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Old Santa Claus.

By M. Nora Boylan.

(To be sung to the tune of "Yankee Doodle." The verses may be given by a single voice, with the chorus by the school, or selected voices on the platform.)

Old Santa Claus is a jolly man

Who brings us lots of toys, sir;
And none are happier Christmas time

Than little girls and boys, sir.

Have you not seen our Santa Claus,

With hair so snowy white, sir?
Just hang your stocking Christmas eve,—

He'll come that very night, sir.

And if you watch, perhaps you'll see
This friend in furs hid deep, sir.

But I have never seen him once—
I'm always fast asleep, sir.

Chorus—Santa Claus is jolly, sir;

Santa Claus is kind, sir;
Santa Claus on Christmas eve
Comes riding on the wind, sir.

By M. Nora Boylan.

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(To be sung to the tune of " Ta-ra-ra, boom-de-ay.)

Now's the time for Santa Claus;

Christmas comes with loud huzzas.

Hark! the bells! Oh, hear them ring!

Ting-a-ling-ling ting-a-ling.

Chorus.—Ting-a-ling-ling ting-a-ling,

Ting-a-ling-ling ting-a-ling,

Ting-a-ling-ling ting-a-ling,

Ting-a-ling-ling ting-a-ling.

See his prancing reindeer brave,

Hear him tell them to behave—

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen,

Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen.—Chorus

Yes, hurrah for Santa Claus .'

Blow the trumpets, shout huzzas!

We'll be happy while we sing—

Ting-a-ling-ling ting-a-ling.—Chorus.

Only a perfect specimen of balsam fir will be worthy to bear upon its branches the fragile perfection of the straw figures that come to us from Sweden. Collecting figures and forms for such a tree would prove a delightful hobby the year round. In these works of art are contained sermons of the simplest and deepest concepts of life.

When you see the straw figures and the geometric designs decorating this tree, listen with your heart and hear the message they bring to you. Straw, to remind us the beginning of Christ's life on earth was humble. Delicacy and perfection of design to show us that from the commonplace ele­ments of a man's life, he too may with vision and patience make of himself a figure of beauty and perfection.

Emphasize the natural beauty of the straw figures by using them with designs found in nature. Make ropes of acorns, walnuts, hazel nuts, peanuts and almonds to garland the tree. Hang the straw figures to form a pleasing compo­sition of shapes and forms.

Do not string lights on this tree. Dramatize the subtle coloring of the decorations by using a green or yellow reflector lamp of 150 watts, flood "R" type.

Why not follow the custom of the ancients and make use of the design qualities of the Palmetto?

For this highly stylized tree, take seven 4' lengths of Palmetto and cut the leaves with a sharp knife or scissors into an oval, spear, or free-form design.

The stems can be manipulated into pleasing curves by placing both thumbs on the under side of the stem with the fingers folded over the top of the stems. The heat from your hands will soften the stems. Bend and press gently but firmly until a curve is achieved. Tie a No. 32 wire just above the curve of the stem, pull the wire taut and fasten to the end of the stem.

Re-cut the stem and place it in water for several days or until the new curve is established. Allow the wire to remain on when you arrange it if it will not show, otherwise, remove it.

Arrange the palmetto in a bucket of moist sand.

Spray bunches of Spanish moss with one coat of gold spray paint. Wire bunches to the leaf at the point where the leaf and stem join.

Coat pineapple, pomegranates, limes, avocados and kumquats with two coats of shellac. Use two small coconuts in their natural coloring to add interest­ ing texture and form to the grouping.

Spray the leaves of the pineapple and the limes lightly with gold, allowing some of the green to show through to' act as a transition between the green palmetto leaves and the gold of the fruit. For a more formal effect, gild all the fruit and the palmetto. Paint the holder to harmonize with the color scheme.

