The Mathis News (Mathis, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 52, Ed. 1 Friday, December 26, 1952 Page: 3 of 12
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True Christmas Spirit %
Is Found in Sharing «#1
p'OR a really satisfying and
meaningful Christmas, share
yours with the old and feeble, the
ill and shut-in, the bereaved whose
sorrows you might lighten.
Unfortunately, all the flurry and
preparation associated with Christ-
mas are apt to make parents as
well as children overlook the real
significance of the coming birth-
day of Christ. , .
Friday, December 26, 1952 — THE MATHIS NEWS — Page 3
put of ingenious middle-aged in-
ventors.
New toys that startle the world
often come from Europe. One such
is a German duck which, when set
on an incline, proudly walks down
the slope. Another is a recent gadg-
et from Denmark called a “tippe
top,’ a wobbly sphere about the
size of a small apple that suddenly
flips upside down and continues
spinning on its stem.
Winston Churchill was intrigued
by the top when he first saw it. In
Stockholm, the King of Sweden, a
cabinet minister and an atom
physicist, a Nobel Prize winner, got
down on their hands and knees at
a banquet to study the mysterious
flip-flop action.
As a mirror of mankind’s cul-
ture, toys reflect the progress of
civilization. Yet an amazing sim-
ilarity can sometimes be seen be-
tween the toys of long-forgotten
eras and the playthings of today.
wooden ^arni scene from --------
Bavaria, a South American gaucho
doll, or a miniature pagoda made
in Japan.
Similarly, the United States, now
the world’s leading toy maker,
sends abroad its wild west cos-
its shiny playtime trucks
God Bless Christmas
“There are many things from
which I might have derived good, !
by which I have not profited, I j
dare say,” returned the nephew, j
“Christmas among the rest. But I
am sure I have always thought
of Christmas time, when it has
come around, as a good time; a
kind, forgiving, charitable, pleas-
ant time; and, therefore, uncle, j
though it had newer put a scrap
of gold or silver in my pocket, I
say, God bless it!”—Charles Dick-
ens, “A Christmas Carol.”
far-Off Lands
Come to Life
In Yule Toys^
onapdragon was a favorite
Christmas game in England more
than 200 years ago; it is still
played in modified form in Eng-
land and America. I
The original game called for a
Quantity of raisins to be deposited
in a large bowl or dish. Brandy or
some other spirit was poured over
the fruit and ignited. The by-
standers then endeavored to grasp
a raisin, by plunging their hands
through the flames. A carol, called
“The Song of Snapdragon,” ac-
companied the game.
tumes,
and cars and earth-moving equip-
ment, its small-scale railroads and
sky scrapers to delight children all
over the globe.
Toy industries in Germany and
Japan are on the upswing again.
Germany was among the first na-
tions in the world to make tin
horses on wheels, engines that ran,
animals that walked, birds that
'sang. Now U.S. buyers go back to
cities such as Numbers for the cut-
To keep your Christmas a truly
merry one, keep these don’ts
in mind:
DON’T give children dan-
gerous toys, or toys with sharp
points. If they operate with elec-
tricity, be sure you supervise
their use.
DON’T decorate the tree with
lighted candles unless it’s abso-
lutely unavoidable.
DON’T place the tree near a
stove or fireplace.
DON’T leave lighted tree un-
guarded at any time.
DON’T use a rickety, unsafe
ladder in decorating the tree.
DON’T place Christmas can-
dles near the tree, curtains,
paper wreaths or other deco-
rations.
DON’T overlook the opportu-
nity to make your tree fire-
resistant.
DON’T" leave toys exposed
where people can trip on them.
DON’T allow steps and side-
walks to become icy in cold
Weather.
DON’T drive recklessly.
/EOGRAPHY comes down the
chimney on Christmas Eve.
