13 posts tagged “christmas”

I always feel let down to some degree right after Christmas, whether or not I had a good holiday. If I had a good Christmas, I want the feelings to go on, but if my Christmas sucked, I feel down because there's no hope left for recovering the holiday for that year and it's another long year before I get another chance. I get depressed to see the colorful lights being taken down and neighborhoods being returned to their former drab darkness.

I'm also bummed because after the long wait for the holiday season through the long endless southern summer, the season is over all too soon and now I can see the return of the next miserable summer looming on the horizon, which usually arrives sooner, rather than later in the south.

People have long complained about the rushing of the holiday season: Halloween decorations in August, Christmas stuff up in September. This has never bothered me, because it signals to me that summer will soon be gone for another year.

But it seems as if the retail industry is now rushing the after-Christmas holidays -- and I don't mean New Year's Day, which is, after all, the last hurrah of the holiday season. No, I mean Valentine's Day. It used to be that one didn't see Valentine's stuff out until after New Year's Day, or, at least not until after Christmas was over. This year, however, I began seeing Valentine's shit in the stores at least two weeks before Christmas. I've decided I hate this shit as much or more than some people hate the rushing of Halloween and Christmas stuff. I've no problem with the crap being put out in January, but no earlier.

What's next? Will we see 4th of July stuff being sold on New Year's Day sometime soon in the future? I'm surprised they don't do it already, as department stores have traditionally started selling bathing suits in their stores directly after Christmas.

Thoughts?

Both my parents grew up during the Depression.  My mother was the eldest of four children and her family had an easier time of it during that time than my father, who was the eldest child in a tenant farmer family of eight children.  Today, I thought I'd share with you how they each celebrated Christmas during their childhoods.

My father never got much for Christmas, as his family was poor and there were so many kids.  The family never had a Christmas tree, but each child got a stocking that they would hang on the fireplace mantel on Christmas Eve each year.  He never got much: some oranges and bananas, nuts, a new pair of mittens or a winter scarf, and the like.  But he was surrounding by a loving family and didn't know any different, so he was happy.

My mother did better at Christmas time, though it was still humble by today's standards.  Her family had a lighted tree each year and they exchanged gifts.  My grandfather, who was a welder, made two outdoor electric candles from iron pipes some time during my mother's childhood.  They were about four feet tall each, painted red, and each had a flame-shaped light bulb at top.  They would be placed on either side of the front door each year for the Christmas season.  These candles survived my grandfather and graced our front porch each year during my childhood and even into my son's childhood.  It was a nice little reminder of the grandfather I was never lucky enough to meet. Unfortunately, after my father died, they disappeared, and I'm guessing that my ex-stepmother just threw them out, not knowing their sentimental value.

During World War II, Americans were under a rationing system for certain goods made out of materials that were essential to the war effort.  Shoes were an item that fell under rationing.  I remember my mother told me that each person was allowed two new pairs of shoes per year.  One year, her grandmother gave my mother her shoe ration card as a Christmas present, as she was an old lady and had plenty of shoes and didn't need a new pair.  My mother, on the other hand, was a teenager who loved getting new shoes, and she was very appreciative of my great-grandmother's gift to her.

As for me, I'm very glad to have been a kid in the 1960s and 70s, as I made out like a bandit each year.

I found an interesting story about Christmas during World War II for one soldier that I thought my readers might enjoy.  Following is the story in the soldier's own words:

On 24 December 1944 I was spending my Christmas at a little place called Bastogne, Belgium, with the 101st Airborne Division. As many of you already know the story about the Battle of the Bulge, I won't go into all the details about how we were surrounded and outnumbered by the German Army.  It was a cold, bitter, dark night and around about midnight surprisingly quiet.

All of a sudden, from the German position, we heard a single voice singing "Silent Night," in German. Soon more voices were added from the Germans. Suddenly, some American Soldier picked it up and before long most of us were singing along with the Germans. This went on for about 5 or 10 minutes and then stopped. A few minutes later we were back at each other, with guns blazing.

