The Big Christmas Can of Worms

[Wild Root]

Christmas to me is?¢‚Ǩ¬¶

I love this time of year! I don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t ever stress over gifts because it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s not about that. I notice that people are just nicer in general in December then the other 11 months of the year.

I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m a Christian and well, I try and focus on him when it comes down to it. I enjoy the secular aspect of the Holiday as well and find the two can co-exist. I enjoy the simple things of the Holiday like singing songs, decorating a tree, downing mugs of heated chocolate and large feasts that include turkeys with the works!

If there are a few gifts under the tree, that?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s great too! I try and buy a few little things for the loved ones in my life to just show them that they?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re OK in my book. I don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t go crazy fighting the lines in the Mall and refuse to do so. I find most of what I buy in Antique shops and when I give these little items I find, they?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re always well received more then any thing from the Mall.

There are ways to make this Holiday special and stress free! Just takes a little work and focus on the main reason why we do it each year! The most important part of it is, be happy and share with others! That?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s the spirit of the Holiday and of Christ.

Merry Christmas!

=WR=

 

[MudInYerEye]

Being an confirmed infidel, Christmas for me is essentially a bonus Thanksgiving. I am always happy to indulge in a feast with friends.

 

[LaMedicine]

And now, you have companies afraid to allow their employees to say "Merry Christmas," and schools that won't allow kids to wear green to school because it's a Christmas color!
What does all that mean?

 

[Wild Root]

Never heard of that before. Where are these Nazi schools? Green is not just a Christmas color; it's also a big time St. Patrick Day color! Green and red together are Christmas colors and even then, why would a school out law those happy combos? Must be some schools that have a set uniform eh?

All in all, schools today are homes for communist believes as far as I'm concerned.

 

[matei]

Interesting thread... I personally dislike "X-Mas", and prefer to take the time to write the whole word out.

We've tried to downsize our Christmas and concentrate on things important to us - spending time with family, focusing on the true spirit of Christmas and making an effort to help others. We made a rule that we'd only give one or two small gifts, of symbolic or sentimental value.

All in all, schools today are homes for communist believes as far as I'm concerned.

My wife grew up in Communist Romania. The level of schooling she and those in her generation received was of the highest standard. The kids in the US and in the UK today would be lucky to get that quality education... It might come as a surprise, but very little of her schooling ever had any political overtones.

Incidentally - although it was technically an atheist state, people did and were allowed to celebrate Christmas and attend church.

Sadly, the Christmas figure "Uncle" or "Old Man Frost" (Mos Gerila) has been retired by the post-Communist resurgence of Santa (Mos Craciun). Almost no one ever refers to "Old Man Frost" any more.

 

[LaMedicine]

Never heard of that before. Where are these Nazi schools?

Well, I heard it from a friend in Texas (D/FW area).
He griped while we were doing some business online chat, and boy, was he :rage:

Oh, yeah, he also said they've also changed "Silent Night", and kids now have to sing "Cold in Night".
Go figure[bad]

 

[flat-top]

I work in a deaprtment store, and I say to all my customers, "Happy Holidays', and this year, for the first time, many are replying "NO...Merry CHRISTMAS!", as if they are offended by my not being specific, and some have actually told me as much. I would say this area is about 50% Jewish, and there's no way I could know who was what! With non-stop Christmas music playing, trees, and decorations everywhere, the least I could try to do is include everyone in my greeting!
Happy Holidays!!
flat-top

 

[BellyTank]

We have Coca Cola to blame for Santa Claus as we know him today... and probably the commercialisation....

B
T

Yes- Santa is an early 20th century exercise in Corporate branding.

Santa;the jovial, portly, bearded gent in red and white is a Coke marketing machine from the '30s.

http://www.icubed.com/~colagrrl/xmas.htm

"In 1931, the Coca-Cola Company commissioned Chicago illustrator Haddon Sundblom to develop the image of a human-like Santa Claus, based on the positive public response to a magazine advertisement for Coca-Cola depicting such a character that appeared in late 1930. Prior to Sundblom's first rendition in 1931, people envisioned Santa Claus as leprechaun-like, or as a queer mixture of a gnome and a bishop. Over the next third of a century, Sundblom's Santa would be embraced by the public worldwide, and become a holiday tradition.

For inspiration in creating his Santa Claus, Sundblom turned to Clement Moore's 1822 poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas". Moore's description of the toy maker as "chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf" led to an image of Santa that was warm, friendly and human.

Sundblom often used neighborhood kids, dogs and family members as models, changing their hair color, clothes, even genders to suit his subject. Sundblom's original model for Santa was his friend and neighbor Lou Prentice, a retired salesman. After Prentice died in the late 1940's, Sundblom would often find his model by looking in the mirror.

The remaining Santa paintings use Sundblom as his own model -- although he said he added the beard as he painted, rather than growing one.

Haddon Sundblom painted 35 years of Santa portraits that were used in magazine ads and posters, and which now also appear in special exhibitions around the world.

