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About Vernonia eagle. (Vernonia, Or.) 1922-1974 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 25, 1952)
Only One More Shopping Day Until Christmas SECTION Origin Told of Christmas Seals When you see the Christmas seal do you ever wonder how it started? It was born in Denmark, home of the fairy tales of Hans Chris tian Anderson. Einar Holboell, a Copenhagen postal clerk, was sorting mail one snowy afternoon before Christmas, 1903, when he thought of the idea of a penny stamp to swell a fund for children’s hos pitals. Authorized by King Christian, the first Christmas seals were sold in Copenhagen in 1904. Holboell's scheme outgrew his wildest imaginations, for before his death in 1927, he lived to see it spread to 45 countries, includ ing Korea, India and French- Indochina. The seals found their way to America on letters and packages and first attracted the attention of Jacob Riis who wrote an article about them. Few people, how ever were interested in the idea. Then, in the autumn of 1907, Emily Bissell, a public health of ficer, concerned about the fate of a small sanatorium, recalled the article and sat down to sketch America’s first Christmas seal, a wreath of holly encircling the words “Merry Christmas.” With 50,000 stamps printed and nowhere to sell them, Miss Bis sell at last enlisted the aid of a columnist on a Philadelphia news NEHALEM MARKET AND GROCERY paper. The idea caught and with in a few weeks $3,000 was col lected. The first nation-wide sale was held the following year and was backed by newspapers all over the country, religious and civic groups, and sponsored by th" American Red Cross and the Na tional Tuberculosis association. Burial Place of Santa 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 dur ing the reign of Emperor Diocle- tion, found no rest in his first tomb at Myra. Always some ex pedition was attempting to re move his remains. However, once buried again in Bari, the sain't body w’as credited with curing 30 people of dis temper and performing other miracles. So Bari became a place of pilgrimage and the legends about St. Nicholas mutiplied 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 prostitution by throwing purses of gold through a window in Patara; thus permitting a po verty stricken nobleman to give his daughters suitable dowries as custom demanded. In addition, St. Nicholas was credited with restoring life to some boys who had been slain and dismembered by a wicked innkeeper of Myra—hence the occasional stained glass windows in' which the saint is shown be side three lads in a tub. There were many other stories about St. Nicholas in the dialect of the New York Dutch. Early Yuletide Thought Pagan Christmas, like any other blessed institution, has had to fight its battles. The first great enemy of Christmas was the Ro man empire whose pagan em- p.rors determined to blot out all kinds of Christian rites. Then when Roman Emperor Constantine Christianized the em pire other enemies of Christmas arose. One course of contention was: Is December 25 r ally Christmas’ Somi said Christ was born on January 6; others held for March 29. Some set April 21 as His birthday. No body knew with complete con fidence just when to celebrate Christmas. At last, in the fourth century, Pope Julius I. settled the matt-r in favor of our present date. His decision was univer sally accepted. From the first there had been among Christians a certain hos tility toward the Christmas fes tival. Thî celebration of birth days in general was considered heathenish and something taken over from the pagans. Nor did the enemies of Christmas fail to observe that many pagan cus toms had crept into the f astings of the day. Christmas and the days of Advent that go before it occur at the time of the winter solstice, when the days cease to grow shorter, and begin to l.ng- then — when the sun, having declined its furthest from z ?nith, begins to climb again. The period was one of festival in many parts of the world, and was held sacred by many religions. Th.n oc curred the Roman Saturnalia, with its wild excesses, and the people of the north, too, had a great midwinter feast with days of hearty eating and deep drink ing. It was only natural that some of the old pagan rites pe culiar to the season should be For treating burns, cover burned area with a clean dry compress or pad of cloth, if burn pads are not available. You can use the strips torn from a sheet, shirt, towel or pillowcase. held over and incorporated into his other chanties, used to pro the rejoicings of Christmas. vide dowenes for poor girls. The From the Saturnalia came ban- older form of the Christman quetings and dancings and riot- stocking custom was for poor tings in masks and the giving of gifts. Our Christmas dinner and girls to hang up stockings in the Christmas presents and Christ hope that benevolent St. Nicholas mas cards and in the wearing of would place marriage portions m Christmas masks in various parts | them. of the world date back to the Fire caused 80 per cent of tire Saturnalia. Th"> mid-winter feast of the northern peoples was called damage to cities during World Yule, hence our Yuletide and War II. ------------------------------------------------- I Yule log. The burning of the Christmas log descends from SEASON GREETINGS north*.rn tree worship. So does the Christmas tree. The ancient Druids gave Christmas its holly and misletoe. Santa Claus seems to date from later Christian times. He is good NEHALEM VALLEY St. Nicholas, of course. The MOTOR FREIGHT hanging of stockings comes from the legend that the saint, among PHONE 853 I I SEASON GREETINGS w RIVERVIEW w : radio o SALES — SERVICE : *0 ADMIRAL LINE Guaranteed Repair ON RADIOS RECORDERS RECORD PLAYERS Full Line Raytheon Tubes Phone 774 âL, Qiiiïtwai. 1952 May ai( ¿tapping be ycjwti Staàonà Çnfxtincjà . »r« ‘ • Let a holiday spirit prevail, and giver and receiver alike cherish the happiest Christmas ever. s May the faith of the ch’Wren be stroniin ywr hearts. You deterva a wealth of Yuletid« joy and p«ac*. > Vernonia Sanitary Service and BUSH FURNITURE Cason Transfer 4 NEHALEM SERVICE / STATION