| Show 0 az M axis IS 0 ani 5 ag 4 6 n 0 V waw I 1 04 V V 4 an X 0 K K af ica e V W vz 1 A 41 13 4 A by LOUISE M comstock merry merry christmas everywhere cheerily it on the airl air I 1 christmas christinas bells christmas trees christmas Christ maa odours on the breeze Is almost herel here I 1 and once more wo ve find ourselves somehow again doing all the things one always does docs at this time of year with an enthusiasm which repetition or business depressions fall to dampen it Is a thing this spirit of christmas in the name of which we open hearts and pocketbooks pocketbook in a stupendous effort to make joy universal tor for nt at least one day a y year ar when we stop to analyse it clearing away away from it the tarnished tinsel and candle drippings droppings drip pings with which many jars years of sentimentality and commercial exploitation have to some extent covered it we find it based after all on the most lasting worthwhile and certainly the most pleasurable of human instincts there will always of course be scrooges to sneer and flout the spirit of 0 christmas and busy business men who will send the stenographer out to buy the cifes present or else sign a few checks and be glad Us its over and unhappy mortals who give because they have received or expect to mcelve or hope to outdo the rest of the girls la in tho the bridge club bilut fundamentally the spirit of christmas Is sound bound and true and healthful as Is probably right now when depleted bank accounts and curtailed wages put a new significance on gift giving and indulgence in innocent merrymaking tor for the sake of a faith or a tradition being demonstrated more ore convincingly than ever before what else but the real spirit of christmas Christ maa makes it possible for us to go into eustac les over an off shade necktie from cousin latty kitty or a scrap of silk underwear three times too sm small all from a school mate who alio seen us since w we s were re twenty one and a perfect size sixteen t e en what else gives us the strength now that there are only a few more shopping days to go to dive into crowded stores elbow through crowds and to pay more than we intended for something we are not sure will please gift giving itself Is founded upon the noblest sentiment of them all the very heart and sout soul of christmas which Is after all merely tho the annual of a great gift the T he custom of exchanging gifts as we today practice tt it dates from the first offerings made to the nordle nordic god frey tor for a fruitful year saint nicholas the fifth century bishop who Is paid fald to have inspired our modern santa claus distinguished himself by its his lavish gifts to the poor of lecla asia minor like christmas feasting however giving reached extravagant heights during the fifteenth and sixteenth eiith centuries and kucen elizabeth ellzabeth Is said eald to havo have received almost her entire personal wardrobe war droba as christmas gifts from her courtiers and nn an unbelievable quantity of tons loua jewels introduced into this country by the first dutch settlers the custom of filling the childrens stockings and heaping presents upon young and old alike has become one of the most important things about christmas christinas nor Is there any indication that there will bo be less gifts given this christmas than in previous tatter fatter years when figures showing tho the total livings represented by the various christmas savings livings clubs throughout the country were published recently they showed the staggering sum of 0 per cent ress in actual money lhnn last year but much more in real purchasing power duo to deflated prices it has further been estimated that fully 40 per cent of this total annual savings la Is actually used in making g christ ama as purchases white while an additional 8 3 per cent this year probably much more can always be ba counted on for educational education nl and charitable uses certainly there will bo be no diminution in the amounts of charity gifts this year national unemployment relief programs local drives by charit lible organizations find end individual gifts old clothing baskets of food money toys will 1 burely 1 be made in greater abundance and in loser closer accord with the real spirit of christmas than ever bedora one of the most painless methods by which we join in tho the universal philanthropy demanded annually at christmas time Is by tho the purchase of christmas seals this Is the twenty fifth anniversary of tho the christmas seal in this country the idea wat waa first utilized in financing health work in Copen copenhagen hugen denmark Dennin rk in 1004 A postal clerk familiar with the vast numbers bumbers C of 1 r packages balled at this time of year suggested g ested it as a menus means of raising money tor for a charity hospital one of the original danish meals koala stuck onto christmas package reached jacob nils social reformer and friend d of theo Thili 10 31 Z 4 igeez I 1 hope I 1 get something like thail young america lines up in front of store windows to gaze longingly at the fascinating displays therein and to hope that 1011 01 loll ol santy claus will bring just what they have been wanting 2 this highly unusual christmas tree Is nothing else than a gigantic prickly cactus being prepared for the outdoor celebration at christinas inas at palm springs calif the trees holiday regalia was supplied by society folk from all 11 parts parta of the country who winter there 3 mr W K public does his christmas shopping loaded to the guards with packages bundles and gifts the poor fellow fallow sets a good if somewhat overloaded example of buying hla his yuletide Yule tlde gifts early in the season friend wife directs operations and all he has to do do Is to furnish the funds and 4 dore roosevelt who was so enthusiastic about the idea that he wrote it up in an article published in the outlook there miss bliss emily dissell Bl ssell trying to raise for or a tuberculosis pavilion in wilmington delaware read about it borrowed the idea an and had the first american christmas seals printed and sold in 1007 today under the direction of the national tuberculosis association the work has reached vast proportions in one year over of these little slickers were sold at a penny apiece their sale supports over 2000 affiliated tuberculosis associations and committees throughout this country another way in which we spend a goodly proportion of our christmas money Is on cards which last year cost the american public some not counting engraving and postage the first christmas card was sent out in 1810 18 10 the idea was that of sir sir henry cole eng bug 7 lish gentleman and