The Top 40 Traditions of Christmas: The Story Behind the Nativity, Candy Canes, Caroling, and All Things Christmas by David McLaughlan Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: David McLaughlan
world.
Where?
As with so many old traditions, we can trace this one back to “Merry Olde England.”
These days we think of the word
merry
as meaning joyful, just a bit above ordinary happiness, but back then it was spelled
mirige
or
myrige
and simply meant “pleasant.” Hence Merry Olde England was a time when the summers were warm, the fields were producing plenty of food, taxes were low, and there were no more than the normal number of wars going on. Life was good!
Now the tradition and the greeting are known around the world—and are especially valued in lands where conditions aren’t so merry.
When?
When did people first start wishing each other a Merry Christmas? The answer to that is lost in time, but we do know that the carol “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” was being sung in the fifteen hundreds. For it to have been given a tune and written down, the greeting itself must have been firmly established and so is probably very much older.
Different versions of
Merry Christmas
in different languages have probably been exchanged for as long as Christmas has been celebrated.
There is no set time to begin wishing people a Merry Christmas, but usually sometime in the second half of December is acceptable.
Why?
There are lots of special or holy days in the calendar. Very few of them have a greeting of their own. But isn’t it fitting that a day of such significance should have a form of words that can be exchanged by friends and strangers alike? After all, the first Christmas was for all mankind!
Given the variety of holidays and festivals now taking their place in the “holiday season,” wishing someone a Merry Christmas might be a statement of Christian faith, but its usage is wider than that these days and is often simply a way of wishing someone a pleasant and peaceful time at Christmas.
23
Miracle on 34th Street
Who?
Edmund Gwenn was an English actor, born in 1877. His career, spanning over eighty films and innumerable stage plays, was interrupted by both world wars. Two years after World War II he won an Oscar for his portrayal of Kris Kringle.
Maureen O’Hara was already a successful actress, but
Miracle on 34th Street
established the Irish redhead as an American favorite. One of her abiding memories of the movie was the close relationship she formed with her on-screen daughter, Natalie Wood.
At the tender age of nine, Natalie Wood already had five films to her credit before playing Susan Walker, the little girl who believes Kris Kringle really is Santa Claus.
What?
There have been several versions of
Miracle on 34th Street
, including one in 1994, in which Richard Attenborough played Santa.
The movie tells of Kris Kringle, an elderly, white-haired, bearded gentleman living in a nursing home. He discovers the man playing Santa Claus in the Macy’s parade is drunk, and the event’s organizer, Doris Walker, asks Kris to replace him. Doris’s daughter, Susan, is delighted to meet Santa. Her cynical, world-weary mom asks Kringle to tell her daughter he isn’t really Santa. But Kringle insists he is!
His insistence leads to a court case in which Santa has to prove his existence. The dreams of a little girl depend on it!
Where?
The story grew in Valentine Davies’s imagination while he served in the Coast Guard during World War II. And New York City, where the film is set, was his hometown.
Thirty-fourth Street is the home of Macy’s department store, and it is just before the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, held between Seventy-seventh Street and Thirty-fourth Street, that Kris Kringle discovers the department store’s hired Santa is worse the wear for drink!
In the 1994 remake starring Richard Attenborough, the store’s name was changed to Cole’s, although the Thirty-fourth Street location remained the same.
The trial that proves that Santa Claus really does exist takes place in the New York Supreme
Where?
As with so many old traditions, we can trace this one back to “Merry Olde England.”
These days we think of the word
merry
as meaning joyful, just a bit above ordinary happiness, but back then it was spelled
mirige
or
myrige
and simply meant “pleasant.” Hence Merry Olde England was a time when the summers were warm, the fields were producing plenty of food, taxes were low, and there were no more than the normal number of wars going on. Life was good!
Now the tradition and the greeting are known around the world—and are especially valued in lands where conditions aren’t so merry.
When?
When did people first start wishing each other a Merry Christmas? The answer to that is lost in time, but we do know that the carol “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” was being sung in the fifteen hundreds. For it to have been given a tune and written down, the greeting itself must have been firmly established and so is probably very much older.
Different versions of
Merry Christmas
in different languages have probably been exchanged for as long as Christmas has been celebrated.
There is no set time to begin wishing people a Merry Christmas, but usually sometime in the second half of December is acceptable.
Why?
There are lots of special or holy days in the calendar. Very few of them have a greeting of their own. But isn’t it fitting that a day of such significance should have a form of words that can be exchanged by friends and strangers alike? After all, the first Christmas was for all mankind!
Given the variety of holidays and festivals now taking their place in the “holiday season,” wishing someone a Merry Christmas might be a statement of Christian faith, but its usage is wider than that these days and is often simply a way of wishing someone a pleasant and peaceful time at Christmas.
23
Miracle on 34th Street
Who?
Edmund Gwenn was an English actor, born in 1877. His career, spanning over eighty films and innumerable stage plays, was interrupted by both world wars. Two years after World War II he won an Oscar for his portrayal of Kris Kringle.
Maureen O’Hara was already a successful actress, but
Miracle on 34th Street
established the Irish redhead as an American favorite. One of her abiding memories of the movie was the close relationship she formed with her on-screen daughter, Natalie Wood.
At the tender age of nine, Natalie Wood already had five films to her credit before playing Susan Walker, the little girl who believes Kris Kringle really is Santa Claus.
What?
There have been several versions of
Miracle on 34th Street
, including one in 1994, in which Richard Attenborough played Santa.
The movie tells of Kris Kringle, an elderly, white-haired, bearded gentleman living in a nursing home. He discovers the man playing Santa Claus in the Macy’s parade is drunk, and the event’s organizer, Doris Walker, asks Kris to replace him. Doris’s daughter, Susan, is delighted to meet Santa. Her cynical, world-weary mom asks Kringle to tell her daughter he isn’t really Santa. But Kringle insists he is!
His insistence leads to a court case in which Santa has to prove his existence. The dreams of a little girl depend on it!
Where?
The story grew in Valentine Davies’s imagination while he served in the Coast Guard during World War II. And New York City, where the film is set, was his hometown.
Thirty-fourth Street is the home of Macy’s department store, and it is just before the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, held between Seventy-seventh Street and Thirty-fourth Street, that Kris Kringle discovers the department store’s hired Santa is worse the wear for drink!
In the 1994 remake starring Richard Attenborough, the store’s name was changed to Cole’s, although the Thirty-fourth Street location remained the same.
The trial that proves that Santa Claus really does exist takes place in the New York Supreme
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