Christmas – Dino's Storage

3 Interesting Facts About Christmas

Gifts

When it comes to gifts, most like to go all out, especially when the Christmas season comes around. In the Gallup poll, they expected the amount people would spend on gifts would be around $800. It is hard to imagine that people spend this much on gifts, but this wasn’t even close to the real amount that people spend during the Christmas season. Deloitte found that we will spend around $1,400 on presents. But this study was done in 2019. We would think that it would be hard to spend this much money, but it starts to add up. Adding up the money after we bought all the gifts is when we realize how much money we actually spent. This is also the season of giving, so more people are generous with their gifts.

*Extra Fact

Did you know that the Statue of Liberty is the largest gift that has been given? France gave the statue to the USA, in 1886. It stands over 150 feet and weighs about 225 tons.

Christmas Cards

The first Christmas card was believed to be sent in 1843. It was sent by Sir Henry Cole to his grandmother. It was hand-colored by John Calcott Horsley. He drew a multigenerational family at a Christmas party. Originally, there was about 1,000 cards, but now there is about 12 that exist. In 2001, one of his Christmas cards was put up for auction and someone paid around $30,000 for it. This makes it the most expensive card. Today, there are about a billion and a half Christmas cards that are sent out each year. This is only in the USA. There are about 1.6 billion people that will still send out physical greeting cards each year. Hallmark says that millennials are 20% of the people that spend their money on greeting cards. The amount of money millennials are willing to spend on greetings cards are increasing faster than any other generation.

*Extra Fact

In 2017, the smallest Christmas card was made. It was made in the U.K.’s National Physical Laboratory. The size of the card is around 15 microns wide and 20 microns tall. To make this more imaginable, it would take around 200 million of these cards to cover a single postage stamp. This card was not only for fun, but to test what technology is capable of doing.

City Traditions

In Stockbridge, Massachusetts, they recreate one of Norman Rockwell Christmas paintings. This happens each year, in December. This specific scene was found in the Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas, in 1967. The town would even put vintage auto mobiles in the original spots, to match the pictures. In Chandler, Arizona, they have a 30 foot tumbleweed Christmas tree. Parks Department workers will collect around 1,000 tumbleweeds to make this tree. The tumbleweeds are then attached to a wire, to form the Christmas tree shape. After the tumbleweed Christmas tree is made, the people will cover the tree with about 20-50 gallons of flame retardant. After this is all done, they will cover the tree in white paint and tons of glitter. Finally, they will add a star on top of the Christmas tree, with lights.

*Extra Fact

Did you know that the Japanese will eat KFC on Christmas? This started because Takeshi Okawara, the first manager of the first KFC in Japan, overheard that foreigners missed having turkey on Christmas. In the middle of the night, he came up with the idea of ‘party barrel’.

Fun Facts About Christmas

“Jingle Bells”

A song that has been played in many households. A song that must be listened to, in the Christmas season. Everyone knows it as ‘Jingle Bells’. But this was not the original name for the song. James Lord Pierpont, the writer of the song, named the song ‘The One Horse Open Sleigh’. This song was not even meant for the Christmas Season. Mr. Pierpont wrote this song for his church, to be played for a Thanksgiving concert. This song was so popular, that it was the first song played in space. Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford boarded Gemini 6. They were meeting Gemini 6. This is the first pre-organized meeting that happened in space. On December 16, they were to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. While this was happening, Schirra and Stafford decide to play a prank on Mission Control. They said that they saw another satellite that was going to reenter the orbit. The ‘satellite’ had a command module and eight smaller modules in the front. The command was wearing a red suit. They then started to play ‘Jingle Bells’ with a harmonica and some small bells. Later on, Schirra and Stafford donated these musical instruments to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Christmas Trees

Christmas trees are evergreens that can always be found in nature, so what is the big significance to Christmas trees? This all started in Ancient Egypt and Rome. The evergreens had a special meaning for them. They would celebrate it during the Solstice. It was believed that winter came because their sun god would get sick and weak. The evergreens would remind them that green plants would come back after the sun god healed and become strong again. This means that summer would be returning. The ancient Egyptians would decorate their homes with green palm rushes. The Romans would decorate their homes and temples with evergreen boughs. In the 16^th century, Christmas trees came to Germany. It is believed that Martin Luther was the first one to add candles to a tree. He got this idea when he was walking and saw stars singing through the evergreens. But thankfully throughout history, we have started to use electrical lights. They never said, but we could imagine that using real candles could cause some fires. We are also able to use real evergreens or fake ones. (If you use a real evergreen, don’t forget to water it. A dried-out Christmas tree could start a fire.)

Christmas Decorations

When Christmas comes around, in America, most families go all out on decorating. Stockings are put above the fire place. Christmas wreaths are hung on our entrance doors. The shiny tinsel that is hung on Christmas trees. There are many different Christmas decorations that one can put up. But what is the story behind them? People started to put up stockings because of one of the most popular Saint Nicholas stories. The one with the dad and his three girls. When Saint Nicholas put the money down the chimney, one of the times the money fell into a stocking. This was an accident. The family was drying a stocking over the fireplace and the money fell into it. This is a tradition that many families have continued. The Christmas wreath is supposed to remind us of Jesus Christ. The holly is supposed to represent the thorns that Jesus wore. The red berries are supposed to represent the blood that Jesus shed. This is supposed to remind us what the Christmas season is really about. The shiny tinsel that we use today is different from the time it was invented. Tinsel was invented in Germany, around 1610. It was originally spun from real silver. When it came to America, it was illegal to have tinsel. This was because it would contain poisonous lead. But this is not something we have to worry about anymore. Tinsel is now made out of plastic. But still be careful because it could still be a choking hazard.