Place the pineapple on a pinpoint holder which rests on the sand. Make sure it is well anchored. Arrange the other fruits in a balanced design around the pineapple. Hold the fruit in place by inserting one end of a toothpick into the pineapple and the other into the other fruit. Build the design by following the above method.

Could there be a more suitable material to use for a Christmas tree than palm branches, which have symbolized victory and rejoicing from the time of Christ to the present day? This tree possesses a majesty which bears witness through its graceful branches to the dynamic rhythm of the Universe.

Arrange the branches to resemble a tree. Place six palm branches 6 1/2 feet long in the top of a length of bamboo, 7" in diameter x 3' long.

Wire three 6" chartreuse balls to florist sticks and arrange at the top of the bamboo trunk. String other chartreuse balls of graduated sizes onto No. 18 wire to form a long, graceful festoon. Wire to a florist stick and thrust into the sand. If this tree is to be seen from both sides, make a similar arrangement of balls for the opposite side.

Why not create a smart gem of a tree based on the topiary art of orna­mental gardening where trees are trimmed into fancy shapes of a highly stylized design?

Place a dowel stick 3/4" thick x 40" long in a small tub of sand. Sink to a depth of 5". Paint tub and stick chartreuse green.

Cut three sets of circles from 1" chicken wire: two 12" in diameter; two 9" in diameter; and two 6" in diameter. Place a 2" layer of sphagnum moss between the two pieces of each set of circles. Bind together with wire; moisten the moss in order to keep the greens fresh when inserted.

Place these circles at regular intervals on the dowel stick following the drawing. Wire fast.

Make 4" cuttings of anyone of these evergreens: yew, arborvitae, cedar or boxwood. Cut the stem ends on a sharp slant and insert in the moss.

Decorate with chartreuse balls of graduated sizes and chains of small chartreuse beads. Group the balls in clusters and drape the chains gracefully to suggest a continuation of the looping from one section of the tree to the other.

Fashion stylized birds from Radiance. Place one on the top and others on the surface of the tree. Remember that simplicity and clean­ cut design are of the utmost importance.

The people of Norway and Sweden have for centuries observed the quaint custom of preparing a Christmas tree for the birds. It is made from a sheaf of choice grain which has been carefully stored from the time of the harvest. The day before Christmas, the grain is tied to the end of a long pole, carried into the yard, and placed near the house to attract the birds who, they believe, bring happiness and good fortune to those within. No family would consider celebrating its own Christmas until the birds had first been provided for.

Could you and your children find a more delightful way to express the spirit of Christmas than to follow these customs?

I am sure that the children and even Dad will want to help make the trimmings and set up the tree. Don't be surprised if fixing the birds' tree becomes as happy a time as trimming the family one. Perhaps the neighbor's children will be so fascinated that they, too, will want to decorate a similar tree. So your kind deeds will never end and each person will be made richer through your thoughtfulness.

Choosing Your Bird Tree

The tree you use need not be a perfect specimen. One that has some broken ends or missing branches will do nicely. Simply trim the broken ends. As for the open spaces, the birds will appreciate them, for then they can watch the neighbor's cat if she strolls their way.

You can improvise a tree from sturdy bare branches cut from a roadside bush. Place the branches in a flower pot filled with sand and arrange them to resemble a tree. Tie together in several places to avoid their toppling over.

The kind of tree you make is not nearly as important as its location. You will want to watch the birds as they feed, so make sure their tree is placed where you can have an unobstructed view. I have mine on a terrace directly out from our dining-room windows.

You will, of course, plan to watch the birds while you breakfast on Christmas morning, so I suggest you give them their tree several weeks in advance, if you are placing it in a location where food has not been offered before. Birds are timid creatures and must be wooed with gentle love and
patience, but once you have extended hospitality, they will return again and again, even year after year.

Decorating the Bird Tree

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Trimmings may be prepared well in advance of Christmas if they are carefully covered and stored in a cool place where rodents and animals cannot get at them.

