It Took Ages To Put Over Xmas
By JOY MILLER '■ j
When you trim the tree oh '
Christmas Eve and hang up your ^
^•eking for Santa to fill with per
a new convertible, you likely i
is not think you’re observing cus
oms brought over on the May
lower. .
You glow with nostalgic pride
n imagining the homey Yule
LaLandes’ Kodiak Bakery
Place your orders now tor your
Bakery goods for CHRISTMAS
Hoiliday Cookies, Fruitcake, Pies
to your taste — Specially Baked
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Also wa are now taking orders
for TOM & JERRY BATTER
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Phono 3444
MAX & ALINE LaLANDE
■ '•
Peg Goodrich is opening a Branch.Off ice .
of the Alaska Bookkeeping •
Service in Kodiak
Notary Public Stenographic Service Payroll Service
Business Advisor Income Tax Specialist
Metzgor Apartment—Apt. D
Ph. 2832 Box 113
t? 4 tu fcftiu : . .
Tagura Road Phone 4201
nr to SEATTLE
Kodiak to Seattle—$102.00 Kodiak to Portland—$109.00
Kodiak to Anchorage—$35.00 Kodiak to Juneau—$81.00
All Fares Plus Tax',
NON-STOP TO ANCHORAGE
Call 4131
@—
tides celebrated by the Dilgrims
they did so well by Thanksgiving.
And you can just see Ben Frank
lin, that jolly old elf of the 18th
Century, cramming himself-Into a
Santa Claus suit to delight the
youngsters of Philadelphia.
Pleasant little fantasies—but
so untrue. As a celebration,
Christmas had tough sledding in
colonial days, and Santa Claus as
we know him didn’t materialize
•until-mid-19th Century.
The truth is, the Puiitans who
came to New England bore a
marked resemblance to the rock
bound coast they stepped forth
upon. No frivolity. And no re
ligious feasts because they were
not specifically prescribed by the
Bible.
Christmas Was Outlawed
The Pilgrims brought their hos
tility to Christmas with them from
England, where they had been
outraged by the reveling and de
bauchry the holy day occasioned
in some quarters.
But there are always gay souls
in any crowd and by 1659 it was .
necessary to enact a law in Gen
■eral Court of Massachusetts to
fine anybody observing Christmas.
This followed-an act Of .Parlia
ment 12 years earlier by the
English Puritans abolishing the
festival....!; -
With the - .Puritans, Quakers,'
Baptists and Presbyterians op
posed to it,. Christmas might
haye.died^ out. in this country?1^*
,'immigfants of the Romap Cath
olic, Church ‘of England,^ Dutch
Reformed and Lutheran "churches
kept up their' Old World celebra
tions of Christmas both as a he-"1
ligious and' a national folk da'y.' i
'Evolution of Santa Claus '
Dutch settlers in New York
were especially merry. The gehfak '
burghers started the season early
in December and dosed public
Offices for the entire period.
- Christmas as a folk festival was
made up of customs from Ger
many, Holland and England.
Among the Dutch contributions
was the visit of St. Nicholas, who
brought presents to good children
and switches to the bad. In the ■
United States, St. Nicholas was
destined to undergo a complete
refurbishing and emerge thor
oughly American.
Clement Clark Moore probably
started it in 1822 when he wrote
"A Visit from St. Nicholas.” The
gift bringer was a composite of
St. Nicholas and various folk
figures like elves. The reindeer
drawn sleigh seems to have been
pure literary invention, but it
caught popular fancy.
Santa’s appearance varied with
the artist until Thomas Nast, the
famous cartoonist, in 1863 started
an annual series of Christmas
^drawings for Harper’s Weekly.
.Then Santa took substance as the
jolly, white-bearded figure in fur
we know today.
Because ne is a umnstmas sym
bol more secular than religious,
Santa was seized upon by adver
tisers. Department Stores, banks,
investment companies—just about
anybody with something to sell—
began to use Santa as a symbol to
promote business.
About 20 years before Nast drew
his first sketch of Santa, Charles
Dickons wrote a story in Epgiand
that was to have sweeping eff;ct
on American Christmasses. It was
“A Christmas Carol,” setting forth
the virtues of kindness, generosity
and brotherhool.
‘God Bless Us Every One’
Few and far between are the
Americans since that time who
have not heard and reheard the
story of flinty-hearted Scrooge,
his overworked clerk Bob Crat
ehit and Tiny (“God bless us
every one”) Tim..„
Although our Christmas is made
up of customs and traditions from
various countries, it is uniquely.
American. It has its commercial
aspects—billion dollar gift-giving
business Main . Street decorations,
home lighting contests, Christmas
Club saving accounts. It’s a folk
festival too—Christmas trees, tra
ditional folk beliefs, parties, boli
l 'acumwMMKnaHi
day dinner, caroling, numerous
family activities. It’s also a re
ligious observance for Christians
with church services, charity and
an awareness of the spiritual sir
nificance of the occasion.
Read the llirror Classified ads
Aloha Rice Bowl
Specializing in Sweet & Sours-Chinese
style spareribs-Chow Mein.
Phone 4781 for orders to go
Open 5 p.m. to 2 a.in.
i mini ian ibi■ iii—thitmiirm
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BEER
MILLER’S HIGH LIFE
'v . Warehoused Right Here In Kodiak ..
'V:;':v Aleutian Distributors
Phone; £344 Sox A-906 Kodiak
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Milk Iai
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'Kodiak Creamery, Inc.
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Alaska Transfer & Storage
Agent for
Martin Van Lines
We handle Packing, Crating, and Shipping
from Kodiak to all Alaskan points, United
States, Hawaii, and Germany.
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Phone 2233 Box 207
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ANNOUNCING ■
The Opening of the
...
C.R.C. PLUMBING & HEATING CO.
Complete Plumbing & Heating Service
$ Contract Maintenance Service
® Hourly or Contract Work
$$ Remodeling, New Work
/ OSiT No Job too Small or too Big g
ALL WORK GUARANTEED AND INSURED
— 24 HOUR SERVICE —
Phone 4614 Box 5Z 1
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