Newspaper Page Text
Houston Home Journal
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VOL. LXXII. No. 51. PERRY, HOUSTON COUNTY GA.. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23. 1943 ESTABLISHED 1870
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Greet! tig Cards
First Used in
Victorian Era
The custom of sending greeting
cards is perhaps the youngest mem
ber in the family of Christmas tradi- j
lions, although the ideal was ex- !
pressed by the Excelsis Deo of the
angels.
Until authorities at the British
museum recently discovered a draw
ing depicting four scenes of holiday
celebration —early Victorian style—
dated 1842, J. C. Horsley was ac
credited with having created the first
commercial Christmas card in 1843.
The 1842 creation was an elaborate
affair. Draw r n by W. M. Edgley, it
includes scenes of a dinner party— i
featuring the plum pudding, a group
of carol singers, a crowd watching
a Punch and Judy show, a panel of
silk-hatted and cane-toting ice skat
ers, dancers doing a Roger de Co
verly—the Victorian Conga—and evi
dence that the peor must not be
forgotten.
It is impossible to say whether or
not Mr. Horsley was aware of Edg
ley’s masterpiece, but Horsley had
a friend, and thereby hangs the tale.
Sir Henry Cole, a man with many
friends, was confronted by the task
of sending them a cheery holiday
greeting. The quill pens in use a
century ago sputtered and were ir
ritating, so Sir Henry spoke to
Horsley about the matter. Horsley,
a member of the Royal Academy in
London, was agreeably impressed
and turned out an appropriate de
sign inscribed simply, “A Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year
to You.”
Edgley and Horsley made begin
nings. According to research au
thorities the custom was taken up i
in America about 30 years later dur
ing the 1870 s when Louis Prang, a
Boston lithographer, printed a cata
logue of Christmas cards.
No matter whether the greeting
is the elaborate descendant of
Edgley’s drawing, or a simple good
wish offered in friendship as worked
out by Sir Henry and Horsley, or
the glorious echo of the angels’
enunciation, send that Christmas
card to the boy in the service—and
to his loved ones keeping faith at
home.
Womans World
This is no place for a man—take !
Bobby’s word for it. But Sis doesn’t
care. She knows exactly what she
wants for Christmas. In fact, she
already has her hands on it. And
that smile on her face comes as
close as anything could to denoting
complete satisfaction with conditions
in general.
Hearty Eating Cheered
English at Christmastide
In old England they had many
dishes which we seldom hear of now.
There was “frumenty,” a dish made
of wheat which is still sometimes
served in Yorkshire, ale posset,
Shropshire “wigs,” and carroway
buns dipped in ale. Yule doughs or
“dows” were eaten everywhere, and
in Coventry they made their famous
Godcake. Tansy, too, was a favorite
dish. This was made with eggs
and cream, flavored with the juice
of tansy, an extremely bitter, aro
matic herb. In additiem there was
Christmas brawn, “connynges” in
gravy, and a host of dishes that
have since died out.
Christmas was never a national
festival in Scotland, but at this peri
od of the year new “sowens” were
always eaten. These were made i
from the husks and siftings of oat- j
meal mixed with molasses, and
ill accounts were delicious.
KKPOH^
with «M BONDS
Cooperation
Complete co-operation is very |
much in evidence as a WAVE and I
sailor work together in decorating a
Christmas tree. The feminine touch
is guaranteed to improve on the ap
pearance of the finished product.
Forgotten Herb
Rosemary with its aromatic laven
der flowers, after a Christmas asso
ciation of many centuries, fell into
disuse during Victorian days. Its
traditional coupling with the Holy
Family was long and imaginative.
The swaddling dress of the Infant
was hung to dry on the rosemary,
imparting a sweet scent to the
hitherto odorless flower.
REINDEER GOOD MEAT
Reindeer are hard to get, even
in normal times. But it's good to
think that they make sizzling,
brown roasts.
