University of South Carolina Libraries
v • t V Page Tw<> THE CLINTON CHRONICLE Thursday, December 22, ^e do not consider our Christmas com plete until we have expressed our Season's Greetings to those with whom we have been associated in the past years and to thank you for your consideration and patronage. It gives us a great deal of pleasure to extend these good wishes because we know the value of friends like you. Bishop - Walker Pharmacy “The Rexall Store" A HAPPY CHRISTMAS On this joyous occasion we want to wish« ^ one and all thejvery merriest of holidays and extend our heartfelt thanks to all of our kind friends for your consideration and patronage. It has been a privilege to have these asso ciations and we will strive with our every ef fort to merit a continuation of vour goodwill. J. R. Crawford Phone 10 Clinton, S. C. '^rincjcrs of Qfu v n o , ’s nnoe *jrrom iJo ^J\nujht upperl In America on Christmas Eve, there is a merry tinkle of sleigh bells as Santa ^laus drives up in a sleigh drawn by eight reindeer. He drives from roof to roof, causing just long enough to climb down each chimney. From a huge pack on his back he fills the chil dren’s stockings with toys and ! goodies. Gifts that are too large to ' e stuffed in the stockings are put i on the Christmas -tree or stacked I underneath it. i This is Chrisfmas in America —but it is not always Santa who brings the gifts to childien in other lands. The Dutch children anxiously await the arrival on Christmas of St. Nicholas. He was the bishop of Myra, so he is dressed in the tradi tional bishop’s robes of black, vvears a mitre, and carries a crozier. He rides a white horse and is ac companied by Black Peter, his page boy. Instead of hanging up their stockings to hold the gifts, the Dutch children place their wooden i -hoes in the chimney corner before gomg to bed. On the window sills | they leave a bunch of hay for : “Sleipner," the bishop’s white i herse. It is customary for St. Nicho- i las to overturn chairs and leave the room in general confusion for Christmas morning. English children wait for a Santa Claus who closely resembles our - own. They also find gifts tied to a green Christmas tree, but this cus tom has been in effect only since Queen Victoria was a young bride. She married Albert, a German prince, and it was he who intro duced this Christmas custom to England from Germany. It ia an angel who leaves the gifts In Csechosiovakia. She de scends on a golden chord to accompany Santa. In Scandinavia gifts are distrib uted during the supper hour. They are brought by dwarfs and the chil dren leave bowls of porridge on the ^>orstep for them. Santa comes Tiding on a goat instead of a rein deer. The birds receive the largest number of gifts in Sweden. Each family places a sheaf of grain on a pole or on the fence posts for the birds’ Christmas dinner. Spanish children place their straw-filled sleeves on the window sills so the Magi may feed their horses while they leave gifts. The older people fill an Urn of Fate from which the gifts are drawn.on Christmas Day. Knight Ruppert, who is the German Kris Kringle, is repre sented by a young girt wearing a golden crown and gowned in a flowing white robe. She car ries a small tree laden with gifts which she distributes. The children of Switzerland have their gifts brought to them by a rad ant angel who rides in a sleigh drawn by six reindeer. She brings tUcm goodies to eat as well as ' toys. And in Poland, at least before the Communists came in, the people | called at the parish house on Christmas morning where the j priest presented them with “peace wafers,” wh.ch symbolized peare on earth, good will to men. The 1 people exchanged Christmas wishes as the wafers were broken and eat- ! en before returning home. As Americans observe this Christmas in the comfort and luxury of modern civilization, who among them will pause for a thought of how their forebears kept the holy : season? An example of Christmas of the past in America is provided in a study of the history of the old vil lage of Kaskaskia, first capital of , Illinois, where the pioneers braved the rigors of a new and unsettled world. Despite the hardships and dis comfort which preva’led in the days of the early settlers of this land, there was hardly a cabin so humble | but what its occuoants found some : way to keep Christmas. OLD. OLD 8TORV . . . II tcachei could get this kind of atten Ion as she lectures on the three R's. she'd have a room fall of geniuses She la reading the ageless Clement Moore classic “ ‘Twas the Nlghl Before Chiiatmaa.** And act a la ;V * • : / r \ v • • ' • • • • \ \ • '*• . * % . - :kf Mindful of the cordiality with which we have been treated the past year, we wish to express our thoughts to you at this glad occasion. May this Christinas bring you many of life's finest gifts and may health and happiness be with you throughout the coming year. > Every one in our organization joins in this Chrislmns nuessaiiLto the loyal friends whose friendships we esteem so highly. Best wishes to all of vou. Prather-Simpson Furniture Co. To all cf our friends and patrons who have helped /nake our year so pleasant—our best wishes to you and yours for a merry Christmas . a healthy, happy, prosperous New Year ... and a sincere hope that we may again enjoy yeur kind patronage and goodwill during the coming year. THE ENTIRE ORGANIZATION OF Giles Chevrolet Co.-, Inc.