The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, December 23, 1950, Page 15

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL TIIE NEWS ALL THE TIME” THIRD SECTION JUNEAU, ALASKA, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1950 Rk England's Purifans - Banned Christmas As Privolous Time Christmas was outlawed in Eng- :SA"]’A CLAUS H“’ disillusion and despatr.” ! | Father Martin’s sentiments nre‘DR. MOORE’ AUIH R | reminiscent of Martin Luther's vig- ] ' | AS "SUGAR DADDY" | orou"cimoaien acainst neect . (F "NIGHT BEFORE" the central idea of Christmas,| INSTEAD OF SM“T‘WMC“ is the birth of Jesus. S0, | German children have been taught wAS ASHAMED oF 'T | | | | ‘ Assailing the Santa Claus myth | that the Christkind brings the | as ‘foolish fiction' and rival of the | presents—Christkind being depict- BEST WISHES Everyone knows and loves the To Our Friends and Customers MOUNT JUNEAU SALES and SERVICE ITH EVERY GOOD WIsH | MERRY CHNIS GASTINEAU , am?f% S GROCERY Phone 37 or 722 gfi/e/fi Sl o 3EST W) HES North Transfer Company To the Customers and Friends of This Firm and A Heorty T@onlu for Your Patronage United Food | Holy Child, the Rev. John S. Mar- tin, editor of the Catholic Review, | declared in a 1949 editorial that | Santa the saint has been lost in| | Santa the sugar daddy—and that | ithe whole idea is bad psychology | iand bad pedagogy. “Our children learn about the | reindeer, but have never heard ol | the ox and the ass,” Father Martin | continued and recommended that | “Leave the man in the red suit not all children who await Santa | |to those who have nothing better . for whom life must end in | i "~ Expressing our ed as the messenger of thé Infant Jesus sent earthward at Christmas- time to bring happiness to good children, ‘ The modern conception of Santa Claus is, of course, 99 per cent’ fic- tional and strictly American. But the spirit of generosity and thought. fulness as typified by Santa Claus is neither sugar daddy-ish nor es- sentially American. Unfortunately have learned from their mothers’ lips the story of the Holy Child. appreciation for your courtesies of the past and extending compliments of the Season, ALA SKA TRANSFER comes to. wish you all the joy and happiness which)_ S5 Lu-Ek’s Photo Shop Film Rental Service . b g Best Wishes for o - 0L HOUDRY SERSON JUNEAU FLORISTS B poem which begins— 'Twas the night before Christ- mas, when all through the house | Not a creature was stirring, not | even a mouse;— |but the man who wrote it, Dr. | Clement Clarke Moore, was ashamed |of it and would not allow it to be | published under his name for more | than 20 years. | Dr. Moore, an aloof professor of | Greek and Oriental literature in ‘Lhe Episcopal Siminary in New | York, wrote the poem on Christmas Eve 1822 and read it to his seven children, He had not planned for the poem |to go further than his own family, but a relative who was visiting the | Moores put a copy in her diary. | The next year the relative’s father |sent it to a newspaper. | Other newspapers printed the Jjingles and they quickly became | known all over the country. The | dignified Dr. Moore was embarras- |sed and considered it beneath a |man of his scholastic standing to | be the author of children's jingles. | Twenty-two years later, however, |he finally publicly admitted au- | thorship aof the jingles and it was published in book form under his name for the first time. Ironically, the professor’s serious works are forgotten today. He is mentioned in encyclopedias because he wrote the celebrated Christmas verses, IT TAKES KNOW-HOW 70 BURN A YULE L0G ‘The Yule log is a tradition of Christmas, but due to central heat- ing and gas stoves it is becoming a lost tradition in this country. Few city dwellers have open grates or desire a log fire. And those living in the country find coal more efficient and less trouble. However for those who have a |place to burn the yule log and want one, tradition says it should be oak, ash, olive, apple or pine. Further, the fire on which it is placed should be kindled from a brand saved from last year’s log, {and that it should not be allowed to go out during the