Write A Letter To Santa

      Writing letters to Santa Claus has been a Christmas tradition for children for many years. These letters normally contain a wishlist of toys and assertions of good behavior. Some social scientists have found that boys and girls write different types of letters. Girls generally write longer but more polite lists and express the nature of Christmas more in their letters than in letters written by boys. Girls also more often request gifts for other people.

      Many postal services allow children to send letters to Santa Claus. These letters may be answered by postal workers and/or outside volunteers. Writing letters to Santa Claus has the educational benefits of promoting literacy, computer literacy, and e-mail literacy. A letter to Santa is often a child's first experience of correspondence. Written and sent with the help of a parent or teacher, children learn about the structure of a letter, salutations, and the use of an address and postcode.

      According to the Universal Postal Union (UPU)'s 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has the oldest Santa letter answering effort by a national postal system. The USPS Santa letter answering effort started in 1912 and since 1940 has been called "Operation Santa" to ensure that letters to Santa are adopted by charitable organizations, major corporations, local businesses and individuals in order to make children’s holiday dreams come true from coast to coast. Those seeking a North Pole holiday postmark through the USPS, are told to send their letter from Santa or a holiday greeting card by December 10 to: North Pole Holiday Postmark, Postmaster, 4141 Postmark Dr, Anchorage, AK 99530-9998.

      In 2006, according to the UPU's 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, France's Postal Service received the most letters for Santa Claus or "Père Noël" with 1,220,000 letters received from 126 countries. France's Postal Service in 2007 specially recruited someone to answer the enormous volume of mail that was coming from Russia for Santa Claus.

      Other interesting Santa letter processing information, according to the UPU's 2007 study and survey of national postal operations, are:

• Countries whose national postal operators answer letters to Santa and other end-of-year holiday figures, and the number of letters received in 2006: Germany (500,000), Australia (117,000), Austria (6,000), Bulgaria (500), Canada (1,060,000), Spain (232,000), United States (no figure, as statistics are not kept centrally), Finland (750,000), France (1,220,000), Great Britain (750,000), Ireland (100,000), New Zealand (110,000), Portugal (255,000), Poland (3,000), Slovakia (85,000), Sweden (150,000), Switzerland (17,863), Ukraine (5,019).
• In 2006, Finland's national postal operation received letters from 150 countries (representing 90% of the letters received), France's Postal Service from 126 countries, Germany from 80 countries, and Slovakia from 20 countries.
• Some national postal operators make it possible to send in e-mail messages which are answered by physical mail. All the same, Santa still receives far more letters than e-mail through the national postal operators, proving that children still write letters. National postal operators offering the ability to use an on-line web form (with or without a return e-mail address) to Santa and obtain a reply include Canada Post (on-line web request form in English and French), France's Postal Service (on-line web request form in French), and New Zealand Post (on-line web request form in English). In France, by 6 December 2010, a team of 60 postal elves had sent out reply cards in response to 80,000 e-mail on-line request forms and more tna 500,000 physical letters.

      Canada Post has a special postal code for letters to Santa Claus, and since 1982 over 13,000 Canadian postal workers have volunteered to write responses. His address is: Santa Claus, North Pole, Canada, H0H 0H0 (see also: Ho ho ho). (This postal code, in which zeroes are used for the letter "O" is consistent with the alternating letter-number format of all Canadian postal codes.) Sometimes children's charities answer letters in poor communities, or from children's hospitals, and give them presents they would not otherwise receive. In 2009, 1,000 workers answered 1.1 million letters and 39,500 e-mail on-line request forms from children in 30 different languages, including Braille.

   In Britain it was traditional for some to burn the Christmas letters on the fire so that they would be magically transported by the wind to the North Pole. However this has been found to be less efficient than the use of the normal postal service, and this tradition is dying out in modern times, especially with few homes having open fires in their homes. Recently the national postal service Royal Mail has extended its delivery service to include Santa Claus' address, and allocated it a postcode. In 2010 the full address is: Santa Claus, Reindeer Land, SAN TA1.

      In Mexico and other Latin American countries, besides using the mail, sometimes children wrap their letters to a small helium balloon, releasing them into the air so Santa magically receives them.

      In 2010, the Brazilian National Post Service, “Correios” formed partnerships with public schools and social institutions to encourage children to write letters and make use of postcodes and stamps. In 2009, the Brazilian National Post Service, “Correios” answered almost two million children's letters, and spread some seasonal cheer by donating 414,000 Christmas gifts to some of Brazil's neediest citizens.

      Through the years, the Finnish Santa Claus (Joulupukki or "Yule Goat") has received over eight million letters. He receives over 600,000 letters every year from over 198 different countries with Togo being the most recent country added to the list. Children from Great Britain, Poland and Japan are the busiest writers. The Finnish Santa Claus lives in Korvatunturi, however the Santa Claus Main Post Office is situated in Rovaniemi near the Arctic circle. His address is: Santa Claus’ Main Post Office, Santa’s Workshop Village, FIN-96930 Arctic Circle. The post office welcomes 300,000 visitor a year, with 70,000 visitors in December alone.