Reindeer meat has a flavor of
its own, but it tastes a lot like
beef or veal.
Usually, the round.is preferred
for roasting or steaks. The low
er end of the round, being less
tender, can serve as a pot roast, j
Being thinner than beef, the loin j
and rib cuts make satisfactory j
small steaks. These cuts also
may be used as chops.
Double loin may he prepared
either boned or unboned and then
roasted as a saddle. The shoul
der also makes a fine roast.
The big problem, of course, is
getting the reindeer.
How to Make Your Own
Christmas Wreaths
If you like to make your own
decorations you will be interested in
the way a Massachusetts man
makes his.
“I have some wire hoops that I’ve
saved for several years which form
the frame for the wreath. I get a
supply of laurel leaves or princess
pine, or some other kind of ever
green; take a ball of heavy string
and start to work. The string, of
course, is to tie the sprigs of leaves
or pine to the hoop. I just keep
wrapping round and round the hoop,
| adding leaves all the time, until the
1 entire hoop is filled with green
ery. Near the end of the job I work
in a few extra doodads, to add a
little variety. For instance, pine
cones, partridge berries, sprays of
juniper all add color and novelty to
a wreath and make it just a little
nicer looking than it would be if
you left it plain. If I want to be
real fancy, T h?ke a little silver or
i gilt paint arid oaint. up some small
cones for the wreaths.
“Some folks like to fix their Christ
mas wreaths with candles in the
center, but when I want to have a
light in the center of a wreath, I
hitch up a little electric light. Then
I know there’s no danger of any
thing catching on fire.”
Solving the Great Problem
“I’m no’ sending any Christmas
m New Year gifties tae ma relations
this Christmas,” said the artful An
drew.
“But why not?” asked his friend.
“Surely they’ll hr expecting some
thing.”
Andrew shook his head.
“No, I’ve seen to that,” ne re
plied. “They’ll no’ be expecting
anything. I wrote an’ told them I
was suffering from loss of memory
—an’ to make sure they’d believe it
I forgot tae pit ony stamps on the
letters.”
‘God Rest You Merrie
Exception is taken to the accus
tomed punctuation of a familiar
Christmas carol by a correspond
ent. He says:
“Why do not peopß give the oi.gi
nal meaning to the Christmas carol,
I ‘God Rest You Merrie, Gentlemen’?
i In the time when this carol was
composed, to be ‘merrie’ meant a
wholesome state of mind, which was
‘wished’ by the carolers on all peo
ple, ‘gentlemen.’ ”
Girls With Green Eyes
A vote recently taken showed that
65 per cent of the men questioned
preferred girls with green eyes; only
20 per cent cared for blue; 10 per
cent for brown; and but 5 per cent
i for gray eyes.
i '’CKeie G c r!bpe'
OWN coiDmtfmty, like the rest
| has been shaken by the
to> jifMtocler of guns. This thunder echoes
j once more relehrat-e
| the Prince of PcaceT ~
| sees no irony in
\ \\hevScaTs of warluTtF-themessage of
hope is^Christ ni^s..
For it\is everlasting heme of Christmas
j makes it\such a vital force in ouHives. That hope
, is one of i neyerVnding period of reace on Earth!’
I While it is
since last Christmas^have beehydominated bythe
effects of the war lords on ouKnormal way Tf v
living-we\know N the peace-loving “little” '
men of goodwill far outnumber the evil.
These “little” people 'hre theXcitizenSsOf this
community and otner communities like iKAnd
it was for these same “littltK’ people\that Christ
I came into this world '1943 years ago. \
So Christmas belongs to them ancknot to
those who plunge the world intq darkness
Let this true spirit of Christmas dominate
your thinking and you can say to all your
friends as we now say to you— \
A Mewy,
Make the Most of Your Cards— I
Here Are Some Possibilities
i ■'V- siJfe iTTOmjiiiuLji
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p\o YOU have a hankering to
U make your home bright for the
holidays? Then gather up the Christ
mas cards you’ve been finding in
your mail box these December
mornings, for those colorful bits of
“Season’s Greetings’’ have no end
of Christmas decor possibilities.
