The story about a council attempting to avoid offence by renaming Christmas ‘Winterval’ continues to do the rounds despite it not being true. Eleven years ago, Birmingham ran a promotional campaign for businesses in the city that lasted the whole of the period from November to the end of January. The campaign was called ‘Winterval’. They have never used the word to describe Christmas and there was no PC aspect to the way they did use the word. It’s non-news, and it’s really old non-news.
Benjamin Franklin nearly killed himself in 1750 trying to electrocute a turkey for Christmas dinner.
The alleged ‘War on Christmas’ is a recurring theme in the press, but in a nation with decorated trees in every home, Father Christmas everywhere, carols and Christmas songs playing non-stop on the radio and in shops, and Christmas an official national holiday that has now grown to consume the last three months of the year, it seems clear that Christmas has never been less threatened than it is at present. Surveys show that 95% of businesses hang Christmas decorations in their premises.
Knowledge Guild 