Heppner Gazette Times, Thursday, December 25, 1952
Page 3
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l The peace and
) iY ) - happiness of
Christmas belongs
h you.
L. E. DICK
a. id.
ASS '
OUR BEST WISHES
FOR A
'.VERY
iHwtg (ElrtBfutaii
AIKEN'S PLACE
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The gift we cherish most i
is the priceless one , ,1
of your friendship. '
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HOMSON BROS.
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Egyptians Made
Elaborate Dolls
For Children
No one knows for sure who made
the first doll, but it can be assumed
the earliest figures were sacred
gods and ancestor images. These
doll-like forms were not toys for
the delight of children, but solemn
religious figures that preserved the
tribe from harm.
Then, somehow, somewhere, a
change took place. Dolls became
a toy for girls and the most popu
lar Christmas toy of them all.
Dolls have been discovered in
Egyptian tombs and ruins, some
even had real hair; some were
Ivory, carved by craftsmen for a
king's daughter; others were made
of straw by an overworked mother
in a peasant's hut.
In ancient Greece dolls were
played with and cherished by little
girls until they were ready to be
married. Then (their dolls were
taken to the shrine of a favorite
goddess) and, often with tears,
presented to her. The Roman chil
dren played with dolls, too, but
after the fall of the Empire there
came a long period in which there
is no record of dolls.
Not until the thirteenth century
when dolls were made in Nurem
berg and dressed in the fashions
of the times did little girls again
play with dolls. They were here to
stay.
By and by in Europe, the French
fashion dolls became all the rage,
not for children to play with but as
models from which fine ladies
could pattern their own modish
costumes.
In America, the Indian children
had dolls of their own made of
rawhide and feathers, and wood.
Pioneer children had dolls much
like these, and some were made of
braided cornhusks, or nuts, or
corncobs, or rags, and were dearly
loved in spite of their plainness.
Much later, lifelike dolls were
imported from Germany, where
the doll industry had reached
enormous proportions. These dolls
had fine china heads with care
fully painted faces and kid bodies
that were jointed at the arms and
legs. Later there came the
Japanese-made dolls, which were
inexpensive enough for almost any
child to own. Then the American
made dolls began to appear the
special dolls, the kewpies, billi
kens, Buster Browns, teddy bears,
Patsy dolls and Shirley Temples
and phonograph dolls, with all the
host of others that have followed
and which are still to come. For
dolls always will be part of child
hood and part of Christmases as
long as there are little girls and
boys to play with them, and par
ents and fond kinfolk to buy.
.V
AM.
Burial Place of Santa
Said to Be in Italy
SANTA CLAUS, otherwise St.
Nicholas, otherwise the one
time bishop of Myra in Asia Minor,
is buried in Bari, Italy. His body
was stolen from its original tomb
in Myra and swiftly borne to Bari
by Italian sailors, who thought
back in 1087 that a saint's body
brought prosperity and good luck
to your town.
St. Nicholas, who was tortured
and imprisoned for his faith during
the reign of Emperor Diocletian,
found no rest in his first tomb at
Myra. Always some expedition was
attempting to remove his remains.
However, once burled again in
Bari, the saint's body was credited
with curing 30 people of distemper
and performing other miracles. So
Bari became a place of pilgrimage,
and the legends about St. Nicholas
multiplied apace.
We owe our notion of Santa Claus
as a secret dispenser of gifts to a
story that St. Nicholas once saved
three girls from a life of prostitu
tion by throwing purses of gold
through a window in Patara, thus
permitting a poverty stricken
nobleman to give bis daughters
suitable dowries 83 custom de
manded. In addition, St. Nicholas was
credited with restoring Ufa to some
boys who had been slain and dis
membered by a wicked Innkeeper
of Myra hence the occasional
stained glass windows In which the
saint is shown beside three lads
in a tub.
TIME OCT . . . Santa Claus
pauses in his Christmas Eve
visits sometimes to pick up a
hot dog and ice cream cone at
an all-night hamburger stand.
