Durango Palmers

So, you buy candy canes for the kids or for the decorations every year but do you really know where they come from? The candy cane is a Christmas tradition that many hold dear but nobody really knows why. Let's face it -- the only things we really know about candy canes is that they taste good and that they are red and white.

Whether the story of the candy cane is a legend or if it is true is not certain, but this is how the story goes: About two hundred-thirty years ago at the Cologne Cathedral, the children that went to church there were really loud and noisy. They often moved around and would not pay attention to the choirmaster.

This was especially difficult for the choirmaster when they were supposed to be sitting still for the long living Nativity ceremony. So to keep the children quiet, he gave them a long, white, sugar candy stick. He couldn't give them chocolate or anything like that because the people at that church would think it was sacrilegious. So he gave them the stick and he bent it on the end to look like a cane. It was meant to look like a shepherd's cane, and so it reminded the children of the shepherds at Jesus' birth.

In 1847, a German-Swedish immigrant in Wooster, Ohio put candy canes on his Christmas tree and soon others were doing the same. Sometime around 1900 candy canes came to look more like what we know them as today with the red stripes and peppermint flavoring.

Some people say the white color represents the purity of Jesus Christ and the red stripes are for the wounds he suffered. They also sometimes say that the peppermint flavoring represents the hyssop herb used for purifying and spoken of in the Bible. The shape also looks like the letter "J" for Jesus, not just a shepherd's cane. It is possible that these things were added for religious symbols, but there is no evidence that is true.

Around 1920, a man in Georgia named Bob McCormack wanted to make candy canes for his family and friends. He later started mass-producing candy canes for his own business which he named Bob's Candies. This is where many of our candy canes come from today.

Long ago people believed that they could use bells to frighten away evil spirits. Bells were a simple form of noisemaking. They could be easily obtained or made and everyone knew how to use them. Many people thought that as winter began, evil spirits would come to harm them. So during the dark days after the harvest or the hunt, people would engage in ceremonies to keep bad things from happening to them while they waited for Spring and warmer days.

The tradition of using noisemakers like bells during these times carried over into the celebration of Christmas. But instead of making noise to keep away evil things, people made noise to celebrate something happy.

In many villages, there was a church and most churches had a bell. When something important was happening such as remembering the birth of Jesus Christ they would ring the bell.

You might hear this saying at Christmas: "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings". Most people remember this saying from the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". But over a hundred years ago, this was a very common saying amongst kids.

Back in those days, kids believed that making noise was just a part of Christmas. And bells were an easy way to make that noise. Bells were inexpensive musical instruments that people could take with them caroling or wassailing and almost every family had one or more. Bells also provided a bright and cheery sound and were acceptable to parents as proper tools to celebrate and make noise at Christmas.

Bells play an important part in other areas of celebrating Christmas. Some people probably picture Santa's reindeer with bells draped over them for decoration. Santa might also use bells to help find the reindeer in the dark or in the fog or snow.

And bells have always had a place in Christmas songs. The famous Christmas hymn I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day began as a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in the 1860's. The poem was actually about the tragedy one felt during the civil war. Some of the lesser known verses go like this:

Then from each black accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearthstones of a continent
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, goodwill to men!"

Christmas bells are remembered in classic holiday songs such as "Jingle Bells", "Silver Bells", and "Christmas Bells are Ringing". Bells make a happy sound and are enjoyed in "ringing out the old and ringing in the new" each season as has been done in times past.

It's hard to believe that the tradition of hanging stocking up for Santa to fill with goodies actually springs from a legend begun some 17 centuries ago.

Nicholas, a son of devout Christian parents living in Turkey, was Bishop to the city of Myra, where he was much loved for his benevolence, particularly by the children.

In those days, as in some parts of the world today, there was a tradition that whenever a woman wanted to marry, her father must produce a dowry, or gifts to give to the bridegroom and his family. A woman without a dowry could not hope to marry.

Nicholas was aware that many in his parish were very poor, and, coming from a wealthy family himself, he often tried to help. One Christmas Eve, as was his custom, he was silently visiting the houses in his parish, making sure each of the children had a gift of some sort.

He had heard that the daughters of a man in the village had no dowry but dearly wished to marry, so when he came to their home, seeing they had left woollen stockings out to dry, he secretly placed enough money in each to ensure their dowry.

Nicholas was much beloved but didn't look at all like the Santa Claus (which means Saint Nicholas) we know today. He would almost certainly have had a brown skin and would have dressed in the clerical garb of the third century but because of his kindness at Christmas, we remember him and the stocking tradition still.

