Twenty-five questions on Christmas songs, films, traditions and history, with a short story behind each answer. Ready for an office party, a family gathering or a holiday pub quiz.
In "The Twelve Days of Christmas," what does my true love give me on the first day?
Show answer
A partridge in a pear tree
Each verse adds a gift and repeats the earlier ones. Counted that way, the song delivers 364 gifts in total.
Question 2
Who created Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1939?
Show answer
Robert L. May, for Montgomery Ward
May wrote the story as a giveaway booklet for the department store. Gene Autry's 1949 recording of the song made Rudolph famous.
Question 3
Which country is usually credited with starting the tradition of the decorated Christmas tree?
Show answer
Germany
German Christians brought evergreen trees indoors from the 16th century. Prince Albert, who was German, made the custom fashionable in Britain in the 1840s.
Question 4
Which company's 1930s advertisements helped fix the modern image of a jolly, red-suited Santa?
Show answer
Coca-Cola
Haddon Sundblom painted Santa for Coca-Cola from 1931. Santa wore red before that, notably in Thomas Nast's 19th-century drawings, but the ads spread the look worldwide.
Question 5
In what year did Christmas become a US federal holiday?
Show answer
1870
President Ulysses S. Grant signed the law on June 28, 1870, alongside New Year's Day, Independence Day and Thanksgiving.
Question 6
Which song is the best-selling single of all time, according to Guinness World Records?
Show answer
"White Christmas" by Bing Crosby
Irving Berlin's song, first sung by Crosby in the 1942 film Holiday Inn, has sold an estimated 50 million copies.
Question 7
In A Christmas Carol, what is Scrooge's first name?
Show answer
Ebenezer
Charles Dickens published the story in December 1843. Jacob Marley was Scrooge's dead partner and Bob Cratchit his clerk.
Question 8
How many ghosts visit Scrooge in A Christmas Carol?
Show answer
Four, counting Jacob Marley
Marley's ghost comes first and warns him. Then come the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.
Question 9
What is the name of the boy left home alone in Home Alone (1990)?
Show answer
Kevin McCallister
Macaulay Culkin played Kevin. Buzz is his older brother; Ralphie is from A Christmas Story.
Question 10
Which plant is hung at Christmas as a place to kiss under?
Show answer
Mistletoe
Mistletoe is a partly parasitic plant that grows on trees. The kissing custom was popular in 18th-century England.
Question 11
Who is usually credited with writing "A Visit from St. Nicholas" ("'Twas the Night Before Christmas")?
Show answer
Clement Clarke Moore
It was first published anonymously in 1823. Moore later claimed it; some researchers argue Henry Livingston Jr. wrote it.
Question 12
Which of these is NOT one of the reindeer named in "A Visit from St. Nicholas"?
Show answer
Rudolph
The 1823 poem names eight: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder (or Dunder) and Blitzen. Rudolph came 116 years later.
Question 13
Which country sends a Christmas tree to London's Trafalgar Square every year?
Show answer
Norway
Oslo has sent the tree every year since 1947, as thanks for British support during World War II.
Question 14
Who plays Buddy in the 2003 film Elf?
Show answer
Will Ferrell
Buddy is a human raised by elves at the North Pole. Jim Carrey played the Grinch in 2000; Tim Allen was in The Santa Clause.
Question 15
What is the name of the Grinch's dog?
Show answer
Max
Dr. Seuss published How the Grinch Stole Christmas! in 1957. Max is tied up with a single antler to pull the sleigh.
Question 16
Poinsettias, the red Christmas plants, are native to which country?
Show answer
Mexico
They're named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first US minister to Mexico, who sent cuttings home in the 1820s.
Question 17
Who composed the music for the ballet The Nutcracker?
Show answer
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
It premiered in St. Petersburg in December 1892. Tchaikovsky also wrote Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty.
Question 18
In It's a Wonderful Life, what happens every time a bell rings?
Show answer
An angel gets his wings
George Bailey's daughter Zuzu says the line at the end of the 1946 film. Clarence is the angel who earns his wings.
Question 19
"Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of" which saint?
Show answer
Stephen
St. Stephen's Day is December 26. The real Wenceslas was a 10th-century duke of Bohemia, not a king.
Question 20
What do people in Britain, Canada and Australia call December 26?
Show answer
Boxing Day
The name is usually traced to the custom of giving boxes of money or gifts to servants and tradespeople the day after Christmas.
Question 21
According to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, in which town was Jesus born?
Show answer
Bethlehem
Matthew 2 and Luke 2 both place the birth in Bethlehem. Jesus grew up in Nazareth, which is why he is called Jesus of Nazareth.
Question 22
Which three gifts did the Magi bring, according to Matthew?
Show answer
Gold, frankincense and myrrh
Matthew 2:11 lists the gifts. The Bible never says there were three Magi; the number comes from the three gifts.
Question 23
Which 1983 film includes the warning "You'll shoot your eye out"?
Show answer
A Christmas Story
Ralphie wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. The film is set in Indiana in the 1940s.
Question 24
What does the German word Tannenbaum, from "O Tannenbaum," mean?
Show answer
Fir tree
The carol is known in English as "O Christmas Tree." Its best-known version dates from 1824.
Question 25
Which composer wrote the oratorio Messiah, often performed at Christmas?
Show answer
George Frideric Handel
Messiah premiered in Dublin in April 1742. Its "Hallelujah" chorus is often sung by audiences standing.
Key numbers
Questions
25
Format
Multiple choice, 4 options
Explanations
Every question
Answers
Hidden until you open them
Songs, films and stories
The festive classics come first: the Twelve Days of Christmas, Rudolph, A Christmas Carol, the Grinch, Home Alone, Elf and It's a Wonderful Life. These are the questions everyone at a holiday party can play, from grandparents to teenagers.
Traditions and where they came from
The rest of the set looks at where customs came from: the German Christmas tree, Mexico's poinsettia, Norway's yearly tree for Trafalgar Square, Boxing Day, and how much (and how little) Coca-Cola had to do with the modern image of Santa. Three questions come from the nativity accounts in Matthew and Luke. The Bible trivia page has more.
Planning a Christmas quiz
Split the set into a "songs and films" round and a "traditions" round of about 12 each.
Ask the Scrooge ghost question without options. Most people say three, and four (counting Marley) makes a fun argument.
Use "How many gifts are given in the Twelve Days of Christmas?" as the tiebreaker. The answer is 364.
A few of these answers surprise people every year: Christmas has only been a US federal holiday since 1870, Rudolph began as a department-store giveaway, and the "three" wise men are never counted in the Bible.
What the first gift is in the Twelve Days of Christmas, Scrooge's first name and the name of the Grinch's dog. Almost everyone gets at least two of the three.
Are these Christmas trivia questions good for adults?
Yes. They mix easy movie questions with harder history, like the year Christmas became a US federal holiday (1870) and which country sends London its tree.
Is there a Christmas tiebreaker question?
Ask how many gifts are given in total in 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'. Counting every repeated verse, it's 364, one fewer than the days in a year.