Evening star., 1936-12-20
Bv Herbert HONander.
r VOW old is the celebration of
IL Christmas?
Was there ever really such
Il Il person as Santa Claus?

IL Christmas?
Was there ever really such
a a person as Santa Claus?
Whence comes the custom of deco
rating homes with frs and eyergreenS
at this festive season?
When and where was it unlawful 10
celebrate Christmas in America?
Why are reindeer so closely asso-
ciated with Christmas?
What are the most popular pieces
about Christmas written in the Eng
lsh language?
What is the origin of the use Of
Christmas greeting cards?
What is the chief source of most
Of the toys Americas children will
find in their stockings and beneath
their trees this Christmas?
MORE than 1000 years before the
birth of Christ, Yuletide was OBJ
served by Europeans. On December
81. the shortest day of the year, festi-
vals were observed in honor of the
sun. which then begins its upward
course.
The primitive people had seen the
suns power wane and when he ap-
parently wheeled about and grew
stronger and brighter they felt he
had been born again. Thus at
Hweolor- tide, the turning time, from
which. some say, comes the word
Yuletide, there was great rejoicing.
There also is theory that the orig
inal term was Iol or Iul, a primitive
word conveying the idea of revolution,
or wheel.
The Romans called this holiday
saturnalia. 1t was marked by merri-
ment and extreme license. In addi-
ton to feasting, drinking, dancing
and the exchange of presents, the
homes were hung with evergreens.
In the North, great blocks of wood, the
progenitor of the Yule log, were
burned in honor of Odin and Thor
Mistletoe was cut from the sacred
oaks by the Druid priests and the an
cient Teutons celebrated by decking
fir trees, for they thought of the sun
riding higher and higher in the
heavens as the spreading and BIOS
soning of great tree. These we're
the forerunners of our Christmas
trees
The tinsel decorations of today had
their counterpart in golden apples,
nuts and balls hung on trees to SYM
holize the sun, moon and stars, while
images Of animals we're placed in the
branches, betokening sacrifices made
to the sun god.
The Feast of the Nativity was OBJ
served as early as the first century of
our era, and it was kept by the prim-
tive Christians even in the days of
their persecution. Various dates were
celebrated but none so extensively as
the ancient festival of the rebirth of
the sun. In the fourth century, Pope
Julius considered it settled that
Christ was born on or about December
IS. Within hundred years that date
was generally accepted by Christians
who, fitting it in with the feast which
had been celebrated by many peoples
from time immemorial, adopted as
many of the established customs as
possible but gave them finer charac-
ter.
CANTA CLAUS: Did such a person
ever exist?
That fat and jolly gentleman, SO in
dispensable part Of the American OBJ
servance of Christmas, whence did he
come upon the native scene?
The story goes back to the Bishop
Of Myra, the original st. Nicholas, who
lived in the fourth century A. D. Off
cially, little is known of this man who
became the patron saint of school,
boys. OF legend, however, there is an
almost inexhaustible store. His kind
neSses to many classes brought him
wide veneration, and his name grad
ually became associated with many of
the elements which the American
reads into the figure of Santa Claus.
One of the most characteristic stories
of St. Nicholas is that of the dowerless
maidens who, had it not been for his
compassion in giving gold to their dis
tracted father, would have been aban-
doned to the most unfortunate of
fates. BY definite evidence, this par
ticular act Is connected with the pres
ent inevitable practice of picturing
Santa Claus coming down a chimney
with his gifts at this holiday season.