) In Victorian times, most Londoners would have been familiar with the
"goose club", which was:
D) A method of saving to buy a goose for Christmas
Goose clubs were popular with working-class Londoners, who paid a few
pence a week towards the purchase of a Christmas goose. The week before
Christmas, London meat markets were crammed with geese and turkeys, many
imported from Germany and France.
1) If you were given some frumenty at a Medieval Christmas party, you
would probably:
A) Eat it
Frumenty was a spiced porridge, enjoyed by both rich and poor. It is
thought to be the forerunner of modern Christmas puddings. It has its
origins in a Celtic legend of harvest god, Dagda, who stirred a porridge
made up of all the good things of the earth.
2) The first charity Christmas card was produced by UNICEF in 1949. The
picture chosen for the card was painted not by a professional artist but by:
C) A seven-year-old girl
The girl was Jitka Samkova of Rudolfo, a small town in what was then
Czechoslovakia. The town received assistance from UNICEF after the
Second World War, inspiring Jitka to paint some children dancing around
a maypole. She said her picture represented "joy going round and round".
3) "Hot cockles" was popular at Christmas in medieval times. It was:
C) A game in which a blindfolded person was struck
"Hot cockles" was still a Christmas pastime until the Victorian era (if
anyone out there STILL plays it, please email us and tell us all about
it!). The other players took turns striking the blindfolded one, who had
to guess the name of the person delivering each blow. Ouch!
4) During the ancient 12-day Christmas celebration, it was considered
unlucky to:
A) Let the log in the fireplace stop burning
The log burned at Christmas time was called the "Yule Log". Sometimes a
piece of the Yule Log would be kept to kindle the fire next winter, to
ensure that the good luck carried on from year to year. The Yule Log
custom was handed down from the Druids.
5) "Mumming plays" with traditional plots have been enjoyed at Christmas
time in Europe since the Middle Ages. In England, the central character
is usually:
D) St. George
Mumming plays were passed down through generations. Some bits seem to
have nothing to do with the overall plot but are demanded by tradition.
In England, St. George fights a Turk, who defeats him, to much booing
and hissing from the audience. A Good Doctor then comes and saves St.
George, to wild cheering.
6) At lavish Christmas feasts in the Middle Ages, swans and peacocks
were sometimes served "endored". This means:
D) The flesh was painted with saffron dissolved in melted butter
In addition to their painted flesh, endored birds were served wrapped in
their own skin and feathers, which had been removed and set aside prior
to roasting.
7) One of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes takes place during the
Christmas season. The tale hinges upon:
B) A blue diamond found in a goose
In "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" Holmes manages to recover the
jewel but, in the spirit of the Christmas season, allows the repentant
thief to go free - on the condition that he leave England for ever.
8) In the Ukraine, if you find a spider web in the house on Christmas
morning it is believed to mean:
A) Good luck
One Christmas morning, a poor woman, who could not afford decorations,
found that spiders had trimmed her children's tree with their webs. When
the morning sun shone on them, the webs turned to silver. An artificial
spider and web are often included in the decorations on Ukrainian
Christmas trees.
9) Postmen in Victorian England were popularly called "robins". This was
because:
B) Their uniforms were red
The British Post Office grew out of the carrying of royal dispatches.
Red was considered a royal color, so uniforms and letter-boxes were red.
Victorian Christmas cards often showed a robin delivering Christmas
mail.
10) "Little Jack Horner" in the nursery rhyme may refer to the man who
was chief steward to the Abbot of Glastonbury in the early sixteenth
century. If so, then the "plum" he pulled from his Christmas pie was
actually:
D) A deed to a manor in Glastonbury
The Abbot of Glastonbury, seeking favor with the king, sent Jack Horner
to the palace with the gift of a pie in which had been placed twelve
deeds to manor houses. When the King received the pie, there were only
eleven deeds - the deed to the Manor of Mells was missing. The Horner
family lives in the Manor of Mells to this day, but they have always
denied that the rhyme refers to them.
11) As early as 1822, the postmaster in Washington, D.C. was worried by
the amount of extra mail at Christmas time. His preferred solution to
the problem was to:
D) Limit by law the number of cards a person could send
Even though commercial cards were not available at that time, people
were already sending so many home-made cards that sixteen extra postmen
had to be hired in the city. The proposed law was never passed, however,
which in turn made possible Werner Erhard's entry into the Guinness Book
of Records in 1975 for sending the most Christmas cards: 62,824 in a
single year.
12) George Frederick Handel's great Christmas oratorio, "The Messiah",
was first performed in 1742, in:
B) Dublin
Handel (1685-1759) seems to have been a kind and generous man. "The
Messiah" was written for the benefit of charities in Ireland, and was a
success at its original performance, though it was not immediately
popular in England. Handel's favorite charity in London was the
Foundling Hospital. He conducted performances of "The Messiah" there
until 1754.
13) For the winter solstice, Druids in ancient Britain would gather a
forest plant that we now associate with Christmas. It was:
C) Mistletoe
In the time of the Druids, mistletoe was believed to have magical
properties. People who met under a tree bearing mistletoe were forbidden
to fight, even if they were enemies, and anyone who entered a home
decorated with mistletoe was entitled to shelter and protection.
Mistletoe may even have been part of Druidic wedding ceremonies.
14) In Victorian England, turkeys were popular for Christmas dinners.
Some of the birds were raised in Norfolk, and taken to market in London.
To get them to London, the turkeys:
D) Were supplied with boots made of sacking or leather.
The turkeys were walked to market. The boots protected their feet from
the frozen mud of the road. Boots were not used for geese: instead,
their feet were protected with a covering of tar.
15) America's official national Christmas tree is:
C) Located in King's Canyon National Park in California
The tree, a giant sequoia called the "General Grant Tree", is over 90
metres (300 feet) high. It was made the official Christmas tree in 1925.
16) The Philadelphia Mummers parade is a Christmas tradition of long
standing. Many members of Mummers clubs call themselves "two-streeters".
This is because:
C) The original Mummers clubs were mostly located on Second Street
Twenty Mummers clubs are still located on Second Street. There are four
types of clubs: the Comics, the oldest type; the Stringbands, who play
live music; the Fancies, with enormous costumes; and the Fancy Brigades,
the newest type. The parade takes place on January 1.
17) The first commercial Christmas card is generally agreed to have been
the one illustrated above. The card had a hostile reception from some
people because:
A) It depicted a family, children as well as adults, drinking wine
The card was the brainchild of Sir Henry Cole, a leading cultural light
in Victorian England who was later to become director of the Victoria
and Albert Museum, among many other accomplishments. The card was
painted by John Calcott Horsley. It depicts a family feast, under which
appear the words, "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You". Side
panels illustrate Christmas charity - feeding and clothing the poor.
18) The Irish custom of "feeding the wren" on December 26 consists of:
B) Carrying a wren door to door, to collect money for charity
The custom is based on a legend of St. Stephen. Once he was forced to
hide in a bush, but a chattering wren gave him away. Children cage the
wren to help it do penance for this misdeed. Often the children carry a
long pole with a holly bush at the top - which is SUPPOSED to hide a
captured wren.
