CULTURE: Christmas Caroling: Quaint Tradition Begun By Drunks!

Cheerful church groups love Christmas caroling, but the tradition was actually started by a bunch of lushes. Back when "Christmas" was actually a celebration of the winter solstice, poor carolers would go from house to house singing ... and also threatening to break windows if they were not plied with food and drinks, a History Channel exec tells AOL News. "They would get very, very rowdy," David McKillop says.

That's not the only Christmas tradition with a weird origin: Jolly old St. Nick was originally kind of a jerk, McKillop says. Instead of elves, he was joined by a devil creature named "Krampus" who was quite mean—especially to naughty kids, whom he kidnapped, beat up, or at the very least tortured with bad gifts.