Apathy Sketchpad

I was driving (read: being driven) home from university the other day, and it was quite dark, so the outdoor Christmas lights were very distinct. And I noticed something that had been there all the time but I had never really spotted before. They’re full of trains. If you’re like me then you will spot a lot of trains from now on, now that they have been pointed out. They’re everywhere. And I couldn’t think why. Some research last Christmas taught me where Christmas trees come from (druidic tradition), and I know where Santa came from (Pagan character, eventually evolved into Santa but was dressed in any colour he felt like but usually green, giving the impression of a festive Yoshi, eventually coloured red — but not, as I was told, by Coca-Cola’s marketing boys), and I like to think I know a fair bit about the origins of the modern Christmas celebrations. But I had exactly no idea where trains fit into the equation. As far as I could see, they didn’t. And yet, they’re everywhere.

This year’s research explained that when I found this page which explains the whole thing. Apparently when Christmas was just getting a foothold in our traditional calendar, some train manufacturers decided they wanted a piece of that action. They made up some adverts showing trains in the middle of Christmas decorations and apparently everyone assumed it was tradition and nobody thought to question this until now. Some Thor worshippers even like to imagine the trains are Thor’s chariot and ride them all Yule.

Apparently the whole toy train indistry revolves around Christmas now. It’s madness.

So there you go. Trains are festive because some train manufacturers decided it should be so.