19) A modern Christmas custom borrowed from ancient Rome's New Year's
celebrations is:
C) Displaying a wreath on the front door of one's house
Romans wished each other "good health" by exchanging branches of
evergreens. They called these gifts "strenae" after Strenia, the goddess
of health. It became the custom to bend these into a ring and display
them on doorways.
20) St. Nicholas is a very hard-working saint, being the patron saint of
children, merchants, apothecaries, pawnbrokers, scholars and:
C) Mariners
St. Nicholas is reputed to be able to calm storms and rescue sailors.
Even pirates have claimed his protection. There are almost 400 churches
of St. Nicholas in England, more even than churches of St. George,
England's patron. As for the other choices in our question: St. John de
la Salle protects teachers, St. Lawrence librarians, and St. Cecilia is
the patron saint of music.
21) The fifth Sunday before Christmas has been called "Stir-up Sunday".
On this day, it is considered lucky to:
B) Have everyone in the family help to stir the Christmas pudding
The day got its name from a prayer-book verse used on that Sunday. The
verse begins, "Stir up, we beseech..." It was also considered the last
day that cakes and puddings could be made and still be ready in time for
Christmas.
22) The tradition of erecting a tree at Christmas is believed to have
started in:
C) Germany
Christmas trees are known to have been popular in Germany as far back as
the sixteenth century. In England, they became popular after Queen
Victoria's husband Albert, who came from Germany, made a tree part of
the celebrations at Windsor Castle. In the United States, the earliest
known mention of a Christmas tree is in the diary of a German who
settled in Pennsylvania.
23) In Britain, the Holy Days and Fasting Days Act of 1551, which has
not yet been repealed, states that every citizen must attend a Christian
church service on Christmas Day, and must NOT:
A) Use any kind of vehicle to get to the service
There must be a large number of Britons who break this law every year.
The law may have been intended to encourage humility by forcing even the
wealthy to attend the church on foot, or perhaps it was simply to avoid
the traffic and parking crush that universal attendance would otherwise
have brought about.
24) Some people like to hide a coin or trinket in the Christmas pudding.
This may have originated in the ancient custom, in Rome and elsewhere,
of concealing a particular object in food. The object was:
D) A dried bean
During the Roman festival of Saturnalia, a dried bean would be hidden in
the food. Whoever found it was then "master of the revels" - a king for
the holidays. Even a slave could be the lucky one. In medieval times, a
cake was eaten on Twelfth Night (January 6), during the most boisterous
party of the year. The "King of the Bean" ruled the whole party.
25) Louis Prang, a 19th-century German immigrant to the United States,
made an important contribution to Christmas in popular culture by:
D) Popularizing the sending of printed Christmas cards
Prang was a Bavarian-born lithographer who settled in Boston,
Massachusetts in the 1850s and established a successful printing
business. He invented a way of reproducing color oil paintings, the
"chromolithograph technique", and created a card with the message "Merry
Christmas" as a way of showing it off. He went on to produce a series of
popular Christmas cards. By 1881 he was printing more than five million
cards annually.
26) In many countries, Christmas is considered a propitious time for
fortune-telling. In Switzerland, an onion and salt are traditionally
used to predict:
B) The weather for the coming year
On Christmas Eve, the grandmother of the house cuts an onion in two and
peels off twelve layers. Each layer represents one month in the coming
year. Each is filled with salt. If the salt is dry on Christmas morning,
the corresponding month will have fair weather; if damp, there will be
rain.
27) An ancient religion, which has since died out, celebrated the birth
of a god on December 25th. The god was:
B) Mithras, the Persian god of war
Although the cult of Mithras began in Persia, it later spread and became
popular in Rome. Romans celebrated the birth of Mithras on December 25.
28) All through the Christmas season in old England, "lambswool" could
be found in the houses of the well-to-do. It was:
B) A brew of hot ale with roast apples floating in it
The drink that filled the wassail bowl was known as "lambswool". Sugar,
eggs and spices were added to the ale, and toast floated on top with the
apples. Poor people would bring their mugs to the door hoping for a
share of the steaming drink.
29) One Christmas ritual NOT drawn from an ancient tradition is the
British monarch's broadcast on Christmas day. The tradition began in
1932 with a speech written by:
C) Rudyard Kipling
No doubt Kipling's fine writing contributed to the enormous success of
the broadcast, which was also heard overseas. It began, "I speak now
from my home and from my heart, to you all..." Queen Elizabeth II
continues the tradition to this day.
30) In Victorian times, most Londoners would have been familiar with the
"goose club", which was:
D) A method of saving to buy a goose for Christmas
Goose clubs were popular with working-class Londoners, who paid a few
pence a week towards the purchase of a Christmas goose. The week before
Christmas, London meat markets were crammed with geese and turkeys, many
imported from Germany and France.
11 December 2010
Christmas Quiz #2
2nd Quiz
1) If you were given some frumenty at a Medieval Christmas party, you
would probably:
A) Eat it
B) Burn it
C) Put it in your sweetheart's hair
D) Use it to polish your boots
2) The first charity Christmas card was produced by UNICEF in 1949. The
picture chosen for the card was painted not by a professional artist but
by:
A) A chimpanzee
B) A blind man
C) A seven-year-old girl
D) A Buddhist monk
3) "Hot cockles" was popular at Christmas in medieval times. It was:
A) A dish of oysters and mussels
B) A hot spiced drink
C) A game in which a blindfolded person was struck
D) The title of a popular drinking song
4) During the ancient 12-day Christmas celebration, it was considered
unlucky to:
A) Let the log in the fireplace stop burning
B) Sneeze
C) Spill wine or ale
D) Hunt reindeer
5) "Mumming plays" with traditional plots have been enjoyed at Christmas
time in Europe since the Middle Ages. In England, the central character
is usually:
A) King Arthur
B) Pinnochio
C) Robin Hood
D) St. George
6) At lavish Christmas feasts in the Middle Ages, swans and peacocks
were sometimes served "endored". This means:
A) The feet and beaks were coated with gold
B) The guests knelt in adoration as the birds were brought in
C) The birds had been raised on grain soaked in brandy
D) The flesh was painted with saffron dissolved in melted butter
7) One of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes takes place during the
Christmas season. The tale hinges upon:
A) A burglar disguised as Father Christmas
B) A blue diamond found in a goose
C) A cat trapped in an organ pipe
D) A poisoned flask of Napoleon brandy
8) In the Ukraine, if you find a spider web in the house on Christmas
morning it is believed to mean:
A) Good luck
B) Misfortune will strike in the coming year
C) The winter will be unusually cold
D) Your house needs cleaning!
