As this column falls on Christmas Day, my gift to you is a collection of seasonal factoids. Herewith, the origins of how plying little ones with sweets became a time honored tradition and how our Mexican neighbors provided one of the most recognized symbols of the holiday.

Candy Canes — The candy cane originated in Germany about 250 years ago, starting out as a simple, white sugar stick. A story says that a choirmaster was worried about children sitting quietly through the long Christmas nativity service. So he gave them something to eat to keep them quiet. To remind them of Christmas, he made the canes in a 'J' shape, like shepherds crooks.

Christmas Cards — The custom of sending Christmas cards began in the U.K. in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. He was a civil servant who wondered how the new "Public Post Office" could be used more by ordinary people. So, he and his friend, artist John Horsley, designed the first cards and sold them for 1 shilling each. Each card had three panels. The outer two showed people caring for the poor, and the center one depicted a family at the Christmas dinner table.

Poinsettias — Poinsettia plants are indigenous to Central America and Mexico, where they flower during the winter. A 16th-century Mexican legend tells of people flocking to church on Christmas Eve to fill the Christ child's manger with flowers. A young girl, too poor to buy any, was approached by an angel who told her to pick some weeds from the side of the road. The child brought the weeds to the church and placed them in the manger whereupon they turned into beautiful scarlet flowers, which the Mexicans called Flor de la Noche Buena or Flower of Christmas Eve. These striking blooms caught the attention of Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico, and an early supporter of what would become the Smithsonian Institution. Around 1825, Dr. Poinsett brought the plant to America, where it was named in his honor.

Christmas Trees — The evergreen tree has been used to celebrate winter festivals for thousands of years. Pagans used evergreen branches to decorate their homes during the winter solstice to remind them of the spring to come, and the Romans used fir trees to decorate their temples during festivals. The first documented use of an evergreen tree to celebrate Christmas and New Year's Day occurred in the town square of Riga, the capital of Latvia, in the year 1510.

Sixteenth-century Germany receives credit for originally decorating trees in the way we do today. Apples, roses, gilded candies and colored paper were used back then. Adding light to branches is credited to 16th-century German theologist Martin Luther. It is said that the beauty of the stars shining through the branches of a fir tree one night inspired him to recreate the effect by placing candles on the branches of a small evergreen inside his home.

Many early Christmas trees were hung upside down from the ceiling, chandeliers or lighting hooks to represent the Trinity. But later, Christmas trees were placed right-side-up with the tip pointing to heaven, a tradition that (thankfully) stuck.

Although trees were common in Pennsylvania German homes as early as the 1700s, the tradition was not accepted by most Americans at the time. It would fall to Queen Victoria and her German husband Prince Albert to introduce their traditions — such as the Christmas tree — to Britain. A famous 1848 London Illustrated News etching, featuring Victoria, Albert and their children gathered around a Christmas tree, popularized the tradition.

I wish all my readers Merry Manners and a politeful New Year!

Bizia Greene owns the Etiquette School of Santa Fe. Send your comments and conundrums to etiquette@etiquettesantafe.com">etiquette@etiquettesantafe.com or 988-2070.