Especially during the holidays,
“home is where the hearth is.” So
here are some suggestions for
“dressing up” your fireplace in an
eye-catching mantle of Christmas
cards. In less time than it takes
to read this, you can line up your
Christmas cards, in not too precise
rows, or hang them in festoons from
the mantel, as illustrated above,
i This simple trick could just as
successfully be applied to the top of
your bookcase, or to a tiered table.
But if you’re looking for the in
i genious, here are some other ideas.
I Is it a touch of patriotism that you
j want to add to your Christmas
scene? With the assistance of some
scotch tape you can easily arrange
your Christmas cards in a “V” for
mation over your fireplace. Or per
haps you feel in the old-fashioned
and traditional mood. Then attach
wide red or green ribbons (or both)
festoon fashion around the mantel
and secure the cards to the ribbon
with paper clips. Or frame your
j fireplace by pasting Christmas cards
i in a scattered design.
! Why not try decorating your
i spruce or pine with Christmas
I cards? (See the sketch in the upper
I left hand corner.) You’ll find this
1 novel idea quite as gay as the usual
' adornments, and twice as refresh
' ing!
Incidentally, should the thought
ful people who sent you the cords
stop in for a holiday visit, you’ll be
pleasantly surprised to see how flat
tered they’ll be at finding their re
membrances so charmingly dis
played.
If you’re really a conscientious
conserver, here’s another item to
add to your list. Have you always
hesitated to destroy your Christmas
cards because of sentimentality or
s
the obvious beauty of the cards?
Then you should be pleased to hear
that there are any number of dif
ferent uses to which they can be
put—from adding a decorator’*
touch to an old wastepaper basket
to making place cards for a kiddie
party. Here are some suggestion*
for enlisting your holiday greetings
in a good cause.
Why not have your club pool their
receipt of Christmas cards? Delight
ful scrapbooks could fur
the children of servicemen in your
neighborhood. Or send the cards to
the children’s wards in hospitals.
The young patients enjoy handling
the colorful cards, and making their
own scrapbooks helps them pass the
weary hours swiftly.
Army and navy hospitals look for
j ward to receiving tray favors made
from used Christmas cards. And
the servicemen appreciate the
thought behind the token.
If your club is planning to partici
pate in a war-relief bazaar, inex
pensive and distinctive novelties can
be made from Christmas cards.
Bookends, vases, bookmarks, hand
blotters, match books can all look
quite impressive by the simple addi
tion of a design cut out of Christmas
cards.
Christmas Doll
I
Despite priorities and shortages, 1
little sister still will have her Christ- I
mas doll. Although wartime short- I
| ages exist in the items listed above, j
' manufacturers displaying their
! wares in Chicago’s Merchandise j
Mart state that they will have suffi
cient replacements through the use
I of less critical materials.
Happy Memories
Herd’s what went into a 12 pound
Christmas cake in the happy days
before rationing and scarcities, in
case you’ve forgotten;
Christmas Fruit Cake
1 pound of butter or other fat
IV4 pounds of brown sugar
10 egg yolks
2 oranges, juice and grated rind
1 lemon, juice and grated rind
i 1 teaspoon of soda
| 1 cup of molasses
1 cup of black coffee
1 pound of flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cloves
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 teaspoons of mace
2 teaspoons of nutmeg
1 glass of tart jelly
3 pounds of raisins
2 pounds of currants
1 pound of citron
2 cups of flour for the fruit
10 egg whites
THANK YOU—
I For Your Card
The English, compelled to make
the most of every scrap of paper,
have learned how to put their Christ
mas cards to good use. They send
back to their friends the cards they
received from them the year be
fore, just scratching out the friend’s
name and adding their own.