Dutch children put hay and carrots in their shoes for the horse of Sinterklass, or good old Santa Claus, now the patron saint of children but not everyone believes it is Santa who brings presents.

In Sweden it is a kindly gnome called the tomte who lives under the floorboards. And in Mexico, Spain and some parts of France children put out shoes, to be filled by the Three Kings. In northern France children hope they will not be visited by Pere Fouettard -- Father Spanker!

Italian children pray that La Befana will leave them gifts at Epiphany (Jan 6th) but in Greece the Saint of Letters, Agios Vasilis comes, unless you live in the mountains in which case, tiny elves are responsible for leaving you your heart's desire.

This one made me laugh so I had to share it too. And also, I'm not writing the paragraphs in green. I'm totally copying and pasting off a website -- www.mymerrychristmas.com --

Two words: parasite and dung.

One today can hardly believe the association of these two words with something so romantically quaint as mistletoe is now in our Christmas traditions. So let the reader beware. What follows may cause you to reconsider a symbol of the season so lovingly cherished by many.

Mistletoe, in a clinical definition, is a parasitic plant. It grows in the tops of oak trees and has roots that dig under the bark of its host, slowly sapping it of nutrients and life.

The common name of the plant comes from the ancient belief that mistletoe propagated from bird droppings. In ancient times it was a widely accepted principle that life could spring spontaneously from dung. "Mistel" is an Anglo Saxon word for "dung" and "tan" is the word for twig. Thus, the translation for the word today is the decidedly unromantic "dung-on-a-twig".

Given the unique nature of it's existence, mistletoe has long been associated with the magical and mysterious. It was thought to be a bestower of life, a promoter of fertility, a guard against poison and, appropriately, an aphrodisiac.

~ A Merry Tradition ~

In the Middle Ages, branches of mistletoe were hung from ceilings to ward off evil sprits. It was placed over entrances to homes and doorways to stables to prevent witches from entering. It was even believed that mistletoe could extinguish fire.

In some areas of England, farmers would give the Christmas bunch of mistletoe to the first cow that calved in the New Year, thinking it would bring fertility and luck to the entire herd in the coming year.

Mistletoe has always been symbolic of peace and love. In Scandinavia, mistletoe was considered a plant of peace, under which enemies could declare a truce or warring spouses kiss and make-up. The Greek festival of Saturnalia featured kissing under the mistletoe and it was included as part of marriage rites in ancient times to bless a couple with fertility.

In some parts of England the Christmas mistletoe is burned on the night of the 12th Day of Christmas, lest all the boys and girls who have kissed under it never marry. And for those who wish to observe the correct etiquette: a man should pluck a berry when he kisses a woman under the mistletoe, and when the last berry is gone, there should be no more kissing!

So here's my third post {of many} on the beginning of Christmas traditions. If you want to know why I decided to started informing everyone about the origins of traditions you can read my post here :) I really think that some of this is interesting information. Hopefully you're entertained as well.

I promise that this does not mean I am not going to write updates of our family. In fact the reason I'm posting this one today is because I haven't had a chance to download the pictures from last nights Christmas program at church. And of course Mark took his camera with him to work. They had a bunch of pictures to download there too. SO! Here's the history of decorating that tree! By the way, don't you find it amusing that for a month {or so} out of the year we have a tree in our living rooms? Sometimes more!

Enter any department store from now until New Year's and aisles packed with plastic ornaments, glistening garland, and blinking lights will greet you at every turn. What was once a simple family tradition has become a multimillion-dollar industry with decorations becoming more elaborate and costly each year. Where did this tradition begin and how did it become such an integral part of the holiday festivities?

Like the majority of practices associated with Christmas, the tradition arose from the intermingling of ancient Roman beliefs and the spreading Christian religion. Early Christians believed certain trees flowered unseasonably on Christmas Eve as homage to Jesus' birth. This belief combined with the Roman practice of decorating their homes with greenery for the New Year formed the basis of our modern fascination with icicles and fancy angel tree toppers.

The decorating of various structures and trees has been recorded in Europe from the 17th century on, but the first written account of a "Christmas tree" did not appear until 1605. According to John Matthew's The Winter Solstice, an anonymous German citizen that year recorded trees being decorated with "roses cut out of many colored paper, apples, wafers, gold-foil, [and] sweets". What about chaser lights and oodles of wrapped gifts? It was more than 100 years later when Professor Karl Gottfried Kissling of the University of Wittenburg wrote of people adding candles for decorations and placing children's wrapped branches around the bottom of the small indoor trees.

