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The Great CBL Christmas Trivia Quiz! CBL Copywriting & SEO

Get Your Festive Trivia Groove on with 20 challenging questions!

One of the greatest joys of being a copywriter is the opportunity to research new topics. The sheer variety of clients I come into contact with and subjects I’m asked to write about means I get to dig into markets, products, people and industries that might otherwise have never crossed my path. Since I started copywriting full time, I’ve honed my research skills to the point where I know pretty much where to go for good information and can spot a decent source at 50 paces (likewise a rubbish one).

This makes me a demon at pub quizzes! (And somewhat of a nuisance to everyone else!) I have a knack for ferreting out useful – and sometimes useless – facts which I have been accused of being a little too fond of sharing with everyone else, disregarding any obvious interest or lack thereof on the part of my audience. So naturally, whenever the opportunity presents itself, I jump at the chance be a Quiz Master, and the festive season is no exception.

Therefore, Ladies and Gentlemen, I present the Great CBL Christmas Trivia Quiz! Below are 20 questions all on a festive theme, and at the bottom of the page are the answers, complete with links to the online sources from which they have been derived, should you wish to check them out.

Eyes down and have fun – no cheating! Let us know how you got on via our Facebook page, and good luck!

CHRISTMAS TRIVIA QUESTIONS

Time to play!

1. How many points does a snowflake traditionally have?

2. Name the eight original Reindeer named in the poem “The Night Before Christmas”

3. What is the French name for Santa Claus?

4. What is the name of Ebenezer Scrooge’s partner in Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”?

5. The 1947 movie Miracle on 34th Street is based on a real-life New York department store. Which one?

6. In what decade did Coca-Cola start using Santa Claus in advertisements?

7. In the song Twelve Days of Christmas, what is given on the 7th day?

8. In what country did the custom of putting up a Christmas tree originate?

9. Sticking with the theme of plants, which plant-based Christmas tradition did servants in Victorian England popularise?

10. What is the most popular meal for Christmas in Japan?

11. What is the date of St. Stephen’s Day?

12. What is the name of George Bailey’s guardian angel in the film “It’s A Wonderful Life”?

13. What star sign would you be if you were born on Christmas Day?

14. In which ocean is Christmas Island located?

15. What red-blooming Christmas plant originally came from Mexico?

16. What’s the name of the animated Christmas film starring Tom Hanks?

17. When was the first Christmas card sent? Bonus point if you can also name the designer!

18. Which US president tried to ban Christmas trees in the Whitehouse?

19. Which military organisation tracks Santa’s progress around the world on Christmas Eve? Bonus point if you know which year they started!

20. In what European country are children given gifts by St. Basil on 1st January instead of Santa on 25th December?

CHRISTMAS TRIVIA ANSWERS

1: Six. According to the UK Met Office the apparent hexagonal shape is the most efficient way for snowflakes to form.

2: Donner, Blitzen, Prancer, Dancer, Comet, Cupid, Dasher and Vixen. Deduct a point if you said Rudolph (only kidding!). From the poem “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clark Moore – originally entitled “A Visit From St Nicholas”.

3: Père Noël. In some parts of France, Christmas comes early when le Père Noël brings small gifts and sweets for children on 6th December, the feast day of Saint-Nicolas.

4: Jacob Marley. Who is also the fourth ghost of the tale, should it ever come up in a pub quiz near you (the others being the spirits of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come).

5: Macy’s. Although rumour has it that for the 1994 remake they didn’t want anything to do with the film so the name was changed to “Cole’s” for the new script.

6: 1930s. The illustrator Haddon Sundblom was paid as much as $1,000 per painting – a vast sum in those days.

7: Swans a-swimming. The PNC Christmas Price Index estimates the total value of all 12 sets of gifts at around £40,000 (I told you I like research!).

8: Germany. Although the symbolism of using evergreen plants in the home during the winter solstice dates from pre-Christianity days – all the way back to the Romans. Householders in ancient Egypt hung boughs over their doors and windows believing that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.

9: Kissing under the mistletoe. Mistletoe has been viewed as a sign of fertility for hundreds of years though how it became an excuse for people to grab a quick guilt-free snog is a mystery!

10: KFC. Yes – believe it or not but millions of Japanese would never let a Christmas go by without a bucket of fried chicken appearing at some point.

11. The 26th December. Otherwise known as “The Feast of Stephen” – St Stephen being the first Christian martyr.

12. Clarence. Or Clarence Odbody to give him his full name. Now with wings!

13. Capricorn. Born under an Earth sign and practical, self-reliant, stoic and ambitious. Stubborn enough to finish this quiz then!

14: Indian Ocean. The home of red crabs and deserted white beaches. Well, we can only look out our window at the winter drizzle and dream!

15: Poinsettia. Named after the botanist who first introduced these plants to the USA during the 19th century.

16. The Polar Express. First released in 2004, Tom Hanks voices no less than six of the characters.

17. The first Christmas card was sent in 1843 by the founder of the V&A museum Henry Cole. He was also one of the prime movers and shakers behind the inauguration of the British postal system, and he asked his artist friend John Horsley to design a Christmas card to speed up the process of answering all his letters during the festive season.

18. No, not him. Theodore Roosevelt (the 26th US president) attempted to ban trees from inside the White House not from any Scrooge-like denial but from a conservation standpoint. However he was thwarted by two of his children who managed to smuggle one inside a closet!

19. NORAD (or the North American Aerospace Defense Command) began using radar and other technologies to track Santa on his trip around the globe in 1955.

20. Greece. Although the festive celebrations start on 24th December, it’s on New Year’s Eve that families traditionally gather together for a big meal and play games, and after the stroke of midnight the adults in the family give money and gifts to the children.

How did you get on? Let us know via our Facebook page! We hope you had a bit of fun and picked up some useless/useful trivia facts to bore share with your loved ones once all the cracker jokes have been readout.

Merry Christmas!

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