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This newspaper page contains 9 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Ames Times
Location
Ames, Iowa, United States of America
Date
Dec 19, 1895
Page
9
Carlyle Smith in Harper's Magazine imagines Santa Claus forming a company to extend his gift work nationwide. He jokes about stock in Santa’s “book of names” and notes many children lack gifts on Christmas. The piece satirically treats charity as a business venture for the jolly season.
A St. Paul Pioneer Press tale describes two boys Tom and Dick plotting to trap Santa Claus. They rig a sack and snare the saint as he climbs chimneys, then celebrate by taking his gifts while he pleads for release. Tomorrow Santa may appear in a dime museum exhibit as punishment.
A historical note recalls 1620 Plymouth Christmas as a day of labor before celebration. Bradford’s account mentions the first house, timber work, and a storm after a Christmas onshore. The piece also surveys mistletoe myths, Christmas meaning, and a joke about a baby’s drum in Life.
Judge records a humorous exchange about decorating a Christmas tree with Cousin Dick of Deadgulch. Dick jokes that adding a couple of injuns or boss thieves would make it feel more homelike.
A humorous exchange about Christmas timing and bills. A man jokes that gifts arrive late for budgeting, noting that better if payments came with more lead time to prepare.
In a Harper's Young People tale John Kendrick Bangs imagines a fairy tale plum pudding tree bearing treats for three hungry boys. The poem evokes Christmas bells reindeer hooves and a mahogany home as distant folk bring festive bounty for the holiday.
A Notes and Queries note traces mistletoe from Scandinavian myth. Baldur’s death via mistletoe prompts its later sacred use as a protective plant. Festivals continued in parts of France into the sixteenth century as crowds gathered for mistletoe rites and talismanic beliefs.
An English visitor comments on Americans and English mimicry. She warns that New York streets are disfigured by an elevated railroad and that Americans lose their individuality. The piece urges a Christmas menu of distinctly American dishes, affordable and adaptable.
A call to humility and charity, condemning hoarding wealth while exploiting the vulnerable. The piece urges reliance on God for daily provision and stresses prudent, righteous living over ostentatious churchgoing and profit from others’ loss.
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