The food requirements of the birds are simple. They require and relish peanut butter which furnishes the butter fat content needed to retain body temperatures.

Tie a string around the stem end of a pine cone; allow extra string for hanging. Make a mixture of three parts peanut butter to one part corn meal. Mix thoroughly and spread on the pine cone. (The corn meal keeps the peanut butter from sticking to the roof of the mouth. )

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Prepare a suet mixture as follows: Purchase some suet from the butcher; cut in small pieces, and place in afrying pan over a low flame until rendered (which means fry until the solid turns to a liquid). Let cool, then add a good quality of bird seed. Mix and pour into aluminum wrap dishes, walnut shells, coconut shells, or plastic cups. (First bore holes on four sides of the containers, and run cord through the holes to form a handle for hanging.) Cover and store in a cool place until ready for use.

Strings of popcorn, raisins, and cranberries will furnish food and look attractive draped around the tree. Run a large-eyed darning needle and string through each item until you have length enough to circle the tree as many times as desired.

To attract the downy woodpeckers, the white breasted  nut-hatch, the chickadee and the brown creeper, place large chunks of suet in a holder made from hardware cloth. Cut a rectangle 12" long x 6" wide. Fold one end to within 2" of the other end; bend each of the two front top points over and
around the under piece to form a pocket; press tight to the under side. Tack or tie to the tree trunk. Fill the pocket with suet.

Sunflower seeds are a special favorite of the white breasted nut-hatch, cardi

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nals and the chickadees. Be sure to place special servings of these around the tree to attract these fascinating creatures. Tuck pieces of old bread and cake among the branches for the blue jays. They love it. Many birds such as the wood thrush, towie, cardinal and the robin would appreciate having their food served on the ground, as they are primarily ground feeders.

Remember to offer "seconds" once the birds have accepted the invitation to visit your home.

Water is a necessary part of a bird's requirements and in winter the streams are too full and fast for them to drink from. A thoughtful host will provide a drinking fountain made from an aluminum foil dish not deeper than two inches. Sprinkle a few pebbles on the bottom for birds to stand on. Place near the tree. Avoid using metal as the feet of the birds will freeze fast to it.

Decorate the tree as artistically as possible, for you will spend a great deal of time looking at it.

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Tracing the Roots of Christmas

It is a long road back to the first Christmas. The route is not direct, nor free from obsta­cles, nor is it clearly marked. Many will stand at the crossroads and beckon us down strange and confusing byways.

Without looking back to the pages of legend and history, we are inclined to make the Christmas story read too simply. If someone were to ask you, "What is Christmas?" would you answer:

"Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, our Savior on December 25. At this time gifts are freely dis­tributed and we tell children that they come from a mythical Santa Claus-a pleasant and harmless old fellow who comes with reindeer from the North Pole and descends the chimney to place Christmas gifts in stockings and on a highly deco­rated tree."

We give but small thought to the gospel story; we care less that there is controversy over the exact day and year. We shun the idea that all these observances are not of his­torical Christian origin.

Interesting Whether Fact or Fantasy

However, should we care to take some of the byways of thought we would be sure to find facts hidden beneath fic­tion. We hesitate to say which statements are true and which are not. Let's not make an immediate two-item classi­fication-the true and the false. Let's think of these histori­cal facts and these fancies as traditions of Christmas-a part of our storehouse of culture-interesting whether true or fictitious.

Christmas is, indeed, the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Holy Babe of Bethlehem, who grew into the Christ, the founder and center of a religion which proclaims one of the foremost philosophies of human conduct; perhaps it is the destined religion for the world.

The roots of Christmas observance, however, go deeply into the folklore of the Druids, Scandinavians, Romans, and Egyptians. What we may read of Christmas in ancient days finds its full flower in the past and present customs of our ancestral homes in Europe. There is not an American home that does not color its Christmas with some European observ­ances-gift-giving, trees, greenery, food, games, or ritual.

