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History of the Advent Calendar |
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Whilst you are making and enjoying your Advent Cone, remember that advent calendars are not just an excuse to eat chocolate! |
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They have been used for many years as a way to count the days between the start of the Christmas Story and Christmas Day itself. They started in Germany in the 19th Century, where other counting methods were also used, including rubbing off chalk marks made on doors, burning candles, or putting up small religious pictures to mark each day. Soon enough, calendars were being designed with little doors or pouches which contained small religious pictures or pieces of writing from the bible and being widely manufactured and sold. Even in the 1930's, some advent calendars contained small sweets to keep the attention of the children. In America in the 1950's, the grandchildren of President Eisenhower loved the idea of the advent calendar and they soon became very popular all over the country. In the UK, chocolates began to be used behind little doors in advent calendars in the 1950's and 60's. Nowadays, advent calendars are more likely to be made of cardboard and decorated with some popular or chocolate-related theme that has been adjusted to look Christmassy, bearing at least 24 little doors. Think 'High School Musical' or 'Dr Who'! Other types of calendars include the non-chocolate ones which may contain only pictures behind the doors. German calendars still have only 24 doors, although some calendars you can buy here have a special 25th door or present. Some calendars even have up to 31 doors to include the Jewish festival of Hanukkah and/or New Year's Eve - these do not always contain chocolate since it is traditional to be on a diet after Christmas! In 1996 Yvonne designed the first interactive advent calendar on CD-ROM which (distributed by Caltime Ltd) not only had a different animated character for each day of advent but also a christmas carol or song. The CD was also an audio CD so the children could listen and sing along to the carols at any time. A great way to get into the christmas spirit. With the internet came the online advent calendars with many different versions appearing using characters or pictures hiding behind 'doors'. And the best advent calendars?! What could be better than making your own? Because you make and colour the calendar yourself, each one is unique and can be filled with anything you want….. usually chocolate! |
 Advent Cone Kits: The Nativity Cone The Father Christmas/Snowman/tree Cone The Christmas Tree Cone Telephone: 01737 841 080 for more details Thank you for visiting our web site. |
Last Revision: September 2008
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