The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-12-10
CHRISTMAS COMES AGAIN II BRIGHTEN
 HURTING WORLD.
Shop Windows and Faces in Street Reflect Spirit of Yule Tide Season on Every
 Side

This is the time when there is that something in the air which only comes once each year. F you have not yet been engulfed by the feel ing, read Washington Irvings
 Christmas Eve and "Christmas Day" in his Sketch Book follow this with the poem; christmas Night in Quarters by Irwin Russell which starts off something like this: . When merry Christmas day is done And Christmas night is just begun: While clouds in slow procession drift, To wish the moon-man Christmas
 gift :.
 By that time you will be ready for walk covering the downtown busi- ness streets and the total result will put you in harmony with the prevail ing atmosphere Of the coming holi- day season--Christmas time, the time Of universal joy and good will.
 Taking tip from the experience gained ever period of many cen turies, commercial activities are the first to reflect. the spirit of Christmas time. But this is not oieplorable situation. for it expresses the de- msnds made by grateful public, rather than commercial promotion fostered by those who satisfy the de- mands.
 santa Is Real
 If you feel that Christmas time Is being exploited, stand before a dis play window and see the emotions that ares betrayed by eager faces as they look al the gifts of their choice. The small tot will be there with loud yociferations as to what he is writing to Santa Claus, standing nearby will be his big brother or sister, not yet willing to have tn. grandest character of their lives brushed away by the cruel informa- tion that Canta Claus is character of fiction and legend; stopping for brief glance, others of all ages will single out an object and turn away with a glow as they wonder if some one else, too, is thinking of that obect but with the idea of being giver instead of recipient.
 It is the Christmas spirit that brings all this about and 1t Is a spirit that will not brook subjection. It comes out of the centuries and acts with fervor that savers of an in- born characteristic, like self preser- vation. or other universal human qualities. This is the atmosphere that is aboard in Birmingham. It reaches over the entire civilized world. Even people who are not of the Christian faith recognize the Christmas holiday season as a world wide institution, and join in the be true of certain Asiatic and European people, but this is' not written as treatise on historical matters. Here in Birmingham the Christmas season will bring joy to every heart that is in a receptive attitude. People are going to give and receive. The spirit is now on.
 And what is going to be given ? And it's result. what will be received Go into the stores, the department stores. the smaller retail stores. the specialty shops, and. yes, later the grocery stores and you will see the material objects that will bring joys that can only eminate from that eternal spark-the soul. There will be a grand rush from now until the night before Christmas. Then will come Christmas morning and with it the universal calm that is always spread over the world on this day.g There will be people in Birmingham so fortunate al to have an automo hile of expensive type rolled up be- fore the home as the family Christi mas gift. Their joy will be real, and well may il be. But it will not be a greater joy than that which will come to the child of three years as it pulls the ten cent toy car about the floor with a string
 Wide Range of Gifts
 A visit to Birmingham business houses reveals that Christmas gifts will range all the way between the extremes just mentioned. Per ,haps these are not the two extremes. There may be a child somewhere in cent toy. But there is something such a child will get. which is not common to every day in the year. Whatever il is. it will bTng joy and Christmas day will be a better day if only a kind word or Kiss Is given where it has been longed for, but not given before.
 There are certain symbols that have come to represent our national holidays and festival seasons; flow CTS and wreaths on Decoration Day, the flag on the Fourth of July. the turkey with tail feathers spread on Thanksgiving. and now comes Christmas with holly, and stockings swinging from the mantel. Story books and pictures always represent Christmas as time when the ground is covered swith snow, but people who live in warm climate rarely witness snow in the winter and 1t Is the ex ctption when snow is present al Christmas time. Birmingham young sters vii not make heavy drain on Santa Claus supply Of skates and