In the flood of toys soon to spill
, tput into the nation’s living rooms
1 will be the touch of many different
, lands. Beside a teddy bear, replica
,§i Australia’s marsupial furred
koalas, perhaps will stand a carved
The Prophecy
Isaiah 9:6
* For unto us a child is born, unto us
la son is given: and the government
shall be upon his shoulder: and his\
name shall be called W onderful\
Counsellor, the mighty God, the ever-1
lasting Father, the Prince of Peace. P
fPe sure
The Star of Bethlehem could
have been any of these. It could
even have been a “new star” or
nova which suddenly burst forth
with a many-thousand-fold in-
crease in brilliance, due to some
great stellar catastrophe. These
are all explanations of what the
“star” could have been. Had it
been any of the abo^se, it would
have been seen by many peoples,
and in literature would have been
found references to the appearance
of the object which attracted at-
tention. But nowhere in the litera-
ture or in the folklore of any of the
peoples noted as astute observers
of celestial phenomena do these
references exist.
From this we are forced to con-
clude the appearance of the star
was a sight given only to the Wise
Men to see.
'T'HE “STAR” which signaled
-*• ‘the First Christmas” may be
interpreted in many ways. In all
such interpretations we must put
ourselves as nearly as possible in-
to the social and psychological
frame of mind of those whom we
try to understand. The astronomer
knows that through the ages the
word “star” has been used to in-
dicate almost any celestial phe-
nomenon. We still speak of “fall-
ing stars” or “Shooting stars”
which we know quite well are not
stars at all. In more ancient times
the comet was called a “hairy
star” and was derived from the
Latin word coma, meaning hair.
The planets were the “wandering
stars” as opposed to the “fixed
stars,” and from the Greek word
for wanderer we derive our word
“planets.”
hope that
your Holiday
Season will be 1
the merriest everl
pHRISTMAS, like any other
^ blessed institution has had to
fight its battles. The first great
enemy of Christmas was the Ro-
man empire whose pagan em-
perors determined to blot out all
kinds of Christian rites.
Then when Roman Emperor Con-
stantine Christianized the empire
other enemies of Christmas arose.
One course of contention was: Is
December 25 really Christmas?
Some said Christ was born on Jan-
uary 6; others held for March 29.
Some set April 21 as His birthday.
Nobody knew with complete con-
fidence just when to celebrate
Christmas. At last, in the fourth
century, Pope Julius I settled the
matter in favor of our present date.
His decision was accepted.
From the first there had been
among Christians a certain hos-
tility toward the Christmas festi-
val. The celebration of birthdays
in general was considered heathen-
ish and something taken over from
the pagans. Nor did the enemies
of Christmas fail to observe that
many pagan customs had crept into
the feastings of the day. Christmas
and the days of Advent that go be-
fore it occur at the time of the
winter solstice, when the days
cease to grow shorter, and begin
to lengthen—when the sun, hav-
ing declined its furthest from
zenith#* begins to climb again.
The period was one of festival
in many parts of the world, and
'was held scared by many religions.
Then occurred thg Roman Satur-
nalia. with its wild excesses, and
the people of the north, too, had a
great midwinter feast with dayg
of hearty eating and deep drinking.
From the Saturnalia came ban-
quetings and dancings and riotings
in masks and the giving of gifts.
Our Christmas dinner and Christ-
mas presents and Christmas cards
and the wearing of Christmas
masks in various parts of the world
date back to the Saturnalia. The
mid-winter feast of the northern
peoples was called Yule, hence our
Yuleticle and Yule log: The burn-
ing of the Christmas log descends
from northern tree worship. So
does the Christmas tree.
Santa Claus seems to date from
later Christmas times. He is good
St. Nicholas, of course. The hang-
ing of stockings comes from the
legend that the saint, among his
other charities, used to provide
doweries for poor girls. The older
form of the Christmas stocking
custom was for poor girls to hang
up stockings in the hope that bene-
volent St. Nicholas would place
marriage portions in them.
msmmk wm
A Imjmta ifnlfaatj tu AU
SUTHERLAND'S STORE
Allie Holmes And Family
iillltst
ma&smimfm
fapuimgaam
LlilOS GARAGE
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SANTA S ROLL CALL ... In a
big city Santa needs a platoon
of helpers to make the rounds
Here he checks up in New York
to see if all of his aides are on
hand for the big Christmas Eve
delivery.
STEINMEYER & CO
WESTERN AUTO ASSOC.
RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION
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Helm, Bobby. The Mathis News (Mathis, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 52, Ed. 1 Friday, December 26, 1952, newspaper, December 26, 1952; Mathis, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1039415/m1/3/?rotate=180: accessed July 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Mathis Public Library.