We hope you
'may be surrounded;
by joy and
Sfaladneis end filled
with the warmth
Chriitmat brings
to everyone.
WILSON'S
MEN'S WEAR
The Store of Tersonal
Service
To keep your Christmas a truly
merry one, keep these don'ta
in mind:
DON'T give children dan
gerous toys, or toys with sharp
points. If they operate with elec
tricity, be sure yti supervise
their use.
DON'T decorate the tree with
lighted candles unless It's abso
lutely unavoidable.
DON'T place the tree near a
stove or fireplace.
DON'T leave lighted tree un
guarded at any time.
DON'T use a rickety, unsafe
ladder In decorating the tree.
DON'T place Christmas can
dles near the tree, curtains,
paper wreaths or other deco
rations. DON'T overlook the opportu
nity to make your tree fire
resistant. DON'T leave toys exposed
where people can trip on them.
DON'T allow steps and side
walks to become Icy In cold
weather.
DON'T drive recklessly.
Happy
llulelide!
A bountiful,
merry Christmas
to one and all.
99S2
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BAKER
PLUMBING Cr
HEATING
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We Wish
You
The Best
of
Everything
for the
Holidays
HATFI ELD'S
GROCERY
LEXINGTON
Early Yuletide
Thought Pagan
By Christians
CHRISTMAS, like any other
hlpscori fncitntfrm has Y,A
fight its battles. The first great
enemy of Christmas was the Ro
man empire whose pagan em
perors determined to blot out all
kinds of Christian rites.
Then when Roman Emperor Con
stantine Christianized the empire
other enemies of Christmas arose.
One course of contention was: Is
December 25 really Christmas?
Some said Christ was born on Jan
uary 6; others held for March 29.
Some set April 21 as His birthday.
Nobody knew with complete con
fidence just when to celebrate
Christmas. At last, In the fourth
century, Pope Julius I settled the
matter in favor of our present date.
His decision was accepted.
From the first there had been
among Christians a certain hos
tility toward the Christmas festi
val. The celebration of birthdays
in general was considered heathen
ish and something taken over from
the pagans. Nor did the enemies
of Christmas fail to observe that
many pagan customs had crept Into
the feastings of the day. Christmas
and the days of Advent that go be
fore it occur at the time of the
winter solstice, when the days
cease to grow shorter, and begin
to lengthen when the sun, hav
ing declined its furthest from
zenith, begins to climb again.
The period was one of festival
in many parts of the .world, and
was held scared by many religions.
Then occurred the Roman Satur
nalia, with its wild excesses, and
the people of the north, too, had a
great midwinter feast with days
of hearty eating and deep drinking.
From the Saturnalia came ban
quetings and dancings and rlotlngs
in masks and the giving of gifts.
Our Christmas dinner and Christ
mas presents and Christmas cards
and the wearing of Christmas
masks in various parts of the world
date back to the Saturnalia. The
mid-winter feast of the northern
peoples was called Yule, hence our
Yuletide and Yule log. The burn
ing of the Christmas log descends
from northern tree worship, So
does the Christmas tree.
Santa Claus seems to date from
later Christmas times. He Is good
St. Nicholas, of course. The hang
ing of stockings comes from the
legend that the saint, among his
other charities, used to provide
doweries for poor girls. The older
form of the Christmas stocking
custom was for poor girls to hang
up stockings in the hope that bene
volent St, Nicholas would place
marriage portions in them.
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SANTA'S ROLL CALL ... In a
big city Santa needs a platoon
of helpers to make the rounds
Here he checks up In New York
to see if all of his aide are on
hand for the big Christmas Eve
delivery.
A HAPPY
CliniS?M4S
BEST WISHES
FOR A
WONDERFUL
HOLIDAY
NORAH'S SHOP
I
. V :
JtSTy Let's help i
.vSSanta make this
L the merriest Christmas
Uli : fi0f all.
19 52
MORROW COUNTY CREAMERY
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.4 ' !
A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS
AND
HAPPY NEW YEAR
TO ONE AND ALL
CAL'S TAVERN
Hazel and Bob