There are certainly legitimate days of celebration and remembrance in December such as Pearl Harbor Day (U.S.) on December 7, Hanukkah on December 9, the Winter Solstice on December 21, Christmas on December 25, Boxing Day (UK and Commonwealth Countries) on December 26, and the beginning of Kwanzaa on December 26.
But every month seems to also come with a full calendar of bizarre and unique holidays and days of celebration…not the legal type of holiday that comes with no mail delivery, banks closed, schools closed, etc. These are the days dedicated to the wacky and weird.
Here's a sampling (by no means all) of December's offerings for 2012 starting with the fact that December is Bingo Month.
December 1 Eat A Red Apple Day
December 2 National Fritters Day
December 3 National Roof Over Your Head Day
December 4 Wear Brown Shows Day
December 4 Santa's List Day: Have you been naughty or nice this year? Thanks to Santa's elves and all their hard work, he now has two lists. An interview with Santa and his top elves disclosed that they strive to have the lists ready by this date.
December 5 Bathtub Party Day
December 5 Repeal Day: The 1933 passage of the 21st Amendment is certainly a day for celebration. The 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment (the one that brought Prohibition to the United States on January 16, 1919).
December 6 Mitten Tree Day
December 6 Put On Your Own Shoes Day: There doesn't seem to be any record of where this day came from or why someone felt a need to celebrate putting on one's own shoes. But…here it is!
December 7 National Cotton Candy Day
December 8 National Brownie Day
December 8 Take It In The Ear Day
December 9 Christmas Card Day
December 9 National Pastry Day: This is a fun day where everyone is encouraged to make (and EAT) their favorite pastries. There doesn't seem to be any information about the origin of National Pastry Day, but a National day does require an act of congress.
December 11 National Noodle Ring Day
December 12 Poinsettia Day
December 12 National Ding-A-Ling Day: On this day you should prepare to experience bizarre and crazy behavior from everyone you encounter. Some say this is a day for wackos, lunatics, and others of that ilk. Others say it's simply a day to cut loose and act a little weird. It is to be noted that Ding-A-Lings and Dingbats are not the same thing. Although referred to as a National day, there's no record of any congressional action.
December 13 Ice Cream Day
December 13 Violin Day
December 14 National Bouillabaisse Day
December 15 National Lemon Cupcake Day
December 16 National Chocolate Covered Anything Day: Chocoholics rejoice! This is the day to indulge, binge, pig out, and consume your favorite food to excess. And is it a coincidence that this special day comes so close to Christmas?
December 17 National Maple Syrup Day
December 18 Bake Cookies Day
December 18 National Roast Suckling Pig Day
December 19 Look For An Evergreen Day
December 19 Oatmeal Muffin Day
December 20 Go Caroling Day
December 21 Forefather's Day
December 21 Humbug Day
December 21 National Flashlight Day
December 21 Look On The Bright Side Day
December 21 Mayan Calendar Ends: This relates to the year 2012 only and has certainly been in the news a lot the last couple of years. The Mayan culture dates back approximately 6000 years with Guatemala the cultural and commercial center of their empire which covered much of Central America. Among other things, they were astronomers and considered 13 to be a sacred number. The Mayans kept several calendars to keep track of different things. The one ending on December 21, 2012, is only one of those calendars and represented only the current cycle. That doesn't mean there weren't more calendars with future predictions beyond that date that simply haven't been found.
December 22 National Date Nut Bread Day
December 23 Festivus
December 23 Roots Day
December 24 National Egg Nog Day
December 24 National Chocolate Day: For those of you who haven't had your fill from National Chocolate Covered Everything Day, here's another day devoted to chocolate, and just the day before Christmas.
December 25 National Pumpkin Pie Day
December 27 Make Cut Out Snowflakes Day
December 27 National Fruitcake Day: That much maligned and ridiculed seasonal treat couldn't be ignored. The jokes are plentiful—they can be used as a door stop or paper weight, it's so dense that scientists can't penetrate far enough into it to determine its exact composition, its density prevents it from being carbon-dated to determine its age, many fruitcakes are suspected of being hundreds of years old, it's the most re-gifted item with the same fruitcake being passed from person to person over many years.
December 28 Card Playing Day
December 29 Pepper Pot Day
December 30 National Bicarbonate of Soda Day (for those who attempted to eat the fruitcake?)
December 31 Make Up Your Mind Day
December 31 Unlucky Day: Certainly this day will be unlucky for some people, just as any of the other days this year will be unlucky for some people. Perhaps the reason December 31 has been declared as Unlucky Day is to give everyone the opportunity to get everything bad out of the way so they can welcome a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.
So, there you have it. And, as seems to be with each month, many of the bizarre and weird holidays and celebrations are centered around food and drink. For December, it's 20 of the days listed here…21 if you count bicarbonate of soda as part of the food and drink category. :)
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