9) Postmen in Victorian England were popularly called "robins". This was
because:
A) The British postal service was founded by Sir Robin Spence
B) Their uniforms were red
C) They were famous for whistling as they made their rounds
D) They also delivered eggs
10) "Little Jack Horner" in the nursery rhyme may refer to the man who
was chief steward to the Abbot of Glastonbury in the early sixteenth
century. If so, then the "plum" he pulled from his Christmas pie was
actually:
A) A gem - a gift from the abbot for faithful service
B) Six golden guineas
C) An order banishing him from England
D) A deed to a manor in Glastonbury
11) As early as 1822, the postmaster in Washington, D.C. was worried by
the amount of extra mail at Christmas time. His preferred solution to
the problem was to:
A) Recruit volunteer postmen for the Christmas season
B) Raise the price of postage to reduce the number of cards sent
C) Request that people put holiday greetings in the newspaper instead
D) Limit by law the number of cards a person could send
12) George Frederick Handel's great Christmas oratorio, "The Messiah",
was first performed in 1742, in:
A) London
B) Dublin
C) Vienna
D) Jerusalem
13) For the winter solstice, Druids in ancient Britain would gather a
forest plant that we now associate with Christmas. It was:
A) Holly
B) Ivy
C) Mistletoe
D) Poinsettia
14) In Victorian England, turkeys were popular for Christmas dinners.
Some of the birds were raised in Norfolk, and taken to market in London.
To get them to London, the turkeys:
A) Were herded by sheep dogs
B) Flew
C) Rode in huge wagons called "turkey-vans"
D) Were supplied with boots made of sacking or leather
15) America's official national Christmas tree is:
A) Displayed at the Rockefeller Center in New York
B) Brought from Canada and erected in Washington each year
C) Located in King's Canyon National Park in California
D) A Scotch pine
16) The Philadelphia Mummers parade is a Christmas tradition of long
standing. Many members of Mummers clubs call themselves "two-streeters".
This is because:
A) The parade route covers the whole of two main streets
B) Two popular Mummers songs are "Easy Street" and "Lonely Street"
C) The original Mummers clubs were mostly located on Second Street
D) The din of the parade can easily be heard two streets away
17) The first commercial Christmas card is generally agreed to have been
the one illustrated above. The card had a hostile reception from some
people because:
A) It depicted a family, children as well as adults, drinking wine
B) A mass-produced card was felt to be contrary to the Christmas spirit
C) The ivy leaves surrounding the design were originally a pagan symbol
D) They feared that overuse of the cards would lead to a paper shortage
18) The Irish custom of "feeding the wren" on December 26 consists of:
A) Taking one's in-laws out to dinner
B) Carrying a wren door to door, to collect money for charity
C) Leaving a basket of cakes at the door for passers-by
D) Putting out suet and seeds for the wild birds
19) A modern Christmas custom borrowed from ancient Rome's New Year's
celebrations is:
A) Putting up mistletoe to make a "kissing bough"
B) Decorating a tree
C) Displaying a wreath on the front door of one's house
D) Hanging stockings by the fireplace
20) St. Nicholas is a very hard-working saint, being the patron saint of
children, merchants, apothecaries, pawnbrokers, scholars and:
A) Teachers
B) Librarians
C) Mariners
D) Music
21) The fifth Sunday before Christmas has been called "Stir-up Sunday".
On this day, it is considered lucky to:
A) "Stir up" the house by cleaning it from top to bottom
B) Have everyone in the family help to stir the Christmas pudding
C) Rouse the neighbors out for a community sing-song
D) Make a big pot of soup or stew for the poor
22) The tradition of erecting a tree at Christmas is believed to have
started in:
A) England
B) France
C) Germany
D) Norway
23) In Britain, the Holy Days and Fasting Days Act of 1551, which has
not yet been repealed, states that every citizen must attend a Christian
church service on Christmas Day, and must NOT:
A) Use any kind of vehicle to get to the service
B) Consume any meat that day
C) Give presents or put up decorations
D) Sing in public thoroughfares
24) Some people like to hide a coin or trinket in the Christmas pudding.
This may have originated in the ancient custom, in Rome and elsewhere,
of concealing a particular object in food. The object was:
A) A key
B) A piece of parchment with a fortune written on it
C) A ruby or sapphire
D) A dried bean
25) Louis Prang, a 19th-century German immigrant to the United States,
made an important contribution to Christmas in popular culture by:
A) Printing the first special Christmas edition of a major magazine
B) Being the first to use an image of Santa Claus in an advertisement
C) Publishing the first children's book featuring Santa Claus
D) Popularizing the sending of printed Christmas cards
26) In many countries, Christmas is considered a propitious time for
fortune-telling. In Switzerland, an onion and salt are traditionally
used to predict:
A) Whether a girl will marry in the coming year
B) The weather for the coming year
C) The outcome of a journey
D) The state of the family's health
27) An ancient religion, which has since died out, celebrated the birth
of a god on December 25th. The god was:
A) Hermes, the messenger of the Greek gods
B) Mithras, the Persian god of war
C) Odin, the chief of the Norse gods
D) Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom and learning
28) All through the Christmas season in old England, "lambswool" could
be found in the houses of the well-to-do. It was:
A) Imitation snow used in decorations
B) A brew of hot ale with roast apples floating in it
C) The material used for knitting Christmas gifts
D) A fluffy confection made from almonds and sugar
29) One Christmas ritual NOT drawn from an ancient tradition is the
British monarch's broadcast on Christmas day. The tradition began in
1932 with a speech written by:
A) The king himself, George V
B) Children's author Enid Blyton
C) Rudyard Kipling
D) Sir Winston Churchill
30) In Victorian times, most Londoners would have been familiar with the
"goose club", which was:
A) A pantomime troupe specializing in slapstick
B) A stout stick used for slaughtering geese
C) A banjo-like instrument used in door-to-door caroling
D) A method of saving to buy a goose for Christmas
1) If you were given some frumenty at a Medieval Christmas party, you
would probably:
A) Eat it
B) Burn it
C) Put it in your sweetheart's hair
D) Use it to polish your boots
2) The first charity Christmas card was produced by UNICEF in 1949. The
picture chosen for the card was painted not by a professional artist but
by:
A) A chimpanzee
B) A blind man
C) A seven-year-old girl
D) A Buddhist monk
3) "Hot cockles" was popular at Christmas in medieval times. It was:
A) A dish of oysters and mussels
B) A hot spiced drink
C) A game in which a blindfolded person was struck
D) The title of a popular drinking song
4) During the ancient 12-day Christmas celebration, it was considered
unlucky to:
A) Let the log in the fireplace stop burning
B) Sneeze
C) Spill wine or ale
D) Hunt reindeer
5) "Mumming plays" with traditional plots have been enjoyed at Christmas
time in Europe since the Middle Ages. In England, the central character
is usually:
A) King Arthur
B) Pinnochio
C) Robin Hood
D) St. George
6) At lavish Christmas feasts in the Middle Ages, swans and peacocks
were sometimes served "endored". This means:
A) The feet and beaks were coated with gold
B) The guests knelt in adoration as the birds were brought in
C) The birds had been raised on grain soaked in brandy
D) The flesh was painted with saffron dissolved in melted butter
7) One of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes takes place during the
Christmas season. The tale hinges upon:
A) A burglar disguised as Father Christmas
B) A blue diamond found in a goose
C) A cat trapped in an organ pipe
D) A poisoned flask of Napoleon brandy
8) In the Ukraine, if you find a spider web in the house on Christmas
morning it is believed to mean:
A) Good luck
B) Misfortune will strike in the coming year
C) The winter will be unusually cold
D) Your house needs cleaning!
