Show 11 tr a S I 1 S moutot C e 1190 4 e 11 I 4 1 1 0 x A 1 t ale V Y 1 I 4 A e t n 1 ed of J j s I 1 i 1 0 jar 4 N i V po i S i ir t I 1 Z e A by LOUISE M COMSTOCK merry merry christmas everywhere cheerily it on the air aarl I 1 christmas bells christmas trees christmas odours on the breeze Is almost here I 1 and once more we find our C selves somehow again doing all the things one always does at this time of year with an enthus asin which repetition or business depres fall to dampen it Is a thing this spirit of christmas in the name naine of which we open hearts and pocketbooks in a stupendous effort to make joy universal for at least one day a year when we stop to analyse it clearing away from it the tarnished tinsel and candle drippings with which many years of sentimental ity 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 tout the spirit vf of 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 it its s over and unhappy mortals who give because they have received or expect to receive or hope to outdo the rest of the girls in the bridge club but fundamentally the spir it of christmas is sound and true and health ful as Is probably right now when depleted bank accounts and curtailed wages put a new significance on gift giving and indulgence in in merryman mer ng for the sake of a faith or a tradition being demonstrated more confine angly than ever before what else but the real spirit of christmas makes it possible for us to go into over an off shade necktie from cousin kitty ritty or a scrap of silk underwear under weir three times too small from a school mate who chasn t seen us since we were twenty one and a perfect size six teen 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 soul soui of christmas which Is 1 after all merely the an nual celebration of a great G ft the custom of exchanging gifts as we today practice it dates from the first offer made to the nordic god frey for a fruitful year saint nicholas the fifth century bishop who Is said to have inspired our modern santa claus d himself by his lavish gifts to the poor of lycia As a minor like christmas feasting however giving reached extravagant heights during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and queen el zabeth is said to have received almost her entire per bonal wardrobe war drob as christmas gifts from her courtiers court lers and an unbelievable avable quantity of prec loua tons jewels introduced into this country by the first dutch settlers the custom of fill ng the children s stockings and heaping presents upon young and old alike has become one of the most important things about christmas I 1 nor or Is there any ind cation that there will be less gifts given this christmas than in previous tatter fatter years when figures showing the total savings represented by the various chr atmas savings clubs throughout the country were pub lashed recently they showed the staggering sum of 6 per cent less in actual money than last year but much more mote in real ng power due to deflated deflit ed prices it has further been esl estimated mated that fully 40 per cent of this total annual savings is actually used in making christ maa purchases while an additional 3 per cent this year probably much more can always be counted on for educational and charitable uses certainly there will be no d mi nution in the amounts of charity gifts this year national unemployment rel ef programs local drives by charitable organizations and individual g ats old clothing baskets of food money toys will surely be made in greater abundance and in closer accord with the real spirit of christmas than ever before one of the most painless methods by which we join in the universal philanthropy demanded annually at christmas time is by the purchase of C listman seals this is the twenty fifth annl amal of the christmas seal in this country the idea was first utilized in financing health work in copenhagen denmark in 1804 A postal clerk familiar with the vast numbers of pa bages mailed at this time of year sug it as a means of raising money for a charity hospital one of the original danish eeals seals stuck onto a christmas package reached jacob ails social ref reformer oriner and friend of theo owl A t V I 1 gee I 1 hope I 1 get something I 1 ke that young america ines 1 nes up in front of store win dows to gaze long angly at the fascinating d s plays there n and to hope that ol 01 santy claus will bring just what they have been wanting 2 this h ehly unusual chr atmas tree Is noth ing else than a g gant c prickly cactus be ng prepared for the outdoor celebration at christ mas at palm springs calif the trees holiday regalia was supplied by society folk from all parts of the country who winter there 3 mr W K public does h s christmas shop ping loaded to the guards with packages bundles and gifts the poor fellow sets a good if somewhat overloaded example of buying h s yuletide g ats early in the season friend wife d erects operations and all he has to do Is to turn furn sh the funds and transport at ons 0 dore roosevelt who was so enthusiastic about the idea that he wrote it up in an article pub fished in the outlook there al ss em bin ly bissell trying to raise 3 for a tuber culos s pavilion in wilm agton delaware read about it borrowed the idea and had the first american christmas seals printed and sold in 1007 1907 today under the d of the national Tuber culos s association the work has reached vast proportions in one year over of these I 1 we ers were sold at a penny apiece their sale supports over 2 2000 affiliated tuber culos s assoc actions and committees throughout this country another way in wh ch eh we spend a goodly proportion of our christmas money Is on cards which last year cost the american public some not counting engraving and post age the first christmas chr atmas card was vas sent 1846 the idea was that of S r henry cole