Christmas Bells

Bells have been associated with Christmas for many years. In parts of England there is a tradition of "ringing in" Christmas. In Scandinavia bells are rung to announce the end of work and the beginning of the festive season. The sound of bells has been associated with gift-bearers arriving. St Nicholas has been known to carry a hand bell on his visits. In Italy the Befans rings a bell as she descends the chimneys. In Hungary angel bells are rung to announce that children's presents have been delivered.

People will easily associate with carols like 'Jingle Bells', 'Silver Bells' and 'I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day'. The bell shape is linked strongly with Christmas and regularly seen on Christmas Cards, Christmas wrap and Christmas tree decorations...

White Christmas

'White Christmas' is a 1940 Irving Berlin tune, it is the biggest-selling Christmas song. It has sold over 100,000,000 copies. Bing Crosby sang 'White Christmas' and this version sold over 31,000,000 copies. 'White Christmas' won the Oscar award for best song of 1942...

When people think of 'White Christmas', most would probably think of the well known song that Bing Crosby made the most popular version of.

Back in 1914 a new type of service was introduced into some Protestant Sunday Schools. The 'White Christmas' service encouraged children to bring gifts for the needy. To this day the tradition continues. People collect canned food, toys and money to help the poor enjoy Christmas a little more. The custom was to wrap the gifts in white paper and some churches referred to the service as 'White Gift Sunday'...