9) Postmen in Victorian England were popularly called "robins". This was
because:
A) The British postal service was founded by Sir Robin Spence
B) Their uniforms were red
C) They were famous for whistling as they made their rounds
D) They also delivered eggs
10) "Little Jack Horner" in the nursery rhyme may refer to the man who
was chief steward to the Abbot of Glastonbury in the early sixteenth
century. If so, then the "plum" he pulled from his Christmas pie was
actually:
A) A gem - a gift from the abbot for faithful service
B) Six golden guineas
C) An order banishing him from England
D) A deed to a manor in Glastonbury
11) As early as 1822, the postmaster in Washington, D.C. was worried by
the amount of extra mail at Christmas time. His preferred solution to
the problem was to:
A) Recruit volunteer postmen for the Christmas season
B) Raise the price of postage to reduce the number of cards sent
C) Request that people put holiday greetings in the newspaper instead
D) Limit by law the number of cards a person could send
12) George Frederick Handel's great Christmas oratorio, "The Messiah",
was first performed in 1742, in:
A) London
B) Dublin
C) Vienna
D) Jerusalem
13) For the winter solstice, Druids in ancient Britain would gather a
forest plant that we now associate with Christmas. It was:
A) Holly
B) Ivy
C) Mistletoe
D) Poinsettia
14) In Victorian England, turkeys were popular for Christmas dinners.
Some of the birds were raised in Norfolk, and taken to market in London.
To get them to London, the turkeys:
A) Were herded by sheep dogs
B) Flew
C) Rode in huge wagons called "turkey-vans"
D) Were supplied with boots made of sacking or leather
15) America's official national Christmas tree is:
A) Displayed at the Rockefeller Center in New York
B) Brought from Canada and erected in Washington each year
C) Located in King's Canyon National Park in California
D) A Scotch pine
16) The Philadelphia Mummers parade is a Christmas tradition of long
standing. Many members of Mummers clubs call themselves "two-streeters".
This is because:
A) The parade route covers the whole of two main streets
B) Two popular Mummers songs are "Easy Street" and "Lonely Street"
C) The original Mummers clubs were mostly located on Second Street
D) The din of the parade can easily be heard two streets away
17) The first commercial Christmas card is generally agreed to have been
the one illustrated above. The card had a hostile reception from some
people because:
A) It depicted a family, children as well as adults, drinking wine
B) A mass-produced card was felt to be contrary to the Christmas spirit
C) The ivy leaves surrounding the design were originally a pagan symbol
D) They feared that overuse of the cards would lead to a paper shortage
18) The Irish custom of "feeding the wren" on December 26 consists of:
A) Taking one's in-laws out to dinner
B) Carrying a wren door to door, to collect money for charity
C) Leaving a basket of cakes at the door for passers-by
D) Putting out suet and seeds for the wild birds
19) A modern Christmas custom borrowed from ancient Rome's New Year's
celebrations is:
A) Putting up mistletoe to make a "kissing bough"
B) Decorating a tree
C) Displaying a wreath on the front door of one's house
D) Hanging stockings by the fireplace
20) St. Nicholas is a very hard-working saint, being the patron saint of
children, merchants, apothecaries, pawnbrokers, scholars and:
A) Teachers
B) Librarians
C) Mariners
D) Music
21) The fifth Sunday before Christmas has been called "Stir-up Sunday".
On this day, it is considered lucky to:
A) "Stir up" the house by cleaning it from top to bottom
B) Have everyone in the family help to stir the Christmas pudding
C) Rouse the neighbors out for a community sing-song
D) Make a big pot of soup or stew for the poor
22) The tradition of erecting a tree at Christmas is believed to have
started in:
A) England
B) France
C) Germany
D) Norway
23) In Britain, the Holy Days and Fasting Days Act of 1551, which has
not yet been repealed, states that every citizen must attend a Christian
church service on Christmas Day, and must NOT:
A) Use any kind of vehicle to get to the service
B) Consume any meat that day
C) Give presents or put up decorations
D) Sing in public thoroughfares
24) Some people like to hide a coin or trinket in the Christmas pudding.
This may have originated in the ancient custom, in Rome and elsewhere,
of concealing a particular object in food. The object was:
A) A key
B) A piece of parchment with a fortune written on it
C) A ruby or sapphire
D) A dried bean
25) Louis Prang, a 19th-century German immigrant to the United States,
made an important contribution to Christmas in popular culture by:
A) Printing the first special Christmas edition of a major magazine
B) Being the first to use an image of Santa Claus in an advertisement
C) Publishing the first children's book featuring Santa Claus
D) Popularizing the sending of printed Christmas cards
26) In many countries, Christmas is considered a propitious time for
fortune-telling. In Switzerland, an onion and salt are traditionally
used to predict:
A) Whether a girl will marry in the coming year
B) The weather for the coming year
C) The outcome of a journey
D) The state of the family's health
27) An ancient religion, which has since died out, celebrated the birth
of a god on December 25th. The god was:
A) Hermes, the messenger of the Greek gods
B) Mithras, the Persian god of war
C) Odin, the chief of the Norse gods
D) Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom and learning
28) All through the Christmas season in old England, "lambswool" could
be found in the houses of the well-to-do. It was:
A) Imitation snow used in decorations
B) A brew of hot ale with roast apples floating in it
C) The material used for knitting Christmas gifts
D) A fluffy confection made from almonds and sugar
29) One Christmas ritual NOT drawn from an ancient tradition is the
British monarch's broadcast on Christmas day. The tradition began in
1932 with a speech written by:
A) The king himself, George V
B) Children's author Enid Blyton
C) Rudyard Kipling
D) Sir Winston Churchill
30) In Victorian times, most Londoners would have been familiar with the
"goose club", which was:
A) A pantomime troupe specializing in slapstick
B) A stout stick used for slaughtering geese
C) A banjo-like instrument used in door-to-door caroling
D) A method of saving to buy a goose for Christmas
08 December 2010
Christmas Quiz #1- Answers
Answers
1) The first instrument on which the carol "Silent Night" was played was:
C) A guitar
The carol was first sung as part of a church service in Oberndorf,
Austria. The unusual choice of guitar for the accompaniment rather
than the traditional church organ has given rise to a number of
picturesque stories (the organ bellows had been damaged by mice;
the organ had been sabotaged; etc.), but in fact it was simply a
matter of preference on the part of the author, Joseph Mohr.
2) In Guatemala, Christmas Day is celebrated:
B) On December 25
Guatemalan adults, however, do not exchange gifts until New
Year's Day. Children get theirs (from the Christ Child) on
Christmas morning.
3) Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in:
B) 1895
The idea for using electric Christmas lights came from an
American, Ralph E. Morris. The new lights proved safer than the
traditional candles. NB: A correspondent has informed us that the General Electric
company claims to have originated Christmas tree lighting in
1882, fully 13 years earlier than the date given in our answer.
Unfortunately, we do not have access to an independent authority
who could settle the matter beyond argument. In either case,
however, answer (B) is clearly the best of the four choices
given, so we will let it stand until further information becomes
available.
4) Good King Wenceslas was king of which country?
C) Bohemia
The historical Wenceslas was actually only Duke of Bohemia, not
a king. He lived in the tenth century.
5) Medieval English Christmas pantomimes did not include which character?
A) St. Nicholas
In Medieval England, Nicholas was just another saint - he had not
yet metamorphosed into Santa Claus and had nothing to do with
Christmas.
6) The name of Scrooge's deceased business partner in Charles Dickens'
"A Christmas Carol" was:
D) Jacob Marley
Jacob Marley's spirit was the first of four to appear to Scrooge
on Christmas Eve.
7) In North America, children put stockings out at Christmas time.
Their Dutch counterparts use:
C) Shoes
Traditionally, the shoes used are wooden ones called sabots.
8) The poinsettia, a traditional Christmas flower, originally grew in
which country?
C) Mexico
In Mexico, the poinsettia is known as the 'Flower of the Holy
Night'. It was first brought to America by Joel Poinsett in 1829.
9) Which name does not belong to one of Santa's reindeer?
D) Klaxon
A klaxon is actually an electric horn.
10) In Syria, Christmas gifts are distributed by:
C) One of the Wise Men's camels
The gift-giving camel is said to have been the smallest one in
the Wise Men's caravan.
11) One notable medieval English Christmas celebration featured:
A) A giant, 165-pound pie
The giant pie was nine feet in diameter. Its ingredients included
2 bushels of flour, 20 pounds of butter, 4 geese, 2 rabbits, 4
wild ducks, 2 woodcocks, 6 snipes, 4 partridges, 2 neats'
tongues, 2 curlews, 6 pigeons and 7 blackbirds.
12) In Australia, usual Boxing Day activities include:
D) Surfing
In Australia, as everywhere in the southern hemisphere,
Christmas comes in the middle of summer.
13) In Sweden, a common Christmas decoration is the Julbukk, a small
figurine of a goat. It is usually made of what material?
B) Straw
A variety of straw decorations are a usual feature of
Scandinavian Christmas festivities.
14) The real St. Nicholas lived:
C) In Turkey
St. Nicholas was bishop of the Turkish town of Myra in the early
4th century. It was the Dutch who first made him into a Christmas
gift-giver, and Dutch settlers brought him to America where his
name eventually became the familiar Santa Claus.
15) Which of the following was not one of the Three Kings?
C) Teleost
A teleost is actually a bony fish.
16) In Armenia, the traditional Christmas Eve meal consists of:
A) Fried fish, lettuce and spinach
The meal was eaten after the Christmas Eve service, in
commemoration of the supper eaten by Mary on the evening before
Christ's birth.
17) In Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker", the Nutcracker's main
enemy is:
B) The King of the Mice
The King of the Mice, usually represented with seven heads, leads
his troops against the nutcracker's toy soldiers, but loses the
battle when Clara, the heroine, stuns him with a hurled shoe.
18) The day after Christmas, December 26, is known as Boxing Day.
It is also the holy day of which saint?
D) St. Stephen
And here, we used to say: St. Stephen, a 9th century Swedish
missionary, is the patron saint of horses.
Further research, and a kind note from Pastor Philip A. Gardner
of Lancaster, Ohio, reveals that the Boxing Day St. Stephen has
in fact nothing at all to do with Sweden or with horses. The
Stephen for whom the day is named is the one in the Bible (Acts
6-8) who was the first Christian to be martyred for his faith.
19) In Greek legend, malicious creatures called Kallikantzaroi sometimes
play troublesome pranks at Christmas time. To get rid of them, you
should:
B) Burn either salt or an old shoe
Apparently the stench of the burning shoe (or salt) drives off
the Kallikantzaroi. Other effective methods include hanging a
pig's jawbone by the door and keeping a large fire so they can't
sneak down the chimney.
20) When visiting Finland, Santa leaves his sleigh behind and rides on:
C) A goat named Ukko
Finnish folklore has it that Ukko is made of straw, but is strong
enough to carry Santa Claus anyway.
21) A boar's head is a traditional Christmas dish. According to a
popular story, the unlucky boar whose head began the custom in
the Middle Ages was killed by:
A) Choking to death on a book of Greek philosophy
The story tells us that a university student saved himself from a
charging boar by ramming a book of Aristotle's writings down its
throat. He then cut off the boar's head and brought it back to his
college.
22) When distributing gifts in Holland, St. Nicholas is accompanied by:
B) His servant, Black Peter
Black Peter is responsible for actually dropping the presents
down their recipients' chimneys, but he also punishes bad
children by putting them in a bag and carrying them away to
Spain.
23) At Christmas, it is customary to exchange kisses beneath a sprig of
which plant?
D) Mistletoe
Mistletoe was associated with peace and friendship in ancient
Scandinavia, which may account for the practice of kissing
beneath it.
24) Believe it or not, one Indiana town is called:
D) Santa Claus
There is also a Santa Claus, Idaho.
25) Who was the author of "A Christmas Carol"?
B) Charles Dickens
After "A Christmas Carol" Dickens wrote several other Christmas
stories, one each year, but none was as successful as the
original.
26) Which popular Christmas song was actually written for Thanksgiving?
C) Jingle Bells
The song was composed in 1857 by James Pierpont, and was
originally called "One Horse Open Sleigh".
27) A favorite Christmas story is Dylan Thomas' "A Child's
Christmas in..."
C) Wales
This charming and poetic story is based partly on Thomas'
memories of his own childhood. Originally a radio script,
"A Child's Christmas in Wales" is now sold as a book and has
been made into a television special.
28) In 1647, the English parliament passed a law that:
A) Made Christmas illegal
Christmas festivities were banned by Puritan leader Oliver
Cromwell, who considered feasting and revelry on what was
supposed to be a holy day to be immoral. The ban was lifted only
when the Puritans lost power in 1660.
29) The world's largest Christmas cracker was made (and pulled)
in which country?
B) Australia
The cracker, 150 feet long and 10 feet in diameter, was made by
Ray Price in 1991.
30) The poem commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas" was
originally entitled:
B) A Visit From Saint Nicholas
This poem was written by Clement Moore for his children and some
guests, one of whom anonymously sent the poem to a New York
newspaper for publication.
1) The first instrument on which the carol "Silent Night" was played was:
C) A guitar
The carol was first sung as part of a church service in Oberndorf,
Austria. The unusual choice of guitar for the accompaniment rather
than the traditional church organ has given rise to a number of
picturesque stories (the organ bellows had been damaged by mice;
the organ had been sabotaged; etc.), but in fact it was simply a
matter of preference on the part of the author, Joseph Mohr.
