Holiday gift ideas

Gifts for holidays fans

Know someone who loves holidays? Pick their favourite topic for gift ideas, with a fact to share when they open it.

  • A Christmas Carol

    The term Merry Christmas was already well-known, but the popularity of A Christmas Carol helped make the phrase a standard holiday greeting in the Victorian era.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Advent Calendars

    The very first Advent calendars were not made of cardboard but were instead makeshift displays using chalk marks, small religious pictures hung on walls, or even straw placed in a manger one piece at a time.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Black Friday

    The name Black Friday was originally coined by police in Philadelphia in the 1950s to describe the chaotic traffic jams and crowded sidewalks that occurred the day after Thanksgiving, which they dreaded working.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Candy Canes

    While many believe candy canes were invented to look like a shepherd's crook to represent the Christmas story, there is no historical evidence to support this, and it is likely just a sweet folklore tale.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Christmas

    The tradition of putting up a Christmas tree was popularized in the United Kingdom by Prince Albert, who brought a fir tree from his native Germany to Windsor Castle in 1841.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Christmas Around the World

    In Japan, it is a popular tradition to eat a full Christmas dinner from KFC, with many families placing their orders weeks in advance to ensure they get their festive fried chicken.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Christmas Carols

    In the 1600s, Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans banned the singing of Christmas carols in England, declaring them sinful and a distraction from religious devotion.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Christmas Decorations

    The first artificial Christmas trees were not made of plastic, but of green-dyed goose feathers attached to wire branches.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Christmas Movies

    The movie A Christmas Story is set in the 1940s, but it was not filmed in Indiana; the house used for the exterior shots is actually located in Cleveland, Ohio, and is now a museum.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Christmas Trees

    In the early 1900s, some people were so worried about the fire hazards of real candles on trees that they tried to use slices of raw potatoes as candle holders, hoping the moisture would keep the branches from catching fire.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Elf (movie)

    The iconic costume worn by Will Ferrell was intentionally designed with a slightly short hemline on the pants to make his long legs look even more awkward and exaggerated while he walked around the city.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Hanukkah

    Many people believe that Hanukkah is the most important holiday in Judaism, but it is actually considered a minor festival compared to holidays like Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Home Alone

    The iconic poster of Kevin screaming with his hands on his face was inspired by the famous expressionist painting The Scream by Edvard Munch.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Kwanzaa

    The name Kwanzaa comes from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, which means first fruits, referring to the traditional celebrations of the first harvest of the year.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

    In the early years of the parade, the giant balloons were released into the sky at the end of the event; they were equipped with return addresses and offered rewards to anyone who found and mailed them back.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Mistletoe

    Mistletoe is actually a partial parasite that steals water and minerals from trees, meaning the plant we kiss under is technically a bit of a freeloader.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

    The film was written by John Hughes and is based on his own short story Christmas '59, which was published in National Lampoon magazine.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • New Year's Eve

    In ancient Babylon, the new year began with the first new moon after the spring equinox, meaning their celebrations were held in late March rather than December.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • New Year's Resolutions

    When people make resolutions, they often experience the false hope syndrome, where their expectations for change are unrealistically high and not aligned with their past behavior, leading to an inevitable cycle of disappointment.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • New Year's Traditions Around the World

    In Denmark, it is a tradition to jump off chairs at the stroke of midnight to literally leap into the new year and bring good luck.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Santa Claus

    The modern image of Santa Claus in a red suit was not created by Coca-Cola, but rather solidified by cartoonist Thomas Nast in the 1860s, long before the famous beverage advertisements appeared.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • Thanksgiving

    The first Thanksgiving lasted for three days, and the participants spent a significant portion of that time competing in marksmanship contests and shooting matches.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • The Grinch

    Dr. Seuss actually drove a car with a license plate that read GRINCH, which he used to get around his hometown of La Jolla, California.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

  • The Mayflower

    While we picture the Pilgrims wearing black clothes with big buckles on their hats and shoes, they actually wore colorful outfits in shades of red, green, and blue, and shoe buckles were not even in fashion at that time.

    Gift ideas Books More facts

Other interests

The gift and book links go to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, Braintasia earns from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.