Christmas Carols by Year Composed... Not an exhaustive list ;)

Did you know? Have you heard? Christmas carols, haven't really been around all that long if you think about it. Per the New York Times, they shared the following list with dates for some of what seem like songs that have always been around:

1818 - Silent Night

1824 - O Tannenbaum

1857 - Jingle Bells

1866 - Deck the Hall

1934 - Winter Wonderland

1940 - White Christmas

1941 - The Little Drummer Boy

1944 - Baby, Its Cold Outside

1945 - Let it Snow

1949 - Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer

1950 - Frosty the Snowman

1962 - Do You Hear What I Hear?

Silent Night will have it's 200 year old birthday in 2018 - but in the grand scheme of time... these aren't really that old. Honestly, this reminder me keep things in perspective.

Oh Holy Night is my favorite Christmas carol, then Silent Night :). So I did some digging since O Holy Night was not on this list (as well as a few others ;)). Did you know Oh Holy Night was originally written for the harp? This just deepens my appreciation for the song. Oh Holy Night was composed 1847.

I realize this isn't an exhaustive chronological list of Christmas Carol's, still, the list I had I wanted to share with you! :) Want to read more about Christmas Carol History? 

Wikipedia for the win right here!

Something else I learned this year was that Jesus's Birthday (Christmas) was set as December 25th not necessarily because that's when Christ was born. You might have already guessed that. ;) The date was set in the middle of pagan celebrations to help invite pagan's to celebrate God. As time has gone on, Christians  have adapted the celebrations to equate to Christmas. This is where we've gotten the Christmas Trees and the wreaths from... and here I had thought that the tree was just to hold the star at the top to remind us of the North Star the three wisemen followed and the the presents under the tree were to remind us of the wisemens gifts... and that Jesus is the gift God gave us. Symbolism. Of course. I have a lot to learn :) But, thankfully as time goes on these things come to light! If you want to read more about how Christmas' date was set - this website breaks it down rather well. Enjoy the read! :)

So...what is your favorite Christmas Carol? Hmm? :) 

Merry Christmas to each and every one! Love, Dawn