Christmas is today's name for the Yule, or Jul of the northern Europeans, the Noel of the French, the Noche-buena of the Spanish, the Weihnachten of the Germans, and the name given by the Roman Catholic Church to the Christ Mass, the feast in honor of the Nativity of Jesus. Sometimes Christmas is written "Xmas" because "X" is the Greek equivalent of "ch," and, therefore, is taken to represent the word "Christ."

The Beginnings of Christmas

Since earliest times many of the inhabitants of the world have observed that there is a period during the year when "the days begin to lengthen and the cold begins to strength­en," and others express it, "when the earth began to waken under the kiss of light, when new hopes rose in frozen hearts." It was the Winter solstice when the sun, parent of fertility, began to rise over the world with renewed vigor and power after having been at the lowest point in the heavens. Some old opinions were that in Winter the sun actually stood still for forty days, based, no doubt, on the presence of the Mid­night Sun. The northern people considered the sun as a wheel which alternately threw its glow upon the earth and away from it. This sun wheel was known as hweol and, per­haps, from this was derived our word "yule."

The Festival of Lights

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To the Jews this period was the Festival of Lights or Dedication, called Hanukkah or Chanuckah. Jewish history relates that in 165 B.C. a large force of Maccabees met and vanqui'lhed an army of Syrians. Judas Maccabeus entered Jerusalem with his army and found it a place of desolation. Maccabeus began the work of purification and on the 25th day (note the similarity to the 25th of December) of Kislev it was finished and a sacred light was lighted. In their de­struction of the temple the sacred oil was practically ex­hausted, but they did find a jar which they judged would burn for one day. Miraculously, it lasted eight days. Therefore each year the Jews decree that the eight days previous to December 25 be celebrated.

The first night two tapers are lighted. One is known as  the torch. The second night a third candle is added and so one for each night until the eighth day. That is why a true  Jewish Hanukkah candelabrum has nine arms. Even to this  day some of the orthodox Jews make their own candles from beeswax, for they dislike the manufactured ones.

Werewolves and Valkyrie

In Scandinavian countries great fires were kindled to defy the Frost King. These early peoples gathered around the fires to warm themselves and to quaff great horns of mead, looking forward to the breaking of the ice when their ships might again embark. They spent their time telling strange stories and considered the period as being the time of the longest nights, when men were transformed at will to savage beasts, Werewolves-fierce, ravishing, and thirsty for blood; also Valkyrie, maidens who searched for souls and conveyed them to Valhalla. These strange spirits were heard in the winds and in the passage of birds. They are familiar to us i the Wagnerian operas of the ibelungen Ring-Das Rhein gold, Die Walkiire, Siegfried, and Die Gotterdammerung (The Twilight of the Gods).

Druid Mysteries

The Druids observed this season in their great roofless temples which are ranked as one of the Wonders of the World At Stonehenge and Avebury in England, torches blazed an strange ceremonies took place dealing with the cutting of the cabalistic Mistletoe.  At Carnac another marvelous sanctuary was constructed. Thousands of white columns are grouped . three great avenues open to the sky. We wonder just what was the belief of the Druids who left mute evidence of a stirring religion.

Roman Saturnalia

Two holidays, the Brumalia and Juvenalia, of ancient Rome were merged to form one great celebration in honor of the Italian deity Saturnus, who taught the arts of agricul­ture and was dedicated to welcoming the germinating impulse of Jature. It was called Saturnalia and is older than Roman recorded history. These celebrations lasted throughout the years until purified by the Christians.

It was during the reign of Saturnus that peace, happiness, and innocence abounded and was, indeed, the Golden Age of Italy. Gradually things went from bad to worse and many of the original purposes were transformed into unrestrained orgies. The Saturnalia was not a day but a season of celebration from December 17 to 24; then on January 1 came the Calends  of January and both periods were given up to revelry.

