Holiday Stories

[Santa Claus]

Every few days Santa will post Holiday Stories for you and your family to read this holiday season.

Without further ado..

Christmas

I have a list of folks I know, all written in a book.
And every year at Christmas time, I go and take a look.
And that is when I realize that these names are a part....
Not of the book they're written in, but of my very heart.

For each name stands for someone who has crossed my path sometime,
And in that meeting they've become the rhythm in each rhyme.
And while it sounds fantastic for me to make this claim,
I really feel that I'm composed of each remembered name.

And while you may not be aware of any special link
Just meeting you has changed my life,and a lot more than you think.
For once I've met somebody, the years cannot erase
The memory of a pleasant word or of a friendly face.

So never think my Christmas cards are just a mere routine
Of names on a Christmas list, forgotten in between.
For when I send a Christmas card that is addressed to you,
It's because you are on the list of folks I am indebted too.
For I am the total of the many folks I have met
And you happen to be one of those I prefer not to forget.

And whether I have known you for many years or few,
In some way you have been a part in shaping things I do.
And every year when Christmas comes, I realize anew
The best gift life can offer is meeting folks like you.

And may the spirit of Christmas that forever endures,
Leave the richest blessings in the hearts of you and yours.

Santa

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[Santa Claus]

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Perhaps the best know of all the reindeer is Rudolph - the red nosed reindeer. Rudolph was the creation of Robert May, an advertising writer for the Montgomery Ward department store in Chicago.

May, who was very imaginative, wanted to create a booklet to give to parents who shopped at Montgomery Ward and with the help of Denver Gillen, a friend who had artistic skills, they created a booklet about Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. The story of how Rudolph lit the way through the fog to help Santa Claus deliver his toys was distributed for several years, with millions of booklets distributed at Montgomery Wards stores over the years.

In 1947 the story of Rudolph the red nosed reindeer was put to music by a friend of Robert Mays by the name of Johnny Marks. It was recorded and sung by Gene Autry a famous TV star and sold millions of copies of the song. Rudolph has had his own TV shows and movies and continues to grow in popularity with every passing year.

Santa

 

[pbghost]

pretty interesting find about the beginnings of Rudolph! thanks Santa

<( milk to go with the cookies)

 

[VaBusa]

 

[Santa Claus]

History of The Christmas Tree

The tradition of having an evergreen tree become a symbol of Christmas goes back past recorded written history.

The Druids in ancient England & Gual and the Romans in Europe both used evergreen branches to decorate their homes and public buildings to celebrate the Winter Solstice. Over the years, these traditions were adopted by Christians, who incorporated them as part of their Christmas holiday celebration.

Trees used specifically to celebrate Christmas are mentioned in the early 1600's in Germany and surrounding countries. The families would set up these trees in a prominent location of their home and decorate them with colored paper, small toys, food, and sometimes candles. As these people moved or immigrated to other countries, they brought this tradition with them.

Through the years many different things were used to decorate Christmas trees. As the world moved into the 1900's, many trees were decorated with strings of popcorn, homemade cards and pictures, cotton to look like snow, candy in all shapes and sizes, and occasionally, fancy store made glass balls and hand blown glass figurines. Candles were sometimes used, but often caused devastating fires, and many different types of candle holders were devised to try to prevent tree fires. Electric tree lights were first used just 3 years after Thomas Edison has his first mass public demonstration of electric lights back in 1879. The early Christmas tree lights were handmade and quite expensive.

Today, Christmas tree ornaments can be found in nearly every size, color, and shape imaginable, and they are used to decorate the millions of Christmas trees used throughout the world.

Santa

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[pbghost]

thanks again, it's pretty neat to find out how things came to be.

 

[Santa Claus]

Santa's reindeer will be hungry when they get to your house. While Santa's inside eating the cookie and milk you left him, the reindeer will be waiting outside. How about leaving them some reindeer food?


Recipe for Reindeer Food


1 cup sugar
1 cup instant oatmeal
1 cup glitter

Mix everything together and scatter around outside. (Santa's reindeer are magical, and they love magical reindeer food.)

Note: If you live in an area where non-magical creatures like pets or wild animals might get to the reindeer food and eat it, leave out the glitter. Glitter might hurt real animal stomachs and Santa's reindeer will still enjoy the feast without glitter.

A good substitute for the glitter would be sprinkles used to decorate cakes and cupcakes.

Santa

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[Santa Claus]

Christmas lights

Christmas lights were at one time candles, chosen because their twinkling appearance reminded families of the twinkling of moon light through the branches of fir trees in the forest. Despite the safety precautions taken by these early Christmas light users, mixing live flame with highly flammable Christmas trees resulted in a very dangerous situation and many fires resulted.

When Thomas Edison invented the first light bulbs in the late 1800's, it was only a short time before people were putting them on their Christmas trees. These Christmas tree lights soon were being produced and displayed in colors, but only for the very wealthy families, since this new product was very expensive!

Mass production techniques soon lowered the price of these holiday decorations to the point where average families could afford them. At the same time, the design and complexity of these Christmas lights was also changing. Instead of needing to have each light individually wired, the lights were created with spiral bases to screw into the light sockets on the Christmas tree light strings. This made them easy enough for the average family to use and soon these lights decorated windows, doors, and even the outside of homes as well as the Christmas trees.

The Christmas season is truly much brighter because of Christmas lights!

Santa

 

[Santa Claus]

Holly

Holly is often associated with the Druids, an ancient religious sect in England that centered much of their religious beliefs around nature, with trees and plants considered particularly holy and powerful.

Holly was revered by the Druids since it stayed green all winter long, in fact the Holly trees were referred to as "Evergreens"￾ because of this. Like the Mistletoe, many followers of the Druids believed the Holly plants were magic and they picked them to decorate their houses in the winter (to ward off evil spirits) as well as to fill their homes with the aromatic smell from the Holly branches.

As time went on the custom of decorating homes with the green Holly branches spread throughout the world, and eventually people started bringing entire Holly trees into their home during the Christmas season and decorating these as "Christmas trees"￾.

Today, Christmas trees and wreathes can be seen throughout the world during the Christmas season, helping to remind families of the warmth and good cheer associated with Christmas.

Santa

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