BROOKINGS-HARBOR PILOT, BROOKINGS, OREGON
... FOUR
HISTORY OF
CHRISTMAS
SEALS
W hen you see th e C h ristm a s
eal do you ever w onder how it
ta rie d ?
It w as born in D enm ark, hom e
W O m i • tat
of Hans < Chris
tia n A nderson.
E in a r Holi>oell, a C openhagen
postal c k r l . v. is so ttin g mail one
E
in o u v a fte rn o o n b e fo re C h ris tm a s ,
1903, w hen he thought of th e idea
of a penny stam p to swell a fund
for c h ild re n ’s h o sp itals.
A u th o rized by K ing C h ristian ,
Merry Christmas
th e first C h ristm a s seals w ere sold
,n C openhagen in 1904.
H olboell’s schem e o u tg rew his
w ildest im aginings, for before his
d e a th in 1927, he lived to see it
sp read to 45 countries, including
K orea, In d ia and F ren c h -In d o
china.
T he seals found th e ir w ay to
A m erica on le tte rs and p a c k a g e s
and first a ttra c te d th e a tte n tio n
of Jacob Riis w ho w ro te an a rtic le
about them .
F ew people, how
ever, w ere in te re ste d in th e idea.
Then, in th e au tu m n of 1907,
Em ily Bissell, a public h ea lth
w orker, concerned about th e fa te
of a gm all san a to riu m , recalled
the a rtic le and sat down to sk etch
A m erica’s first C h ristm a s seal, a
w re ath of holly encircling th e
w ords “ M erry C h ristm a s.”
W ith 50,000 stam p s p rin ted and
now here to sell them , M iss B issell
at last en listed th e aid of a col
um nist on a P hiladelphia new s
paper.
T he idea ca u g h t and
w ithin a few w eeks $3,000 w as
collected.
T he first nation-w ide sale w as
held the following y e a r and w as
backed by new spapers all over the
country, religious and civic groups
and sponsored by th e A m erican
Red C ross and th e N atio n al T u
berculosis association.
T hursday, December 25, 1952
The Santa Legend
"M E R R Y
CHRISTMAS"
Needs Explanation
J
Psychologist Says In Other Languages
‘‘C hildren 'e n jo y S a n ta C laus
m ore w hen they know w h at he
really is,” D uke U niversity psy
chologist Dr. Gelolo M cH ugh says.
‘‘No one enjoys finding out th at
he has been kept in th e d a rk ,”
says th e specialist in psychology,
“and children a re no excep tio n .”
The real m eaning of S a n ta C laus
is th e joy of giving to m ak e o th
ers happy, says Dr. M cH ugh, and
no child should be deprived of
this privilege.
L a te r p a re n ts have th e difficult
job of explaining th a t th e re is no
jolly old C h ristm a s m an, Dr. Mc
Hugh points out. W hen th e tru th
com es out th e p a re n t has placed
him self in th e position of being re
sponsible for S a n ta ’s d isa p p e a r
ance.
S a n ta should be a p a rt of
C hristm as, how ever, Dr. M cH ugh
believes, but from th e v ery be
ginning, he should be tre a te d as
» w onderful p re te n d gam e. This
m ethod has proved successful
w ith m any children, th e specialist
says, including his own tw o young
boys.
M erry C h ristm as! M erry C h rist
m as’
T h e sp irit conveyed by th ese
w ords is the sam e in all co u n tries,
ut th e w ords them selves som e-
C hildren, who love to m ak e-b e
lieve. a re p erfectly capable of en
joying S a n ta , reindeer, chim neys
and all, w hile know ing in th e ir
h ea rts, w hen th ey stop to ask
them selves, th a t he is a p reten d
person, he says.
T he child who ta k e s p a rt in th e
S a n ta gam e doesn’t have to w on
d er on C h ristm a s m orning why
S a n ta d id n ’t like him well enough
to bring th e expensive toys th a t
w ere o rd ered from th e N o rth Pole,
th e psychologist points out.
T he young In d ianapolis m o th er
who recen tly w ro te a C h ristm a s
le tte r for h er 5-year-old son ju st
before h e r d e a th in .an airp lan e
•rash, had w onderful u n d e rs ta n d
ing, Dr. M cH ugh says. S he ended
h er le tte r by tellin g h er little son
‘h at anyone who loves and gives
is real S a n ta .”
4
Prayer
Per Christmas
GOD (iR .W ’I this day of Christmas dawn on one honest man.
On one happy child, secure in the perfect idealism of the very
young. . .
On one act of pure generosity, consecrated to the Christ whose
birth we celebrate now . . .
On one word of peace, spoken in faith to still the clamorous hor
ror of cannon, Ixnnb, and bullet . . .
On one deed performed for love and not for gain . . .
On one leader who himself is not led astray in arrogance but
humbly guides others in the paths of gcxxlness and true progress . . .
On one follower who is willing to play the role not blindly but
with the alert and critical wisdom which is the heritage of all people . .
On one great human thought th.it will not I k crushed and rent
by the cynical, the hopeless, the greedy, ami the ignorant. . . .
G<xl grant that some essence of these miracles be performed in
all of us, and we shall see a Christmas that is like unto the first one
the angels watched over.
tim es fall h a rsh ly on A m erican
cars.
“R ferry C h ris tm a s ” in F ren ch
has a soft and m usical sound. I t
is “Jo y eu x N oel.”
In S pain th e g re e tin g is “ Feliz
P ascu a s,” an d in Ita ly , “ Buon N a
ta le .”
F o r Sw eden it is “God
J u l,” and N orw ay, ‘‘G ladig J u l.”
In G erm an y and H olland the
g reetin g is a to n g u e -tw is te r th a t
wi'l stu m p th e av e rag e A m erican.
T he G erm an s say “ F ro eh lich e
W e ih n a eh ten ” and th e ’ D utch,
‘‘P leizierig K e rs tfe e s t.”
But w h a te v e r th e language,
the sp irit behind th is g re etin g is
the sam e w h e re v e r th e re a re m en
of goodwill.
Office Forms.......
F o r sale now a t th e P ilo t office
vhich will fit any b u siness; social
e c u ritv ded u ctio n slips, receipts,
ales books, etc. O rd e rs p rin ted
o fit th e individual Rt m o d era te
ost in q u a n tity lots.
v
xzr-x
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