Yule Card History
Although the first Christmas cards
were printed in England in 1842, it |
was not until about 20 years later j
that they were commonly sold. At I
first they were simply handwritten .
sentiments with the sender’s name I
appended. However, as their com
mercial possibilities were unfolded,
they were developed their present
form.
Yule Decorations
Smart Christmas decorations may
be made from white birch twigs
combined with white pine cones and
sprays. One unusual piece consists
of a basket made from white birch j
and filled with pine snrays, red 'vr
ries and dried grasses.
Maim (tiimiMM I
1943
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Mii J 3
i
Gentle words, open hearts,
willing hands, soft music, J
friendship, • love . . . this is
Christmas! May it bring
you happiness and joy be- >
youd expression . . and may
the New Year bring Peace
to you and all the world.
FERRY
Beauty Shop
■==Once. -
Upon a Time
=-====i!fflgge=i
Five hundred years before the
birth of Christ, in the heyday of
their once great empire, the Ro
mans used apples, oranges and nuts
to decorate their houses. They cele
brated the beginning of their spring,
called the Saturnalia, on December '
22, and the symbolic use of fruits
was their way of heralding the
world’s rebirth.
Oranges, to these early Romans,
represented the sun; apples, the
moon; and nuts, the stars.
And, according to legend, the or
igin of another food customarily
found on our tables at Christmas is
surrounded by symbolism. It was
the now-familiar mince pie, and it
was once baked in the shape of a pig
(the “Christmas Boar”).
The little pieces of meat in these
pics symbolized the ancient sacri
fice of flesh upon the altar. But the
spices and fruits, truly Christian in
meaning, represented the gifts of
the Three Wise Men to the Christ
Child.
The plum pudding, too, once had
a symbolic significance. To King
Arthur and his Knights of the Round
Table, the flaming pudding repre
sented, according to legend, the
“light of the world” made visible.,
St. Francis Recreates
Scene of Holy Manger
When Caesar tried to blot out the
Christian church, awful days foI-|
lowed, as the lovers of Jesus wore
put to death. Christmas seemed •
lost, until St. Nicholas, the boy- 1
bishop, rediscovered it in the Fourth
century. J
St. Nicholas—who became Santa
Claus—did good on the sly—slipping :
into homes and leaving toys for the'
children, without being caught. For i
a brief time he made Christmas i
“merry” again; then the darkness,
came. i
Still later, in 1223, Francis of As
sisi recaptured the spirit of Christ
mas. He asked the pastor of the
village church to let him use thej
church on Christmas Eve, and the
pastor let him have his way.
First, he filled the chancel with
hay. Then he found an ox and an
ass and pushed them up the aisle
into the chancel. He got a young J
mother to sit beside them with her ,
baby; he made a picture of Christ-,
mas.
It was Francis who wrote the first J
Christmas carols simple songs, i
homey, cheery, playful, and taught I
the people to sing them. They i
spread from land to land. The cler- |
gy said he was crazy; the people 1
said he was a saint.
Let Christmas Renew
Hope for the Future 1
Open your hearts and minds to j
'he spirit and sincerity of Christmas j
| Greetings, both between intimates I
I and our outside friends. Forget j
( present difficulties and live again
I the Christmas of innocent and better
I days. Let it renew hope for the
• future, with a resolve that the best |
impulses of our nature shall assist 1
| the character building of the real
I lesson of the Christmas season.
Wandering Souls Entertained
It is still customary in Ireland to
bum oa.tdles in the windows and set
cups and saucers on the tables for 1
the entertainment of wandering
i souls from Purgatory, who are be
lieved to enjoy coming home for
Christmas.
As you tie up your Christ
mas peckages think of us.
We’ll be thinking of you
. , . thinking of how good
j you’ve been to us in 1943 and
of what a pleasure it has
been to serve you. And we’ll
be wishing you a very Mer
ry Christmas.
CINDERELLA
, Beauty Shop
