The countdown to Christmas has well and truly begun now the first of December has passed and for many people the time left until Christmas Day will be marked daily by the opening of an advent calendar.
Unlike traditional advent calendars which featured a festive image behind each numbered door, the 21st Century has seen the creation of ever more elaborate advent calendars – with some of the most luxurious ones costing upwards of £100,000 (yes, really).
But if not to present you with a little gift every day in the lead up to Christmas, what are advent calendars really for and what is the meaning behind the festive tradition?
What are advent calendars for and where did the tradition start?
Long before advent calendars were filled with chocolate, cheese, gin, beauty products and numerous other goodies, an advent calendar was a simple way to mark the days left before the most important day in the Christian calendar, the birth of Christ.
The word Advent comes from a Latin phrase meaning ‘coming toward’ and the first records of people counting down the days of December dates back to the 19th century in Germany when Lutherans physically marked the passing of each day with chalk on their doors throughout the month.
According to the Landesmuseum in Austria, the first very first advent calendar was made in Hamburg in 1902 by a protestant bookshop owner.
The first-ever printed Advent Calendar was produced in 1908 in Germany and had 24 small paper doors which were numbered and opened to reveal a small picture of illustration behind each one.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/04/what-are-advent-calendars-for-what-is-the-meaning-behind-the-festive-tradition-11268010/
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