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What Christmas would be if you do not see everywhere the ginger men, the ginger witch’s house, etc. Combine them with the snow outside and your mind will wander back in your childhood memories when the house was full of noise, the smell of homemade cookies, cozy fire.

Ginger is brought to Europe from China and India in the 9^th century.

The gingerbread was first mentioned on the records of a town which claim itself to be the “home of gingerbread” – Market Drayton in Shropshire (England) in 1793. Unofficially probably it is baked earlier.

The most famous ginger spices are the ginger man and the ginger witch’s house. The largest ginger man ever made was in Vancouver, Canada on 19 November 2003. Its weight was 168.8 kg.

Here is recipe how to make old fashioned gingerbread:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup molasses
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup hot water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch square pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses.
3. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan.
4. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan before serving.

More affordable Christmas ball ornaments

The Kerbs Glas Lauscha GmbH Company decorated transparent glass ball with 12 carat solid gold and 120 diamonds with clarity VS 1. Its weight is 5.1. Its price is $31 400. That is enough to make it the most expensive Christmas ornament.

The idea of the postal stamp is people to pre-pay a fee for using such service. There are discussions on the first postal stamp but the dominating one is that it is released in England and Ireland on 1^st of May 1840, as a part of the Rowland Hill’s postal reforms.

The name of the first postal stamp is Penny Black, it cost 1 pence.

There are several Christmas stamps that can take the credit for being the first one with Christmas design.

Canada – 1898, known as the “Map”, with “XMAS 1898” words on it. There is a story behind it that can contest its first place.

Austria – 1937 (two series, one with a rose, other with zodiacs)

Brazil – 1939 (one with three kings and a star, other with Southern Cross and a child, third with mother and child)

Hungary - 1941

Here are some ideas for Christmas useful gifts:

Check HERE for snowman Christmas tree ornaments

If you look in the net for the first snowman, you will find different opinions, from certain inventor to giving credit to no one, but just another humankind achievement. Here is a certain story, you will decide whether to believe it or not. The first snowman was made on January, the 7^th, 1809 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The man who “wins” the snowman inventor contest is Vernon N. Paul and his 9 years old daughter – Yetty. He told her that man of snow will guard her presents from the Boxing Day elves (they are believed to reclaim Christmas presents). Yetty spread out the story among the other children in town and soon I front of every house there was a guard – a snowman.

Not a long after that the reporter Hillary Sherpa from NY Times came to this part of America to check that popular already story.

Check HERE for more Christmas cards

It is known that ancient Chinese had exchanged greetings of good will to celebrate New Year. During 1400s Germans had printed New Year greetings from woodcuts. The first commercial Christmas card was released by Sir Henry Cole (Director of the London Victoria and Albert Museum, pioneer of the penny post. The year was 1843, the illustrator - John Callocott Horsley. The words that were written on the card said: “merry Christmas and happy New Year to you”.

On 24.11.2001 one of the few survived cards (it is believed that only 10 of them can be find nowadays from the 1000 copies)was sold for £22 500 . Cole sent it to his Granny and Auntie Chak. All that made it the most expensive and rarest Christmas card.

In 2005 another original was auctioned. The lucky purchaser was Jakki Brown in Pevizes. It was sent to Miss Mary Tripsack. This 162 years old card got the price of $16 000. The first official Christmas card sent from the White House was during President Dwight D. Eisenhower.