This incident has stayed in my memory all these years and when I hear Silent Night I remember. Later I talked to American, British and French Soldiers about it and some of them had experienced the same thing on whatever front they had been fighting on, (Italy, France, Holland). I have talked to Veterans of WWI and they tell similar stories.

In the middle of the worst battle of WWII there was Peace on Earth for a few minutes.

I can't imagine anything like that happening today, which is a pity.

For those not familiar with the history of World War II, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Battle of Bastogne in particular, the siege of Bastogne was lifted the day after Christmas, when a unit from Patton's Third Army broke through the German line and liberated the soldiers from the 101st Airborne holed up in the Belgian town.  Before this happened, however,  the Germans had sent a messenger to the commander of the Americans, General Anthony McAuliffe, urging him to surrender.  McAuliffe's reply?   One word -- "Nuts!"

During the Christmas season, while many people are out buying gifts for loved ones, they are also thinking of charity, what they can do to help the less fortunate during the holiday season.

In my town, the Salvation Army bellringers are out at Wal Mart and I'm seeing Toys for Tots bins all over town.  I remember on my last job, we had a Toys for Tots bin in the lobby each year, and we always collected a lot of toys for little kids.

But I've noticed that no one is collecting Christmas gifts for teenagers from poor families.  Underprivileged teens are largely overlooked by such charity efforts, which I think is wrong.  Yes, they're not little kids who need or want toys, but they're not adults yet, either.  Christmas without presents is just as miserable for a teenager as it would be for a younger child.

For those giving to charity this year to help make Christmas brighter for poor families, please don't forget the teens when you're giving to their younger siblings.  Gifts of CDs, DVDs, grooming products, video games, gift certificates to clothing stores that cater to teens, such as Hot Topic or the Gap, and so on, will go a long way to making Christmas better for such teens in your area.

Thoughts?

Every year, when it came time to decorate the Christmas tree, when my mother and, later, my father, would unpack the lights and the ornaments, they'd find light strands that no longer worked, boxes of broken ornaments, and there would never be enough extension cords.

So, we'd all go out to buy what we needed.  When we lived in South Jersey in the late sixties and into the seventies, there was always one place we went to first.  This was a garden center/nursery called Gaudio's.  My parents used Gaudio's in the summer too, for plants, fertilizer, lawn care items, and the like, but it was only when the Christmas season rolled around that Gaudio's became interesting to me.  This store really outdid itself when it came to providing everything needed to decorate for the holidays. 

As well as having aisles devoted to every type of Christmas decorating imaginable and also wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows, Gaudio's devoted one room as a kind of a Christmas wonderland.  Inside this darkened room lit only by strands of Christmas lights, were several Christmas trees decorated in various styles.  There was a winding path among the trees with fake snow covering the floor.  As a kid, I couldn't wait to see this each year and it never failed to get me into the Christmas spirit.  I don't know if I'd be as impressed seeing it now as an adult, but just remembering it now is enough to put me in a Christmas mood.

Indeed, while looking online to see if there was anything on the net about Gaudio's, I was suddenly overcome with a great homesickness for New Jersey, a place I've not seen in over 25 years.  Unfortunately, all I could find were some passing references to this store, and I'm guessing it's no longer in business.  Too bad.

Is there a place like Gaudio's in your Christmas past?   And for those of you who lived in the South Jersey, Philadelphia metropolitan area, did any of you ever go to Gaudio's?

It seems as if the political correctness police have a new target: Santa Claus.

In Sydney, Australia, department store Santas have been banned from saying "Ho, ho, ho" to the children who come to see them, being instructed to say, "Ha, ha, ha, instead. The reason? The agency that sends Santas to Australian department stores says that it might frighten children and that it may offend women because it sounds to close to an American slang word for prostitute.

Feel free to allow your eyes to roll back into your head at this point.

Similarly, in the UK, department store Santas have been urged to lose weight. Some shopping centers have threatened to ban Santas who do not comply. Bluewater Shopping Centre in Greenhithe, Kent, has even gone one step further and set up a Santa boot camp. "Bluewater's Santa Boot Camp is getting Santa in shape and setting a good example to children who idolise him," Fiona Campbell-Reilly, spokeswoman for Bluewater said.

