Why do we give gifts at Christmas?
The tradition started with the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia, a celebration of the god Saturn where children were given wax dolls – a rather macabre present considering the figures represented human sacrifices.
Thankfully, things lightened up when three wise men gave their gifts of myrrh, frankincense and gold to baby Jesus.
In the 4th century a bishop named Nicholas is said to have given presents of food, clothes and furniture to needy children. As word spread, others hung out their stockings each night in the hope he would come by and leave them a gift.
Overtime the bishop’s selflessness was revered and he was given a sainthood, and the story of Saint Nicholas grew into Santa Claus.
In the 17th century Brits added extra levels of mirth and joy to the tradition, creating the jolly figure of Father Christmas that we know and love today.
Win a present-a-day
We love giving at BreakFree Holidays, and we get all excited at Christmas, so we’ve decided to give away a present-a-day to our fabulous Facebook Fans in December.
Our Christmas goodies are travel themed stocking fillers with beach hut mugs, deckchair coasters, seascape mouse mats, playmobil beach sets for your kiddies, and brightly coloured travel towels.
And best of all, there is one short break waiting to be won by a lucky fan.
Open the doors of our advent calendar
Taking part is really easy. Every day from Sunday, 1 December, we’ll be publishing a festive advent photo and word of the day on Facebook.
You need to ‘like’ that day’s photo before 3pm, and then follow the link and type in the word of the day.
Answer correctly, and we’ll enter you into a prize draw to win that day’s prize. We’ll notify the winner by 6pm.
Each day the prize will change, and one day the prize will be our short break. So come back daily so you don’t miss out.
So see our Facebook Page on Sunday for the first photo.
Good luck!