Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1918-12-25
!CELEBRAT|NGDEC.25
Nuletide Festival Once Marked
Return of Sun God.
Observance of Day Is Habit Of More
: Than Twenty Centuries Standing
fYule" Means Sun--commu.
nifty Christmas Tree.


nature OF our early ancestors, which
has disappeared to a great extent with
the irritating problems of civilization.
All the rest Of the year, writes Fred
eric j. Haskin, we fight and grab
things away from each other and wear
Our nerves to FRAGILE, but at Christ
mas we close our commercial ex-
changes, eat tremendous quantities of
food and send presents and postal
cards to our friends and relatives
bearing our good wishes. At least this
is what we are supposed to do. Many
people do great deal more in the
way of community Christmas trees,
visits to the hospitals and baskets for
the poor, and still others regard the
whole thing as absurd and consider alb
stinence from Christmas gifts a sign
OF strength of character.
Long before the birth of Christ our
ancestors in northwestern Europe cele-
hrated the 25th of December, which
marked the passing of the winter sol
stice or the return of the sun in the
of darkness. That was the day of the
sun wOrshipers. The problem Of the
universe was just beginning to puzzle
and our ancestors figured it out in
straightforward manner that was not
half bad for supposed savages. All
plant life, it was observed, depended
on the sun for its existence, and all
animal life depended on plant life, so
that the power of the sun was greatly
respected and it was personified In the
person of the god Thor. Thor was
watched with considerable interest,
since there was always some doubt as
TO whether he would survive the win
ter solstice. Hence the feastiDg and
merrymaking when he continued to
shine clear and strong in the heavens.
Meaning of the Word "YuIe." !.
Besides Thor there were numerous
gods who lived in the branches of
trees. Therefore the people gathered
mistletoe boughs and holly branches
and put them in conspicuous positions
in their houses, where they might
easily be seen from the outside, In the
hope that some wandering god would
! take a fancy to them and take up his
residence among the red berries. In
Germany the early Huns chopped
down the evergreens and brought them
indoors for the same purpose. The
burning of the yule log and the term
yuIetide are survivals of these early
December festivals whose influence is
still to be seen today in our own
Christmas celebrations. "Yule" means
sun.
With the dawn of Christianity and
the conversion of the sun worshipers
the birth of Christ was substituted as
the cause for celebration and the fes
itiyities became religious demonstra'
lions. The people still gormandized
trimmed their houses with holly
branches and gave presents, but the
18th of December usually saw them
comfortably seated in church.
SO Christmas has come down to us
with all these traditions. The German
Santa Claus legend has improved II
considerably for the children, and 1t Is
now known almost entirely as the chill
dren's season.
Community Christmas Tree.
Among the finest Christmas institu.
lions today is the community Christ.
mas tree, which originated in Madison
square, New York, five years ago and
since then has spread to communities
,aIl over the United States. The cen.
munity "Tree of Light" is usually
planted in central location in the
city, trimmed with balls and orna-
Snents and lighted with electricity.
Citizens are organized into committees
to collect donations for the tree and
employ bands of musicians to play
christmas carols and hymns. In Bal
tim0re last year groups Of men and
Z boys carrying holly-trimmed lanterns
walked through the streets singing
and greeting each pedestrian with
s.Merry Christmas"
While every year there is an increas-
ing number Of persons who decide to
place of Christmas presents, the aver
age person lacks the courage to face
his family empty-handed on Christmas
morning. But Christmas is a spirit,
which you either have or haven't. If
yon haven't it, the holidays are only
q bore; on the other hand, If you allow
yourself to become enthusiastic there
IS really lot of fun to be derived
from 1t, even though you're lonely and
away from home. Last year travel
ing man who was compelled to spend
Christmas away from his family in a
strange city gathered number of
little tenement waits together, took
them into large restaurant and treat
ed them all to a Christmas dinner. 81
never had so much fun in my life"
declared the travelling man.
The Christ Babe.
We give the Christ hahp his cradle