Aside from the traditional plate of cookies, some households planned to leave Santa gourmet surprises that would land most people on the naughty list at the local gym. Larry Crowe/AP hide caption
Spirit Of The Season NPR brings you stories of holiday cheer.
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Spirit Of The Season
The oplatek, embossed with a Christmas scene, is shared among family members before Christmas Eve dinner. iStockphoto.com hide caption
Christmas chocolate and sweets on display at a Christmas market at Piazza Navona on Dec. 20 in Rome. Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Charity workers dressed as Santa Claus wave to pedestrians in New York. Professional Santas say it's not an easy job, and it's not just as simple as putting on a beard. John Minchillo/AP hide caption
It's Not Jolly, It's A Job: You Need More Than A Beard To Be Santa
Ripshin Mountain, Carter County, Tenn., 2011 Courtesy of John Lusk Hathaway hide caption
Jordan Gelber plays Buddy the Elf in Elf on Broadway. The limited-run production may not turn a profit immediately, but producers have a multipronged strategy for making money. Joan Marcus/The Hartman Group hide caption
Lou Nasti runs a factory in Brooklyn that makes animatronic Christmas displays. He's been at it for almost 44 years. Neda Ulaby/NPR hide caption
J-Day, the first Friday in November, marks the release of Denmark's Christmas beer, Tuborg's Julebryg. It's practically a national holiday as the beer is promoted tonight in bars throughout the country. Tuborg hide caption
The hallucinogenic mushroom Amanita muscaria. Harvard biologist Donald Pfister claims that both people and reindeer ate the mushrooms. "Reindeers flying -- are they flying, or are your senses telling you they're flying because you're hallucinating?" he says. John Tann/flickr hide caption
The production begins with 200 people in the stands, and then in come Mary and Joseph. Above, a shepherd stands with a llama. Courtesy of George Barnett hide caption
Children kissing under mistletoe. Fox Photos/Getty Images hide caption
Rabbi Joshua Metzger, his wife Brocha, and their children Menachem Mendel and Sarah Perel stand by a menorah on the first night of Hanukkah in 2005, which fell on Christmas Day. Kathy Willens/AP hide caption