QUESTIONS

1. In the UK it is traditionally believed that eating a what each day of the twelve days of Christmas brings happiness the following year: Sausage; Mince pie; Carrot; or Turkey drumstick?
2. In the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, how many pipers are there?
3. Who are the four ghosts in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol?
4. Which British monarch (born 1865, died 1936) introduced the custom of giving thousands of Christmas puddings to staff?
5. Which Christmas carol includes the lyrics ‘…To save us all from Satan’s power, when we were gone astray..’?
6. Pine needles are said to be a good source of which vitamin?
7. What Paul McCartney hit song video featured the First World War Christmas Truce meeting of German and British soldiers in no-man’s land between the front line trenches?
8. Christmas Crackers was the first Christmas edition of which popular UK comedy series?
9. Charles Dickens is said to have considered the names Little Larry and Puny Pete for which character?
10. Traditional in Germany at Christmas, what sort of food is stollen?
11. In the song ‘The Twelve Days Of Christmas’, how many swans were a-swimming?
12. In Charles Dickens’ novel A Christmas Carol, who was Scrooge’s dead business partner?
13. What is the birth sign of people born on 25 December?
14. In which city was the Salvation Army founded?
15. Peter Auty sang Walking In The Air in what film?
16. The early pagan religious winter festival celebrated by archaic Scandinavian and Germanic people, later absorbed into Christmas celebrations, is still referred to in what alternative word for the Christmas season?
17. Who was said to have presented the baby Jesus with Frankincense?
18. White Christmas, a cake made of coconut, crisped rice and dried fruit, is popular in which country?
19. London’s Trafalgar Square Christmas tree is traditionally given by which country?
20. How many courses are there traditionally in a Ukrainian Christmas Eve supper?
21. Name the original eight reindeers?
22. What was Queen’s 1984 Christmas single called?
23. What is the English title of the carol written in 1818 by Austrian priest Josef Mohr originally called Stille Nacht?
24. Very loosely related to Christmas, the predatory animal ‘uncia uncia’ is better known by what name?
25. What is the popular name for little baked sausages wrapped in rashers of streaky bacon?
26. American cartoonist Thomas Nast is credited with creating the traditional image of which popular Christmas character?
27. What is New Year’s Eve called in Scotland?
28. The character Jack Skellington appears in which 1993 Tim Burton film?
29. Which actress singer who charted with Santa Baby and starred as Catwoman died on Christmas day 2008?
30. Born Christmas day 1908, by what name was gay icon author of The Naked Civil Servant popularly known?
31. What is the title of biggest selling Christmas single, globally?
32. How many gifts are given in total in the song The Twelve Days of Christmas?
33. Which traditional Christmas plant was once so revered by early Britons that it had to be cut with a golden sickle?
34. What drink invented by Francis Showering has a fawn mascot?
35. What is the name of the cake traditionally eaten in Italy at Christmas?
36. Yorkshireman William Strickland is believed to have brought the first what to Britain from North America in 1526?
37. Who banned Christmas in England between 1647 and 1660?
38. What Christmas item was invented by London baker and wedding-cake specialist Tom Smith in 1847?
39. Which US President banned Christmas trees from the White House?
40. Which famous comedy double-act partner made the first ever UK mobile phone call, New Year’s Day, 1985?
41. Before the tradition of hanging stockings up at Christmas what did Dutch children hang by the fireside?
42. The North Pole, said to be Santa’s home, is located in which ocean?
43. Who composed the music known as The Nutcracker Suite, for the Christmas themed ballet The Nutcracker, premiered in St Petersburg, 1892?
44. ‘Full of Eastern Promise’ is an advertising slogan of what exotically positioned chocolate product?
45. What Christmas item takes its name from the old French word estincelle, meaning spark?
46. Child star Jimmy Boyd sang which hugely popular 1950’s Christmas song, which was initially banned by the Catholic Church in Boston because it supposedly mixed sex and Christmas?
47. On which date is Epiphany celebrated in the traditional Western calendar?
48. From which country does the poinsettia plant originate?
49. In Victorian England what people were popularly called robins because of their red uniforms?
50. Which Christmas condiment is made from fruit sometimes referred to as marshworts?
51. Which Christmas slogan was introduced by Clarissa Baldwin of Dogs Trust in 1978?
52. Which poem written by Clement Moore was originally titled A Visit from Saint Nicholas?
53. John Callcott Horsley designed what first commercial Christmas item in 1843?
54. Which two states in the US have towns called Christmas?
55. Who was the first British monarch to broadcast a Christmas message to the nation?
56. After leaving Bethlehem, to which country did Joseph, Mary, and Jesus travel?
57. ‘And all the bells on earth shall ring, on Christmas day in the morning…’ is from which Christmas carol?
