The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-12-23

/ who assemble around the zariiv hearth
+ G. the festival day. AMI 10 conv!nse. the
LITTLE folk c. the hoasehold that dear ola
santa Claus is very much more than 4
/ myth.
/ TIE merchants handling tas diEerent
/ lines Of holiday gifts pronounce trade
+ brisk. and re-e4E5Icezrents Of saIeswo-
/ men and salsszaea have been drawn into
/ the serFicc n all Of the large department
Z stores, an aII ne centres Of trade EI7era
! Christmas gifts are handled extensively.
/ The number CT gifts prr1aSsed Tor out-of
/ town friends ard relatives viii equal the
purchases made fer several years psst-
/ The approach CT Tulcti5e this year has
beea characterized BY number o. UNIQUE
incidents. soEe CT which are given below:
BistIetoe AGAIN in Great Vogue.
Those Who deal in 1nist1etoe say that
there Is q mare extensive sale Of that
romantic Christmas greea!et this holiday
season than OF yore- They attribute this
increased sale 10 Ike coming in vogue
aEsin OF that beautiscl old custom Of
kissing Under the mie tletoe.v
Speaking about this oseuIsserv fr,pa-
7i1n- 4 dealer in Christmas goods said
this morning At tfs Centre Market:
Yes yoEas man, you have to be I'd on
everything nowadays. If you want 10
mako success Of your ealing and bust
Hess you Eusz study it thoroughly so
that yoG can talk to your customers
ABOUT the ins-aHd-oJrts OF t. studied
Christmas green's, ana raistIetoe is The
fashionable green this Christmas. 50
read Up on mistletoc- NOW, let me tel
you something about miztietee.
kissing is a thing that should perhaps
be reserEed fer family Use and medicinal
purposes, except at Christmas. The origin
Of this NEST delectab!e custom Of kissing
far maids under The mfstietce bouzh. or
rather on the red ruby lips. or under the
nose. if yea please. is as profound =
mystery 10 Us as II was 10 The Dr1ils or
scandinavians- or whoerer Il vas thai
handed down tie practice 10 Us.
We know. however. that rnistlesor Was
enc Of the Ingredients il The magic cal
dron Of kericEen. the old British yeB,s
tReIr goddess OF love; and also that iba
Scanoin2Fi2ns held the Plant sacred IN
freFa, the Venus of the North. English /!
peasants say that the maid uho is not
kissed under the zaistfetoe vju rot gat
married before the following year. and !
now many maid felt she vas being
waited gently on to the shelf of single /
blessedness has blessed the opportunity /
Of neutrality-suspicious. knowing il Of course /
right under The magic branch. thus Sc
curing as right what IS mostly a matter
of pure pleasure
The Writes Of The mistletoc are SIM
posed to be in the berries. One must he
piucked at every kiss, and when they are
ali piueked the privilege ceases. And gen
orally you viii End the plainest girl under
the branches with NEST berries on That's
So
I had an unusually large number Of
maiden lady customers too and toll
you. they were most particular about the
berries 1 want lots of berries on it
never mind the green stuff, give me Der
RES. they said
Look out, young fellow, look out" said
the old vender OF the Christmas greens
with friendly wave of his hand
4 Small Black Tradesman.
One Of the most interesting sights in
the whole OF the picturesque colony OF
negroes who sell Christmas greens in
front of Centre Market, is little picka-
ninny about nine years of age. whose en-
tire stock in trade consists of a couple of
small Christmas trees and several large
punches of holly.
He is as black as tue ace of spades. OF
ancient comparison. and taken as whole
his clothing would do credit 10 the most
fastidious funny man" of the modern
comic opera Only those who have seen /
MIN can rightly conceive of the bIackness
OF the grjnning cOUnteRance that peers cut
from under the shining expanse of a woe
fully dilapidated plug" hat.
An imposing array of ivory-like teeth
are displayed through a mouth that really
appears to extend from ear to ear. There
IS lot siagle moment in the day when
that same broad grin is not visible Some
times 1t bFcadens, when he greets a pros
pective purchaser; but it never xanishes
entirely from sight
The simple aPpeliation, Harry" is all
that is known conc eTning his name. All !
day he stands there. hrst on one foot and /
then On the other-seid0m On both, rs
freck coat. which from its looks might
have descended from the wardrobe of !
George Washington, is pushed back. re-
yealing billed" shirt, several sizes ton
large whose cleanliness has long since
leased te be even questionable. HIS pants. ]
also OF somewhat uneertaiz origin, are