Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

J - -r I Page Six THE CLINTON CHRONICLE Thursday December 20, 1951 P* VERY AVERAGE American horn* will have a Christmas tree this year. Traditional and sym bolic as tbe trees are, they present a great fire hazard, and should b« carefully watched. Remember that when you bring a tree into th« house it is going to dry up. A freshly-cut tree will not take fire any easier than the evergreen trees growing outside, but tne hazard increases by the bour. For this reason, it is not wise to put up the tree too early before Christmas day or to leave it too long after the 25th. Trees of all kind will become highly inflam mable at the end of a week. Families, clubs, churches or or ganizations that wish to keep their trees up longer than a week should take special safeguards to keep it reasonably safe. The tree can be kept fresh by setting it up in a pan of water. Cut off the base of the tree at an angle at least one inch above the original cut and keep it standing in water during the entire period it remains in the house. It may be necessary to add water from time to time to ieep the water level above the cut. Place the tree well away from stoves, radiators, and other sources of heat. When you smoke, stay away from the tree. Also be sure that the tree is secured in such a way that it cannot fall. Do not put it near a doorway where it might block an avenue of escape, should a fire occur. REINDEER 17 AIRY TALES and Christmas * stories are a Yuletide tradition. It is thus fitting that the story which promises to be America’s most popular and long-lived fairy tale is related to the Christmas season. Once upon a time there was a reindeer with a built-in flashlight bulb for a nose. You know, Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer. From a small beginning in 1938, the little animal with the built-in beacon has become as familiar as Humpty- Dumpty and Cinderella to young sters everywhere. First invented as a sales give away promotion for Montgomery Ward by Robert L. May, Rudolph was featured in many free booklets before he became associated with Christmas. Songwriter Johnny Marks liked the title “Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer”, so he wrpte a song about it. He was so sure he had a success that he started his own Publishing company, using “Rudolph” as his first release. Gene Autry made the initial re cording, and that one record sold 2,000,000 copies. Last year, there were 16 different recordings of the song for sale* ranging from boogie-woogie by Sugar Chile Robinson to Bing Crosr by, and cowboy singers. Interesting Job? Santa's Beats All . At This Season , W HO HAS ONE of the most in teresting jobs this time of year? That’s easy. It’s Santa. The rotund gentleman hiding be hind the red ensemble and the Cowing white beard learns a great deal about the nature of humans, ♦specially children, at this time of year. However, after receiving thou sands of letters from all over the country, and talking to thousands of youngsters on street comers and in department stores, Santa usually comes to the same conclusion each year. Times and customs change, but children seldom do. Requests that Santa receives fol low a general pattern each year— everything from bicycles to roller skates and cowboy suits for boys, with dolls and elaborate accessor ies the favorite with the girls. There are some exceptions. Lots of children make requests for use ful items, typewriters and such, in the hope of becoming writers and stenographers. Last year one lad asked for a Bengal tiger. Santa, understanding human that he must be, promises to fill all the requests that he can and ex plains tenderly why ther« are some that are out of reach. St. Nicholas Possessed Of Great Virtue, Piety Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, was said to have been • saint of great virtue and piety. An ancient legend is told that he became tbe patron saint of school boys when he restored to life the sons of a rich Asiatic, who had been murdered by a robber- innkeeper while they were enroute to school in Athens. It is said that he was warned of the crime in a vision, but was unable to reach the inn in time to prevent the murders. He restored the boys to life through prayers and also forced the mur derer to confess his crime to au thorities. ... A HERALD OF THE KING . . . TJree decoration J4aA cAncient Source n 3n cArakian J^egend ’ When you fasten the ornaments to your Christmas tree this year you will be commemorating a centuries- old Arabian legend that relates how plants blossomed and flowered and trees miracluously bore ripened fruit on the eve of the first Christ mas. In fact, the Christmas tree itself stems from the story of a Scandina vian “sacred” tree and Martin Luther, a German, is said to have brought the first one indoors and decorated it for the Yule season in the early 16th century. These are only two of more than a score of legends from which today’s Christmas symbols and cus toms stem. According to Jeannette Lee, who has probed their origin for nearly a dozen years, the American Christmas symbols — from candles and bells to kissing under the mis tletoe—have no common nationality. They have come from all parts of the world. Mrs. Lee, who is supervisor of .creative art for a greeting card company, constantly utilizes the traditions and emblems of the fes tival as ornaments for Christmas cards and is just as constantly searching for new ones. This year, for example, the bright-colored tree ornaments are in high vogue as decorative % devices on Christmas cards. CHRISTMAS CANDLE . . . Tha •oft, steady glow of a lighted < aaadje la one of the treasures of ‘ Christmas which no one wo aid * want to lose. Another treason Is the hapfy child. Christmas Helps World's Economy Many people, with the total ex ception of chLdren, have come to believe that Christmas has become too commercial. In a spiritual sense, this is true to some extent. Economically, however, no other holiday or festive season contrib utes so much to the welfare of the world. Christmas hak hardly passed into the new year before thousands are at work on toys and myriads of other ORistmas specialties for the next holiday. Each year, as the lights of Christmas trees twinkle on a wintry night, how many of us think of the millions who have gained employment through the Christmas shopping industry? And yet, “too commercial” may be an understatement. Is It too wrong, once * year, to make the dominant theme one of giving, rath er than of receiving? Christmas, and the spirit of Christmas, has en dured wars and great chaos through centuries as a time of joyousness and happiness, and giving has- al ways been an important part of the festivities. The picture of the family united, with presents opened, and children wrapped in the joyousnees of Child hood's greatest emotion is still, and .wiB remain the Christmas / -• at .£! r •••*•*• *-V • VA'J / • O THOSE whose friend- | y Support during the past year has contributed so greatly to out welfare, we extend cordial and apprea- otive thanks. / Moy your Christmas be Happy , -u J D. E. Tribble Company Lumber and Builders Supplies A- And now it's Christmas again! It's strange how quickly this day of all days slips up on us but each year as we realize that soon we will be observing this great occasion, we find ourselves more grateful for the oppor tunity of serving you. You have been very thoughtful and generous and in extending the greetings of the season to you, we wish to include our hearty thanks for everything. Moy this truly be o happy Christmas for you. / Laurens Federal Savings & Loan Association 104 West Main St Laurens, S. C.