Christmas Carols and Customs From Ancient Times to Now
The article traces Christmas origins from pagan solstice rites to Christian celebration, noting gods Horus Mithras and Odin and the Yuletide link. It describes carols, mystery plays, customs like the Cherry Tree Carol, Good King Wenceslas, and Good King Wenceslas, plus rural tree worship and the German Christmas tree tradition. It recalls carols in England France Germany and America, with references to Nativity songs and festive house-to-house singing.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Horus
Sun
Bacchus
Mithras
Odin
Christ
Bethlehem
London
Joseph
Min
Veneslaus
Stephen
Pomona
Cornwall
Soig
Europe
Valhalla
Tannenbaum
England
America
At Christmas Prayer
Prayerful meditation calls on God to bless the season with the Christ child and sample of loving kindness. It asks for tempering fears, nurturing hope, and living by Jesus example to aid the needy, comfort the sorrowing, and unite people in faith.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bethlehem
Oldest Quaker City House in Philadelphia Holds Mystery
The lone surviving seventeenth century residence at American and Ionic streets bears two dated bricks, 1701 and likely 1692, and has housed tenants since its construction. Samuel Mickel lived there in 1735, the man who argued with Benjamin Franklin over a city printing office.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Philadelphia
Samuel Mickel
Benjamin Franklin
Famous War Artist Melton Prior Dies in London
London mourns Melton Prior veteran war artist and correspondent for the Illustrated London News. He served in 24 campaigns including Ashanti Russo-Turkish Russo-Japanese Boer conflicts and drew across Africa Asia and the Americas. He began as a war artist in 1873 and was famed for faithful depictions.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Melton Prior
London News
London
Eng
The
Illustrated London News
Prairies
Pampas
South America
Africa
Russia
Corea
Japan
Kent
Devonshire
South Africa
Stenographers Through History From Roman Wax Tablets to Modern Assistants
The article compares ancient and modern stenography noting Ausonius used a slave stenographer in the fourth century while today a young woman earns her living as a professional stenographer. It highlights wax tablets and rapid dictation as precursors to contemporary office practice.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cole
Columbia University
Ausonius
Execution Scene in the South from Fox Jr.'s Blue Grass
A dramatic account describes a sheriff overseeing an execution. The condemned man remains still as the trapdoor falls after the rope is cut. The sheriff, moved to tears, cries God have mercy and hastily exits the box as the tied man is executed.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Hall
John Fox, Jr
Unhealthy Burial Site Inspires The Couple's Choice
Whitelaw Reid recounts two New York friends who bought a Massachusetts home and visited a nearby cemetery. They debate grave location with Ann favoring a lake view hill while Frederick fears the marshy low spot as the unhealthiest in the cemetery.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Whitelaw Reid
New York
Massachusetts
Ann
Frederick
Daughter’s Birthday Gift Chooses Beer For Father
In a West Philadelphia apartment hotel, a five year old girl known for grown up manners saves pennies to buy a birthday gift for her father. While riding a street car with her mother she blurts out plans to purchase a bottle of beer for his birthday drawing amused smiles from fellow passengers.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Philadelphia
Explosive Danger of Extremely Ground Coal Warned
Washington report states that very finely ground coal capable of passing a 200 mesh sieve can explode from contact with a naked flame or an electric current. authorities urge caution in mining and handling procedures to prevent accidents.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Elderly D A R member Mary Briggs Mitchell noted in obituary style
One of the Real D A R Mary Briggs Mitchell of North Beltuate Massachusetts is now ninety seven years old and among the few surviving Daughters of the Revolution. She has fourteen great grandchildren, illustrating a long life and family legacy.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mary Briggs Mitchell
North Beltuate
Mass
A Temporary Truce in a Suffrage Exchange
In a playful domestic exchange the suffrage debate resurfaces as one speaker teases about influence and marriage. The other retorts about seeking a pony as a lighthearted counterpoint, signaling the era’s social dynamics with wit.
The Heart and a Digestive Tonic by Dr. R V Pierce
A historical note explains the heart as a double pump and the blood’s circulation at seven miles an hour. It cites Dr. R V Pierce after years of medical practice who linked stomach disorder to impure blood and general decline, proposing a glyceric root extract tonic as a remedy.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
R. V. Pierce
Perfume tastes of European royals and queens
A West End chemist notes Queen Mary and Queen Alexandra largely avoid perfumes. Czarina favors violet scents daily sprayed in the palace while Grasse supplies jasmine and tuberose essences for her fragrance. Spain's Queen Mother uses Madrid eau d Espagne and a Paris sourced ignet perfume. The Holland queen prefers eau de cologne and Romania’s Carmen Sylvia touts a herbal blend for the skin.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mary
West End
Alexandra
England
Czarina
Royal Palace
Grasse
St. Petersburg
Roumania
Vagrancy Charge Sparks Courtroom Quip
A fragmentary courtroom exchange shows a prisoner charged with vagrancy and questions about visible means of support. The dialogue features the prisoner claiming his wife Mary is present and identifiable to the judge as a defense or clarification.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mary
Eager to Work Regained Health by Right Food
A Michigan woman recounts a year of indigestion and nerve trouble after an operation. She credits two months on Grape Nuts with restored appetite, steadier nerves, renewed ambition, and return to work, praising the cereal and urging readers to try it.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Michigan
Which Is the Star
A local discussion centers on installing an electric sign over the church as a possible feature for the building. Debates split by factions focus on whether to highlight the minister or the choir soprano in church visuals.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Joseph
Mary
Homeseekers' Rates West Via Nickel Plath Road
Tickets go on sale December 6 and 20 with liberal return limits. Inquiries to F. P. Parnin, T. P. A., Fort Wayne Indiana. Various short notices promote Hamlins Wizard Oil for throat relief and Mrs. Austins Famous Pancake Flour.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Nickel Plath Road
F. P. Parnin
Ft. Wayne
Ind
Also Mentioned on This Page
Germany
France
Nowell
Gabryell
Nazareth
Pere Noel
Father Christmas
Noel
L. M. McCauley
Stenografwers
Roa
Nat
Dr. Pierce
Royal
Czar
Ina
Fonipar
Mrs
Eggisave
Eggssave Company
Not Inc
Caxton
Chicago
Ule
Dee
John Kennedy
Edmonton
Alberta
Canada
Spokane
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Rajina Trates
Ottawa
Can
W H. Rogers
Traction Terminal
Indianapolis
Indiana
Gardner Building
Toledo
Ohio
Huber-Smith Company
Lancaster
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!