2) In Guatemala, Christmas Day is celebrated:
B) On December 25
Guatemalan adults, however, do not exchange gifts until New
Year's Day. Children get theirs (from the Christ Child) on
Christmas morning.
3) Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in:
B) 1895
The idea for using electric Christmas lights came from an
American, Ralph E. Morris. The new lights proved safer than the
traditional candles. NB: A correspondent has informed us that the General Electric
company claims to have originated Christmas tree lighting in
1882, fully 13 years earlier than the date given in our answer.
Unfortunately, we do not have access to an independent authority
who could settle the matter beyond argument. In either case,
however, answer (B) is clearly the best of the four choices
given, so we will let it stand until further information becomes
available.
4) Good King Wenceslas was king of which country?
C) Bohemia
The historical Wenceslas was actually only Duke of Bohemia, not
a king. He lived in the tenth century.
5) Medieval English Christmas pantomimes did not include which character?
A) St. Nicholas
In Medieval England, Nicholas was just another saint - he had not
yet metamorphosed into Santa Claus and had nothing to do with
Christmas.
6) The name of Scrooge's deceased business partner in Charles Dickens'
"A Christmas Carol" was:
D) Jacob Marley
Jacob Marley's spirit was the first of four to appear to Scrooge
on Christmas Eve.
7) In North America, children put stockings out at Christmas time.
Their Dutch counterparts use:
C) Shoes
Traditionally, the shoes used are wooden ones called sabots.
8) The poinsettia, a traditional Christmas flower, originally grew in
which country?
C) Mexico
In Mexico, the poinsettia is known as the 'Flower of the Holy
Night'. It was first brought to America by Joel Poinsett in 1829.
9) Which name does not belong to one of Santa's reindeer?
D) Klaxon
A klaxon is actually an electric horn.
10) In Syria, Christmas gifts are distributed by:
C) One of the Wise Men's camels
The gift-giving camel is said to have been the smallest one in
the Wise Men's caravan.
11) One notable medieval English Christmas celebration featured:
A) A giant, 165-pound pie
The giant pie was nine feet in diameter. Its ingredients included
2 bushels of flour, 20 pounds of butter, 4 geese, 2 rabbits, 4
wild ducks, 2 woodcocks, 6 snipes, 4 partridges, 2 neats'
tongues, 2 curlews, 6 pigeons and 7 blackbirds.
12) In Australia, usual Boxing Day activities include:
D) Surfing
In Australia, as everywhere in the southern hemisphere,
Christmas comes in the middle of summer.
13) In Sweden, a common Christmas decoration is the Julbukk, a small
figurine of a goat. It is usually made of what material?
B) Straw
A variety of straw decorations are a usual feature of
Scandinavian Christmas festivities.
14) The real St. Nicholas lived:
C) In Turkey
St. Nicholas was bishop of the Turkish town of Myra in the early
4th century. It was the Dutch who first made him into a Christmas
gift-giver, and Dutch settlers brought him to America where his
name eventually became the familiar Santa Claus.
15) Which of the following was not one of the Three Kings?
C) Teleost
A teleost is actually a bony fish.
16) In Armenia, the traditional Christmas Eve meal consists of:
A) Fried fish, lettuce and spinach
The meal was eaten after the Christmas Eve service, in
commemoration of the supper eaten by Mary on the evening before
Christ's birth.
17) In Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker", the Nutcracker's main
enemy is:
B) The King of the Mice
The King of the Mice, usually represented with seven heads, leads
his troops against the nutcracker's toy soldiers, but loses the
battle when Clara, the heroine, stuns him with a hurled shoe.
18) The day after Christmas, December 26, is known as Boxing Day.
It is also the holy day of which saint?
D) St. Stephen
And here, we used to say: St. Stephen, a 9th century Swedish
missionary, is the patron saint of horses.
Further research, and a kind note from Pastor Philip A. Gardner
of Lancaster, Ohio, reveals that the Boxing Day St. Stephen has
in fact nothing at all to do with Sweden or with horses. The
Stephen for whom the day is named is the one in the Bible (Acts
6-8) who was the first Christian to be martyred for his faith.
19) In Greek legend, malicious creatures called Kallikantzaroi sometimes
play troublesome pranks at Christmas time. To get rid of them, you
should:
B) Burn either salt or an old shoe
Apparently the stench of the burning shoe (or salt) drives off
the Kallikantzaroi. Other effective methods include hanging a
pig's jawbone by the door and keeping a large fire so they can't
sneak down the chimney.
20) When visiting Finland, Santa leaves his sleigh behind and rides on:
C) A goat named Ukko
Finnish folklore has it that Ukko is made of straw, but is strong
enough to carry Santa Claus anyway.
21) A boar's head is a traditional Christmas dish. According to a
popular story, the unlucky boar whose head began the custom in
the Middle Ages was killed by:
A) Choking to death on a book of Greek philosophy
The story tells us that a university student saved himself from a
charging boar by ramming a book of Aristotle's writings down its
throat. He then cut off the boar's head and brought it back to his
college.
22) When distributing gifts in Holland, St. Nicholas is accompanied by:
B) His servant, Black Peter
Black Peter is responsible for actually dropping the presents
down their recipients' chimneys, but he also punishes bad
children by putting them in a bag and carrying them away to
Spain.
23) At Christmas, it is customary to exchange kisses beneath a sprig of
which plant?
D) Mistletoe
Mistletoe was associated with peace and friendship in ancient
Scandinavia, which may account for the practice of kissing
beneath it.
24) Believe it or not, one Indiana town is called:
D) Santa Claus
There is also a Santa Claus, Idaho.
25) Who was the author of "A Christmas Carol"?
B) Charles Dickens
After "A Christmas Carol" Dickens wrote several other Christmas
stories, one each year, but none was as successful as the
original.
26) Which popular Christmas song was actually written for Thanksgiving?
C) Jingle Bells
The song was composed in 1857 by James Pierpont, and was
originally called "One Horse Open Sleigh".
27) A favorite Christmas story is Dylan Thomas' "A Child's
Christmas in..."
C) Wales
This charming and poetic story is based partly on Thomas'
memories of his own childhood. Originally a radio script,
"A Child's Christmas in Wales" is now sold as a book and has
been made into a television special.
28) In 1647, the English parliament passed a law that:
A) Made Christmas illegal
Christmas festivities were banned by Puritan leader Oliver
Cromwell, who considered feasting and revelry on what was
supposed to be a holy day to be immoral. The ban was lifted only
when the Puritans lost power in 1660.
29) The world's largest Christmas cracker was made (and pulled)
in which country?
B) Australia
The cracker, 150 feet long and 10 feet in diameter, was made by
Ray Price in 1991.
30) The poem commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas" was
originally entitled:
B) A Visit From Saint Nicholas
This poem was written by Clement Moore for his children and some
guests, one of whom anonymously sent the poem to a New York
newspaper for publication.
05 December 2010
Christmas Quiz #1
I love Trivia and Christmas time so i thought I would share with you some of my Christmas trivia that I have collected. Later in the Week I will try to remember to Post the answers for you.
