Festive Facts

Rachel Schneidereit and Bailey Kerns

33 million real Christmas trees are sold in the U.S. every year.

It takes an average of seven years to grow a Christmas tree.

The first candy cane dates back to 1670 in Germany.

Kwanzaa will celebrate its 50th birthday this year.

The menorah in the Holy Temple was gold. You can see a gold replica of the menorah right outside Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem. It costs $3 million.

The U.S. Postal Service delivers 20 billion cards and packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.

Around 17.5 million jelly donuts called sufganiyot are eaten in Israel during Hanukkah, commemorating the miracle of oil.

The Time Square New Year’s Eve Ball was first dropped in 1907 after there was a ban on fireworks. Back then the ball was made of iron and wood and weighed 700 pounds. Now the ball is made of over 2,500 Waterford crystals and weighs 11,875 pounds.

The largest gingerbread man in the world weighs 466 pounds and six ounces.

Spinning the dreidel was originally done by students illegally studying the Torah.

In both 1942 and 1943, the Time Square New Year’s Eve Ball wasn’t dropped due to wartime restrictions.