The Rialto Santa Gives Christmas Hope to Granger Family
On Christmas Eve at the Rialto Opera Company theater a kind act unfolds. The company raises funds for Henry Granger, ill with typhoid, and his wife and child, by staging a Santa Claus surprise with a donated Christmas tree and gifts. A note from Granger’s wife pleads for help, and the cast’s generosity brings tangible aid and festive cheer.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sahara
Henry Granger
East Side
Granger
Pete
Momma
Mr. Hardcraft
Hardcraft
Tony Thompson
John Hardcraft
Rialto Opera Company
Hhlhn Granger
When Christmas Lasted Weeks in Past Times
A brief reflection notes that ancestors often took a three week Christmas holiday, lasting weeks during the festive season, with a historical sense of extended time off and communal festivity.
Queer Christmas presents from the British Dead Letter Office
The British Dead Letter Office handles about 190000 parcels daily during a ten day rush, with many odd finds. Live animals such as leeches, alligators, mice, rabbits, and even a pet lamb have been discovered, along with a coffin shaped box and a two foot cane marked as an outwardly applied gift for Johnny.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Post Office
Pictorial Magazine
Johnny
King Herod's Rooster The Legend of St Stephen
Abbie Farwell Brown recounts the Christmas tale of St Stephen first martyr and patron of stonecutters. The cock on the platter crowing declares Christ, prompting Herod to order Stephen's death by stoning outside Jerusalem.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
St. Stephen
Herod
Bethlehem
Stephen
Christus
Jerusalem
Abbie Farwell Brown
Lippincott’s Magazine
The Newsboys Pie Lesson on Christmas Eve
A Century story recalls New York newsboys at a lodging house on Christmas Eve. Two hundred fifty youngsters march for dinner as five hundred more await upstairs. An unknown donor provides turkey coffee and pie amid rough conditions and playful mistaken identity with a police commissioner.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York
Bingham
Bells Ring Underground Legend Near Raleigh
In Nottinghamshire England a valley famed for an ancient quake is linked to a Christmas morning custom. Elders tell children to go to the valley, stoop, and listen as bells ring merrily from church ruins beneath the ground despite the collapse centuries ago.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Raleigh
Nottinghamshire
England
Kaiser's Christmas Gift Traditions in Berlin and Potsdam
The New York World describes Kaiser Wilhelm II and Empress Auguste Victoria’s Christmas customs. The Kaiser gives tailored gifts to all recipients from a December list, while the Empress crowdsources lace and dolls for friends and orphans. The royal family visits jewelers and shops, and a pre Christmas levee gathers tradesmen for gifts and jokes, with the Empress expanding charity circles through gifts to girls and orphanages in Potsdam.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Berlin
Potsdam
Hohenzollerns
Royal Mint
Palace of
Sans Souci
Victoria Louise
New York World
Old German Christmas Custom as Christ Kindlein
The Brooklyn Citizen recalls an age old German custom where parents entrust gifts to a single masked figure in a motley robe and flaxen wig who visits houses to deliver presents from the Christ Child. Coleridge notes that bad children faced a rod for correction.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Germany
Christ Kindlein
Coleridge
Brooklyn Citizen
The Last Christmas of the Southern Confederacy
Mrs. Zebulon B. Vance recalls Christmas Days in the South during the Civil War. She describes 1861 as tense, 1862 marked by shortages, 1864 as desolate with scarce goods, and emancipation news affecting enslaved people. The Pittsburg Dispatch notes her memories of wartime hope and hardship.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
South
Zebulon B. Vance
United States
North Carolina
Vicksburg
Gettysburg
Pittsburg Dispatch
Canada’s Christmas Stamp Era’s Expensive Three Color Gift
Stamp collectors hail Canada’s 1898 Christmas issue as a landmark. The 2 cent stamp featured a world map in scarlet with blue green oceans and a black frame, bore the phrase Canada Postage, and carried We hold a vaster empire than has been. It was printed by a U S bank note firm and cost four times a standard stamp, marking a new era in stamp production.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Great Britain
Canada
United States
New York Herald
Little Girl Hopes Santa Forgets A White Muff
Former Comptroller Edward M. Grout recalls a Thanksgiving tale about a child who finds a brand new white muff and asks God to forget all about the gift Santa Claus will bring. The grandma confesses the truth but urges secrecy until Christmas.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Tony
Jennie
Bill
Santa Claus
Atlanta Constitution
Edward M. Grout
New York City
Grandma
New York Times
Strange Christmas Superstition in North Germany
A historical note describes Christmas related superstitions from northern Germany. It warns against spinning during the twelve nights to avoid walking after death and against actions after sunset on Saturday. It cites beliefs about eating herrings on New Year’s Day, rocking empty cradles, spilling salt, crossing knives, pointing at stars, leaving dirty cloths, and other rituals said to influence luck, angels, and fortune.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
North
Germany
Christmas Roast in Saxon Times
In Saxon Times and Norman times the symbol & is described as being roasted whole over the Yule log at Christmas, reflecting festive customs of the period.
Christmas In Cactus Center Toilet Set Auction Sparks Mayhem
In Cactus Center a town auction over a drug store toilet set triggers a brawl. Thirteen people are injured as bullets pierce the treasured item, and the teacher figure departs town amid the conflict, with a gift committee failing to quell the dispute.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cactus Center
Prett
Dawson
Sarer
Denver Republican
Christmas Near the Pole A Polar Christmas Tale
General Greely recalls a memorable Christmas in 1883 spent at Cape Sabine with his relief party. Starvation limits, a humble breakfast and a two course dinner marked the day as one of intense cheer from small gifts such as tobacco rolls shared among the weary travelers.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
General Greely
Cape Sabine
Arctic
North Pole
Pittsburg
Vacation Week Announced For Bourne Tolls Workers
In Fall River Mass a letter to Bourne tolls employees from Treasurer George Chase states a vacation week in August 1907. The tolls will close August 24 and reopen September 8 with a ten day rest period. An extra dividend equal to 50 percent of average weekly wages will be paid before the vacation.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bourne Tolls
Fall River
Mass
George Chase
Board of Directors
Also Mentioned on This Page
Broadway
Fifth Avenue
Rialto Theater
Santa Claub
He Kaiser
Christmas
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