One Door at a Time: The Story and Magic of the Advent Calendar

Before the holidays were ushered in by Black Fridays, Hallmark marathons, or peppermint everything, there was anticipation. That’s what the Advent calendar has always captured. Not the gift or the chocolate, but the slow, daily joy of waiting.

A Season of Expectation

Picture it: 19th-century Germany, snow settling on rooftops, candlelight flickering in the windows. Kids bouncing off the walls in anticipation of Christmas. (That last one is not definitive and based more on our own experience than on research of 19th-century Germany) Families marked the days before Christmas in simple, inventive ways. Some lit a candle each night. Others drew chalk lines on their doors or tucked bits of straw into a tiny crib so that a soft bed would be ready by Christmas Eve.

These weren’t just countdowns. They were rituals that turned the passing days of December into something deliberate.

From Homemade Cookies to Printed Calendars

Enter Gerhard Lang, a German printer with a sweet memory tucked away from childhood. His mother once sewed him a calendar with 24 tiny pockets. Every morning in December, Gerhard would wake to a discovery of a cookie in another pocket.

Years later, Lang transformed that memory into the first printed Advent calendars in the early 1900s. They began as simple illustrations with numbered days, and by the 1920s he’d added the familiar paper doors that opened to reveal pictures, Bible verses, or cheerful winter scenes.

Here’s a delightful detail: early Advent calendars didn’t always have 24 doors. Depending on when Advent began, some had as few as 14 or as many as 34. Only later did manufacturers settle on the tidy December 1 through Christmas Eve countdown we know today.

War, Revival, and a Presidential Cameo

Then came World War II, when paper was rationed and “frivolous” things fell out of favor. But in the postwar years, Richard Sellmer, Lang’s former partner, brought the calendars back to life from a small workshop in Stuttgart. His colorful prints spread across Europe and eventually crossed the Atlantic.

Their big break came from a photograph of President Dwight D. Eisenhower opening an Advent calendar with his grandchildren. Suddenly the humble tradition became an American holiday essential.

Chocolate, Creativity, and Countless Surprises

As with many holiday traditions, creativity and commerce soon joined the party. By the 1950s, chocolate had entered the picture (haha, get it?) when Cadbury made chocolate-filled calendars. Purists worried it cheapened the meaning. Children, not surprisingly, disagreed (and won).

 

Today, Advent calendars hold nearly anything that fits behind a door: tiny wines, cheeses, teas, skincare samples, LEGO figures, socks, even miniature bottles of hot sauce. What was once a humble countdown has become a month-long unboxing event. Yes, it’s a commercial twist on a spiritual idea, but who can resist the daily reveal of what’s behind the unopened door?

Of course, some have taken it to dazzling extremes. Tiffany & Co. released a calendar worth over $150,000, each door hiding a “Tiffany Blue” treasure. Swiss watch retailer CHRONEXT topped that with 24 timepieces valued at around €2.7 million. Even Porsche joined in, tucking a full-sized car behind its 24th door. Yet despite all that glitter, the idea remains the same: joy, revealed one small surprise at a time.

Our Own Take on a Beloved Tradition

At Songbook Ink, we wanted to capture that same spirit of anticipation, but with a musical twist. Our Swingin’ Christmas Countdown Advent Calendar was born from the idea of blending two timeless traditions: the slow, sparkling buildup of Advent and the glow of classic holiday music.

Each day reveals a new song we’ve recorded. They’re familiar tunes brought to life with fresh voices. It’s our way of turning the December rush into something melodic and meaningful. Because just like those early Advent rituals, music reminds us that joy often lives in the small, daily moments.

You can find our Advent Calendar here, a modern echo of the one Gerhard Lang’s mother stitched together more than a century ago.

The Gift of Waiting

Whether your calendar hides chocolate, Legos, or carols, the real charm isn’t in what’s behind the doors. The daily pause, the small thrill of progression, the reason to get out of bed on a frosty winter morning.

In an age of instant everything, perhaps the Advent calendar’s greatest gift is that it teaches us to wait. To slow down. To savor time unfolding one day at a time. To treat anticipation as something sweet, not frustrating. And to remember that sometimes, the waiting is the most wonderful part of the year.