Even though the practice was initially condemned by religious leaders, it spread from Germany to Finland through Norway and Denmark. In 1840, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of England endorsed the tradition by displaying their own ornately decorated tree at their palace. By the early 1900s, decorating the tree was as much a part of Christmas as Santa Claus and opening presents.

Of course, the early trees were decorated differently than today's evergreens. Early ornaments were usually hand-crafted or edible. Nuts, candies, fruits, and pieces of colored paper were the most common. The average modern tree is decorated with a combination of store-bought ornaments and family memorabilia with several strings of lights strewn over the branches instead of candles, but no matter how the tree is decorated it still symbolizes a timeless Christmas tradition of families gathered together exchanging presents and love.

The term "Christmas tree" is a much beloved one, conjuring images of presents and snow and family. There is much history behind the Christmas tree, as well as many beautiful legends surrounding it.

Integrated into our modern Christmas tree customs are ancient Egyptian and Roman traditions, medieval pagan rituals, early Christian practices, and Victorian nostalgia. It is known that early Egyptians, on the shortest day of winter, would bring green palms into their homes to symbolize life's triumph over death. In the middle ages Romans celebrated the Paradise Tree. Actors would portray the fall of Adam and Eve, with the evergreen standing for Paradise and man's fall, but also the promise of salvation.

In the 16th century the first official Christmas tree was recorded at Strasbourg, Germany. The tradition of the Christmas tree was brought to the United States by Hessian soldiers hired to fight for England in the Revolutionary War. That tradition was further spread in the 1830's by German settlers in Pennsylvania. In 1841 Prince Albert set the first English Christmas tree at Windsor Castle for the holiday pleasure of his wife, Queen Victoria.

As the history of the Christmas tree has been documented for years, many legends have arisen regarding the origin of the Christmas tree. One oft repeated legend tells the tale of St. Boniface, a missionary who spread Christianity throughout France and Germany in the 700's. This story tells that St. Boniface came upon a group of folks who had tied a child to an oak tree as a human sacrifice to their pagan god, Thor. To save the child, St. Boniface felled this oak with one blow. As the tree split, a beautiful young fir tree sprang forth. St. Boniface used this instance to show these simple people how the branches of the fir made an arrow pointing to heaven, and that the fir is a holy tree, a symbol of the Christ Child and promise of eternal life. St. Boniface instructed them to take the evergreen into their homes and to surround it with gifts. This legend is said to be the origin of the Christian tradition of the Christmas tree.

Another beautiful legend of the Christmas tree depicts the Holy Family's flight to Egypt. As Joseph and Mary were pursued by Herod's soldiers, who had instructions to capture and return the Infant Jesus to Herod, the Holy Family was often given shelter by various plants. When Mary became too weary to travel, they stopped at the edge of a forest. A gnarled old pine tree invited the Holy Family to rest within its trunk. The tree closed its branches and kept Mary, Jesus, and Joseph safe. Upon leaving, the Christ Child put His hand in blessing upon the staunch pine. The imprint of Baby Jesus' hand remained as a sign of his gratitude. Legend says that to this day the print of Jesus' hand is visible within the fruit of this evergreen, the pinecone.

These beautiful traditions and legends of the Christmas tree have been handed down through the ages. The Christmas tree remains the centerpiece of many holiday celebrations. In some homes, the tree is a gorgeous artificial tree, kept stored to be reused year after year. Some families choose to put up a real tree. Tree lots spring up on parking lots at Thanksgiving. Some people trek to tree farms, hiking the forest to choose and chop down their own tree. For every real tree harvested, two or three seedlings are planted in its place. One acre of a tree farm produces enough oxygen for 18 people. The top Christmas tree producing states are Oregon, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, and North Carolina. Among the top selling varieties of trees are the balsam fir, Douglas fir, Fraser fir, and Scotch pine. A natural tree brings into the home the true scent and atmosphere of Christmas.

The use of the evergreen tree as a holiday decoration isn't even exclusive to Christian religions. Many Jewish families use the pine tree as a seasonal decoration, hanging snowmen or other winter symbols as ornaments. The pine tree is considered by many to be a "safe" symbol of the winter holidays. Many civic organizations decorate evergreens as a way of celebrating the season of Christmas in a secular fashion. The evergreen tree can be considered a symbol of endurance, a sign of nature's beauty surviving the harsh cold of winter.