In early Roman days a pontiff stood in front of Saturn's temple and exclaimed, "Saturnalia! Io Saturnalia!" The word spread from mouth to ear along the Forum and through  the streets. The fetters of convention became loosened. The people gave themselves up to a wild joy. During this period the people and the senate were expected to present ew Year's gifts to the emperors. It is related that Augustus had a nocturnal vision requiring that the people annually pre­sent money to him. When Caligula came to the throne he appeared on the porch of his palace on the Calends of Janu­ary and received gifts of all descriptions.

The period was characterized by "processions, singing, lighting candles, adorning the house with Laurel and green trees, giving presents; the men dressed as women or mas­queraded in the hides of animals." Rich and poor were equal and there was no distinction between free man and slave. The courts were closed and nd one was convicted of a crime. Slaves mocked their masters and were allowed to wear a pointed cap as the sign of rank, but today employed as the sign of a fool. The free-born Romans celebrated less boisterously by giving gifts and it is to the merriment and bestowing of favors at the Saturnalia time that we owe our common Christmas practice.

When Augustine and his fellow missionaries landed in Britain 592 A.D. they found December a festive month. By 742, Pope Zacharius had sent out an edict prohibiting the participation of Christians in the heathenish customs of the season.

Egyptian Holiday

Even the early Egyptians celebrated this Midwinter festival. They claimed that Horus, son of Isis, was born at the close of December. The Palm was a Midwinter symbol.

Mithras and Feast of Sol Invictus

The followers of Mithras called this period the Feast of sol inviclus, representing the time of victory of light over darkness. Mithras, as a divinity, was worshiped in the centuries imme­diately preceding and following Christianity so that the idea of Mithraism fitted nicely to the idea of Christ being the Sun or Light of the World and the religion and practices soon merged into the early Christian customs.

When Christ Was Born

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The definite date of the birth of Christ has been fixed by church councils who gained their knowledge from the historical records of that period. The people of Christ's day did not regard Jesus as the Messiah of God from birth but merely thought of Him as becoming the Christian's God when He was 30 years old, at the time when the Holy Spirit descended on Him at the baptism in the Jordan. St. Mark and St. John both begin with that event as being the first one of importance in Christ's career. The principal holy days in the early church were: Christmas (the birth of Christ), the Epiphany (the coming of the Magi to Bethlehem), Good Friday (day of crucifixion), Easter (day of resurrection) and Ascension Day followed by Pentecost (when the Holy Spirit descended upon the infant church with tongues).

Christendom did not begin to date its years from the birth of Christ until almost 550 A. D., when the method was introduced by Dionysius Exiguus, a learned monk of Rome.

In the third century the western countries came to think of Christ as a God from birth, each of the four gospel nar­ratIVes testifying to this. This thought spread through the Mediterranean regions but never reached the Far East.

To the early church Christmas from the start "bore the mark of being of Roman creation." Between December 25 and the Roman Calends were twelve days which gradually came to be revered as Twelve Holy Days.  Centuries later they were called Twelve Nights.  Days were not reckoned by the early Germans but nights were.

St. John Chrysostom, writing in 386 says that Julian made an extensive investigation of the correct birthday of Christ and found that the Western churches all considered December 25 as the Nativity date, although the Eastern churches claimed January 6.  There were scattering opinion that the birth of Christ should be observed on April 20, May 20, March 29, and September 29.

St. Chrysostom writes, "They called this December 25 the Birthday of the Invincible One (Mithras); but who was so invincible as the Lord? They call it the Birthday of the Solar Disc; but Christ is the Son of Righteousness."

Julian, basing his opinion on the majority, went ahead and decreed December 25 as the Nativity date for Christ.  This was readily accepted by most churches because it has always been a holiday of some sort, as we have shown above - the Winter Solstice, the Jewish Feast of Lights, the Roman Saturnalia, and the Scandinavian Yule.  Nevertheless, the Armenians did not accept December 25 until after the World War.  During these centuries they retained January 6 as the Christmas celebration time.