night. | TFor those determined to have |the yule log, the voice of exper- |ience says get hold of all the wood |you can. Some kinds burn petter than others, but reject none these days. Ash is highly praised by some and can be used without being| seasoned, It burns quickly, but throws off great heat. Poplar, on the other hand, should be seasoned or it will spark badly, Elm is condemned as undesirable, |but can be used. It is slow to get burning, but lasts’ a long time and | brightens up when it gets going. A few logs of birch, pine or fir will help it along. Beech and oak are among the| best logs. Beech is is especially good, having a pleasant aroma and a steady glow. Oak has the out- standing merit of burning slowly. If none of these are available, wood from all kinds of fruit trees are prime favorites for the yule log because of their pleasant smell when burning. HAWAIIAN CHRISTMAS IS ELABORATE AFFAIR Although many Hawallans have seen ice only as frozen in mechan- ical refrigerators, the trees used by the islanders for Christmas decor- ations are painted white to simul- ate snow. Chiistmas dinner is an elaborate affair, enjoyed in the privacy of the home behind locked doors and drawn blinds. Any open-house hos- pitality is an economic impossibility; | if the shades were not drawn and | the doors not locked, homes would | be invaded by hordes of strangers| —all expecting food and drink. Gift-giving 'is the order of the day as everyone exchanges inex. pensive presents, Even the serv- ants in hotels expect and receive gifts from over-night guests. YULE SYMBOLS It 15 said that the symbol of Santa Claus originated in Holland, the Christmas tree in Germany,| Christmas shoes (stockings) in Bel- gium and Christmas cards and the “Merry Christmas” greeting in Eng- | land. Americans have contributed the turkey dinner and ine poin- |settia as a decoration because it | |blends into the Christmas color | | scheme, 126 is observed as the feast of St. land by the Puritan government of England in 1643 and, although the restoration of the Stuarts brought a revival of Christmas customs and traditions, Christmas never re- gained its former prestige in Eng- land. It is observed religiously in the churches and as a day for family reunions and social gatherings, in contrast to the lavish feasting and boisterous merry-making of olden times. Merry-making and gift-giving come in for their share, however, on December 26 which is Boxing Day. The origin of Boxing Day antedates Christmas and can be traced to the custom of gift-giving during the Roman festival of Sat- urnalia. In Christian liturgy December Stephen, the first Christian mar- tyr, and during the centuries when journeymen and apprentices were in the habit of levying upon their masters’ customers, ‘Christma} Boxes' were collected on St. Ste- phen’s day. Thus, the children receive thefy presents, in boxes, as do old serv- ants, the postman, and everyone else. And reminiscent of the Ro- man Saturnalia, householders dance with the servants and, toward eve- ning, there is revelling in the streets as groups of merry-makers gather on street corners or ride about London-tewn dancing on the ‘flats’ of trucks. SANTA CLAUS IS POPULAR “Dat gnlTman Mistas Santa Claus,” said Uncle Eben, “is sho popular. Nobody else could carry around so much valuables wif'out sooner or later being hijacked.” CHRISTMAS CANDLES Christmas tree candles date back to the very earliest times in the Christian era. The Yule candle of goodly size, lighted early Nativity scenes. Poisonous paint on a toy may prove injurious to baby. Inspect your lights for flaws. Christmas iree l N That we wish each and all of our friends and ennol{un the very MERRIEST CHRISTMAS SKINNER'S GUN SHOP Home of the Alaska Magnum B il eason 3 W t&fingi Juneau Insurance Agency AP RERRR IR TR AR AR R RARRRRRRRRRIRRN Becdede that gives charm to the festivity of Christmas. We feel a special glow of warmth and gladness when we think of our friends and ncighbors. Itis in this spirit that we wish every one a joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year, ; ‘There is something in the very scason of the year | Northern Commercial Company