The Sweet History Behind Your Advent Calendar

Long before chocolate ever found its way behind those little cardboard doors, the advent calendar was something far simpler — a way for families in 19th-century Germany to mark the days until Christmas with chalk lines on a wall, or a candle lit one notch at a time. No treats, no surprises. Just the simple ritual of counting down the days. It's hard to imagine now, isn't it? A little anticipation with nothing waiting behind it.

That changed sometime around the early 1900s, when a printer in Germany began selling calendars with tiny paper doors to open, one for each day of December. It didn't take long for chocolate to join the tradition. By the 1950s, calendars filled with something tasty behind the doors had become a holiday staple across Europe, and eventually, the world. What started as a way to mark time slowly became a way to savor it, one small, handcrafted piece at a time.

We happen to think that's the whole point of the season — not rushing toward Christmas Day, but lingering in the days leading up to it. Which is exactly why our own Christmas Advent Calendar exists: 24 solid Belgian milk chocolate pieces, each one tucked behind its own festive design, waiting for its turn. A tradition over a century in the making, made a little richer with every door you open.