Take our trivia challenge and find out! (See answers at bottom of this page.)
1. What item was used for Frosty the Snowman’s nose?
a) Button
b) Coal
c) Coin
d) Corncob
2. What company is credited with being the first to use Santa Claus in an ad?
a) Quaker Oats
b) Wheaties
c) Cracker Jack
d) Coca-Cola
3. What horror-movie icon provided the narration for the famous TV version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas?
a) Vincent Price
b) Lon Chaney Jr.
c) Boris Karloff
d) Bela Lugosi
4. In 1979, the National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C., was unlit except for one ornament. Why?
a) Oil embargo/energy crisis
b) American hostages in Iran
c) Terrorism threats
d) A squirrel damaged the wiring
5. What animals are specified in the New Testament as being present at the birth of Jesus?
a) Oxen and lambs
b) Cows and oxen
c) Sheep and camels
d) None
6. What “dream team” starred in the 1942 movie Holiday Inn, which gave the world the Irving Berlin classic “White Christmas”?
a) Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis
b) Bob Hope and Bing Crosby
c) Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire
d) Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
7. The poinsettia, a plant long associated with Christmas, is native to what country?
a) Mexico
b) Portugal
c) Canada
d) Israel
8. In what movie is Santa Claus put on trial to determine if he’s insane-and the U.S. Postal Service saves the day?
a) Miracle on 34th Street
b) Scrooged
c) Babes in Toyland
d) The Nightmare Before Christmas
9. Who is credited with the idea of electric lights for Christmas trees?
a) Thomas Jefferson’s wife
b) Benjamin Franklin’s niece
c) Thomas Edison’s assistant
d) Nikola Tesla
10. What did Mary do to show her approval of the Little Drummer Boy’s playing?
a) Smiled at him
b) Kept time
c) Nodded
d) Asked him to play again
11. What Christmas character was created for a department-store advertising campaign?
a) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
b) Saint Nicholas
c) The Grinch
d) Nester the Long-Earred Christmas Donkey
12. In what activity are the characters involved at the beginning of A Charlie Brown Christmas?
a) Sledding
b) Snowball fight
c) Ice skating
d) Caroling
13. What are the names of the policeman and the cab driver in It’s A Wonderful Life?
a) Bert and Ernie
b) Felix and Oscar
c) George and Gino
d) Frankie and Johnny
14. What first lady wrote a Christmas story about a little girl named Marta for a magazine?
a) Bess Truman
b) Eleanor Roosevelt
c) Barbara Bush
d) Rosalynn Carter
15. In the Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol, what is the name of the first ghost to visit Ebeneezer Scrooge?
a) The Ghost of Christmas Past
b) Beetlejuice
c) Jacob Marley
d) Bob Marley
ANSWERS
1 . a) Button
2. d) Coca-Cola
3. c) Boris Karloff
4. b) American hostages in Iran
5. d) None
6. c) Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire
7. a) Mexico
8. a) Miracle on 34th Street
9. c) Thomas Edison’s assistant
10. c) Nodded
11. a) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
12. c) Ice skating
13. a) Bert and Ernie
14. b) Eleanor Roosevelt
15. c) Jacob Marley
