Show A F aa d DI k 77 A A k r 4 V INA 9 4 P qa NO 14 X r st portrait 81 4 anan abt 1 eving tving by ELMO SCOTT WATSON HEN you rend read tho the title of this alifa article did you exclaim men who helped make why what does that meana mean there WIB was only one man who rondo christmas and lie ho was born nearly 2000 years ngo ago truel true I 1 if it had not been tor for the birth ot of jesus christ there would bo be no occasion for celebrating december 25 as christmas lay day and if that celebration bra tion had been kept to its original f form orm there would bo be no occasion for writing nn an article such baich as this but the fact Is unit that there has grown up around tile the celebration of christmas a great variety of customs cu atkins traditions arid practices which wo we now regard as essential parts parta of vint that observance even though they may have departed from its original meaning some of these have had such a gradual evolution that it would bo be impossible to ascribe them definitely to any one person nut but there are others which we can anco directly to one or more individuals hence the theme of men who helped lielie wake malto christinas what it Is now in tills article certainly santa claus clans seems to be nn an essential part of the christmas celebration speak of him arid and thero there rises to mind n picture of a plump elf ilko little man who radiates laughter and good cheor cheer why should lie he bo be that sort of person a 0 n instead of tho the stern gaunt rather farrold n ablo ble figure solemn and majestic in ili trailing robes carrying in one hand a basket of presents and in the other ather a birch rod its an awful warning to naughty children such us its he was when lie he was known ns as or ortho tho blahos saint nicholas by the first dutch settlers in ili tills this country the tha answer to that quest question lon Is tho the names of three writers james K paulding washington irving and dr clement 0 albore and nn an unknown american artist it was washington irving who in his knickerbockers history of now new york in fit 1800 wrote the first description of the new type of santa claus clans and mado made or st nicholas the patron saint of the dutch colonists of new amsterdam the archetype arche typo of all of those jovial mony many long pipe smoking burg burghers liers the next writer to paint a word portrait of santa banta claus was irvings friend and collaborator james jamer kerke paulding who in tits his nook book of st nicholas first published in 1827 said oak santa claus clans was as aa a little dutchman ns as ever smoked ills his way through the world pipe fore most nut but it remained for dr alc clement clark amoore MO ore in ills poem A visit from st nicholas to give 91 ve a more definite word portrait of st Nich nicholas olits and pretty definitely esta establish in tile the mind of the public what aliat santa claus clans looked like how much moore drew upon irving in ing und pallid ing for his description Is not known but there la Is a curious parallelism in some of tits his words word and some of theirs although moore himself 10 40 years later said thid a portly ruhle rubicund und dutch man inan living in tho the neighborhood of ilia his fathers country sent seat chelsca Cli elsen vear near new york city suggested to him tile the idea of it making st nicholas the hie hero here of ills christmas piece for ills his children then in arso a hook book called the poets of america edited by john keese wits was published it contal contained nd XIo orea poem and the illustration for that was a picture of santa claus deuced above who the tin painter hiter or tile lie engraver was Is it unknown lint but it Is bell believed eved that tills this was the first tnie it a picture of santa claus claua was ever printed thus it eni washington irving james K X paulding clement C 1 moore and the unknown illustrator of keeses poets of america helped make imalle christmas by giving its our present idea of the patron of tile the ho holiday lidny what would christmas bo be without christmas christinas hymns and Chrls truna carols and what song lins has been more often sunk sung on christinas alve or Is more beloved than silent night holy night it was on oil december 24 a 1 of the year 1818 that josef mohr assistant pastor of the lie newly established st nicholas parish church in ili tile the little village of oberndorf Obero dorf near salzburg austria handed to franz gruber a schoolmaster of anis dorf who wag organist for the church a po poem in with tho the request rei that he write for it a sul suitable table melody arranged for two solo voices chorus and a 11 g guitar u itar accompaniment the reason for the tatter latter tatu latu being that the organ in the little church had find broken down so franz gruber sat bat down at his grandfathers desk immediately wrote a simple melody for the poem arid and that night on Christi christmas christians uns eve in st nicholas church was waa for tho the first time sung eung stille to the fact that the little organ in oberndorf Obern dort tind had broken down Is due the widespread popularity of the hymn the organ builder karl enri racher of fugen in Ziller zillertal tal hail had been sent for to make the necessary repairs lie he heard the air a and n d hummed it in ills his native country where it became very popular in a short time and soon spread all over the world thus it was too vint that josef amohr and franz gruber two Aust austria rians ns helped make christmas A A V ar alva 44 V mst 11 sr S r zhe birst christma christmas S cald A 1 14 4 j 4 at JAIN V ly barna kirle gulding einar Nol boell do you enjoy sending out christmas cards to your friends it if you do then you should know tile name of sir henry cole an englishman for it was he who originated this cli custom later famous ns as it 11 social find and educational reformer henry cole was a pioneer in illustrating childrens books with woodcuts wood cuts of famous paintings in 1810 1846 18 10 lie he conceived the