Has the world gone totally bonkers? Do some people have nothing better to do than to suck the fun and joy out of everything? Does nothing escape the attention of these busybodies? Let Santa be Santa, fer cryin' out loud!

Thoughts?

In recent years, we've heard about a supposed "War on Christmas", which is implicated as one facet of a war on Christianity in general.  Some people are now offended by the long-standing greeting, "Happy Holidays", even though it's been around, with its cousin, "Season's Greetings", for my entire lifetime, and probably before.  I can't remember anyone ever objecting to these phrases when I was growing up -- back then, people understood that it was a simple sentiment of goodwill with no ulterior, nefarious, Christian-hating motives.  No one was concerned with being "politically correct" in those days, either.  Rather, what some people now derisively refer to as "political correctness" was known as "good manners" then.

Similarly, back then, no one ever objected to Christmas decorations in public places, particularly those of a secular nature.  This is unlike the last year's incident at the Sea-Tac Airport, where a rabbi objected to the airport's Christmas decorations, demanding that a menorah be added.  The airport's administrators responded by removing all Christmas decorations.   While I don't see why they just couldn't have added a menorah or two and have been done with it, the rabbi's reported way of approaching the matter wasn't helping his case any.   Instead of simply requesting that Jewish symbols be added, he was reported to have demanded that such symbols be added or he'd sue to have the Christmas decorations removed.

Though many of those who claim there is a full-scale, concerted war on Christmas and want to put the "Christ back in Christmas" and that "Jesus is the reason for the season", millions of non-religious people also celebrate Christmas for secular reasons, alongside of those who celebrate it as a religious holiday.  As far as I'm concerned, Jesus is A reason for the season, not THE sole reason. 

Indeed, the original "reason for the season" long predates Christianity.  The original reason is the solstice and many of our Christmas traditions were adapted directly from Pagan celebrations.  Christmas trees, holly, snow men,  mistletoe, Yule logs, giving and receiving holiday gifts, huge feasts, are all Pagan in origin. 

Most Christian scholars agree that Jesus Christ was not actually born on December 25, but rather some time in the summer or fall, and that December 25 was chosen as the date to celebrate his birth, as it would be easier to convert Pagans to Christianity by adapting their Yuletime solstice celebrations to Christianity.  Similarly, Christians also adapted many Pagan traditions to Easter, even the holiday's name, which comes from the Pagan fertility goddess Eostre.

Santa Claus (along with Father Christmas, Sinterklaas, et al), though loosely inspired by the 4th century St. Nicholas is largely a secular symbol of Christmas.   Many popular Christmas carols also emphasize secular aspects of the holiday, such as "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", "Frosty the Snowman", "Silver Bells", "White Christmas", "I'll Be Home for Christmas", etc.

And though some Christians object to the secular aspects of Christmas, saying it adds to the commercialization of the holiday, many of the ideas behind such traditions promote ethical ideas everyone can agree on: goodwill toward others, generosity and giving, helping the less fortunate, family togetherness and celebration.  Christianity doesn't have a monopoly on such virtues.

Many people also don't know that the original "War on Christmas" was conducted by Christians.  This began in the 17th century by Puritans who objected to the Pagan origins of the holiday.  During Oliver Cromwell's rule of England, the celebrating of Christmas was actually banned.  In our own times, some sects do not celebrate Christmas, notably the Jehovah's Witnesses.  While researching for this blog entry, I found a site where a fundamentalist Christian, Scott Ashley, listed his Top Ten reasons why he does not celebrate Christmas, along with detailed explanations for each reason:

The Top 10 Reasons Why I Don't Celebrate Christmas
by Scott Ashley

To read the explanation for each of his reasons go to:
www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1750914/posts#comment

As for me, I love Christmas, though I celebrate it from a purely secular perspective.  I have no problem whatsoever with those who emphasize the religious aspects or with public Christmas decorations.  And it doesn't matter which greeting you give me: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa -- it's all good.  Accepting heartfelt, sincere greetings of any kind are part of the goodwill toward others that Christmas is supposed to be all about.

Let's all put politics aside for the month of December and practice goodwill toward all people.  That's the "reason for the season".