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r- r h aclqn flbst pfmsv tfmjfmsy j2 sombre omens of christmas ierry christmas not al ways according to come anc ient beliefs once associated with the day take for in stance the old belief that cat tle and other stable animals were given the power of speech on christmas eve any person who heard the animals speak would die with in a year so superstition said sombre oaten of death were read into still other yule- tide legends when the yule log burned bystanders were told to watch the shadows on the wall if the shadows of any per sons appeared to be headless this supposedly meant death for those persons again within a year salt was also said to have the power of forecasting hfe or death when used in con nection with christinas the test could be made by leaving a small mound of salt on the table on christmas eve if the salt melted during the night that too meant death within 12 months if the salt remained un- melted the forecast was for a long and healthy life little but legend known about visit of wise men many legends have devel oped around the visit of the three wise men to adore the infant jesus even their num ber is legendary st matthew the only book in the new testament that re fer to the visit reports that wise men came from the east without stating how many there were- it was not until later in a legend which can be traced back to the second century that they were called kings according to the encyclopedia americana in even later times they were distinguished as melchl- or oaspar or caspar and balthasar the magi originally stood for the priestly caste of the ancient persian zoroastrlan religion as the religion moved westward it came in contact with babylonian beliefs and practices and derived a strong interest in astrology demon- ology and magic by the time it reached the oraecorbman world it was practlcaliy identical in the popular view with astrology and magic this explains the use of the term wise men by st matthew since they were astrologers lithographer fathered american greetings encouraged artists mmfc jmmnmmtison f mr and mrs ken marehmerrt wasnt afrsjdmof santa claw at the legion parry saturday he at on the ok gents knee and tweaked his nose as a reminder to be sure and bring him toys 7n northern europe where santa daus arrives on a white horse boys and girls put out food for the horse to louis prang a native of breslau germany goes the credit for being father of the american christmas card prang a lithographer who began a greeting card business in rdxbury mass exhibited his own cards at the centen nial exposition in philadel phia in 1875 he then had the idea of holding an annual competition to obtain the best of american art for cards hundreds of paintings were entered in prangs contest for prizes from two hundred to one thousand dollars winners with two exceptions were art- ists bora in the united states women artists were well- represented among winners rosina emmet was the mother of the late author and play wright robert emmet sher wood others were dora wheeler anne morse lizbeth humphrey and florence taber the group of 20 prang prize cards is owned by norcross inc greeting card publishers f cheers sssvt j x rav aiv r christmcigtide nay the peace and contentment fliaj comes with love understanding and good will towards our fellpwmen prevail tiiroughaut the world and for you and yours especially may the meaning of christmas be deeper its hopes brighter than ever before gmnt aad staff it3fctl gj v vh were sending best wishes of the season to you and yours have a merry christmas acton creamery limited rosy cheeked carolers carry our glad message of yule greetings to everyone root hardware htvti vnif jingle belts sings show and sleigh of dashing thro the snow in a onehorse open sleigh oer the field we go laughing all the way bells qn bobtail ring making spirits bright what fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight i a day or two ago i thought id take a ride and soon miss fannie bright was seated by my side the horse was lean and lank misfortune seemd his lot he got into a drifted bank and we we got upsot flad ujinyl our htarti art filled with jou j i lay all in attain gi of chrislmai b ifouri i newtons 5c to 100 store 42r merry christmas winter scenes ihe scant of pins the sound of children laughing may thsss and all the othsr beautiful things that mean christmas fill your holiday brimful of happiness i blue springs nursery and greenhouse m1acm fac imt7u sl log wa8 ac family affair the traditional yule log sur- les today more in art long and story than as an actual biasing yule after all not every home has a fireplace nowadays and even when a fireplace exists its proportions are usually far from sufficient to accommodate the yule log of yesteryear during ancient times in england however it was a solemn family ritual to select the log dry it and burn it ac cording to custom logs from fruitbearing trees were pre ferred the whole family went along to select the log as this was thought to bring good luck fir the coming year and to fright en away any witches if the log burned out quick ly or did not burn brightly it meant bad luck ahead on christmas morning the children of the household beat upon the log and called for gifts to come forth they were scolded outside in to been set you feeder to the birds outdoor with such dipped of apple en pie peckers dees creepers cardinals and seeds now the ground it white go it while take the girls tonight and sing this just get a bobtailed bay twoforty for then hitch mm to an open sleigh and the lead refrain jingle bells jingle bells jingle all o what fun it is to ride in a although it says not a word about christmas the song jingle bells is now a famil iar part of the holiday season the spirited description of dashing thro the snow in a onehorse open sleigh con jures up visions of the old- fastyoned yuletlde nearly ev eryone remembers or likes to think he remembers usually it is thought of as jingle bells but early copies of the song show that the title was really meant to be jingle bells with a comma added to make it a command to the bells to go into action both the melody and lyrics were written by james pier- pont who was the son of a minister and who ran away to sea at the age of 14 pierpont wrote the song in the late 1850s according to encyclopedia americana he was then living in the boston suburb d medford where at the time the only piano in the entire village was located in the parlor of simpsons tav ern it- was there pierpont picked out the jingle bells melody thefoinsettia latin americas traditional christmas decoration the poinsettia is also popular in canada the shrub which has flaming red bracts is named for joel r poinsett an ameri can statesman and former am bassador to mexico 1u 1 feasts many foods for christ mas feasting have been tra ditional since early days of yule merrymaking al- though roast peacock the a future of the feast in medi- f aeval england is rarely if a j ever seen today v 2 mince pie with its spices v f and fruits it said to sym- f botiie the riches of the east from which the wise legend says plum pud ding began when aa ag- ttsh king aad hi men were lost is a forest oa christ mas eve toe cook used m foods bs had oa haad ia- cludiag part of a stag f pkssas tggs sour to ssake lassaflsdisha i vcj-