The Advent Calendar

Our Advent Calendar
Wooden with small doors

Right on the heals of my entry about Advent, it only makes sense to delve into the ever-popular Advent Calendar.  At first glance you would expect that the concept of the Advent Calendar, which is simply a tool to count down the days until Christmas, would have come into existence shortly after the establishment of the practice of Christmas celebrations, whether liturgical or secular.  But as you will see, it wasn't until the mid-19th Century that the first Advent Calendars came into being.

As a young child, I can remember the painstaking task of watching the days of December pass ever so slowly in what seemed like an eternity.  Of course, now as an adult, the days fly by at such a rapid pace that there never seems to be enough time to see and do everything necessary to get ready for December 25th.

The invention of the Advent Calendar was likely meant for (and inspired by) children; perhaps to help take the sting out of the long wait for the arrival of Christmas morning, when St. Nicholas would leave a few treasures  in a stocking hung by the fireplace or under the Christmas Tree.

A fantastic book to add to
your Christmas Collection

It's at this point that I need to recommend a fantastic book for children on the origins of the Advent Calendar.  The book is entitled Waiting for Christmas - A Story about the Advent Calendar.  It's written by Kathleen Long Bostrom, and Illustrated by Alexi Natchev.  It's a great story that takes place in Germany about a little boy and his anticipation of Christmas Day.  His mother employs the use of the Advent Calendar as a means to help him count down the days.

I also need to quote from the book's preface which outlines the origin of the Advent Calendar.  I beg forgiveness from the author, but since I'm citing directly from the book and giving the author credit, I think I'm covered.

Bostrom writes:

...Christians in Germany often marked their doors with twenty-four lines at the beginning of Advent, and erased one line each day until Christmas.  Some families hung twenty-four little pictures on their walls while others placed one piece of straw in a manger each day for twenty-four days.

It wasn't until 1851 that the first Advent Calendars came into being. Gerhard Lang, son of a Protestant Minister, and his wife, is credited with making the Advent Calendar available to the public. Gerhard had fond memories of the Advent Calendars his mother made for him when he was young.  She tied small Wibele, or traditional German Cookies onto a sheet of cardboard - one cookie for each day of Advent.

When Gerhard became a partner in Reichhold & Lang printing company, he began publishing miniature colored pictures on a sheet of cardboard.  His first printed Advent Calendar was published in 1908.

The Advent Calendar spread throughout the world.  During World War II, however, cardboard was rationed, and Advent Calendars were not made commercially.  Since then many varieties of Advent Calendars have come into being, including calendars filled with chocolates.

This delightful world-wide tradition evolved from the creativity of a German mother seeking a way to help her young son count down the days until Christmas.

Some families would light 24 small candles in what was referred to as the "Advent Clock". There is also the story about the first public Advent Wreath which was displayed in December  1839 in a Hamburg, Germany Rauhes Haus (relief house) in part of the building that held the prayer hall.

I can remember going to a local German butcher shop in Hartford not too many years back and seeing the large variety of Chocolate Advent Calendars, including some filled with small milk chocolate bottles filled with Cherry schnapps (assuming these must be adult Advent Calendars), and other filled with candies and mints. 

In our own household we've employed the use of a Advent Calendar that day by day constructed a family scene with animals.  Each day, a piece of the scene would be taken out of a cardboard box from the corresponding day in December, and by Christmas the whole scene would be completed. 

This year my other half upgraded our Advent Calendar to the deluxe wooden model you see above.  Each numbered draw can be filled with all kinds of goodies of your choosing.  I noticed that ours contains a variety of surprises including such things as candies, chocolates, miniature candy canes, chap-stick, small necklaces, plastic animals... and keeping with the times, I saw silly bands in one drawer!

So whether you employ a strictly religious adaptation of the Advent Calendar which may contain Bible verses, or pictures of Saints, or the Cadbury milk chocolate version generally found in most stores, or even a high end version from Richard Sellmer Vertag company, I hope that you employ some version of a worthy Christmastime tradition for your own family's enjoyment as you countdown the days to Christmas.