There's this tradition in Finland that dates way back to the 14th century whereby at noon on the 24th Christmas peace is announced. The announcement is read from the City Council of Turku, and from then on until Twelfth Night any crime commited is concidered aggravated - I think it still is... More trivia: Christmas Peace was first broadcast over the radio for the first time in 1935 and on TV in 1983.
I wish I could have found a clip on this event to show how the announcement is still taken seriously by Finns...
In the context of modern society, noon on the 24th is concidered the latest that stores are open. After this, the whole country winds down and remains shut down (in more ways than one) until the eve of Boxing Day, or tapaninpäivä (St. Stephen's). And honestly, Finns are OK with this, though I wonder what really goes on in families these days with cell phones and Internet connections! As a teenager, I remember being bored beyond belief by the end of Christmas Day because there was nothing entertaining on TV; the only entertaining "must" event of Samu Sirkan joulutervehdys, or "Jimminy Cricket's Christmas Greeting" - a repeat year after year - had been broadcast on Christmas Eve... And there were to be no phone calls in or out until after Boxing Day.
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