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Ten Christmas Facts for the Festive Season.

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Daily Photo – The Festive Season

Ten Christmas facts for the festive season.
Here are ten Christmas facts with a bit of quirk and character that you might not have read in your Christmas cracker this year.

1. Christmas was once banned. In 17th-century England, Christmas was outlawed by the Puritans, who felt too much feasting, singing, and general merriment was suspiciously unholy.

2. Santa has a postcode. Letters sent to Santa in Finland are delivered to Rovaniemi, right on the Arctic Circle, which has an official Santa Claus Village and an alarming amount of elf-related infrastructure.

3. “Jingle Bells” is not really a Christmas song. It was originally written for Thanksgiving and makes no mention of Christmas, Jesus, or presents at all, just horses and snow.

4. Tinsel was once made of real silver. Early tinsel used finely shredded silver, which looked wonderful until it tarnished.

5. Norway gives the UK a Christmas tree every year. Since 1947, Norway has sent a giant spruce to London as thanks for British help during World War II. It now stands in Trafalgar Square looking stoically festive.

6. The world’s largest Christmas dinner was eaten by penguins. The Australian Antarctic Division once served a full Christmas meal to researchers surrounded by penguins, who were unimpressed and declined pudding.

7. Christmas lights arrived late. Before electric lights, people clipped candles to trees. Unsurprisingly, this led to a strong festive association with house fires.

8. There is a Christmas spider legend. In parts of Eastern Europe, spider webs are considered lucky Christmas decorations, thanks to a folk tale involving a poor family and a magically glittering web.

9. Rudolph was created by a department store. He was invented in 1939 as a marketing character for Montgomery Ward, proving that even Santa’s team has a corporate backstory.

10. Christmas mince pies once contained beef. Originally Christmas Mince Pies include beef & meat, mixed with fruit and spices as a way of preserving it. Modern mince pies quietly dropped the beef centuries ago, but kept the name, which continues to confuse people every December.

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The Adventures of the Whaleboat Māori Girl

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Daily Photo – The Adventures of the Whaleboat Māori Girl

Standing on the rugged cliffs of the Huriawa Peninsula near Dunedin in the 1870s, the crew of the Māori Girl watched for a telltale mist on the horizon. To look at their vessel, a mere 9-meter wooden boat – and then at their prize-an 80 ton Southern Right Whale (double the boat’s length) is to witness either the definition of bravery or complete madness.

Whether driven by a silver-tongued leader or the promise of a payday, these men possessed a courage that bordered on the impossible. Upon sighting a “blow,” they didn’t have the luxury of a mother ship; they launched directly from the beach, through the crashing surf.

The hunt was a test of raw endurance. Often, the crew spent over 24 grueling hours at sea, tethered to a thrashing giant that refused to die. They survived solely on their rowing strength and an intimate knowledge of the Otago coastline. When they finally towed their captured home, the struggle transformed into a community triumph, with the entire village gathering on the sand to turn the haul into a massive celebration.

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Marinoto

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Daily Photo – Marinoto

The story of Marinoto begins in 1878 with a vision so grand that even the budget couldn’t keep up. Commissioned by part-time engineer and part-time entrepreneur John McGregor, the house was built from solid Port Chalmers bluestone and finished with pale Oamaru stone. Well, the part that was finished, anyway. After completing the exterior and the ground floor, McGregor ran out of funds and the house sat half-done for the next few years, quietly waiting for its next chapter.

That arrived in the form of Arthur William Morris. A director of the Union Steamship Company, he stepped in at a mortgagee sale and took over the property. By 1883, the first floor was complete and he named the house Marinoto, a word thought to mean calm or peace. It was an impressive home by any measure with fourteen main rooms, a grand foyer, coal-fired central heating, electric lights powered by its own generator, formal gardens, and even a tennis court.

Then came 1903 and the Sargood era, which turned Marinoto into its most glamorous version of itself. Under Sir Percy Sargood, the house became a lively hub of Dunedin society, the sort of place where you almost expected a brass band to strike up the moment you stepped through the door. The Sargoods hosted balls that spilled onto the wide lawns and garden parties that made full use of the thirteen acre estate. Guests wandered among the rose beds, paused beneath old trees, and did their best to look as though they were part of a grand period scene. Inside, a substantial staff kept everything running with the quiet precision of a well rehearsed performance, polishing silver, preparing feasts, and somehow ensuring no one was ever left with an empty glass or a spare moment. For a time, Marinoto truly became the place to be.