What People Are Getting Wrong This Week: These Common Christmas Myths

Season's greetings and all that. In honor of this most special time of the year, I'm taking a look at commonly held Christmas myths and misconceptions. I busted a ton of Jesus myths a couple weeks ago, then got secular and finally revealed the truth about Santa Claus, so this week I'm doing a round-up of seasonal misinformation, both religious and secular.

Religious Christmas myths

Jesus was born in a stable

The Gospels aren't specific about where where Jesus was born, other than "Bethlehem." Here's how Luke 2:4–7 is traditionally translated: "And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." But that isn't entirely accurate, because it turns out Greek word καταλυμα (kataluma) doesn't mean "inn." It means something closer to "spare room," and since the holy family was in Bethlehem because it was where Joseph was from, it seems more likely that they were crashing at a friend or relative's place, all the bedrooms upstairs were taken, so they were sleeping downstairs, where people kept the animals—hence, the manger. The stable idea likely stuck because it’s visually simple and works well for nativity scenes, and it's in keeping with the point of the story: Jesus was born in humble circumstance.

Three wise men attended Jesus' birth

The Gospel of Matthew says King Herod told an unspecified number of "wise men" (or Magi) to go to Bethlehem, because a star appeared heralding the birth of the Messiah. So they went off to find him to bring him gifts. We don't know how many of said wise men went to Bethlehem or how long it took them to get there, but Matthew 2:11 says they visited a house. The Bible does say they brought gold, frankincense and myrrh, so at least that part is right.

Calling it "Xmas" is attempting to cross the "Christ" out of "Christmas"

This is a weird one, but a lot of Christians think the use of "Xmas" is part of the ongoing secular War on Christmas, but it isn't. In the Greek New Testament, the word for Christ is "ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ." Using XP or X to indicate Christ dates back to early Christians writing in Greek, and it was used in English writing, too. Something like Xmas (Xp̄es mæsse) was written as early as 1100 a.d. to indicate "Christ's Mass" or Christmas. That was centuries before secular Christmas even existed.

Secular Christmas myths

"Jingle Bells" is a Christmas song

"Jingle Bells" is not a Christmas song—technically. Even though it's probably the song most widely associated with the holiday, there's no mention of Christmas in the lyrics. It's just a song about how much fun it is to go a'riding in a one-horse, open sleigh. (Another common misconception about "Jingle Bells" is that it was written for Thanksgiving. That's not true either.)

Like a lot of history, "Jingle Bells" is more troubling than you might think. It was written by James Pierpont and first performed at a minstrel show in 1857. Sleigh riding is a great subject for songs, so there was a whole subgenre of minstrel songs about it, some more racist than others, and "Jingle Bells" is the one that survived.

Other Christmas songs that don't mention the holiday include "Let It Snow," "Winter Wonderland," "Baby, It's Cold Outside," "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Home for the Holidays," and "Frosty the Snowman." Technically, none of these are Christmas songs if you use the most strict definition of "Christmas song," but on the other hand, they're songs everyone sings around Christmas, and they're generally about winter fun and holidays and whatnot, so there's a strong argument that they actually are Christmas songs. It's the kind of thing you can decide for yourself.

Boxing Day is for boxing up gifts you're going to return

December 26 is called "Boxing Day," and a lot of people think it got the name because that's the day we box up presents we don't want and return them to the store. But the holiday originated in England and it was a day that rich people would give their servants the day off and a box of presents, and/or just give some presents or donations to local unfortunates.

Mrs. Claus' first name

We know Mr. Claus' first name is "Santa," but what about his wife? It turns out she doesn't have a first name. Santa's source material, St. Nicolas, was a Catholic bishop, so he didn't have a wife. The collective unconscious filled in the details of Santa Claus as a mythical figure (The North Pole home, the worker elves, etc.) but no one ever gave Mrs. Claus a name that stuck.

Here are a few attempts, though: in 1985 film Santa Claus: The Movie Mrs. Claus is named "Anya." She's called "Margaret" in the 2011 movie Arthur Christmas. She's named "Carol" in the Santa Clause movies (but in that mythology, she will be replaced when she dies). These are all one-offs, but there's one Mrs. Claus name that has a few data points backing it up: Jessica.

Reportedly, the creators of the 1970's stop-motion film Santa Claus is Comin' to Town called Mrs. Claus' character "Jessica," although she's not referred to as that in the movie. Ryan Reynolds called Mrs. Claus "Jessica" on Instagram. Most importantly, this random little girl in 1974 said Mrs. Claus' name is Jessica, so I'm going with that one.

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