The History of the Advent Calendar
Counting the days to Christmas: from chalk lines on a door to printed calendars with small doors - and here one small puzzle a day.
Chalk lines and pictures
In the 19th century, families in Germany counted the days to Christmas at home, for example with chalk lines on a door, one wiped away each day, or with pictures hung up one by one. The oldest known home-made calendar is thought to date from around the middle of the century.
The first printed calendars
Printed calendars appeared in the first years of the 20th century: a "Christmas clock" for children from a Hamburg bookshop in 1902, and soon after a picture calendar from the Munich publisher Gerhard Lang (1903 or 1908, depending on the source).
Small doors
Calendars with small doors or windows to open spread from around 1920. During the Second World War paper was rationed and the printing of such calendars largely stopped; after 1945 they returned, among others from the Stuttgart publisher Richard Sellmer, whose first calendar came out for the 1946 season.
Chocolate and puzzles
Calendars filled with chocolate are known from the 1950s. Today there are also calendars with a puzzle behind every door; this one shows small logic puzzles from PaperGames.