58. What is the surname of the family in the 1989 film ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’?
59. What is a baby Turkey more correctly called, other than a chick?
60. In which country is it a tradition to hide all brooms in the house on Christmas Eve?
61. What did Dora Bryan want for Christmas in 1963?
62. In which Decade did Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’ first enter the UK Charts?
63. What did John Lennon’s ‘Happy Christmas’ have in brackets in 1980?
64. According to Adam Faith, what was in a Christmas Shop in 1960?
65. Who said ‘Please come home for Christmas’ in 1994?
66. Which ‘Christmas Rock’ has been a hit for Max Bygraves and Chubby Checker with Bobby Rydell?
67. Who wished ‘It could be Christmas Every Day’ in 1973?
68. What was Johnny Mathis’s 1976 Christmas Hit?
69. What kind of Merry Christmas did a band of environmentalists wish us in 1974?
70. Who said ‘All I want for Christmas is you’ in 1994?
71. Which Snowman did the Cocteau Twins sing about in 1993?
72. The winner of which show 2005-07 also had the UK Christmas #1?
73. Which Christmas #1 from Dave Edmunds was his only ever #1 hit?
74. Who covered The Carpenters’ “Santa Claus is comin’ to town” in 1985?
75. “Sound of the Underground” was the first Christmas #1 for which group?
76. Name the Westlife song which was the last Christmas #1 of the 20th Century?
77. Where was Santa Claus according to Spitting Image in 1986?
78. What did Bob the Builder ask if he could ‘fix’ in 2000?
79. What were The Spice Girls saying with their 1998 Christmas #1?
80. Who pleaded with Santa Baby in the 1990’s?
81. Who sang with The Smurfs on ‘Christmas in Smurfland’ in 1978?
82. Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman covered whose #1 ‘Something Stupid’?
83. Which Johnny Mathis classic was the 1976 Christmas #1 Hit?
84. Whose ‘Christmas Alphabet’ went to #1 in 1955?
85. Who had ‘White Christmas’ on the other side of ‘Too Risky’?
86. Can you name the School Choir who topped the charts at Christmas 1980?
87. Who had a ‘Wonderful Christmas Time’ in 1979?
88. What were Mud ‘The Christmas’ in their 1974 Christmas #1 Hit?
89. Which Comedian was “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” in 1987?
90. What is the theme song from The Snowman?
91. The North Pole, said to be Santa’s home, is located in which ocean?
92. Marzipan is made mainly from sugar and the flour or meal of which nut?
93. Which Christmas condiment is made from fruit sometimes referred to as marshworts?
94. Which Christmas slogan was introduced by Clarissa Baldwin of Dogs Trust in 1978?
95. In the UK it is traditionally believed that eating a what each day of the twelve days of Christmas brings happiness the following year?
96. Who composed the music known as The Nutcracker Suite, for the Christmas themed ballet The Nutcracker, premiered in St Petersburg, 1892?
97. In which country, the largest of its continent, is it said that finding a spider web on Christmas morning brings good luck, and so Christmas trees are decorated with artificial spider webs?
98. Charles Dickens is said to have considered the names Little Larry and Puny Pete for which character?
99. In Mexico, it is said that wearing what colour underwear on New Year’s Eve ensures finding new love the following year?
100. In which country does Santa have his own personal postcode HOH OHO?
101. What Christmas greenery has symbolic ties to Christ’s flight to Egypt to avoid Herod?
102. What county of Britain is a major supplier of turkeys for Christmas Dinner?
103. What sort of charms should be mixed into plum pudding?
104. Who is generally regarded as the inventor of Christmas Cards?
105. According to legend when did the custom of Christmas Trees come to Britain?
106. Who invented the modern custom of kissing under the mistletoe at Christmastime?
107. What Norse deity is associated with Yule Logs?
108. What is the traditional time for mass on Christmas Day?
109. What is often used to garnish a plum pudding?
110. What were Christmas Crackers originally known as?
111. Which way is the proper way to stir the filling for a minced pie?
112. What Christmas greenery has symbolic ties with Christmas?
113. What Springtime bird is often featured on Christmas Cards, particularly Victorian cards?
114. In which Ocean is Christmas Island?
115. This characters name is now a synonym for ‘greedy miser’. What is the name of the greedy miser in Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol?
116. What is the birth stone colour for someone born on Christmas Day?
117. Where was Saint Nicholas a Bishop?
118. Finish the line from ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’. ‘Born the King of ________’?
119. Originally a pagan symbol, what does holly symbolise in a Christian context?
120. What Legendary Christmas Character did creator Robert Lewis May bring to life in 1939?
121. What 2003 Christmas Film sees ‘Buddy’ transported to the North Pole as a toddler and raised to adulthood by Santa’s elves?
122. Finish the title of this traditional British Folk Christmas carol, ‘The Holly and the ____’?
123. What play is popular at Christmas and recounts the story of the birth of Jesus?
124. A Chrismas Carol is a book by author Charles ______. Who?
125. A popular Christmas Beverage made with ingredients including bourbon, milk and grated nutmeg?
126. How is Three Kings Day better known?
127. In New York City, which famous centre is transformed into a huge ice rink?
128. In National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation movie, what creature did the Griswold family discover living in their Christmas Tree?
129. Which Monty Python song was released by members of the Coronation Street cast for Christmas 1995?
130. What would be your star sign if you were born on Christmas Day?
131. Who were the two composers of Do They Know It’s Christmas?
132. Armchairs Thefts have what festive connection?
133. Who had the Christmas number one in 1963 with I Want to Hold Your Hand?
134. In the Christmas carol, which line follows, “God rest ye merry, gentlemen”?
135. Beneath which parasitic plant do people traditionally kiss at Christmas?
136. In the book Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone what did Mrs Weasley make for Christmas for Harry Potter?
137. Which 1990 film was about a young boy, inadvertently left behind at Christmas when his parents go on holiday?
138. What was the letter “H” for in Dickie Valentine’s 1955 hit, Christmas Alphabet?