Holidays in Georgia (Yule be surprised!)

Let’s be honest: Most people think of England or New England or Germany or the Holy Land when they think of Christmas. Georgia, where a one-horse open sleigh might be drawn by a mule and definitely could get stuck in the mud, does not leap to mind. Yet there are a surprising number of holiday traditions that have Georgia connections —- and ones that we’ve localized in interesting ways. Here, then, is a primer to the holiday season, Georgia style.

“A Soulful Christmas.” James Brown put out several holiday albums, including this one from 1968, which featured the autobiographical “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto.” The Augusta native died in Atlanta two years ago —- on Christmas morning.

Books. A number of Georgians have written Christmas volumes, from Celestine Sibley to Lillian Smith to Ferrol Sams to Paula Deen. In Jimmy Carter’s “Christmas in Plains,” the former president describes the morning he woke up to find that his only gifts were oranges, walnuts, raisins and a pair of trousers. He bit his lip and tried not to cry. Then his Daddy told him to look out in the yard, where he saw a Shetland pony.

Coca-Cola Santa. The Atlanta beverage company popularized Santa’s image as a ruddy-cheeked roly-poly in a series of ads that ran from 1931 to 1964 on billboards and in magazines such as National Geographic. Artist Haddon Sundblom’s rendering was so influential that it led to an urban myth: Some conspiracy theorists have suggested that Santa wears red because Coke does.

Dixie Crystals. One of the main ingredients in those rich holiday desserts Georgians crave. This has been a difficult year for the sugar maker. Its old refinery near Savannah exploded in February, killing 14 workers and injuring dozens. People in Savannah celebrated last week when part of the complex reopened and the company broke ground on a new facility. Dixie Crystals has been refining sugar in Savannah since 1917.

Eating. Some people struggle to put food on the table during the holidays. The Atlanta Community Food Bank supplies charity pantries and soup kitchens throughout the area. Hundreds of Atlantans volunteer to help Hosea Feed the Hungry stage dinners for the homeless and destitute.

Fruitcake. A 50-foot water tower proclaims the southeast Georgia town of Claxton “Fruitcake Capital of the World.” Savino Tos, an Italian immigrant, first marketed fruitcakes there. The Claxton Bakery and the Georgia Fruit Cake Co. carry on the tradition —- and try to ignore all those fruitcake jokes.

Great Tree. One of Atlanta’s oldest holiday rituals started in 1948 at the downtown Rich’s department store, where a giant fir was illuminated every Thanksgiving night atop a bridge over Forsyth Street. The store closed in 1991, but the tradition lives on at Macy’s Lenox Square, where the 61st tree was lit three days ago.

Hanukkah. The holiday of choice in Merry Hills, a 1960s suburb near the Toco Hill shopping center in DeKalb County. While the streets have names such as Reindeer Drive and Christmas Lane, many of the residents are Orthodox Jews who walk to nearby Congregation Beth Jacob.

Ice. They have to manufacture it for Atlanta’s only outdoor ice skating rink, open through Jan. 4 in Centennial Olympic Park.

“Jingle Bells.” Savannah claims the Christmas classic and has a historical marker to back it up. James Pierpont, a New England-born organist, performed the song at a Savannah church in 1857 and copyrighted it. But his hometown of Medford, Mass., claims that he wrote and performed it there before he ever moved South —- and they have a marker, too.

Kwanzaa. Georgia has no special claim on the African-American cultural celebration, which was created by a professor in California, but Atlanta does have a rising politician who shares the name: City Councilman Kwanza Hall. Both spellings come from a Swahili word that means “first.” Hall is marking the season on Dec. 26 by hosting a community fund-raiser called “Kwanzaa with Kwanza.”

Lights. The state’s biggest display might be the drive-through extravaganza at Callaway Gardens. But there are so many others, tacky and tasteful, that it brings to mind what Miss Daisy said when she beheld a residence aglow and complained to Hoke, “Everybody’s giving the Georgia Power Co. a merry Christmas.”

Mistletoe. The aerial parasite is visible in leafless trees and decorations around the state, but it’s always in season at Mistletoe State Park, near Augusta.

Nativity scenes. Georgia churches are big believers in living Nativity scenes. But some congregations have gone beyond the humble manger to offer “a night in Bethlehem,” walk-through re-creations of the town where Jesus was born. The one on Dec. 13 at Embry Hills United Methodist Church in DeKalb County will feature a llama as a camel and a pig named Jethro.

O little town of Bethlehem. This is the crazy time of year in the Barrow County community, which calls itself “the little town under the star.” Its post office handles more than 130,000 pieces of mail from people who want their Christmas cards and packages stamped “Bethlehem.” The same thing goes on at the P.O. in Santa Claus, down the road from Vidalia.

Pink Pig. Another Rich’s tradition, started in 1953 when the department store bought a miniature monorail and retrofitted it with a pig snout and a curly-tailed caboose. (Hey, this is the South.) Atlanta children rode two pigs —- Priscilla and Percival —- around the toy department of the downtown store until it closed. Macy’s revived the kiddie train in 2003 at Lenox Square.

Quail. In the plantation country of South

Georgia, Christmas morning is traditionally greeted with fried quail, cream gravy and biscuits.

“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Brenda Lee’s holiday standard turns 50 this year. Born Brenda Mae Tarpley at Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta’s “Little Miss Dynamite” recorded the song when she was just 14, in 1958.

Savannah. The most famous Christmas gift in Georgia history. When his army reached the end of its March to the Sea in December 1864, Gen. William T. Sherman telegraphed President Abraham Lincoln: “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition …” Georgians have been getting guns for Christmas ever since.

Trees. You don’t have to buy an artificial one from China. The Georgia Christmas Tree Association counts 84 members throughout the state, most of them choose-and-cut operations. Some of the farms get into the spirit with names such as Busy Elves (near Albany), Wee Three Trees (in Fayetteville) and Come See Come Saw (in Chickamauga). Hmmm, someone must have taken French.

UPS. Brown is big on red and green. The world’s largest package delivery company usually sees its busiest day of the year around Dec. 20. While volume may be down this season because of the economic downturn, the Sandy Springs-based company typically handles more than 20 million packages on its peak day —- 40 percent more than usual.

Vacation. While most of us are off on Christmas and New Year’s, the folks at Waffle House will be serving hash browns 24/7. Managers from the chain’s Norcross headquarters make a point of visiting local units and pitching in.

White Christmas. Keep dreamin’. Traces of snow have fallen 15 times on Christmas in Atlanta, but the National Weather Service reports only two measurable accumulations: in 1881 and 1882.

Xavier Roberts. The art school student from Cleveland, Ga., created Cabbage Patch Dolls in 1978. Four years later, the pudgy-faced waifs became a must-have Christmas toy for thousands of parents. You can visit the dolls’ birthplace at BabyLand General Hospital in Cleveland.

Yule. Georgia phone directories have an abundance of holiday cheer. Switchboard.com lists four Kringles, 34 Clauses, 21 Jack and Jackie Frosts, six Mary Christmases —- and seven Yules.

Zzzzz’s. What you’ll need when the parties and feasts are finally done.