The holidays really are the most joyous time of the year, however, according to Glen Dental Center in Glenview, Illinois, there are most probably some things that you don’t know about Christmas.

You may be surprised to learn that Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer didn’t begin his career with a song or a TV series. Rudolph was the brainchild of copywriter Robert L. May who was hired by Montgomery Ward in 1939 to help bring customers into the department store. When Mr. Mays’ brother-in-law, radio producer and songwriter Johnny Marks, read the story, he was so enthralled that he wrote a song, however, the rest as they say, wasn’t history. Apparently, Montgomery Ward nearly changed the color of Rudolph’s nose, as the executives were afraid that people would see the little reindeer as a drunkard.

Speaking of lovable Christmas characters, Frosty the Snowman has a rather dark past and was created by a whiskey company to sell grog. After prohibition, his career was resurrected with alcohol companies like Schlitz and Chivas, to name a few, began using his image as well.

These days artificial Christmas trees outsell fresh cut trees, however, artificial Christmas trees have been around for hundreds of years when the Germans started making them out of dyed goose and duck feathers.

If you are like most people, you probably assume that the, “True Love,” mentioned in the classic Christmas song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” is referring to a romantic couple, which couldn’t be further from the truth as the true love is the Catholic Churches code meaning God. The person that receives the gifts mentioned in the song has accepted God and that code. A good example is, “Partridge in a Pear Tree,” representing Christ the savor while, “Two Turtledoves,” stands for both the old and the new testaments.

Before the 20th century, Santa Claus was always dressed in green, blue, and white, but that all changed in 1930 when Coca Cola decided to use the jolly man for their ad campaign during Christmas. From that moment on, Santa Claus’ uniform was red and white.

This Christmas remember those you love, and don’t forget to schedule an appointment with your dentist for your annual checkup in January.