Since I’ve been posting about Norway for a while now, imagine how happy I was  to learn that the Jacquie Lawson 2020 Digital Christmas Calendar featured Norway this year! I have been getting her calendars and cards for several years and sharing them as well! As far as I’m concerned her digital goods are the very best and this year the calendar has expanded and includes so much more! I love the music, the games, the scenery and the excitement of opening a Christmas ornament each day until Christmas! For this years 2020 Nordic Calendar or Calendars from Christmas’s past look HERE! I have featured just part of this years 2020 Nordic Christmas Calendar this morning ………it goes WAY beyond what you see here!

But, how did the origin of the Christmas or Advent Calendar come about? In the 19th Century the first styles came from the Protestants. Religious families made a chalk line for everyday in December until Christmas Eve. Many families painted a chalk stroke on their doors.

There was also the Adventclock or the AdventCandle and some families put little pictures on the wall, one for each day in December. In 1902, a Christian bookshop in Hamburg, Germany, published a Christmas Clock and in 1904 an Advent Calendar was inserted in the “Neus Tagblatt Stuttgart” Newspaper for their readers. However, Gerhard Lang in Maulbronn, Germany says he printed the first Advent Calendar and got the idea from his mother, who made him 24 “Wibbele” ( little candies) that were stuck on a cardboard.  In 1908, he produced a calendar with little colored pictures which could be attached to cardboard at every day in December, but without windows to open. This calendar was named  “Christmas-Calendar” or “Munich Christmas-Calendar.” Eventually, he made the calendar with little doors to open. Lang closed his company in the 30’s after producing 30 different designs.

At this same time, the Sankt Johannis Printing Company started printing a religious Advent Calendar with Bible Verses instead of pictures behind  the doors.

During WWII the German tradition was terminated due to cardboard restrictions. It was forbidden to produce calendars with pictures.

In 1946, “The Little Town” Advent Calendar was produced  by Richard Sellmer, a confectionary manufacturer, and still is available. By 1958, he made his calendars, complete with chocolate and they soon became a very common promotional item……….

One of the newest forms of Advent Calendar is the “Living Advent Calendar.”  For this calendar people meet in front of a different window, which has been decorated for Christmas! At the respective stop, songs are sung or Christmas stories are told and treats are offered. I love this idea and think it would be fun for a neighborhood project! It would require some planning!

And that leads us to another new Advent Calendar the”virtual or digital Advent Calendar.” That is what Jacquie Lawson’s Christmas Calendar is! It has a little bit of everything, except the chocolate! Bring your own!

Another Advent Calendar I am opening this morning is my Nespresso Calendar! It has a coffee for everyday until Christmas! Yummmmmmm!

I hope you have enjoyed a little bit of the festivities here for Christmas! Do you enjoy  Christmas calendars at your house? Let me know!