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- Page Six THE CLINTON CHRONICLE Thursday, December 23, 1948 May we d op ^ a moment to sav And to wish you oil the good things of life during the Holiday Season. ROWLAND’S RADIO SHOP Gary Street J. P. ROWLAND, Proprietor JLM EASOnS BEST WISHES A« you celebrate the Chrisitmas Holidayi we want you to accept our sincere Christinas Greetings and our heartfelt thanks for your friendship and patronaga McIntosh shoe shop a. e. McIntosh JU hJU TT \/ AT CHRISTMAS Accept this sinoere expression of our » ^ . oppreciotion for your friendliness ond patronoge in the past. Our most cordial greetings ond best wishes for your happiness. MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY NEW YEAR! i Christmas Music By Bach, Handel For a great many people the mu sic of Bach and Handel make diffi cult .listening — until Christmas comes around. Then, suddenly, ev erybody starts singing and humming tunes by the two old masters. The-reason for this is that both Bach and Handel were church mu sicians. One of their tasks was to compose songs for church congrega tions to sing. They proved them selves masters of beautiful, easily followed melodies in their Christmas music. Our most famous Christmas oratories and carols came from Bach and Handel. “How Brightly Beams the Morn ing Star” was composed by Bach and his “Christmas Oratorio” con tains the themes of several dther popular chorales. In almost every town and village in America this Christmas a church choir will render at least a portion of George Frederick Handel’s the “Messiah.” When carolers sing “Joy to the World” they’ll be sing ing part of the “Messiah” too, for that carol comes from! themes found in the great oratorio. Handel also composed the musical theme of “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks.” It is a strange fact, but both Bach and Handel were born in 1685, lived for many years within thirty miles of each other, and never met. Yet today, the Chirtsmas music they wrote is sung by men, women and children in countless churches of many faiths all over the world. ’3 f- ’• / 1 . ' J. R. Crawford Phone 10 Clinton, S. C. + Pagan Rites Basis Of Many Custon Strange as it may stern, most American Christmas customs stem largely from Pagan rites practiced long before the birth of Christ. The custom of exchanging gifts is one of the few that springs from the Christian era. Christmas can dles, bonfires and Yule logs arise from the heathen festivals observ ing the winter solstice, December 21, when the days begin to lengthen. That was a time of^great rejoicing for ancient sun worshippers who build bonfires to give strength to the “winter sun-god.” Pre-Christian Romans ornamented their homes with green boughs and flowers for the Feast of Saturnalia which began December 10. Druids gathered mistletoe for that season, while ancient Saxons used holly, ivy and bay. Modem mistletoe and holly wreaths come from those peo ples. Christmas trees, too, spring from the ancient German days when Ger manic tribes made sacrifices to the sacred oak tree of Odin. When the missionary St. Bonifaee traveled to Germany in the Eighth Century and saw these celebrations he persuaded the natives to substitute a fir tree for the oak and to adorn it in a tribute to the Christ Child. During the Middle Ages the entire Christmas season was celebrated in equa’l fervor with that now shown on Chris’tmas day. In some lands the celebration lasted from December 24 to January 6—Twelfth Night— and in ethers from December 21 to February 2. By the year 1644, Christmas in England had become such a wild orgy that the Puritans forbade its celebration by law. Much Family Fun In Group Games “Make it a real family Christmas this year by having Santa pack a few Hobby supplies or games into his pack that the whole family can enjoy together.” This suggestion comes from E. H Regnier, a recre ation specialist at the University of Illinois. There are many hobbies that can help build companionship between parents and children. Mothers and daughters like jewelry construction and tapestry weaving. Dad and Junior go in for model-making—air planes. boats, trains and other items of special interest to the male pop ulation. Everyone enjoys operating a printing press. Small presses turn out newspapers that have a real professional look. Shellcraft a*d woodburning are hobbies that pro duce genuinely useful articles. For family fun, rubber-tipped darts, in door plastic horseshoes and marble games are excellent. "Christmas is a time of ‘togeth erness,” says Regnier. “Let’s cap italize on the situation by starting a game or hobby that will encourage the same type of companionship the year around.” Santa Pictured ' • j. By Thomas Nast Thomas Nast, the famous car toonist wno created our conception of Uncle Sam, the Republican ele phant and the Democratic donkey, is also credited with giving Amer ica its first modern pictonalization of Santa Claus. / Nast first sketched his notion bT Santa Claus in 1873. This Santa was a rollicking, chubby old man smok ing a -pipe and dressed in what looked like a night shirt With fui collar and cuffs Since that day he has grown taller and rounder, has developed a full white beard and mustache and has acquired the tra- dtional red suit bordered in ermine. x Spe'cyy graced . i The Christmas season, with all its pleasant traditions, reminds, us again of the cordiality and good fellowship that has been ours to en joy with our customers and friends. Christmas and good friends combine to make this time of the year the most glorious occasion of them all. i * - • As we extend our best wishes to you for Christmas and the New Year, we include our heartfelt thanks for your fine cooperation with us during the past year. W. G. King & Sons W. G. KING, SR. , W. G. KING, JR. EUGENE C. KING BUILDING MATERIAL AND SUPPLIES *A edton* reetinds It’* Christmastime—and we want to take this opportunity and this means of ex tending to you and yours our best wishes for a Merry, Merry Christma*. And our most sincere wish will not come true unless x. - ‘ 4 V tha Season brings yon bountiful pleasures • * - 1 i / • r and happint Happy New Year! CLINTON CAFE * ' ‘ , / We Will Be Closed Christmas Day In Order To Give Our Employees A Holiday. — Open Sunday As Usual CECIL P. WILSON, Proprietor 7 i ■