"Of the thousands of pieces of art in our archives, none is as valuable as the Sundblom Santas," said Philip F. Mooney, the Company's archivist. "But their value goes beyond the worth of the paintings themselves."

Another one of Haddon Sundblom's famous creations for the Coca-Cola Company was the Sprite Boy, which was originally used to introduce the brand name Coke in 1942. The Sprite Boy wore either a soda-jerk's cap to promote fountain sales of Coke or a bottle cap to advertise bottled Coca-Cola. After 1949, the Sprite Boy would not appear with Santa again, and he disappeared altogether from advertising for Coca-Cola by 1958.

Haddon Sundblom, who died in 1976, created numerous illustrations used in advertising for Coca-Cola over the years, but is best known for the Santa and Sprite Boy characters."


B
T

 

[LaMedicine]

Hmm, is this commercialism or not?

http://www.noradsanta.org/index.php

 

[K.D. Lightner]

My favorite kind of Santa is the old-style Victorian Father Christmas, who is a tall, dignified older man, wearing sometimes a deep red, or a holly green, sometimes all white or gold, even. He carries a tree, a staff and sometimes a bag of goodies with a tree sticking out of it. He also sometimes is depicted in a sleigh with two reindeer.

http://www.quixoticpixels.com/artwork/fatherchristmas.jpg

Looks more like a wizard than a "jolly old elf."

karol

 

[Michaelson]

I work in a deaprtment store, and I say to all my customers, "Happy Holidays', and this year, for the first time, many are replying "NO...Merry CHRISTMAS!", as if they are offended by my not being specific, and some have actually told me as much. I would say this area is about 50% Jewish, and there's no way I could know who was what! With non-stop Christmas music playing, trees, and decorations everywhere, the least I could try to do is include everyone in my greeting!
Happy Holidays!!
flat-top

I've done this myself, and have actually seen the clerks jump when I've said it...like they were afraid their supervisors heard those dreaded words, and hoped their boss didn't think THEY initiated the response! I'm not attempting to be politically correct. This is Christmas time. All these other 'holidays' seem to have been conviently rolled around this same time of year, and it's the commercial side of the equation that are pushing 'inclusion' to increase sales.

So, celebrate what you want, but all you're going to hear from me is a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

And a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Regards! Michaelson

 

[Baron Kurtz]

My favourite santa has to be what i've been told by some Belgians. Over there instead of elves he has a bunch of African "helpers". I don't know if they're chained or not. Very non-PC but noone seems to complain ...

Seems the Belgians aren't quite over their whole 'African experience'

bk

 

[Brad Bowers]

Hmm, is this commercialism or not?

http://www.noradsanta.org/index.php

When I was a kid in Colorado, we always listened to the NORAD Santa Tracking updates on the radio. I see they've gotten all modern as well!

Brad

 

[Wild Root]

Interesting thread... I personally dislike "X-Mas", and prefer to take the time to write the whole word out.

We've tried to downsize our Christmas and concentrate on things important to us - spending time with family, focusing on the true spirit of Christmas and making an effort to help others. We made a rule that we'd only give one or two small gifts, of symbolic or sentimental value.


My wife grew up in Communist Romania. The level of schooling she and those in her generation received was of the highest standard. The kids in the US and in the UK today would be lucky to get that quality education... It might come as a surprise, but very little of her schooling ever had any political overtones.

You know, that makes sense. Very interesting indeed.

=WR=

 

[MK]

.

"Happy holidays" is so sanitized it means pretty much, "have a nice day".

Michaelson and I are on the same page. I say Merry Christmas with no reservation. I am not very pc....in spite of some of the accusations lately.

 

[Wild Root]

Yes, I'm right there with ya Chief! Some one will say: Happy Holidays! Then I say: Merry Christmas!

It is what it is! Christmas!

=WR=

 

[The Wingnut]

"Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal." *BLAM* "And a happy new year."

 

[Marc Chevalier]

... the "X" in Xmas is a symbol of Christ, not meant to "X" him out, but a way to abbreviate Christ Mass.

The X comes from the Greek spelling of Christ, the first letter of which was chi ("X").


Incidentally, in Catholic countries like Chile, Christmas isn't nearly as big a holiday as Easter is. When you think about it, the Resurrection is much more important an event for Christianity.

 

[IndianaGuybrush]

I say happy holidays, but not because I want to avoid being offensive. Rather, I say it to be all inclusive. Why should someone who doesn't celebrate christmas have a merry christmas? But since people don't go around wearing their religious beliefs stamped on their forheads, I find it easier to say "Happy Holidays" and have done with it, rather than running through the gamut.

"Meery Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanza, Merry Solstice, Merry Festivus!"

On the other hand, if I'm going to a christmas party, or with relatives who I know celebrate christmas, it's "Merry Christmas" all around.

 

[jamespowers]

http://www.quixoticpixels.com/artwork/fatherchristmas.jpg

Looks more like a wizard than a "jolly old elf."

Santa Merlin.

Regards to all,

J