The History of the Christmas Tradition infographic timeline from Balsam Hill visually lays out the events from Culture, Decorations, Traditions and Historical Characters that over hundreds of years have shaped the current Christmas holiday.
Across the world, Christmas is celebrated in a multitude of rich and cherished traditions. Their origins are wonderfully varied, emerging out of cultures and beliefs throughout history. This illustrated timeline, brought to you by Balsam Hill, captures the flow of some of the most popular Christmas traditions and figures and traces their simple lineage from St. Nicholas’ humble beginnings to today.
This design is a great example of Online Lifespan for infographics. The topic is timely and popular during the month of December, but not tied to a specific trending topic from 2011. Therefore, this design will generate ongoing traffic, links and views every year for Balsam Hill as new readers discover it each year for years to come.
Designed by InfoNewt with designer Jeremy Yingling, the design takes a more classic approach the the illustrations on the timeline by using historical images that instantly make the events relevant and recognizable to the readers. The four, parallel timelines show the reader how events combined over time, combined into the Santa Claus and Christmas we know today. The layout makes it easier for the readers to see how separate songs, books and parades began to converge into one story.