Christmas and business are linked in so many ways. Christmas is about connecting with the people around us, giving thanks, and celebrating. But, the business world has shaped some of our best loved Christmas traditions over the years
Here are a few fascinating insights on how business entrepreneurs have made their mark on Christmas.
Santa.
Most people can agree on what Santa Claus looks like — jolly, with a red suit and a white beard. In 1930 a famous cola manufacturer decided to use the image of Santa Claus in its winter advertising campaign and chose the cola’s colours red and white for his image. When the campaign was over, Santa’s image in a red had become popular all over the world.
Christmas Trees.
Decorated trees are major part of our Christmas festivities. The custom of having a Christmas tree in the home came from Germany. The person responsible for Christmas trees becoming popular in the UK was Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, when he allowed a picture to be printed in the press of the Royal Family gathered round their Christmas tree. Then everybody in the UK wanted one! Now, over 100,000 people are employed in the Christmas tree industry. In 2011, more than 30 million live Christmas trees were purchased in the United States alone with a market value of some $1.5 billion. Also 9.5 million artificial trees were purchased which adds to the value of the Christmas tree business.
Rudolph.
The red-nosed reindeer was born in 1939 for the American retail enterprise Montgomery Ward. The company created the reindeer Christmas story to give to customers during the holiday season as a promotion for their stores.
Cookies.
Do you know that the most popular cookie kids leave for Santa is the Oreo? Maybe that’s because over 9.1 billion of them are sold each year. There is no exact date recorded but the idea of leaving cookies for Santa started sometime in the 1930’s. Naughty kids use them to bribe Santa at the last minute and nice kids use them as a way of thanking him for all his hard work on Christmas Eve.
Christmas Cards.
The earliest known designer of a Christmas card was Sir Henry Cole, the first director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The industrialisation of the printing industry in 1840 led to the popularity of sending Christmas cards and since then, Christmas cards have evolved into a major holiday industry.
Crackers.
The Christmas cracker is really a testament to one man’s ingenuity and determination. Tom Smith was a confectioner’s apprentice in London in the early 19th century. In Paris he admired the French sugared almond bon-bons, wrapped in coloured tissue paper, and decided to introduce them in London. For seven years he worked to develop the bon-bon into something more exciting, until eventually, after watching his log fire crackle, he imagined a bon-bon with a pop. He made a coloured paper wrapper and put in it another strip of paper impregnated with chemicals which, when rubbed, created enough friction to produce a noise. He knew that bangs excited children and the mottoes and poems he inserted inside the crackers amused adults.
Christmas and Business Today.
What about Christmas in modern times? ComScore.com, a leader in measuring the online business digital world, reported that Monday, 3 December 2012 (aka Cyber Monday), was the heaviest online spending day on record, drawing $1.46 billion. Notably, digital content and subscriptions showed the biggest increase of 28% and the Digital Economy is set to grow even more next year.
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