Wow, can you believe that it is almost the end of 2020? We have hopefully made it to the last level in Jumanji and January can offer a fresh start with a decline in the current pandemic. The year 2020 has definitely been quite the year, one that no one expected. But we have finally made it to the season where everyone is thankful for family and showing the spirit of the holidays. Here are some fun facts about this time of year: 

• 1066 – King William I of England was crowned on Christmas Day. 
• 1377 – During a Christmas feast hosted by King Richard the II of England in 1377, three hundred sheep and twenty-eight oxen were consumed. 
• 1640 – Scotland abolished the observance of Christmas (until 1958 when it became a legal holiday). 
• Franklin Pierce (1853-1857) is believed to have been the first President to put a Christmas tree in the White House. 
• Christmas trees were banned by President Teddy Roosevelt in the White House in 1901 because the President was concerned about the environmental effects, but his sons decorated a small tree cut on the White House grounds and hid it in a closet until Christmas morning. 
• 1915 – Hallmark introduced their first Christmas cards. 
• Boston, Massachusetts receives a tree from Nova Scotia, Canada because of the support given to the city of Halifax in 1917 when they experienced an explosion and fire disaster. 
• The people of London receive a tree for Trafalgar Square from the people of Oslo, Norway every year to thank them for their assistance during World War II. 
• During World War II, the Bicycle playing card company made decks of cards and gave them to the prisoners of war in Germany with hidden escape routes revealed when the cards were soaked in water as Christmas presents. 
• 1962 – the United States issued the first Christmas postage stamp.

We hope that everyone enjoys the holiday!