Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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NEARLY EVERYBODY IN NEWBERRY SEES • THE SUN VOL. 10; NO. 34 Newberry, South Carolina, Friday, December 26, 1947 Heavy Mail Coming Up for Santa Children of the flrst grades at the Downey, Calif., elementary school, had a special box in which they deposited their mail to Santa. All were on their best behavior, for they have no way of knowing whether or not one of Santa’s gnome helpers may be peeking through the slit. Hundreds of thousands of letters were mailed to Santa from all parts of the world. We Still Travel to Grandmother's on Christmas "To grandmother’s house for Christmas. ..." That part of the holiday theme has become as much a part of the Yule season as the mistletoe and holly. And where, in days of yore, the trip to grandmother’s house was made by sleigh, it now is being made by airplane. With more planes available and expanded facilities, airlines are an ticipating the greatest holiday travel season in history. Many families are making "split trips”—the children going unes corted aboard flights from their home to the destination airpon. where V.iey are met by their grand parents. Mother and father follow later after completing various tasks essential to a complete Christmas. “To andmother’s house for Christmas. . . .” goes the old song. And this year throughout the na tion the trip is being made by the modern mode of air transportation. The old Cherry Tree carol, or the legend upon which it is based, la undoubtedly the reason for the custom of placing a branch of cherry tree In water to bud for Christmas time. According to this legend, Mary and Joseph on their way to Beth lehem passed a tree loaded with cherries. Mary was hungry for some of the fruit and asked Joseph to pluck some cherries for her. The tree graciously bowed down so that Mary could pick the fruit herself. It has been customary among the Czechs and Slovaks to take the branch of a cherry tree and place it in water in the late fall so that the buds reach the blossoming stage at Christmas time. The belief was current that if the sprig blossomed by Christmas Eve. the girl who tended it would marry during the New Year. MISTLETOE DISTINCT AS YULE DECORATION Mistletoe, that distinctive Christmas green so common in many parts of America, is usu ally thought of merely as a good holiday decoration or as a crea tor of open season on ladies fair for otherwise bashful swains. Mistletoe did not always hold this position in our lives. The Druids called it "all-heal” and thought it held many miracul ous virtues. The Scandanavians dedicated it to their goddess of love, Friga. Probably this god dess of love is responsible for the custom of kissing under the mistletoe. JUST IN TIME . . . Youngsters all over America will sleep with one eye open on Christmas Eve—if they are lucky they might see Santa’* feet as he hurries on his way. These youngsters arrived in time to hear, “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight.” PEACE AND GOOD-WILL I LITTLE OL’ SANTA The time draws near the birth of Christ; The moon is hid; the night is still; The Christmas bells from hill to hill Answer each other in the mist. of four hamlets mead Four voices round From far and near, and moor, Swell out and fail, as if a door Were shut between me and the sound. Each voice four changes on the wind, That now dilate, and now de crease. Peace and good-will, good-will and peace. Peace and good-will, to all mankind. —Tennyson. The little ol’ Santa propped under our tree ... is little the worse for wear . . . he’s lost a leg and an arm, you see . . . but no one seems to care. Not that we’re unsympathetic, rath er, we are just a bit nostalgic. Time was when our santa, bright and new, benignly wel comed Tommy and Sue ... as they tiptoed downstairs to see . . . their presents spread be neath the tree . . . very early Christmas morning. ’Tho Tommy and Sue have outgrown their toys . . . and en twined their hearts with grown up joys . . . that little ol’ santa, propped under the tree, sym bolizes Christmas—as Christmas ought to be . . . with toys for children, good will among men . . . on earth, Peace dawning. —Dorothea Waitzmann. The bringing in of the yule log originated in England during medie val times. The log was dragged into the great hall at the beginning of the Christmas feast and was the occa sion of the rendering of the Christ mas toast, which is, in part: “TTiis yule log burns. It destroys old hatreds and misunderstandings. Let your envies vanish, and let the spir it of good fellowship reign supreme for this season and through all the year.” The yule log represents “Peace on earth, good will toward men.” REAL ST. NICHOLAS OF FOURTH CENTURY St. Nicholas is popularly as sociated with Christmas and gift giving presumably because once during his mortal existence he reportedly endowned three dowerless maidens with three purses of gold. Historically—as the Archbish op of Myra, Nichalos was member of the council ol Micaea. In 325 A.D., Constan tine the Great called together the theoligians of the Christian world in the first complete gen- It's been our happy privilege for a long, long time, to send our Christmas greetings each year to those of you whoiji we have had the pleasure of serving. We look forward each year to this occasion, principally because we learned long ago the value of loyal friendships. Each year ¥ /*/ . \*. we strive to add more friends to our list. If we have not had an opportunity to serve you in the past, we invite your considera- i tion. We will do our best to please. And to those of you whom we have been associated for many years, here's our usual, yet genuine, "Merry Christmas". (1 ME9RRT eiiRiGrTMiTfer C. D. “Pete” Coleman C. D. COLEMAN COMPANY H. K. Shannon George Stevens David Johnson Emerson Westwood J. W. Stuckman, Porter James Davis, Porter Joe Clamp