Sunday, December 5, 2021

Jólabókaflóðið: a Christmas Flood of Books in Iceland

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Wikipedia page describes one wonderful custom - the Icelandic Christmas book flood (Jólabókaflóðið). An article by Ashley Leath at Country Living on November 30, 2021 is titled Why Icelanders spend every Christmas reading books and drinking cocoa. A blog post at Icelandic Air on December 2, 2020 is titled Jólabókaflóðið: the Christmas flood of books. Another article by Shaunacy Ferro at Mental Floss on December 8, 2018 is titled The Christmas Book Flood: Iceland’s literature-loving holiday tradition.

 

Back during World War II paper was one of the few items not being rationed, so books became popular gifts for Christmas. In fall the Iceland Publishers Association sends a catalog of new publications to every home in the country. Then residents buy books and give them as gifts on Christmas Eve.

 

The 1927 poster of Books for the holiday by Edward Arthur Wilson came from the Library of Congress.

 


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