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This newspaper page contains 10 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Graettinger Times
Location
Graettinger, Iowa, United States of America
Date
Dec 27, 1951
Page
8
The piece argues resolutions should be valued as a daily practice. It notes greatness comes from repeated resolutions, including learning from mistakes and avoiding repeated errors. It urges readers to make and keep resolutions, noting mental rather than verbal forms can drive improvement.
Naval Observatory clocks are the most accurate in the world. They keep mean time with daily variation so small it cannot be measured. Regulation is achieved by coincidence with a sidereal sounder. The beats are so subtle that microphones are needed to hear them.
The text explains that January derives its name from Janus the two faced Roman deity who could look to the past and future. It notes the Romans celebrated the new year in spring with ten months originally, and January and February were added before the original ten, placing January 1 as the year’s first day.
Historians claim Columbus became the first white man to toast New Year in the Western Hemisphere while his ships rested in Haiti on January 1, 1493. Reportedly he shared a lavish meal with two savage monarchs and had his last tobacco tasting during this gathering.
The piece muses on the passing of 1951, noting sorrow and happiness, patterns that form a single life portrait. It reflects that the year’s experiences shape us as we look forward to a new year and new experiences.
The piece traces how the Roman New Year gift custom to emperors spread to England in Henry III’s reign. It notes Elizabeth I used gifts for jewels and wardrobes, nobles sent gold purses until the 1600s, and under Tudor and Stuart rule gift giving became a social custom. It explains pin money arose from ladies gifts like pins and gloves.
Modern times have altered New Year celebrations from hymn filled watchnight to city life pace. The old custom of graciously paying and receiving walls faded after the Civil War as large cities grew and the year began with a last fling before a new start.
France and Germany celebrate the New Year with city festivities and official receptions while households feast on food and exchange gifts. In Greece a gold coin is baked into a special cake for luck, not cut until the New Year arrives. The coin bearer gains good luck in the months ahead.
When the Portuguese first reached the Philippines they called them the Islands of the Orient after sailing eastward around Africa. Later the Spaniards arrived from the opposite route and called them the Islands of the West, showing how navigation and naming reflected limited knowledge of the region.
A 1951 column argues that a nation's future hinges on democratic free choice. It draws parallels to ancient Israel, warns against idol worship of success and vice, and asks what values Americans will choose as distractions and scandals surface.
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