The Story of St. Nicholas

We know Santa Claus as a big man, with a big white beard. That wears a red suit with a Christmas hat. He rides on a sled that is pulled around by reindeers. He comes down chimneys, eats cookies and drink milk, and gives out presents. There have been many Christmas movies that have been made about Santa Claus. Most of us have heard about Santa Claus, but what if Santa Claus was nothing like you thought? Here is the real story of how Santa Claus came to be.

Saint Nicholas was born around the year 280 in Patara, Lycia (part of Turkey now). His parents died when he was young and left him an inheritance. Saint Nicholas used his inheritance to help the poor and the sick. He later became a bishop in Myra (known as Demre now). Throughout his life, he was very giving man. He died around the year 343. But his legacy did not end there. There are many stories about him helping the poor and sick, but we are not sure if they are all true.

One of the most popular stories is how Saint Nicholas helped a dad of three girls. The dad didn’t have enough for his daughters dowries. (Dowries are money or property that a bride will bring to the husband, on a wedding day. This was very popular throughout history. It still is practiced in some countries.) The dad got to the point that he even thought about selling his daughters into servitude. Saint Nicholas learned about this and decided to give the dad money. Saint Nicholas dropped a bag of money down the chimney. The dad was thankful and wanted to know who the person was. Saint Nicholas ended up doing this two more times. The third time, the dad decided to hide by the fireplace. When he found out that the man was Saint Nicholas, he started to thank him, but Saint Nicholas wanted to stay anonymous. He told the dad not to tell anyone, but the word got out. This is how the idea of Santa Claus came to be.

In the 16^th century, the traditions and stories started to die out. But people believed that they still needed someone to deliver the presents, to the kids. So, they came up with the idea “Father Christmas”, in the UK. In America, he became known as ‘”Kris Kringle”. This changed when Dutch Settlers came to the USA with the old stories of Saint Nicholas. This is around the time that it came to be known as Santa Claus.

Today, Saint Nicholas day is on December 6^th. On the night of December 5^th, kids will put out their shoes out. This is because they would be filled it presents. But Santa Claus is known throughout the Christmas season, getting ready for Christmas. He has elves that make all the presents that he brings around. Saint Nicholas legacy has lived on for centuries. In 2017, there was a pelvic bone that was found. They believed that it belonged to Saint Nicholas. It was tested and found to belong to an American priest. They tried to match this bone to the other bones that are believed to belong to Saint Nicholas.

Dino’s Helping with Toy Drive

No child should go without during the holidays.

That’s why Dino’s Storage has teamed up with the Salvation Army and KMTV 3 News to collect toys for needy children.

Drop off new unwrapped toy donations at the KMTV Studio or any Omaha-area Dino’s Storage location through Dec. 12.

Your donation will help provide needy children toys this Christmas.

And, it will bring some huge smiles as well!

BLACK FRIDAY

Black Friday is almost here. Some people spend weeks planning for this day–night. Thanksgiving Day is the big day when all the ads become available. They make a schedule of where to go, when to go, and what to buy. Remember to allow time for standing in line. First line will be getting into the store and the second line will be checking out. If Black Friday is successful there are lots of packages. Where can they be hidden until Christmas? Where can they be wrapped so no one sees them? Dino’s Storage can help with that. Rent a storage unit for a couple of months and hide packages there and even wrap them there. Most Dino’s have 24 hour access so the packages are always available.

There is a Dino’s close to you.
Elkhorn 20800 West Dodge Road
Millard 14301 Josephine Street
Papillion 921 East Cedardale Road
Bellevue 1001 Cornhusker Road
Midtown 5320 Center Street
Downtown 2757 Harney Street and 2724 Douglas Street
And coming soon 156th and Maple

http://www.dinosstorage.com/omaha/omaha_home.html
HAPPY SHOPPING AND REMEMBER TO BE THANKFUL.

Boo, Blessings, Ho, Ho, Ho

Isn’t it fun to see all the holiday decorations–on a Halloween drive finding ghosts, witches, spiders, and jack-o-lanterns: a Thanksgiving drive seeing Pilgrims, turkeys and pumpkins; and the best is a Christmas drive spotting Santa, sleighs and reindeer, lighted trees, candles, and a manger scene.
After it is over, where do they put all those wonderful decorations for next year? Do they stick them in the basement, or attic, or maybe the garage? Many have found the best solution is to take them to a storage unit. A storage unit means the decorations are safely out of the way but so handy when needed for next year. A unit at one of the Dino’s Storage locations might be just the ticket for your holiday decorations.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND A BLESSED CHRISTMAS.

Fall is Upon Us

There are always times when you do not have enough space in your home, garage or office to store your items such as Christmas decorations, lawn furniture, yard equipment and other seasonal items. Dino’s Storage in Elkhorn offers many different size units in both of our climate controlled storage and non climate controlled storage. Our facility is safe, secure and clean. We are always ready to help you with your needs. We have large units for anyone who may need storage while they are in the process of moving or staging their home. We offer 24-hour access to your units. It is a gated facility with security cameras. Manager is available Monday thru Saturday and by appointment.
Dino’s rents Penske trucks at a reasonable rate to help with your move. We sell packing supplies in our office such as locks, boxes, mattress covers, bubble wrap and other items. Dino’s in Elkhorn is located at 20800 West Dodge and we can be reached at 402-289-0923.