Polite Kid

Christmas Across Our Country
from An American Annual of Christmas Literature and Art (1975)
The first Christmas celebration held by Englishmen in America was at Jamestown in 1607:
"The extreme winde, rayne, frost and snow caused us to keep Christmas among the salvages where we were never more merry, nor fed on more plenty of good oysters, fish, flesh, wildfowl, and good bread." - From the record of Captain John Smith
Down East: Christmas at Plymouth, 1620
"We went on shore, some to fell timber, some to saw, some to rive, and some to carry; so no man rested all that day." - From Bradford's Record
The Puritans regarded Christmas as a day of solemn worship.
In 1659 the General Constitution of Massachusetts deemed it necessary to enact this law: "Whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or the like, either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or any other way as a festival shall be fined Five Shillings."
Christmas became a legal holiday in Massachusetts about the middle of the 18th century, and the day began to be celebrated in the real old English fashion around 1790 or the early 1800s.
There were "Hymns and prayer" in the morning.
Boar's heads and peacock pies decorated the tables and Yule-logs burned in the great halls.
Soap-bubble parties were a popular Yuletide amusement in the 1880s and at apple bees, young ladies found their future husband's initial when the peeling was coyly tossed over a shoulder.
Down South - Back in the 1800s, a few days before Christmas, a load of cotton, behind a six-mule hitch, would be decorated with colored streamers and sent to town to be traded for holiday supplies for the plantation. And river packets carried folks back home for Christmas.
Riding to the hounds on Christmas Day has always been popular.
Christmas services have been held in the Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg since 1715.
Open house is the custom at old Southern mansions.
An old plantation legend says that at the stroke of midnight, Christmas Eve, all the farm animals kneel towards the Star.
Fireworks are a Southern contribution to the American Christmas.

Labels: American Customs, American History, Holidays

It's a little late for a Thanksgiving video, but I didn't get around to posting this when I meant to -- so here it is. Thanksgiving in old America, along with a little irony in the message, in light of what is going on in 2010.

Labels: Holidays, Old America

It's a little hard to wish everybody a 'Happy' Fourth, given what's going on in our country right now. But if there are a few of you still out there, visiting this blog, I wish you a happy Fourth with your families, friends, and neighbors.
I am thinking of getting back in the saddle after all this time, but where and when is still to be determined.
Stay tuned, those of you who are still out there.

Labels: Holidays

In our neck of the woods, we are expecting yet another winter storm, this time with considerably more snow, and high winds, unfortunately.
So far, we've been spared power outages, though we have been pummeled by a lot of winds and cold. So here's hoping and praying that we do not lose our power when these winds come through here tomorrow. Actually, the winds are kicking up now, as I write this, so if I fail to post on the weekend it will probably mean that I am not online, probably without power, due to this storm.
At any rate, it looks like a White Christmas is almost a certainty this year. I am no great fan of cold weather and snow, so I wouldn't be disappointed if the snow passed us by. I am actually dreaming not of a ''white Christmas'' but of a Christmas in sunnier climes in the not-too-distant future.
Meantime, I expect many of you are experiencing much the same as we are here, with the snow, ice, wind, and Arctic cold. Here's hoping all of you are safe and snug at home, and not having to be out on the treacherous roads this weekend, and that you are not finding yourselves without power or other such comforts.

Labels: Blogging, Christmas, Holidays

A new wind rises out of the hills
of America, and the song it
sings permeates the land.
It is a song of time and the moment.
It is a song of beginnings.
George Washington, the father of our country,
found a fount of new beginnings
when he knelt in prayer.
(Do we kneel today to ask for moments
that reveal some far horizon?)
Thomas Jefferson searched for an enduring
source of strength. And as he claimed
that source, it was a moment that became
for him a new beginning. "God who gave us
life gave us liberty," he said.
(Are we searching now for an enduring
source of strength?)
At Arlington, at every burying ground
where soldiers sleep, the wind is
but a whisper as it tells of memories.
Unnumbered crosses quietly proclaim that freedom
has been dearly bought to bring us
new beginnings.
(How do we honor those who gave
the gift of life?)
A new wind rises out of the hills
of America, and it sings of new beginnings.
We do not need new keys that open
to new worlds,
but old keys, making turns in
old familiar locks such as enduring
honesty, integrity, deep silences, and roots
of faith and hope and love.
Old keys, trusted and tried, that always open
to a world of new beginnings.
Oh, let a new wind rise
out of the hills of America---
now, at Christmas,
and as the old year turns.
-Melva Rorem

Labels: Christmas, Holidays, Poetry, Traditions

I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving, with lots of good company and good food; I hope that you all may be surrounded by those you love.
In honor of Thanksgiving, I offer you a poem by Edgar Guest, and it may be a little on the corny side, but if we can't enjoy corny, sentimental, homespun poetry on Thanksgiving, when can we enjoy it? We live in a cynical age and a little corn will do us all good.
Thanksgiving
Edgar A. Guest
Gettin' together to smile an' rejoice,
An' eatin' an' laughin' with folks of your choice;
An' kissin' the girls an' declarin' that they
Are growin more beautiful day after day;
Chattin' an' braggin' a bit with the men,
Buildin' the old family circle again;
Livin' the wholesome an' old-fashioned cheer,
Just for awhile at the end of the year.
Greetings fly fast as we crowd through the door
And under the old roof we gather once more
Just as we did when the youngsters were small;
Mother's a little bit grayer, that's all.
Father's a little bit older, but still
Ready to romp an' to laugh with a will.
Here we are back at the table again
Tellin' our stories as women an men.
Bowed are our heads for a moment in prayer;
Oh, but we're grateful an' glad to be there.
Home from the east land an' home from the west,
Home with the folks that are dearest an' best.
Out of the sham of the cities afar
We've come for a time to be just what we are.
Here we can talk of ourselves an' be frank,
Forgettin' position an' station an' rank.
Give me the end of the year an' its fun
When most of the plannin' an' toilin' is done;
Bring all the wanderers home to the nest,
Let me sit down with the ones I love best,
Hear the old voices still ringin' with song,
See the old faces unblemished by wrong,
See the old table with all of its chairs
An I'll put soul in my Thanksgivin' prayers.
Happy Thanksgiving, all, and may God bless you.
Note: the illustration above is from a magazine cover by Wilbur G. Kurtz. The picture was 'Home for Thanksgiving', and it appeared on a 'Progressive Farmer' magazine cover in 1934.

Labels: American Customs, American Heritage, Holidays, Poetry

"The finest tribute we can pay
Unto our hero dead to-day
Is not of speech or roses red,
But living, throbbing hearts instead,
That shall renew the pledge they sealed
With death upon the battlefield:
That freedom's flag shall bear no stain
And free men wear no tyrant's chain."

Labels: Holidays, Memorial Day, Veterans

From Harper's Weekly, 1869.

Labels: American History, Holidays