Christmas Quizzes Questions
1st Quiz
1) The first instrument on which the carol "Silent Night" was played was:
A) A harp
B) A pipe organ
C) A guitar
D) A kazoo
2) In Guatemala, Christmas Day is celebrated:
A) On January 6
B) On December 25
C) On October 31
D) Never
3) Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in:
A) 1492
B) 1895
C) 1944
D) 1976
4) Good King Wenceslas was king of which country?
A) Abyssinia
B) England
C) Bohemia
D) Gondor
5) Medieval English Christmas pantomimes did not include which character?
A) St. Nicholas
B) The Bold Slasher
C) Father Christmas
D) The Turkish Knight
6) The name of Scrooge's deceased business partner in Charles Dickens'
"A Christmas Carol" was:
A) Bob Cratchit
B) Jerry Cornelius
C) Bill Sykes
D) Jacob Marley
7) In North America, children put stockings out at Christmas time.
Their Dutch counterparts use:
A) Old hats
B) Beer mugs
C) Shoes
D) Stockings, just like everybody else!
8) The poinsettia, a traditional Christmas flower, originally grew in
which country?
A) Canada
B) China
C) Mexico
D) Spain
9) Which name does not belong to one of Santa's reindeer?
A) Comet
B) Prancer
C) Blitzen
D) Klaxon
10) In Syria, Christmas gifts are distributed by:
A) The Three Kings
B) Tom o'Bedlam
C) One of the Wise Men's camels
D) Father Christmas
11) One notable medieval English Christmas celebration featured:
A) A giant, 165-pound pie
B) Snowball fights between rival courtiers
C) A swimming race across the English Channel
D) Huge crackers that sometimes exploded fatally
12) In Australia, usual Boxing Day activities include:
A) Building snowmen
B) Tobogganing
C) Wombat hunting
D) Surfing
13) In Sweden, a common Christmas decoration is the Julbukk, a small
figurine of a goat. It is usually made of what material?
A) Candy
B) Straw
C) Uranium
D) Fir wood
14) The real St. Nicholas lived:
A) At the North Pole
B) On the island of Malta
C) In Turkey
D) In Holland
15) Which of the following was NOT one of the Three Kings?
A) Caspar
B) Balthazar
C) Teleost
D) Melchior
16) In Armenia, the traditional Christmas Eve meal consists of:
A) Fried fish, lettuce and spinach
B) Square meat pies
C) Broiled partridges with gooseberry sauce
D) Turkey and plum pudding
17) In Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker", the Nutcracker's main
enemy is:
A) A girl called Clara
B) The King of the Mice
C) Dr. Almond
D) Drosselmeyer the magician
18) The day after Christmas, December 26, is known as Boxing Day.
It is also the holy day of which saint?
A) St. Eustace
B) St. Brigit
C) St. Nicholas
D) St. Stephen
19) In Greek legend, malicious creatures called Kallikantzaroi sometimes
play troublesome pranks at Christmas time. To get rid of them, you
should:
A) Placate them with gifts of rice pudding
B) Burn either salt or an old shoe
C) Sing hymns in a loud voice
D) Throw your sandals at them
20) When visiting Finland, Santa leaves his sleigh behind and rides on:
A) Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
B) A giant ptarmigan
C) A goat named Ukko
D) A flying carpet
21) A boar's head is a traditional Christmas dish. According to a
popular story, the unlucky boar whose head began the custom in
the Middle Ages was killed by:
A) Choking to death on a book of Greek philosophy
B) King Wenceslas, who speared it from horseback
C) A falling fir tree
D) Remorse, after goring St. Nicholas
22) When distributing gifts in Holland, St. Nicholas is accompanied by:
A) His wife Lucy
B) His servant, Black Peter
C) Thirteen elves
D) St. Stephen
23) At Christmas, it is customary to exchange kisses beneath a sprig of
which plant?
A) Ivy
B) Yew
C) Holly
D) Mistletoe
24) Believe it or not, one Indiana town is called:
A) Christmasville
B) Wenceslas
C) Noel
D) Santa Claus
25) Who was the author of "A Christmas Carol"?
A) Mark Twain
B) Charles Dickens
C) Hans Christian Andersen
D) Thomas M. Sawyer
26) Which popular Christmas song was actually written for Thanksgiving?
A) Away in a Manger
B) Frosty the Snowman
C) Jingle Bells
D) Joy to the World
27) A favorite Christmas story is Dylan Thomas' "A Child's
Christmas in..."
A) Maryland
B) Boarding school
C) Wales
D) China
28) In 1647, the English parliament passed a law that:
A) Made Christmas illegal
B) Recognized Christmas as an official holiday
C) Let prisoners spend Christmas Day at home
D) Gave Santa immunity to break-and-enter charges
29) The world's largest Christmas cracker was made (and pulled)
in which country?
A) Sweden
B) Australia
C) England
D) The United States
30) The poem commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas" was
originally entitled:
A) Santa's Secret Visit
B) A Visit from St. Nicholas
C) The Night Before Christmas
D) The Midnight Guest
Christmas Quizzes Questions
1st Quiz
1) The first instrument on which the carol "Silent Night" was played was:
A) A harp
B) A pipe organ
C) A guitar
D) A kazoo
2) In Guatemala, Christmas Day is celebrated:
A) On January 6
B) On December 25
C) On October 31
D) Never
3) Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in:
A) 1492
B) 1895
C) 1944
D) 1976
4) Good King Wenceslas was king of which country?
A) Abyssinia
B) England
C) Bohemia
D) Gondor
5) Medieval English Christmas pantomimes did not include which character?
A) St. Nicholas
B) The Bold Slasher
C) Father Christmas
D) The Turkish Knight
6) The name of Scrooge's deceased business partner in Charles Dickens'
"A Christmas Carol" was:
A) Bob Cratchit
B) Jerry Cornelius
C) Bill Sykes
D) Jacob Marley
7) In North America, children put stockings out at Christmas time.
Their Dutch counterparts use:
A) Old hats
B) Beer mugs
C) Shoes
D) Stockings, just like everybody else!
8) The poinsettia, a traditional Christmas flower, originally grew in
which country?
A) Canada
B) China
C) Mexico
D) Spain
9) Which name does not belong to one of Santa's reindeer?
A) Comet
B) Prancer
C) Blitzen
D) Klaxon
10) In Syria, Christmas gifts are distributed by:
A) The Three Kings
B) Tom o'Bedlam
C) One of the Wise Men's camels
D) Father Christmas
11) One notable medieval English Christmas celebration featured:
A) A giant, 165-pound pie
B) Snowball fights between rival courtiers
C) A swimming race across the English Channel
D) Huge crackers that sometimes exploded fatally
12) In Australia, usual Boxing Day activities include:
A) Building snowmen
B) Tobogganing
C) Wombat hunting
D) Surfing
13) In Sweden, a common Christmas decoration is the Julbukk, a small
figurine of a goat. It is usually made of what material?
A) Candy
B) Straw
C) Uranium
D) Fir wood
14) The real St. Nicholas lived:
A) At the North Pole
B) On the island of Malta
C) In Turkey
D) In Holland
15) Which of the following was NOT one of the Three Kings?
