This Santa Head Advent Calendar is about 29 inches tall and at it’s widest point (his beard) is 16 inches. Let Jolly Old St. Nick help you countdown the days till Christmas. The advent calendar is on Santa’s beard in green felt with colorful felt numbers on each pocket. To help mark the days till Christmas is a peppermint stick with a Santa head on it and connected to the larger Santa by a red ribbon. Santa himself is made of soft felt with the traditional red stocking cap and a white pom-pom at the end of it. This delightful Santa Head Advent Calendar is sure to brighten any room with his rosy red cheeks. Select this link to view our Unique Christmas Gifts.
History of Advent Calendars
The origins of the Advent calendar come from German Lutherans who, at least as early as the beginning of the 19th century, would count the days of Advent physically. Often this meant simply drawing a chalk line on the door each day, beginning on December 1. Some families had more elaborate means of marking the days, such as lighting a new candle (perhaps the genesis of today's Advent wreath) or hanging a little religious picture on the wall each day.
The 24 candles might also be placed on a structure, which was known as an "Advent clock". In December, 1839, the first verifiable public Advent wreath was hung in the prayer hall of the Rauhes Haus (relief house) in Hamburg, although it had been a family practice in parts of German-speaking Europe since the 17th century. Select this link to view our Christmas Figurines.
The first known Advent calendar was handmade in 1851. According to the Austrian Landesmuseum, the first printed Advent calendar was produced in Hamburg in 1902 or 1903. Other authorities state that a Swabia parishioner, Gerhard Lang, was responsible for the first printed calendar in 1908.
Lang was certainly the progenitor of today's calendar. He was a printer in the firm Reichhold & Lang of Munich who, in 1908, made 24 little colored pictures that could be affixed to a piece of cardboard. Several years later, he introduced a calendar with 24 little doors. He created and marketed at least 30 designs before his firm went out of business in the 1930's. In this same time period, Sankt Johannis Printing Company started producing religious Advent calendars, with Bible verses instead of pictures behind the doors.
The practice disappeared during World War II, apparently to save paper. After the war, Richard Sellmer of Stuttgart resurrected the commercial Advent calendar and is responsible for its widespread popularity. Select this link to view our Christmas Nativity Scene.