Advent calendar gifts are all the rage – perfect as gifts from brands like Sephora and Body Shop, to Net-a-porter and even Dior. But did you know the history behind the advent calendar?
Tomorrow technically marks the start of the Christmas season. Why tomorrow (2nd of Dec) and not today? That’s because tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent, and is traditionally used as the start of the countdown to Christmas.
But wait, what is advent?
The word “advent” comes from the latin word “adventus“, which can be translated as “arrive, come to, develop, arise.” In ancient Rome, “adventus” was also used to refer to the entry of an emperor to his capital city, often after a military victory [1]. With such rich meaning, it’s not wonder the Church used the word “adventus” (later “advent”) to refer to the period of time before Christmas.
As for the season, advent has been celebrated since the fourth century, and the advent calendar has been in use since the mid-19th century, when German Christians would make marks on their door, or light up candles to count down the days to Christmas. The modern advent calendar came into the world around the start of the 20th century. There are two stories of how the first advent calendar was made – one is that it’s by a Protestant German bookseller in 1902, and the other is that the advent calendar was made by a mother for a son, who loved the concept so much that when he grew up, he started making advent calendars to sell [2].
Here’s a fun fact about advent calendars – Have you heard about the Julekalender? In the Nordic countries, Julekalender refers to an advent calendar that’s in the form of a television or radio show. It starts on December 1st and ends on Christmas Eve [3]. What a great way to count down the days to Christmas!
Today, the advent calendar is used as a fun way to celebrate the Christmas season. You have advent calendars for chocolate, makeup, skincare, and of course.. tea! Since the teapasar team loves Christmas, we’ve come up with a virtual advent calendar to celebrate! From tomorrow till Christmas, we’ll be featuring one fantastic tea brand or deal every day, as well as hosting lots of fun Christmas giveaways.
Make sure you follow us on Facebook and Instagram in order to get the latest news and to take part in our giveaways! Brands featured in our advent calendar include:
Hush Teabar • Pinetree Pantry • Sucre • Kindred Teas • Tea Depot • Infusion-de-vie • Pekoe & Imp • Benns Chocolate • Camellia Teabar • Parchmen & Co. • Kittea • Antea Social • Sonnentor • Matchaya • Fizzicle • Pin Tea • OVP • T4 Voice • T3 Organic • The 1872 Clipper Tea Co.
Feels like a teariffic holiday sesaon already!
References:
teapasar journal 