Chicago eagle., 1895-12-21
Christmas IN the Past.

Christmas, az the American boy or girl
now knows II, has not been thus always.
The father Of the boy or girl Of to-day
can well remember, II he has reached the
age of forty or upward, time when this
splendid festival had practically no ex.
istence for him. In certain parts OF the,
country, indeed, Christmas has never been
FORGOTTEN. In New York City, In Pennsyl-
vania, and In the South generally, Christ.
mas, as well as Easter, has always been
observed.
In New England, however, in many Of
the rural parts Of New York, and In por.
tions of the country which were settled
from New England and from rural New
York, Christmas was, forty years ago,
but name.
Some tracc of It seemed to have sur
vived in the occasional practice Of hang
ing up the stocking on Christmas eve.
Boys and girls often hung their stockings
BY the fireplace. and In the morning, II
they wcro fortunate, there was In each
stocking store of nuts, little candy,
and perhaps jack-knifc or thimble.
But next Christmas day-the boys
and girls went to school as usual, and
fathers and mothers went about their
usual tasks. There was no holiday and
no big Cl1istmas dinner.
The one feast of the year had been
eaten at Thanksgiving. The mince-pies
accumulated for that festival were still
making their appearance upon the family
table; and the pies, and the memory Of
all the other good things and sports of
Thanksgiving, had to serve the children
of that period. as far rs holidays were
concerned, until Fast Day came round
again.
In most of the States. indeed, the chill.
dren had not even Fast Day to look for.
ward to. There was no real holiday until
the Fourth Of July. For them there were
practically but two holidays In the year.
The recOllcctiOns Of Christmas which
a person of fifty should undertake to re-
late to his children would be very much
like the celebrated chapter about the
snakes In ireland, which simply stated
that there were no snakes In ireland.
He might, however, have vivid recol-
lection of rather lonesome ten minutes
spent In hanging a wOOllen stocking by a
fireplace, during which time his parents
sat solemnly by, looking as II they did
not altogether approve what he was do
Ing. The Joy with which he might an.
ticipate possible gift was tempered not
uttIe " tHe reneu1Uruuce VI Oue SuElbts
mas morning when he arose eagerly,
searched his stocking, and found nothing
whatever In II.
Very soon. however, the real Christmas
began to grow up, as Il were. The most
powerful agency In making It's observance
general was the Sunday school. Always
on the lookout for something with which
to arouse the interest of children, the Sun.
day school Of thirty years ago early made
choice Of Christmas. '"Trees" were In
troduced as n feature of an annual OBJ.
servance, and many little gifts were dis.
tributed.
1t was customary to have the passages
In the Gospel relating to the birth Of
Christ read aloud by one Of the pupils Of
the Sunday school who. could read well,
and this Office was gre,l.y coveted. The
chance Of being selected to read these
passages aloud Mt Christmas was q suf.
hcient incentive to many pupils to pay
particular attention to their reading les.
sons ut school for months together.
The interest Of the children In these ex.
erciscs was very great from the start,
and II soon drew tho older people into IN
almost equal interest In the revival Of the
old festival. In surprisingly short time
Christmas had become the most import.
mt dny In the year.