social reformer they were designed and lithographed lithographer litho graphed and hand colored t to his order under the direction ot of J 0 horsley II 0 member of the royal academy the cards were 6 by 4 inches large and bore three panels separated by a leafy trellis in the two side panels were scenes illustrating the charitable lets acts of feeding the hungry and clothing the needy in the central one was the whole family grandparents parents and children all holding up brimming beakers and about to drink to the recipient A merry christmas Chrls trans and a happy new year cole ordered and sent out 1000 of these novel christmas greetings and we nye may imagine that they were received with a great g reat deal 0 of curiosity if not ot of enthusiasm however the card became really popular only in the 18 when along with everything ever thing else they were highly ornamental and senders strove to outdo each other in original rind expensive designs the best people in this country got the craze about 1873 artists of note found it more profitable to prepare christmas scenes tor for cards than to paint portraits and poets poeta of consequence did not think it beneath them to compose fitting sentiments for or them As the result of our present need for individuality vidu vi allty the christmas cards Is no longer a sheer work of art but a commercial novelty and a good racket this year in addition to the conventional design of 0 religious theme or showing snow scenes carol dingers gingers Gin gers holly wrent wreaths lis or candles we have the card decorated by scotty the little terrier who Is just now at the zenith of ali popularity or bearing a modernistic erni design which however incongruous to a thing as old fashioned as christmas nevertheless Is always striking and fresh in appearance akcel most 1931 cards aie are interest interesting ing also bei bea be i cause of the paper on which they are printed there are a great many stocks with shiny surfaces black gold or silver bright candy stripes dash gayly across others and one very popular paper Is rough surfaced and almost spongy in texture and brings out any printed design of lettering in clear cut outline that Is most effective time was when christmas dinner was many weeks in the making and many hours in the ser serving ving but that was in the days before the grocer around the corner was brought even nearer by the telephone and quick delivery service and every nearby restaurant offered a menu rivaling mothers own today even christmas dinner may be procured in cans and fortunately so imagine a modern woman in her neat white enamel and shiny chron lum plate kitchenette mixing to together gether this recipe for shred pie an old english christmas favorite two bushels of flour 20 pounds of butter 4 geese geesee 2 turkeys 3 rabbits 4 wild ducks 8 3 woodcocks 0 snipe 4 partridges 2 tongues 3 curlers curlews cur lewa lews 7 blackbirds 0 or even let her undertake the days cooking with which little sally fairfax of virginia writing in her diary in 1771 credits credi i her mother 11 mamma made six mince pies and seven custards bustards cus tards twelve tarts one chick ing pie and tour four puddings ill 1 when christmas feasting was in its ita headey scarcely a self respecting menu but included beebe mutton and borke shred pies iles of the best rig pig veale goose and capon and well there was also the famous boars baars head lemon la in mouth and ears wreathed around with rosemary the peacock roasted sewn back into its own skin with every lovely feather in place generously garnished and carried in on a golden platter with due ceremony haun haunches ciles of venison plum porridge frumenty and the steaming hot wassail drink the shred pie unlike its modern descendant the mince pie was baked in a long dish shaped like the cradle or manger of bethlehem however this lavish outlay of food may in the reading make the mouth wa ter there was probably in the tasting another side to the story imagine the fastidious and kitamine conscious gourmand of today seated in some huge smoky baronial hall before a dinner served up by a nondescript retinue of servants from mysterious dark cellars and smelly kitchens and consisting of 11 thirty pound buttered eggs pies of carps tongues pheasants drenched with ambergris and a single peacock covered with sauce made from gravy of the bruised carcasses of three fat 11 1 nevertheless it Is to this old time cookery that we owe many of our favorite christmas dishes and at no other time of year does the modern kitchen show such a flurry of old fash toned activity as now the christmas turkey Is of course americas contribution to the feast and Is found on almost every american table time was when one of the most important duties of the last few bew days before christmas was to cut bring into the house and set up the christmas as tree which had been marked out from its sisters in the old back woodlot months ago for this very purpose and tenderly watched over ever since onto its fresh fragrant branches went homemade tapers fancy paper cutouts cut outs strings of popcorn prepared with much ado by the children themselves its glowing lights its shining tinsel strings its sparkling colored balls represent the age old did love man has felt tor for warmth and light for the sheltered companionship of the open hearth for the life giving rays of tho the sun in them the christmas tree carries on the purpose of the old heathen fest festival lyal to which our modern celebration in some ways corresponds ex pressing their joy at the return of the winter winte r solstice the sun once more became friend ly to men when days commenced to lengthen and spring was not so far away our modern christmas tree decorations are thus in one ones sense euse merely modern symbols of the sun dese descendants of the burning barrel and the naming flaming torch with which the ancients nn clenta used to worship it martin luther made the first christian use of the tree when he set up in his home in germany for his own children a little fir tree and hung it with candles like the stars he explained to them which lighted the night of the nativity the fir tree la Is still regarded as the christmas tree par excellence particularly in the northeastern and lake states state because of its long spreading and springy branches and tta its deep green and fragrant foliage which stays stay fresh lonter longer than that of almost any other type in tho the western states fir while abundant it is harder to reach and cut and its place Is largely taken by lodgepole pine and spruce while on the racille coast white fir is most popular h Q bavi by V asten tern napper Nw union |
