Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-12-10
CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS.

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS
The custom of decorating with ever
greens Is very ancient one Two thou
sand years ago, the Romans did the sam
thing; indeed. ii is more than probabl
that the origin of adjoining our hon
with ivy. holly and bay must be sough
for in the old Latin Saturnalia. held ev
cry year toward the end Of December.
'The mistIetoe. always associated will
Christmas. was cut by the Druids ant
hung in their houses at the Yuietide sea
SON The people went in procession. Thu
bards walked first, singing canticles an,
hymns; a herald preceded three Druid
with implements for the purpose. Thel
followed the chief OF the Druids, accom-
panied by all the people. lie mounted
the oak and cutting the mistletoe witt
a golden sickle. presented II to the othel
Druids. who received II with great re
spect. and it was distributed among tn
people as sacred and holy plant.
At Nantes, in France. there was a sin
gular custom observed until a centur,
ago On Christmas eve, "mistletoe wa
carried to the high altar OF the cathedral
and a public ard universal liberty. par
don and freedom to all sorts OF inferior
and even wicked people at the gates oi
the city, towards the four quarters ol
heaven. was proclaimed But the mis-
iletoe is not used in the churches now
being considered a pagan plant, as cut
ting and reVerenCng IL was a custom oi
the Druids: yet il is still found hanging
in houses. ana 1t is looked upon as q
! charm" for IL Is said that kissing under
il brings good luck. and We suppose that
good luck means matrimony. for we arr
told that the maid who is not kissed un-
der il al Christmas viii not be married
that year
Among the principal plants used for
/ Christmas decorations nowadays are the
holly, ivy. evergreen and mistletoe. The
| Druids would use only the mlstletoc that
I grew on the oak. bat We are not 50 par
ticular. Any of the thirty genera Of the
true family makes 4 very handsome dec
| a., fipn aud h., several kinds az
the American mistletoe. PhoTadendr0n,
especially +. noresccns. which grows
| from New Jersey to Texas and Mexico.
/ are sufficiently ornamental Tor this pur-
pose Nor Is it necessary To cOniiue our
| selves TO the ordinary Christmas ever
! greens usually employed. many other
shrubs being quite As good. like laurel.
! bay, spruce and silver iir. ycw. arbor-
vitae. cypress and Juniptr-all are very
! ornamental plants.
! Formerly the decorations Of rooms con-
sisted OF a few branches OF eVerSreens
/ stuck here and there as might he con-
/ Venieut: within the last fifteen or twenty
years however. they have been OF a
/ much more complicated character. re
! curing time and skill in their arrange
ment The week before Christmas. when
decorations OF ny extent are employed.
/ is a busy time with the ladies OF the
I household. for upon them generally fails
| the labor Of decoration. Good taste.
some practice. and Il general knowledge
: Of the materials used. are necessary To
| make prettv and effective designs.
When one intends to decorate to any
extent, there are some preparations 10 be
made. even after the ornamental shrubs
have been selected and secured Many
J little materials are needed. such as COM
mon laths. pieces of perforated zinc.
cardboard for the framework and bottoms
OF the designs. notices. &c. Other ueceS-
sary adiuncts to have on hand are large
needles a pair OF shears, penknife, strong
! linen thread of various culorS green.
! black or red). a ball of hemp Irvine and
I ,lS Of. tpIi \ l.
lent and serviceable as anything VIII be
| pair OF strong Kid gloves tp protect the
hands from the scratches and cuts they
are certain to receive ii unprotected from
| the prickly leaves of holly or from the
binding wire.
| Now you are ready for work If il be
| desired to suspend garland of large di-
/ mensions at any height, the following
| shrubs will be found the best adapted for
| its construction. namely-ivy, laurel. hol-
| ly. spruce and silver frs, yew, Portugal
| laurel and common euOnymuS- Inc
| scarlet berries OF the holly are lndlSpen-
sable for giving color. The best way for
arranging the holly berries Is TO remove
| all the leaves and eat of the stems ieaN :
ing only that portion which is covered
with berries. The stems can then be fas-
tened in the garland by pieces OF me
| binding wire. concealing the wire among
the foliage The berries can best be add
ed after the rest Of the garland IS made:
The best material for the foundation of
| tarlands is strong hemp cord. To this
| the evergreenS. after being cut the ie-
duired lengths. can be attached with the
| Irvine 1t may be difficult always TO keep
the garland even as IL is being WORKED
| in this case. when IL is too fuIl, the
pieces can be thinned out with the shears.
Small and light-looking garlands to be
suspended from gas brackets or tempo
rary pins can be made in similar man
ner on fine Irvine, but for this purpose II
ii better to employ very smali-ieaVed
plants like the prickly holly, variegated
box &c.
| For upright wreaths or headings.
branches of the dark green holly made by
far the best decoration. the rich, gllsten-
ing somber leaves being relieved ny large
punches Of the brilliant berries fastened
on at equal distances apart. Fine iron
rods should be used for the framework.
and reel wire substituted for twine Tor
wreaths can be made on strong wire for
hall lamps, by taking piece OF wire anu
forming il into a circle OF Whatever 81
may be required, and on this binding me
ieyergreens with fine wire. using plenty OF
berries in the construction. For TINS pur
pose blooms of lurIstinus work IN ad-
mirably. ,-
formed of fiat laths; if these are not
HANDY. hazel RODS will do. Unless a cross
lis of large dimensions. small-leaVed
ticable. and the lighter the colors are. If
plenty of berries are used. the more
pleasing will be the effect produced:
Among other styles OF dee9 ~ Tons
greens are quite common. Inc letters
should be cut out in strong brown wFa,-
ping paper. or if letters Of whlte are
wanted for placing on colored grounds
they can be cut from white paper. light
nv brushing over with liquid gum anu
then covering them with grains OF rice.
1.-The best evergrecnS to employ, IN max
ling the letters of notices, are the leaves
of holly, as sharper outlines can be oo-
tanned with them than with any other
Iplant Narrow headings of single leaves
lare easily made on black tape wire, each
leaf being sewn on separately. headings
of this description have the most enec-
tive appearance round door panels ana
castings.
For picture frames and texts, if the ev-
lergreens selected be of dark colors, they
should be relieved at each corner by a
tuft of light leaves and scarlet berries,
They can be made on laths in the same
manner as crosses: the oxford shape,
when finished, however, Will be found
much the haudsomest, Whom II is not
possible to fasten these frames over
those which encase the pictures, they
may be suspended by a very slight wire
and allowed to hang Immediately over
1.-The ornamental or gilt ones.
| HOW TO DRESS A WINDOW.