The poinsettia, a traditional Christmas flower in North America,
was first brought to this country in 1828 by Joel R. Poinsett,
the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, where the plant was called the
"flower of the holy night." Christmas trees became popular in
16th century Germany, when devout Christians brought decorated
trees into their homes or, in areas where trees were scarce,
built wooden pyramids and decorated them with evergreens and
candles. Christmas cards were first sent by the British in the
mid-1800s, opening the windows of an Advent calendar is a custom
borrowed from Germany and the "creche" or nativity scene was
first created in Italy by St. Francis of Assisi to help his
followers understand the Christmas story. These and myriad other
facts about holiday traditions, stories, songs, crafts, recipes
and gift ideas are included in a revised edition of "The Whole
Christmas Catalogue," published by Price Stern Sloan, Inc. First
published in 1986, this colorfully illustrated album will have
sold around 100,00