(828) 526-0173 | [email protected] | Copyright 2024 – All Rights Reserved.
A Little Extra Magic
Written By: Sandi Rogers, Cashiers Historical Society | Issue: December 2023
Take a page out of history and find a place in your home for an advent calendar.
There are several sure signs winter is upon us when the days are growing shorter, darker, and somewhat blustery. A look at the calendar confirms that December is here and the Christmas season is truly upon us. This is also the time that families look to make Christmas extra special and add a little extra magic. Many families have added the celebration of Advent and the displaying of an Advent Calendar to their list of special traditions.
While tradition dictates that you should start an Advent Calendar on December 1 and continue with it every day until December 25 many of the modern calendars can be found with fewer days.
A German printer named Gerhard Lang is credited with the original idea of the Advent Calendar. He designed the first calendar around the turn of the century, about the late 1890s.
Later in 1908 he added the idea of little doors that could open each day with a Bible verse behind each door. Since 1958 the Advent Calendar’s door began to have a small piece of chocolate behind each, thanks to the British chocolatier, Cadbury.
However, in the United States it wasn’t until 1954 when Newsweek published a photo of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s grandchildren holding a Calendar that the popularity of the Advent Calendar became a Christmas tradition in the United States.
Advent comes from the Latin word adventus meaning arrival or coming. For Protestants, Catholics and other Christian’s traditions, Advent is a four-week period intended to be a time of preparations for the arrival of Jesus Christ. The fourth Sunday before Christmas is the beginning of Advent. Since December 25 falls on a different day of the week each year, the dates of Advent will also be different. This year, Advent began on Sunday, December 3, and will end on Sunday, December 24.
Finally, a Christmas Wish from CHS – Cashiers Historical Society – start your own Advent Calendar tradition this year and unwrap the joy of the season with your loved ones!
