Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-30
who importune Santa Claus to put them In
their stackines Christmas morning.

who importune Santa Claus to put them In
their stockings on Christmas morning.
The increase in volume of the noisy Gel
ebratOn of the day may be due In part 10
our constantly growing foreign popula ton.
Continental EuroI ep has even been partlai
to raising noisy Ned on this day-as a RUE
Its holiday celebrants are far more Demon
strative than ours Hours before dawn
seemingly every male Italian In New York
begins to shoot off revolver as fast as he
knows how, and until we'll into the day
the popping keeps up Not even wlId
western American can hope to compete
with the imported son of Italy in this style
of New Year noise. The latter-day custom
of throwing confetti has certainly come
through the foreigner, and pleasing and
inoffensive one it is, even to the most fas-
tidious. who sometimes grow indignant
when fun-loving young men and women of
good address, apparently. endeavor to blow
horns in their or tickle them behind
the ears with little feather busters.
Gift Giving on New Year.
Only within the last five years or so has
New Year gift giving been Instituted to
any considerable extent. All the big stores
prepare for week of extensive gift shop
ping after Christmas, and the express com
panies make special arrangements to handle
New Year gifts, though the problem pre-
scented by the growing practice is not nearly
so big as that connected with Christmas
giving.
The idea back of New Year gift giving
seems to be twofold; the recurrence of the
day offers an excellent excuse TO remember
those preSons who sent you Christmas pres
ents, but who We're not on your Christmas
list, and, secondly, it is an appropriate time
TO remind your closest friends by means of
some insignificant trinket of your steadfast
allegiance to them during the coming year.
New Year cards are not employed SO
much to carry out the gift idea of the day
as would be imagined. Indeed, those who
ought to know declare that the New Year
card is not nearly so popular as 1t used to
be. On the other hand calendars, decorated
with idealiStic heads of girls, and books
are favored gifts. The cost of q New Year
gift very seldom Creeps above five dollars.
Like the stores, the theaters of late years
have noted marked increase in their New
Year day business The big day of the
theaters in eastern cities is still election
day. but New Year day is now pushing
that hard, especially in New York, the
foreign residents fiocking in great numbers
to the amusement resorts. Christmas day
is now the least profitable of all the cold
weather holidays for the theaters. Less
than ten years ago this could be said of
New Year day. Who wanted to see
play of any sort when free drink and food
of excellent quality were to be had in I'M
stinted measure at hundreds of open houses
and open bars, and clubs as well?
Dining Out.
With the open house has also gone the
habit of having big New Year family
dinner. If you will take the trouble to in
quire of them. the family poultry dealers
will doubtless tell you that turkey is eaten
less and less on New Year, while the
greengrocers will vouchsafe the Informal
ton that housewives plan for only an or
binary dinner, If they plan at all, since
many families now dine at hotels on New
Year day and go to the theater afterward.
This is a development that doubtless is not
frowned upon by the. average house
wife full weary with planning for and di-
recting the week of Christmas hospitality
and revel
Only in the country districts is New
Year day passed in anything like the
same old way. When that day dawns the
big family parties are so tired from the
stuffing and the fun of the preceding seven
days that they let the day go by without
any special efforts to observe 1t, other than
to fire off an OCCASIONAL anvil, perhaps. With
the countryside it's time of recuperation
for the earnest work of the morrow.
On the whole. the new style of New
Year celebration in our centers of popu-
lation is by far the most sensible New
Year celebration down to date, and it Is
enthusiastically American in that It's key
note is fun. Therefore all hail to the new
kind Of New Year!