Holiday Traditions / Greeting Cards / Snowmen / Christmas Caroling / Hanging Your StockingsLet's learn a few holiday traditions about greeting cards, snowmen, Christmas Caroling, and hanging your stocking by the chimney. | ||||||
Greet the Season with Holiday Greeting CardsIt's probably a fair statement to say that we all enjoy receiving Christmas cards, but sending them out can be quite a chore. For many of us in today's fast paced highly technological world, it's probably the only letter or note we'll send out through the mail to friends and family the entire year. But have you ever stopped to wonder how the tradition of sending Christmas cards began?The Christmas card is a Victorian creation, which began as a kind of stationery. The first card was produced by Sir Henry Cole who worked for the British Postal Service, and an artist he hired named John Horsley. This early card was a depiction of a Christmas scene framed in three panels. In the center panel was a homey table scene: children, parents and grandparents seated and some raising their glasses for a toast. On either side were panels depicting acts of Christmas charity: to the left, feeding the hungry; to the right, clothing the naked, and wished people a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Holiday greeting cards were actually preceded by notes sent home by English school boys to their parents called Christmas pieces. They not only told of how and what they were doing during their time away at school, but also served as a testament to their continually improving writing skills. Today's Christmas cards can be anything from humorous to religious, simple to ornate, small to large, and everything in between. They can include photos and letters about family milestones. They can even be used to decorate your home with during the holiday season. It's a tradition that's in danger of fading out in light of all the high technology communications options that are currently available. So, encourage your children to sit down with you when you make out your yearly Christmas cards this season, and teach them the joy of sending them to friends and family. Christmas Caroling Through the AgesMany of us can recall as children getting bundled up in our winter coats, warmest gloves and long, knitted scarves and touring our neighborhoods singing Christmas carols with family and friends. It's a tradition that's been around since the night Jesus was born. It's been said on that night, a choir of angels sang out in celebration.A Christmas carol is a song or hymn whose lyrics are about Christmas or the winter season. They are traditionally sung in the period before and during Christmas. The tradition of Christmas carols hails back as far as the thirteenth century, although carols were originally communal songs sung during celebrations like harvest tide as well as Christmas. Christmas carols and caroling in the old world was a mix of singing and dancing and was practiced for all festivals throughout the year. When Christmas was firmly established to be celebrated on December 25, many of the existing songs were sung on that day and new ones written to celebrate Christmas. St. Francis of Assisi was instrumental in making the Christmas celebration one for the people instead of just for the clergy. He created large nativity scenes outside of his church and translated many of the Christmas carols from Latin into languages spoken by the average person and encouraged them to sing these songs to express their joy during the Christmas season. This practice of singing Christmas songs outside of the church near the nativity scenes spread throughout Europe and it was a natural next step for these Christmas carolers to start walking through the neighborhoods around the churches sharing their festive songs. But why are they called carols instead of songs? A popular urban legend was that they were named after a little girl named Carol Poles who disappeared in 1888 in the Whitechaple district of London. According to the legend, the little girl was reported missing around Christmas and many people went searching for her at night. Due to fears concerning Jack the Ripper, the group would sing Christmas carols upon knocking in order to declare their good intentions. And even in today's changing world, caroling is a Christmas tradition many people still hold dear. Hang Your Stocking by the Chimney with CareA Christmas stocking is an empty sock or sock-shaped bag that children in the United States and some other cultures hang on Christmas Eve so that Santa Claus can fill it with small toys, candy, fruit, coins, or other small gifts when he arrives. These small items are often referred to as stocking stuffers or stocking fillers. Tradition in western culture dictates that a child who behaves badly during the year will receive only a piece of coal.But how did the tradition of hanging stockings by the fireplace begin? One legend says that has it that St. Nicholas of Myra heard of a farmer who had three lovely daughters who feared they would never marry well because he didn't have enough money to pay their dowries. Knowing the farmer would never accept the money outright, St. Nicholas dropped three bags of coins into their chimney on Christmas Eve. The young girls had each happened to have washed their stockings out and hung them by the fire to dry, so when the coins were dropped a bag landed inside each stocking. The next morning the young girls woke to find the coins and went on to marry and live happily ever after. Word of their good fortune traveled quickly and from then on, families would hang their stockings on the mantle each Christmas Eve hoping for the same fortune from St. Nicholas, who later became to be known as Santa Claus. Originally, children simply used one of their everyday socks, but eventually families began creating their own special Christmas stocking adorned with decorations. One traditional practice is to reserve the stocking for five gifts that stimulate each of the five senses, such as fruit and candy for taste, a noisemaking toy for sound, small but visually appealing gifts like jewelry or books for sight, something with texture such as a soft plush toy or a silk tie, and something scented such as a bag of potpourri, a candle or cologne for scent. A Winter Wonderland Filled with SnowmenWe've all probably built dozens of them in our lifetime, or helped someone. Snowmen adorn the snow-covered lawns of families across the world. Sometimes it's just one, sometimes an entire family of snow people. And there was nothing as fun as finding old clothes and other items around your house to bring him to life. Afterwards, as long as it stayed cold enough outside, your new frosty friend was there to greet visitors to your home for days to come.For those in warmer climates who've never experienced this fun activity, a snowman is a man-like figure constructed from compacted snow. The image of a snowman is popularly connected with Christmas and is fixed in Western culture. A snowman can be constructed by rolling a large ball of snow for its body. A second or third smaller ball is placed on top, as its middle body and head. Facial features, such as eyes and a mouth are added using coal, small stones, twigs, yarn or buttons. A nose may be added, using a piece of fruit or a vegetable, such as a carrot; sticks are sometimes added as arms. Snowmen are often depicted with a pipe and a hat. However, depending on the creativity of the person or people who made him, a snowman could be adorned in just about anything imaginable. In the United Kingdom and Japan, snowmen commonly are built with two balls of snow, whereas in the United States three large balls are generally used. Frosty, the most famous of snowmen, was a Tin Pan Alley novelty song created by Jack Nelson and Steve Rollins in 1950. Gene Autry bought the rights to it and recorded it. Golden Books also published an illustrated children's book about Frosty later that same year. So this winter season, put on your warmest coat and mittens, find a magical hat all your own, and bring your own snowman to life right in your front yard. Colorful crayons on white paper work just as well if you live where it's sunny! | ||||||
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