CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

People in the UK give Christmas presents to their friends, family, and sometimes work colleagues. They wrap the presents in festive paper and, at home, sometimes place them under the Christmas tree. Families usually open their presents on Christmas Day.

Before Christmas, many children make a Christmas list of presents they would like to receive. They might put the list in an envelope together with a letter to Father Christmas. Then they might post it (without a stamp) to “Father Christmas, North Pole”. They might even receive a reply.

Shops as usually very busy in the weeks before Christmas as people go Christmas shopping to buy food and presents.

Father Christmas is a legendary character who delivers presents to children while they are sleeping on Christmas Eve. Some people call him Santa Claus after Saint Nicholas who lived around 1,600 years ago and gave gifts to the poor. Father Christmas is apparently a well-built person with a big white beard. He wears a red coat and trousers, with white fur and travels through the air on a sleigh pulled by reindeer. He used to get into houses by climbing down the chimney, but that is not so easy now that most homes have central heating instead of open fires.

Children often leave something for Father Christmas to eat and drink – perhaps a mince pie and a glass of sherry. Some stories say that for the rest of the year Father Christmas lives at or near the North Pole. He has a workshop where he makes toys – with elves as his assistants. Many shopping centres have a “Santa’s Grotto” where children can visit Father Christmas, tell him what presents they would like, and perhaps receive a small gift.

Children traditionally leave a Christmas stocking (a large sock) at the bottom of their bed for Father Christmas to fill with presents. Some years ago, children started leaving sacks instead of stockings but now even sacks aren’t big enough. Often children will still leave a stocking which Father Christmas fills with small gifts, chocolates and a small orange. Small presents are often referred to as “stocking fillers”.

People in offices and other place of work often get together on the last day before the Christmas holiday for Secret Santa. Everyone’s name is put in a hat, and each person draws a name.

They are not supposed to tell anyone which name they have drawn. They buy a present for that person – usually a small present costing an agreed small amount of money. Then they wrap the present, label it with the person’s name and place it in an agreed place (perhaps under a Christmas tree). At some stage during the day, usually shortly before the end of the normal working hours, people stop work and gather together – probably with Christmas snacks and drinks – and people take it in turns to open the present with their name on it. So, everyone gets a present and nobody has to spend too much money.

This is one of a series of posts about Christmas traditions in the UK. This is one of a series of posts about Christmas traditions in the UK. There are posts on the days of Christmas, Christmas greetings, Christmas decorations, Christmas entertainment in the UK, Christmas food and drink, and Christmas music.

_{Posted by Graham}