t. ^ Adopts World Yule Customs
In terms of age, the United
States is the youngest of the
Christian nations that cele
brates Christmas.
As a result, it is easy to un
derstand that this country has
borrowed its Christmas cus
toms and from many parts of
the world—the celebration of
the holy season being as old as
it is.
However, the greatest con
tributors to our customs at the
Yuletide have been England,
I
j Germany, Italy, Holland, Swit
i zerland and Bavaria. But the
borrowing” Americans have
done from their neighbors of
the world underwent changes
indigenous to our country, with
some of the trimmings not pick
ed up at all.
ENGLAND
In England, they have a Box
ing Day, and why it is called
“Boxing” is not known. Some
theorists ascribe the name to
the fact that the day aftei
T RINGING OUT
YULETIDE WISHES
It’s a real pleasure to wish all our
friends the Merriest Christmas ever!
MOFFITT DRILLING CO.
PALMER
“God bless
us every
one, this
Christmas!’
Best Wishes from
THE "TRIBE"
THE TRIBE SHOP
Wasilia
MERRY \ A
CHRISTMAS
TO ALL OUR FRIENDS
FREE Tom and Jerrys
5 T0 8 - CHRISTMAS EVE
Tropical Gardens
Christmas, gifts are left for the
postman. This has spread to in
clude the milkman and others
who have performed services
for the household.
SWISS
The business of the sleigh
and six reindeer has been bor
rowed from the Swiss. But in
stead of our version of Santa
Claus directing his team across
the sky, they have an angel in
the driver’s seat, who comes
bearing gifts.
BAVARIA
Candles in the window at
Christmas Eve comes from Ba
varia, where the custom, dic
tates the tradition of lightift$
the way for Kristkind, messen
ger for the Infant Jesus.
THE YULE LOG
From England and Italy —
though many miles apart —
comes the custom of the burn
ing of the Yule log. The more
romantic Italians dress up their
ceremony by having their chil
dren stand blindfolded before
the burning log and recite a
poem. When the children are
finished reciting, the blindfolds
are removed and at their feet
are gifts. The log takes the
place of the Christmas tree.
THE URN OF FATE
Another quaint custom pre
vails in Italy and Spain — in
regards to the giving of gifts.
In these two countries all gifts
are placed in a large bowl call
ed the “Urn of Fate.” In it are
dumped presents for all, none
of them marked. Then each
person draws a gift, examines
it and trades among the mem
bers of the family until each
receives a suitable present.
HOLLAND
In Holland they play a gues
sing and hunting game when it
comes to passing out Christmas
gifts. They put small gifts into
enormous packages, hide large
gifts in remote parts of the
house, ana use other more in
genious devices for hiding the
gifts including the imbedding
of them in sausage. The fun
of course, is not only in the
finding of the presents but also
in guessing what they might be.
GERMANY
The Germans have a similar
game but with a different
twist. They wrap a gift and
put a person’s name on it.
Then they wrap it again with
still another person’s name on
it. This goes on until the pack
age is quite large. Then when it
comes to the unwrapping cere
mony, each person expectantly
unwraps, until finally there are
no more “addresses” and the
gift reaches its intended des
BONITA AND MARIE
BONITA’S BEAUTY SHOP
„ r" "* * ■'* ■■•It?
WISHING ALL THE JOYS OF THE
SEASON TO OUR MANY FRIENDS.
JULIUS AND KAY MOOR
INDEPENDENCE MINE SKI AREA
LOADS OF
BEST
|
I
GREETINGS TO ALL OUR FRIENDS,
patrons AND NEIGHBORS
HALLEA LODGE
WES and MARY HART
Wasilla
tination.
MEXICO
Mexican children do not hang
stockings at fireplaces, as there
are few in this tropical coun
try. Thus the giving of gifts
and goodies for children is sur
rounded by the custom of
breaking the pinata (pronounc
ed pinyata). The pinata is a
large earthenware pot, around
which paper figures of birds,
animals and even boats are
created. The pot is then filled
with gifts, cakes, candy and
other good things. The filled
pinata is hung by a rope from
a rafter, and the children gath
er beneath it blindfolded. At a
signal the children, armed with
sticks, strike out at where they
think the pinata is, break it and
the goodies come tumbling
down; at which point the scrab
ble begins.
THE PHILIPPINES
The Philippines, predomin
ately Catholic, start their
Christmas on December 16th
and climax eight days of Mass
worship at 3 a.m. with mid
night services held at Christ
mas Eve. That is the signal for
the fireworks, the exchanging
of gifts, caroling and general
merry-making to begin. The
final Christmas festivities come
to a conclusion January 6th,
which is the date of the visit of
the three kings of the East.
SWEDEN
Christmas in Sweden is actu
ally the celebration of St. Lu
cia—and held on December
13th. On this day the oldest
girl in each family rises early,
dons a long white dress and
crowns herself with lighted
candles. Then she wakes the
family and serves coffee and
cake.
The Scandinavian countries
also have a delightful custom
at Christmas time. In Sweden,
Denmark and Norway, a tree
is loaded with a sheaf of wheat
for the birds on Christmas Eve.
Beneath the tree, the children
sprinkle pieces of suet,
RUSSIA
Believe it or not, Russia cele
brates Christmas much as we
do in the United States, with
r
on exception. They do not
make any reference to any
thing holy or religious about
the day. But they do have a
“Father Frost” and “Winter
Trees.”
CHINA
The Chinese do not believe in
the meaning of Christmas, yet
they follow our customs close
ly without any religious them
es. That doesn’t stop them from
having a merry time.
JAPAN
When the GIs were in Japan
they brought with them many
State-side ideas, not the least
of which was ' Christmas. The
Japanese were quick to adopt
the custom and now have their
Kurisumasu (Christmas), but
it’s more like wild New Year
celebrations we express in the
I United States. Their New Year
I is celebrated much as we do
; Christmas.
The traditional festival col
ors in Japan are red and green,
and white, so it wras easy for
them to adopt the accepted
Christmas colors we enjoy. But
the Japanese have “moderniz
ed” their version of Santa
Claus—and instead of the fat.
joliy, rosy-cheeked fellow with
the white beard, they dress
their prettiest girls in the
shorter the dresses they wear,
the better.
All of which goes to prove
that itfc a point of view that
dictates the custom of the
country. But no matter what
the geographical position,
Christmas is Christmas—and
it’s the spirit that counts. So.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
T
Old-Fashioned
Best Wishes
To Everyone
la At Christmas
MRAK COAL COMPANY
THERE’S A SONG IN OUR HEARTS THIS
CHRISTMAS SEASON, FOR THIS 13 THE
TIME WE COUNT CUR BLESSINGS AND
THINK MOST OF YOU, OUR FRIENDS!
HOWARD AND EVA CAMPBELL
THE FRONTIER CAFE
WE WILL BE CLOSED CHRISTMAS bAY