Weird Wednesday: The History of Advent Calendars
You may have had one before. You open the little cardboard window to reveal the smallest piece of chocolate you have ever seen. Oh boy! There are also many other themed advent calendars out there, from dog treats to beer and wine.
The first advent calendar was not a big seller once people found out there was only one piece of gold, two pieces of frankincense, and the rest was all myrrh.
In the middle ages, for fear of the bubonic plague, the rat advent calendar, called “The Ratvent”, was discontinued and replaced with one containing ticks and fleas.
The first major change to the calendars was the switch from the Julian advent—which was full of carob because chocolate hadn’t been invented yet—to the Gregorian advent when the Spanish returned from the new world with Hershey’s Kisses. They also brought back a Mayan advent but it was to heavy to be a viable product. Plus the last day had a curse so no one wanted to open it.
During the Dust Bowl, all advent calendars made in the east had to be filled with dirt and shipped back to the farmers. During Prohibition, those little chocolate bottles of “booze” became popular additions to the calendars.
Oskar Meyers released a meat calendar, but that didn’t last since postal workers refused to deliver them. Because of all the dogs…
The last attempt at modernizing the advent calendar was buy Apple. Each day contained a newer version of the iPhone. The only problem was that by the 24th day the last one was out of date. Oh, and you are left with a bunch of useless charging cords.
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words, and his latest sci-fi mystery, Euphrates Vanished.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
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