Twas the Night Before Christmas Quiz

First of all, an explanation of how the puzzle can be solved:

Laura's has to be either present number 8 or 9 (as those are the two partially resting on present 5), which means Joe's has to be number 10. Harry's present can only be 7 or 10 - the two presents without another one placed on top of them - so has to be number 7.

Ben's present is resting on top of two other presents (Katie's and Oliver's). This means it can't be any of those numbered 1 to 6, so also has to be either 8 or 9. Katie's and Oliver's have to be two of the three presents numbered 4, 5 and 6 as those are the ones underneath 8 and 9. Katie's is not number 4 and it can't be number 6 either, as that one doesn't touch present 4 in any way. That means it has to be number 5.

Melissa's present is located on the floor of the sleigh, so has to be either number 1 or 2. Sophie's has Zoe's present on top of it so also has to be either number 1 or 2. However, it can't be number 2 as it does not support present number 9. That means Sophie's is number 1 and number 2 belongs to Melissa.

Zoe's has to be number 3 (on top of Sophie's at number 1) and, as Peter's present is resting on top of Melissa's, his has to be number 4. By elimination, number 6 must then belong to Oliver. Finally, now we know that Katie's and Oliver's are numbers 5 and 6, Ben's must be number 9 and Laura's is the last one left to identify - number 8.

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The idea that Santa Claus (aka Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Saint Nicholas) used a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer to travel the world and deliver gifts each Christmas, is believed to originate from the 1823 poem 'A Visit from Saint Nicholas' attributed to Clement Clarke Moore. The poem is often better known by it's first line "'Twas the night before Christmas" and includes the description:

"When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick."

In addition to introducing the idea of flying reindeer pulling a sleigh laden with both Santa and presents, 'A Visit from Saint Nicholas' also gave Santa's reindeer their traditional names:

""Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!"

Note the absence of any mention of Rudolph or red noses.

Sleigh rides in general also appear a lot in contemporary Christmas songs. One example that springs to mind is the song 'Sleigh Ride' by the US composer Leroy Anderson. It has been covered by many artists, but is probably most famously associated with the Ronettes, who recorded the version that appears on many Christmas playlists and compilations in 1963.

"Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring tingle tingling too
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you".

The words of the poem 'A Visit from Saint Nicholas' have been set to music and adapted into a range of Christmas-themed songs. These include a 1952 song called 'The Night Before Christmas Song' by Johnny Marks (who was also responsible for 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' and 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree') and a 1963 version by the US singer Fred Waring.

Individual lines from it have also turned up in totally unrelated Christmas songs, such as in 1981's 'Christmas Wrapping' by The Waitresses:

"When what to my wondering eyes should appear
In the line is that guy I've been chasing all year."

Aside from its role in creating some of the best known stories and Christmas traditions, as well as forever associating reindeer with Christmas, extracts from the poem 'A Visit from Saint Nicholas' are also featured in the scripts of quite a long list of Christmas films.

Films that include it are 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' (1989), 'Reindeer Games' (2000) and 'The Santa Clause' (1994).

While the poem 'A Visit from Saint Nicholas' may have introduced Santa's reindeer, the line "Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound" wasn't the first mention in literature of Santa's method of transferring gifts from where the sleigh was parked on the roof to their final destination under the Christmas tree.

That honour goes to US author Washington Irving and his satirical 1809 work 'A History of New York'.

The tradition of giving Christmas gifts probably has its origins in ancient gift-giving traditions associated with events such as Winter Solstice celebrations and the Roman festival of Saturnalia. However, the Christian tradition developed around the celebration of Christmas associates it with the gifts given to the baby Jesus by the Magi.

Christmas movies usually feature Christmas presents and gift giving to some degree, but some go a step further and show the production process that goes into getting the presents loaded onto Santa's sleigh in the first place. Examples of this genre include 'The Polar Express' (2004) where two children ride a mysterious train all the way to Santa's north pole workshop; 'Fred Claus' (2007) featuring Santa's younger brother as the main character; and 'Arthur Christmas' where the reindeer and sleigh have been retired in favour of more high-tech transportation technology.

The gifting of Christmas presents is also of course a major theme in Christmas songs and many of them tend to be placed under or around a Christmas tree with examples including:

"Don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree"
('All I Want For Christmas Is You' by Mariah Carey)

"Santa baby, just slip a Sable under the tree for me"
('Santa Baby' by Joan Javits and Philip Springer)

Presents being placed under or around a Christmas tree can also be considered a security risk, with some police forces issuing warnings that they simply provide burglars with an easy way to quickly steal expensive items.

One thing that Santa didn't do in 'A Visit From Saint Nicholas' was actually put any presents anywhere near a tree. The gift-giving exercise in that poem resulted in Santa putting toys into stockings "hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there".

While the tradition of the Christmas stocking was mentioned in the poem, it probably has its origins in various legends about the real-life Saint Nicholas. These include variations on a story of him gifting gold to a poor family by placing it in some stockings they'd left drying by the fireplace.