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Newspaper
Osceola Record
Location
Osceola, Nebraska, United States of America
Date
Dec 20, 1945
Page
6
Christmas is Christmas from one corner of the earth to the other. This year the day means something special, a period of thanksgiving for the end of a long bitter struggle. While most nations will celebrate the day in reverence to Christ, the customs vary in different countries and different regions.
Eight evenings before Christmas a religious procession in Mexico bears figures of Joseph and Mary with lit tapers. Members go through streets singing Christmas carols and seek entry to homes each night. On the ninth evening a ceremony is held around the Christ Child’s manger.
The Polish Wigilia or Christmas feast centers on the Last Supper as twelve dishes are served once a year in individual styles. After the meal, lights go out and bowls of nuts raisins and fruits and Christmas cakes and candies are shared around the tree by candlelight.
The article explains how Dutch boys and girls honor Sinter Klaas on St Nicholas Eve. Children prepare wooden shoes by the fireplace and lay out hay and carrots for Klaas's great white horse then await a restless night for his arrival.
Epiphany marks gift giving in many lands as the Wise Men journey to Bethlehem. Italian Befana and Russian Babouska visit homes in the night, leaving toys and treats for sleeping children while hoping to find the Christ Child.
The story of The Visit of St Nicholas was written by Dr. Clem ent Clark Moore for his own kin in 1822. It was published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel in 1823. Harriet Butler, guest at the Moore home, copied the tale and sent it to the newspaper for Christmas 1823.
Santa calls on many people to aid in toy preparation. Fire departments become repair centers in cities with boys and girls offering expert assistance and knowledge of each wish.
A Santa Claus toyland forecast shows a $200,000,000 Christmas inventory with under 8 percent metal toys and limited plastic items due to shortages. Wood and cardboard toys lead the range, with a strong doll parade and parlor games like Camelot Monopoly Rock Pit and Crossword Lexicon in plentiful supply. Escape-type and Bonanza style games gain popularity for easy learning and family play.
The piece reflects on the Star of Bethlehem as foretold and its enduring message. It cites Matthew's account of Herod, the Wise Men, and the birth in Bethlehem, asserting the star’s constancy and the timeless procession of righteousness and peace.
Bethlehem welcomes the Patriarch of Jerusalem for a Christmas Eve rite. A ceremonial procession follows a heralding horseman and mounted police to the Church of the Nativity where the Infant Jesus effigy is laid in the manger. Public viewing of that act is restricted to Greek Orthodox authorities. Carols fill the area before midnight Mass.
In a barracks yard Pvt. Wilbur delivers a Christmas package that turns into a prank by Pfc. Butch and Pvt. Red. They ambush him, steal his box, and unwrap cookies, only to discover the parcel is addressed to Captain Bellows and marked Christmas Package. Wilbur explains it was a delivery for the captain per Sergeant Herriott.
A waif named Zed joins Nomads in Judea and vows to flee to Jerusalem to buy a mother with a jewel. Meanwhile in New York, Josie and Frank pursue a home and marriage, ending with a twist about an inherited property and a happy union.
Puritan housewives in colonial New England made bayberry candles for economic reasons rather than Christmas tradition. Puritan antipathy to Christmas traces to Mayflower origins, with Massachusetts court noting Parliament’s 1643 Christmas abolition. Restoration later revived customs, but Puritan opposition persisted into the early 20th century.
The passage notes Norway legends of a spruce growing from bloodied ground where lovers died, and lights symbolizing love faith and hope. In Naples Saint Marks houses dogs on Christmas morning awaiting their owners. Russia depicts Mary as omnipotent using her scene rather than the Christ Child.
The Nation's Christmas Tree was dedicated on Christmas Day 1925. A Sequoia gigantea towering about 267 feet stood in General Grant National Park 64 miles east of Fresno California with annual ceremonies held beneath it when weather allows.
Santa’s Toy Outlook notes plentiful stuffed animals but Dydee a prewar favorite will not be ready until 1946 due to rubber shortages after V J Day. Doll furniture like cradles beds and high chairs will be available in limited quantities while doll carriages are in volume but with only a limited number of metal parts.
The Christmas tree business in the United States began in 1851 when Mark Carr of the Catskills sold two sled loads of trees in New York. Today most regions produce trees with the Far West yielding the largest volume, and buyers often see tags indicating harvests followed good forestry practice.
The wartime birth surge added more than five million children to the toy age population, likely challenging Santa’s supply for specific requests though he will have some toys and games for all. Science toys will be slightly more abundant, and hobby kits will include airplane boat and build it yourself models.
Engelbert Humperdinck wrote the score as a Christmas party piece for his sister’s children. The pieces grew into a full opera with Adelheid Wette's lyrics, delighting music lovers since 1893. Wagnerian harmonies give it a nursery rhyme feel, and it has joined traditional Christmas music.
The Pennsylvania Dutch convert living rooms into elaborate Christmas scenes passed down through generations. Families tour neighbors during Christmas week admiring each others Put yea, with a manger and snow banked landscape where figures are in scale.
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