Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1915-12-25


petus and encouragement to skilled
workers whose ideas might and must
otherwise go unimproved and unre-
warded.
Millions of Christmas cards are
bought these times; yet few take the
trouble to wonder where me never
ending supply comes from
These, too. are in the works long
months before Christmas time nears.
The artists are employed thinking up
some new twist to give an appealing
touch to the same old Christmas idea.
Verse writer's are busy working out
novelties in rhyme which shall say in
a new form what people have been
saying for centuries. The shopper
during Christmas week, who pays a
dime or a quarter or a half dollar,
more or less, for a card which takes
his or her fancy, does not stop to look
far back of the little bit of paste
board, to the unknown minds which
have spent time and thought and skill
and anxiety, toward getting up some
thing which shall combine the beauti-
full with the timely and the suitable.
for SO simple thing as Christmas
card.
Nor is the commercial side alone the
one on which we might ponder, with
each recurring holiday time.
Even now, we have said nothing Of
the millions employed in the manu-
facture of toys for children-some of
these we have heard a great deal Of
during the period since the awful war
began; there has been no reference to
the great increase of good things
brought from distant points, to add to
the appetizing Christmas feasts; moth
ing has been said of the yards and
yards of ground pine, the millions Of
Christmas trees, gathered and cut in
pastures and forests in New England
I AN WkNEn EaranWN EN#
| laurel, the holly, mistletoe, Southern
smilax. the sprigs of barberries and
! bayberries, and the infinite number of
red berries collected TO be shipped to
city markets.
All along the line, there is new in
dustry, new thoughtfulness, new i'm
| pulse to invent or design novelties,
practical. fanciful. frivolous; no mat
| ter. so that only they can be truthfully
dubbed New, for the holiday trade.
| But, as We began to say, even those
: who deprecate the commercial side of
/ Christmas time are beginning to add
init that they have up to now looked
only on this one side; that there is
| another, far more important, more
/ lasting, farther-reaching.
| Year by year, the real significance
| of Christmas is becoming better
| known. In seeking for ideas for the
| truly commercial side of the season.
| more and more are men coming 10
emphasize the real meaning of that
| strange and wOnderous occurrence
| which left the Shepherds dazed and
| which later awed the Magi. Even
! those who, the day after Christmas
forget its hallowing lessons, go back
/ one to his farm, another to his mer-
! chandise. are touched while the day
lasts. in some strange, unaccount-
able way by the helplessness of child.
hood, of which one Child was the per.
feet type. The most frivolous is NOV.
ed by desire to give to somebody
in need; to make somebody happy.
Tears start to eyes grown hard ant
steely, as the simple story of Bethle
hem is re-tOld. There Is the great anC
sudden impulse to erect trees and I,
trim and load them with gifts, il
children's homes, in hospitals, il
other-ttmes forgotten institutions
where the aged and the needy and tn
wretched are dragging out uninvit
ing and uneventful days. until the,
shall reach the happy hour when life
WORKOUT machinery stops, and tn
| poor wasted frame is hurried away t
some potter's field, perhaps.
IL is for such as these that Their
! comes the great impulse to do, at tn
holiday time. Younger and more for
tunate. though habitually careles
mOrtals sing them Christmas carol:
and surprise them with gifts and good
les, and maybe overfeed them; but n
matter!
They would be most willing to di
, with joy, having had this unwonte
taste of the Christmas spirit, whic
. takes it's rise in the old but ever-ne'
} tale of the poverty, albeit the glory, {
q Bethlehem's stable, on that frs
, Christmas. when, before even I'll
lowly shepherds came to wonder an
adore, while the dumb beasts Ter
\ | their breath to warm the frosty al
the little group consisted of the hum
BILE and reverent Joseph and III
\ | Mother who bent over the Babe upo
. his manger-bed, while without IN
o | celestial Choirs sang the song whiC
j the wearied world longs to hear ono
v more. Peace on earth. good will
V men!"