I’m Not Sure About a Goat and Spider Christmas

By John Kuykendall

Thanksgiving is behind us and the Christmas season is just around the corner. Ironically, the Friday after Thanksgiving kind of begins the Christmas season with all the shopping that happens on that day. Anyway, with Christmas not far away I’m going to begin my annual things you may or may not know about Christmas.
I like to research the Christmas traditions of other countries and cultures and I’m sometimes surprised by what I may read so I’m going to share some of those crazy things in this week’s column.
How about a giant Christmas goat? In Sweden, a giant straw goat that stands 42.6 free high and weighs in at a whopping 3.6 tons has been a part of the Christmas celebration since 1966. According to BestLife, The goat was created to draw shoppers to the Swedish city where it resides.
Here in the United States, part of the Christmas tradition is a large spread of food and deserts, most of all that are home cooked. In Japan Christmas dinner tradition is a little different.
In 2024 BBC news reported, that 3.5 million Japanese households ordered Kentucky Fried Chicken for their Christmas dinners. What caused the popular phenom? A wildly successful marketing campaign from more than 50 years ago. One night in 1970, KFC Japan’s first manager, Takeshi Okawara, was struck with the brilliant epiphany to sell a Christmas dinner. With few other distinctly Japanese Christmas traditions, marketing KFC as the equivalent of a modern-day, affordable Christmas roast was the right idea at the right time. Four years later, the idea made its way up the corporate ladder and into the annals of Japanese Christmas history.
If you are one of those folks who enjoy warm weather and picnicking, Africa might be just the place for you to enjoy your Christmas.
In Africa during December temperatures range from about 75 degrees to 90. So it’s perfect weather for picknicking. According to BBC, in Cape Town it’s common to see parties with barbecue grills with meats and sides. Now that is what I could call my kind of weather and food, but not at Christmas.
Venezuelans have a unique way of traveling to Christmas mass.
While attending Christmas mass may not rank high upon the list of Christmas events and traditions, in Venezuela it’s not just a time for a church visit, in Caracas, Venezuela mass brings about a fun time as well. According to information I obtained from MSN, In the 1950s, Venezuelans began celebrating the holiday with Las Patinatas Navideñas, or the all-night skating festival that ends with a morning mass. The event runs from Dec. 16 to the 24. It is a jolly family affair with food and caroling, and the block party vibes keep spirits high as the crowd glides into 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. mass.
Oh my, it’s the scary Christmas spider! In the United States we may just owe Ukraine our tradition of Christmas trees, garland and more. According to MSN, a Ukrainian folk tail might have help bring the Christmas tree to life.
The folk tale goes something like this, a widow and her young children came across a pine cone, which they planted in the floor of their home. With great care, they nurtured the tree, but come Christmas Eve, they had no ornaments to dress it. The next morning, the family woke to discover the tree covered in cobwebs that magically transformed into gossamer threads of gold and silver, thus providing an origin story for Christmas tinsel. Today, you might spot a Christmas spider ornament on Ukrainian Christmas trees. Named pavuchkys, or little spiders, these little guys are a wink to the holiday inspired folk tale.
While all of this is wonderful, I believe I’ll just stick to the good old American traditions. Plenty of good food, cooler weather, waling not skating, no Christmas goat and above all, no spiders.
There will be more about the holiday next week.