idea of sending decorative curds cards to hla his friends hearing bearing tits his good wishes i for thel their r happiness nt at christmas so he went to its ills friend J 0 horsley II a member of the royal hoyal academy in ili london fondon for the design and the result was ans the card which Is reproduced reproduce above hut but few englishmen followed coles lead and the business of making limiting christmas cards got under tinder way very slowly in england it was even slower in getting started in tills this country in 1873 louls louis prang a lithographer of boston exhibited samples of his lowered dowered business cards nt at the vienna exposition antl and they attracted considerable attention lon ire he had an agency in london arid and one of his women employees there her alle Is unknown mown suggested to hin him that he put it a greeting in place of the name or of hla his firm and issue them as Chrls christmas tinas cards tills wa ana q done the next nest year so that 1874 marks the beginning of tile the christmas card in tills this country so sir henry cole the englishman and louis lorang rang an american can bo be added to the list of men who helped make linke i Christina 1 io do your letters go out bearing a christmas sent its as well as it a postage stamp these days if they to do its because einar liol boell n clerk in the post office nt at copenhagen while sorting the mountain woun tain of christmas christinas mall in 1903 I 1 luul had the idea of another stamp for letters which should coni combine a some practical sr lie HP went with tits his plan to tile the head of the postal service and others with influence ani and authority tho rity arid and so when the first christmas sent seal committee held it ine meeting eting to discuss the pur pose and use of the possible income from the christmas seal arid and it wits decided that the first object was the erection of a hospital for tubercular children and in general Rener nl the income from the seal should always be for the fight against tuberculosis bercu losis in one form forin or another upon application to the then king christian IX secured the permission to have a likeness of tile the deceased queen louise on the first christmas seal find and the king became so interested te that lie he himself selected the picture which lie wished used the success of the venture was overwhelming the first printing of seals was immediately med lately increased to OW and over were sold since that time the christmas seal sale la in denmark has brought in enough money to erect large numbers of sanitarian sanitaria sanit sani aria tarla and convalescent homes for tubercular patients hot beall the modest postal assistant became postmaster at charlotten nt near ar cloden copenhagen I 1 ingen and a danish cross of knighthood was waa his badge of honor lie ire died of heart trouble in his silly second year on february 23 ida 1027 at in 1000 1009 the idea reached america and when jacob nils a native of denmark who had become an american saw the queer little stamp on mall arriving from his homeland he immediately sent a letter of inquiry to denmark the reply was a personal one from mr Hol boell who explained in detail the method of procedure through an american woman miss aliss emily brasell the idea was presented to the american red cross which after several years of successful sales turned the project over to the american national antl tuberculosis association which has since had charge of it so elnar einar nol Hol boell the dane jacob nils the tha danish american and miss emily bissell Bl ssell the american helped make christmas it if william eustis secretary of war in 1809 turned down the suggestion of president madison that joel roberts poinsett be appointed quartermaster quarter master general of the army we might never have had those brilliant crimson fl flowers ewers which we know its as as as a part of our christmas decoration heres why joel joe roberts roberta poinsett was a native of south carolina who studied medicine for a time at edinburgh university and later graduated in military science and mathematics at woolwich aften academy demy ill health necessitated a long period of travel in europe and asia after which he ha returned to america and reque requested president madison to furnish him with military employment madison made the suggestion of the quarter n roaster f k L generalship but eustis objected so mod mad ast 1st iann n offered poinsett a masslon to south america for or tho the purpose of establishing friendly reba eions with tho the people there and investigating the tha i prospects of their struggle for independence from spain this led to his becoming something of an authority i on latin american relations to hla his appointment coln ament to a special mission to bealco in 1822 and hla his appointment as the first drat united states minister to that country in 1825 while holding that position he first beheld the exotic beauty of a brilliant red lower flower native to that country when poinsett returned to his home in south carolina tn in 1829 he brought with him some of the seeds of the plant and just a hundred years ago in 1833 he sold some of the plants which he had grown in his bis hothouse to robert dulst of philadelphia buist named the lower flower eupher bl hla a poinsettia and although the tile na name me hns has since become rima the name poinsettia honoring the man who brought it to this country has stuck and it has become one of our chief floral decoration at christinas time poinsett later became secretary of war in van burens cabinet after which he retired from public life in the cemetery of tho the town of states burg S 0 Is a simple marble tablet which bears baars this inscription sacred to the memory of joel it II Po Poli isett lusett who departed tills this life on the twelfth of december 1851 in the seventy third year of his life A puro pure patriot an honest man R and nd a good christian to this might be added ne he helped maks make christmas 0 by union |