eng lish gentleman and soc al reformer they were designed and I 1 tho graphed and I 1 and colored to his order under the d of J 0 horsley member of the royal academy the cards were 6 by 4 inches large and bore three panels sepa rated by a leafy trell s in the two s de panels were scenes illustrating the charitable acts of feed ng the hungry and cloth ng the needy in the central one was the whole family grand parents parents and cl ildren all holding holdin up brimming beakers and about to drink to the necip ent cut A merry chr and a happy rapp y new tear year cole ordered and sent out 1000 of these novel christmas greetings and we may imag ne that they v were ere received with a great deal of curios ity if not of enthus aam Ilo however wever the card became really popular only in the 18 Os when along with everything else they were h ehly ornamental and senders strove to outdo ea each c h other in original and expensive des gns agns the best people in th s country got the craze about 1873 artists of note found it more profits profitable ble to prepare chr atmas scenes for cards than to paint portraits and poets of consequence d d not think it beneath them to compose fitting sentiments for them As the result of our present need for indi vi duality the christmas carda 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 rel bious theme or showing snow scenes carol singers holly n beatt s or candles we have the card decorated by scotty the little terrier who is just now at the zen th of his popularity or bearing a mod er design which hoX however vever incongruous to a thing as old fashioned as christmas never is always striking striling and fresh in appear ance most 1931 cards are interesting also bei hei be he i cause of the paper on which they are printed there are a great many stocks with shiny sur fac faces es black gold uld or silver bright candy stripes dash gayly across others and one very popular paper Is rough surfaced and almost spongy ongy in texture and brings out any printed design deign of lettering in clear cut outline that Is most effect five time was when christmas d was many weeks in the making and many hours in the serving but that was in the days before the grocer around the corner was brought even nearer by the telephone and quick delivery ice tee and eve every ry 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 sl iny chroni chr urn plate kitchen ette mixing together this recipe for shred pie an old engi engl sh christmas favorite two bushels of flour 20 pounds of butter 4 geese 2 turkeys 3 rabb ts 4 wild ducks 3 woodcocks 6 snipe 4 partridges 2 neat s tongues 3 curlews 7 black birds 6 ansi or even let her undertake the days cook ng R with ith which I 1 atle e sally pair fair fax of virgin a writing in her d ary in 1771 cred ts her mother mamma made six mince pies and seven custards twelve tarts one chick ing pie and four I 1 when christmas feasting was ID in its headey scarcely a self respecting menu but included beebe mutton and borke shred pies of the best pig veale goose and capon and well there was also the famous boar boars s head lemon in mouth and ears cars wreathed around with rose mary 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 haunches of ven ison plum porn porri ge frumenty and the steam ing hot wassail drink the shred pie uilke ke its modern descendant the mince p e was baked in a long d sh shaped like the cradle or manger of bethlehem however this lavish outlay of food may in the read ng make the mouth wa ter there was vas probably in the tast ng another side to the story imagine the fast d ous and vi tamIne lne conscious gourmand of today seated in some huge smoky baronial hall before a d served up by a nondescript retinue of servants from mysterious dark dart cellars and smelly kitchens and cons sting of thirty pound buttered eggs pies of carp s tongues pheasants drenched with ambergris and a single peacock covered with sauce made from gravy of the bruised carcasses of three fat Nv ethers nevertheless it Is to tt Is 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 no v the christmas turkey Is of course america americas s button to the feast and Is found on almost every american table time was wl en one of the most important duties of the last bev days before christmas was NN as to cut bring into the house and set up the christmas tree which had been marked out from its s in the old back woodlot months ago for this very purpose and tenderly watched over ever since onto its fresh fragrant branches branche s went homemade tapers fancy paper cut cuts outs strings of popcorn prepared with much ado by the children themselves its glowing 1 gats its sl ining tinsel strings its sparkling colored balls represent the age old love man has felt for warmth and light for the sheltered companionship comp anion ship of the open 0 en hearth for the life g ving rays of the gun in them the christmas tree carr es on the purpose of the old heathen festival to wh ch our mod ern celebration cerebration in some ways corresponds es ex pressing their joy at the return of the winter solstice when the sun once more became friend ly to men when days commenced to lengthen and spring was not so far alvay our modern christmas tree decorations are thus in one sense merely modern symbols of the sun descendants of the burning barrel and the flaming torch with which the anc aric ants 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 wh ch lighted the night of the nativity the fir tree Is still regarded as the christ mas tree par excellence particularly in the northeastern and lake states because of its long spread ng and springy branches and its deep green and fragrant fol age which stays fresh longer khan han that of almost any other type in 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 pacific coast white fir Is most popular Q by V stern astern newspaper union |