A) Caspar
B) Balthazar
C) Teleost
D) Melchior
16) In Armenia, the traditional Christmas Eve meal consists of:
A) Fried fish, lettuce and spinach
B) Square meat pies
C) Broiled partridges with gooseberry sauce
D) Turkey and plum pudding
17) In Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker", the Nutcracker's main
enemy is:
A) A girl called Clara
B) The King of the Mice
C) Dr. Almond
D) Drosselmeyer the magician
18) The day after Christmas, December 26, is known as Boxing Day.
It is also the holy day of which saint?
A) St. Eustace
B) St. Brigit
C) St. Nicholas
D) St. Stephen
19) In Greek legend, malicious creatures called Kallikantzaroi sometimes
play troublesome pranks at Christmas time. To get rid of them, you
should:
A) Placate them with gifts of rice pudding
B) Burn either salt or an old shoe
C) Sing hymns in a loud voice
D) Throw your sandals at them
20) When visiting Finland, Santa leaves his sleigh behind and rides on:
A) Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
B) A giant ptarmigan
C) A goat named Ukko
D) A flying carpet
21) A boar's head is a traditional Christmas dish. According to a
popular story, the unlucky boar whose head began the custom in
the Middle Ages was killed by:
A) Choking to death on a book of Greek philosophy
B) King Wenceslas, who speared it from horseback
C) A falling fir tree
D) Remorse, after goring St. Nicholas
22) When distributing gifts in Holland, St. Nicholas is accompanied by:
A) His wife Lucy
B) His servant, Black Peter
C) Thirteen elves
D) St. Stephen
23) At Christmas, it is customary to exchange kisses beneath a sprig of
which plant?
A) Ivy
B) Yew
C) Holly
D) Mistletoe
24) Believe it or not, one Indiana town is called:
A) Christmasville
B) Wenceslas
C) Noel
D) Santa Claus
25) Who was the author of "A Christmas Carol"?
A) Mark Twain
B) Charles Dickens
C) Hans Christian Andersen
D) Thomas M. Sawyer
26) Which popular Christmas song was actually written for Thanksgiving?
A) Away in a Manger
B) Frosty the Snowman
C) Jingle Bells
D) Joy to the World
27) A favorite Christmas story is Dylan Thomas' "A Child's
Christmas in..."
A) Maryland
B) Boarding school
C) Wales
D) China
28) In 1647, the English parliament passed a law that:
A) Made Christmas illegal
B) Recognized Christmas as an official holiday
C) Let prisoners spend Christmas Day at home
D) Gave Santa immunity to break-and-enter charges
29) The world's largest Christmas cracker was made (and pulled)
in which country?
A) Sweden
B) Australia
C) England
D) The United States
30) The poem commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas" was
originally entitled:
A) Santa's Secret Visit
B) A Visit from St. Nicholas
C) The Night Before Christmas
D) The Midnight Guest
Thanksgiving Weekend
Oh I had the best Thanksgiving weekend this year. We Barker's all went down to OBX to visit my Dad. I made the dinner everything except for the turkey on my own, 1st time ever and I think it was great and by Saturday there where only mashed potatoes left, well I did make 10lbs of them. We spend time together on the beach getting our toes wet the water was cold but the times with family is what mattered, I also got my dad to drive us out of the beach in the jeep so that we could look for shells and stuff after a small nor'easter that blew through on Friday night. I found 4 nice pieces of sea glass this now brings my collection to about 12 pieces. We hated to say good bye on Sunday to return home but we were able to stop in Hampton at the Pro-Bass Shop, if you haven't ever been to one of these and you like the outdoors you should definitely stop in sometime. We also stopped in Richmond to visit with the In-laws it was a nice evening I think almost everyone stopped by and brought over their left overs from Thanksgiving diner to share. I think the best part of the weekend was spending it together with Family.
Bus Stuck in the Mud
How can it be December already? And really was the last time I blogged in August? I have got to get better.
Well to the title of this one. the Wednesday after Thanksgiving I got my bus STUCK, and I mean STUCK in the mud. I had a problems with a student that doesn't stay in his seat very well and I was moving him to the front seat where I have a seat belt that was installed a few years ago when there was another problem child. Well I found a safe spot to pull over (you know big Yellow buses can't just pull over anywhere) I took care of the trouble student. When i pulled off the road I remembered that it had been raining for about 24hrs before but I thought I would be OK. BIG mistake at I got ready to pull away I realized I was stuck, No Problem, I'm not a Williams for nothing, we figure things out and try to solve problems ourselves. So I thought I have snow chains in my storage box on the side of the bus, I'll use them to give me some traction. Mistake Number 2, they got lost in the Mud (the Mechanics finally founds them both and returned them to my bus, but now they are all muddy). I finally decided I needed to call the big guys out to help me.They came to the rescue and we evacuated the bus so they could pull the bus out of the mud. All the kids on the bus where great they really wanted to help and most of my 5th graders where a great help. I did have 2 little ones that where upset and crying, they where afraid that mommy wouldn't know where they where (one of them was Spanish and mommy didn't speak English) but 45 minutes later they where all safe and sound at home and I got home. I now have brown-wall-tires and a nice coating of mud on the underside of the bus. Mud coating is good right it protects from sunburn right? Oh yeah I for got that is for pigs and elephants.
Oh Well Just another one for the file of Been There, Now I've done that, and I don't want to repeat it, but I'm not a Williams for nothing (we don't always learn from our mistakes)
Well to the title of this one. the Wednesday after Thanksgiving I got my bus STUCK, and I mean STUCK in the mud. I had a problems with a student that doesn't stay in his seat very well and I was moving him to the front seat where I have a seat belt that was installed a few years ago when there was another problem child. Well I found a safe spot to pull over (you know big Yellow buses can't just pull over anywhere) I took care of the trouble student. When i pulled off the road I remembered that it had been raining for about 24hrs before but I thought I would be OK. BIG mistake at I got ready to pull away I realized I was stuck, No Problem, I'm not a Williams for nothing, we figure things out and try to solve problems ourselves. So I thought I have snow chains in my storage box on the side of the bus, I'll use them to give me some traction. Mistake Number 2, they got lost in the Mud (the Mechanics finally founds them both and returned them to my bus, but now they are all muddy). I finally decided I needed to call the big guys out to help me.They came to the rescue and we evacuated the bus so they could pull the bus out of the mud. All the kids on the bus where great they really wanted to help and most of my 5th graders where a great help. I did have 2 little ones that where upset and crying, they where afraid that mommy wouldn't know where they where (one of them was Spanish and mommy didn't speak English) but 45 minutes later they where all safe and sound at home and I got home. I now have brown-wall-tires and a nice coating of mud on the underside of the bus. Mud coating is good right it protects from sunburn right? Oh yeah I for got that is for pigs and elephants.
Oh Well Just another one for the file of Been There, Now I've done that, and I don't want to repeat it, but I'm not a Williams for nothing (we don't always learn from our mistakes)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)