{"product_id":"9780241977552","title":"A Christmas Cornucopia: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Yuletide Traditions","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe unpredictable origins and etymologies of our cracking Christmas customs\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor something that happens every year of our lives, we really don't know much about Christmas.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe don't know that the date we celebrate was chosen by a madman, or that Christmas, etymologically speaking, means \"Go away, Christ\". Nor do we know that Christmas was first celebrated in 243 AD on March 28th - and only moved to 25th December in 354 AD. We're oblivious to the fact that the advent calendar was actually invented by a Munich housewife to stop her children pestering her for a Christmas countdown. And we would never have guessed that the invention of crackers was merely a way of popularising sweet wrappers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLuckily, like a gift from Santa himself, Mark Forsyth is here to unwrap this fundamentally funny gallimaufry of traditions and oddities, making it all finally make sense - in his wonderfully entertaining wordy way.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin UK","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47111795900656,"sku":"9780241977552","price":14.09,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780241977552_p0.jpg?v=1763680719","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780241977552","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}