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.

IftakMtMlKkKx | THE NEWBERRY SUN imwwwOTiw nwmwwiwwf I We hope you and your loved ones and friends enjoy this occasion to the fullest extent and that you may have an abundance of joy and happiness. A very merry Christmas to you, our friends. ! mmmm- ilr Newberry Creamery The Scots have always made a big fuss over New Years, and no wonder. The wassail bowl goes ’round at New Year’s time, tilled with savory liquid and nostalgic memories. Traditionally, the. wassail bowl itself should be an ornament of graceful design; its contents should be warm and spicy—with sweetened wine, ale, sugar, and nutmeg. Custom dictates that at the stroke of 12 on New Year’s Eve, the head of the household should sip the mix ture and then pass it among those present. A favorite custom of the Scots has been to pile into wagons or sleighs carrying kettles full of the wassail, cheese and buns. The party stops at various houses in the community and the refresh ments go 'round at each stop with out paying much attention to the approaching dawn. "Open House" on New Year's Day was quite the vogue in the United States around the turn of the 20th century. Newspapers car ried columns of 'at home' notices announcing the hours during which visitors would be received. And having duly received, hosts and hostesses closed their receptions and joined the procession of callers at other ‘open houses.* Human nature being what, it is. receptions were often ‘crashed’ by strangers prompted by the acces sibility of free punch, and a succes sion of several ‘open houses’ some times resulted in the most welcome guests arriving in excessively boisterous or mellow moods and contributed to the abandonment of the publicly announced 'open house.' But intimates still toast each other around a private was sail bowl and "drink a cup of kind ness yet for Auld Lang Syne". New Year's Day, aside from its festive connection, may not seem very momentous to the average citizen, but in the past it figured prominently in the making of his tory. It saw the unfurling of the first American flag by George Washing ton, and the emancipation of Negra slaves. Here is a list of Important events that have occurred on News Year's day throughout the ages: January 1 32 B. C. The era of the Casears began. • • • 1348 A. D. Edward III, king of England, defeated the French be fore Calais with great slaughter. • • • 1733 Paul Revere born. • • • 1787 Calcutta. India, captured by the British. • • • 1778 First Union flag of 13 stripes unfurled by George Washington. • • • 1782 Kentucky admitted Is the Union. ^ e e e 1801 Onion of Ireland with Britain. • • • 1314 American dragoons at tacked the British who had seized Buffalo. N. Y. • • • 1815 General Jackson repelled British when they attacked New Orleans. • • • 1825 Great Britain acknowledged independence of South American re publics. • • • 1863 Emancipation of Negro slaves became effective by procla mation of President Abraham Lincoln. • • • 1807 U. S. pure food law put into effect 1813 Parcel post system inaug urated. 1819 New Year’s day declared • legal holiday throughout the coun try except in Massachusetts and Washington, D C. Vm, IjorL Claims Santa d(aui to d3* J^ti private Property While the claim may cause the rest of America to bristle. New Yorkers insist that Santa Claus is peculiarly New York’s own. Not only did he land in Manhattan with the Dutch settlers, they point out, but for almost two hundred years he never took his activities or pres ents out of New York state. The New Yorkers advance some interesting points to bolster their contentions. They declare that in the genial company of Washington Irving, James Kirke Paulding and Clement Clarke Moore, Santa Claus gradually lost the grim, stern as pect he wore when he arrived with the Dutch settlers to the bulging, benevolent mien he now offers. It was In New York, too, they assert, that Santa acquired his reindeer sleigh and his habit of arriving on Christmas Instead sf on the Dutch St. Nicholas eve (December 5). And thus, la his New York panoply, he fin ally found his way to all parts of the United States, England and even Australia and India. Indeed, as the New Yorkers will tell you. New York, as New Ams terdam in the beginning, was dedi cated to Santa Claus, or St. Nich olas, by its Dutch founders. For Santa Claus—or Slnterklaas, as it is sometimes written in Holland— Is of course only the centuries-old pet name which Dutch children gave to their patron and gift bring- or, the good Bishop St. Nicholas. And it is said that the ship which brought the first Dutch children to Manhattan Island boro his face as figurehead. From the first, too, his special day of December 6, was set aside with Christmas, New Year's, Easter and Whitsuntide, as one of the five chief holidays of the new colony, just as it had been in Hol land. So, 'year after year, as regularly as St. Nicholas eve came around in New Amsterdam, in Breuckelen (Brooklyn), in Fort Orange (Al bany) and many other hamlets above the icy Hudson, the children in every good Dutch family gath ered in expectant circle. For weeks beforehand they had learned their lessons and helped with the milking and churning in an agony of good behavior. And now, all ready, they sang their song to Santa Claus. * In the midst of the song would eome a knocking at the door and in would stride Santa Claus, himself—not round and Jolly, but solemn and majestic In trailing robes. In one hand he might have a basket of presents or a purse, but in the other was sure to be a birch rod—an awful warning to a naughty boy. Santa questioned each child In turn about his behavior in the year Just past and gave him a pat of approval or a warning shake of the head, as the record indicated. Then, bidding them all look for presents in the morning, the good saint sud denly flung a handful of lollipops into the room, and, in the ensuing, scramble, vanished into the night. Then Ihe children set out their sabots, or later the great blue yarn ■tockngs made for the purpose. However he did it—and the tale varies in many lands—Santa Claus got about, for in the morning over the hearth steaming with waffles and sausages and other good Dutch fare, were the blue stockings bulg ing with apples, balls, dolls and tops. The Stable of Bethlehem did not in any way resemble the airy por ticos —complete with plaster of parts animals thi adoring shep herds— so dear to the heart of modern Christendom. With comfort increasing through out the western world, the poverty of the Nativity scene simultaneous- ty startles, and fascinates us —as perhaps Matthew, the publican, was Impressed by the story of the Wise Men; and St. Luke, who had been a ship's doctor and probably knew very little about shepherds, was charmed by the shepherds abiding in the field. There was no room in the inn that night, so Jesus was born in a stable; a place of shelter hewn into a rocky ledge of the Judean countryside. It was cold and dark and damp, and Judean travelers— frequently ’put up’ in such caves— welcomed rather than disdained Joint tenancy with beasts because the breath of the cattle and the heat of their bodies provided a little warmth, while the guests in side the inn had no heat at all. The cave, which was the birth place of the Saviour, is now a grotto benea'.h Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity; and though fasci nated by the simplicity of the origi nal Nativity scene, Christianity has been unwilling to maintain its pov erty and has covered the entire surface with costly ornamentation.