      Children can also receive a letter from Santa through a variety of private agencies and organizations, and on occasion public and private cooperative ventures. An example of a public and private cooperative venture is the opportunity for expatriate and local children and parents to receive postmarked mail and greeting cards from Santa during December in the Finnish Embassy in Beijing, People's Republic of China, Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Finland, and the People's Republic of China Postal System's Beijing International Post Office. Parents can order a personalized "Santa letter" to be sent to their child, often with a North Pole postmark. The "Santa Letter" market generally relies on the internet as a medium for ordering such letters rather than retail stores.

Need Santa To Write A Letter or Vice Versa, Visit Santa Workshops in Finland: Operation Santa Claus * A Letter From Santa * Free Letters From Santa Claus * Christmas Rovaniemi * Santa's Greeting from The Arctic Circle * Letter to Santa from The Lapland * Snow Village * Snowland Restaurant * Santa Park * Old-fashioned Christmas Fun Finland * Letters by Santa.com * Personalized Letter From Santa Claus * Santa Letter 

      When my little ones were young, they wrote their letters to Santa and then "mailed" them by burning the letters in the fireplace. The ashes would make their way up the chimney with the smoke to Santa's workshop. This is not a particularly common practice in America, but it was the tradition practiced by my husband in his childhood and so we continued with it.

      I've cleaned these vintage postcards for those of you who would like to print it out and leave a letter for Santa with cookies on Christmas Eve. My husband and I saved all of our children's Thank You notes to Santa over the years and these are so much fun to read. I recommend this marvelous little tradition because it teaches children to practice curtsy. Sometimes, Santa even remembered to write a return letter to them after leaving their gifts!
       Read the our Terms of Use before downloading and printing the graphics below.
 

Santa climbing down the chimney with his sack of toys.

This version depicts Santa in a large furry hat!

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

My Welsh cupboard including Santas and a Christmas feather tree

       This maple, Welsh cupboard once belonged to my mother-in-law. During the holidays, I display all kinds of "knick knacks" on it. My husband is not fond of knick knacks so I only display my collections during the holidays. We are happy with this simple arrangement. My children always look forward to what gets displayed on the Welsh cupboard. They spent countless hours looking at these displays during their childhood years.

 

Some of the things displayed on my Welsh cupboard include: a small wooden village once
 played with by my husband, a storybook doll cherished by a beloved aunt, a Christmas
gift card shaped like a country church, a ceramic slice of pie by my youngest daughter.

This tin type actually moves. I think it is based
upon an old, winter postcard scene.

       I have collected many small things over the years that end up on top of my Welsh cupboard during December. Pictured above, left is a chalkware Belsnickel that I hand-painted and a carved Santa. On the bottom row is a Russian nesting doll given to me by my sister-in-law, a pottery Santa and a snowman wearing ice skates. None of these items are worth much but they bring back cherished memories of my family's holidays.

Also included on the cupboard a feather tree purchased for me by my
mother-in-law many years ago for my birthday.

Holly Hunter's Santa collection.

Cut and Sew Vintage Christmas Prints

Left and center, a printed Santa figure on cotton with dimensional boots and sack of toys. Right,
 a snowman with dimensional top hat, scarf and pocket with tree. Both of these figures were sold
as panels off of a bolt of printed cotton fabric. They are from the 1990s.

      I purchased this "cut and sew" Santa pillow (above)  on an after Christmas sale. The copyright of this Santa belongs to Dorothy Dear Designs, 1979-1991 Forest Grove, OR.

      I cut and sew the snowman (pictured upper left) many years ago from a panel that I purchased from my local sewing shop.

This vintage felt stocking was once owned by my mother-in-law. I
believe it to be a reproduction of a much earlier printed stocking
from the 1950s.

 

These three stockings were given to myself and two older siblings in the 1960s. They are origianl.
I've drafted similar patterns for reproducing them below.

The glitter shapes from the center stocking with bells.

Similar shapes for the stocking above for those of you who would like to make something
 like these retro stockings for personal use only.

Cut and Sew Dolls:

• Cut and Sew Arthur Doll
• Hansel & Gretel cut and sew dolls
• Tilda Doll Kits

Cut and Sew Christmas Panels:

• Mini Stuffed Christmas Wreath
• cut and sew plum puddings

Christmas Garlands from Our Trees

Old-fashioned glass bead garlands

Clay gingerbread men garland from ten thousand villages

Paper medallion garland made by my eldest daughter.

Garlands made from chenille stems, gold and silver beads

Clay angel garland from ten thousand villages

Garlands that young children can make:

• pretzel garland
• Advent calendar garland
• lacy angel garland
• paper gingerbread garland
• festive, paper forest garland
• Christmas lights felt garland
• pipe cleaner Christmas garland
• accordion fold Christmas tree garland
• lit paper cup garland

Garlands by paper artists:

• Simple, yet elegant paper tag garlands
• five pointed red paper snowflakes
• felted garland

Parlor Game: The Christmas Elf

      For this entertainment two people are needed, and there must be a loose and very gorgeous jacket with large sleeves. This may be made from turkey-red covered with gilt spangles, or from some bright chintz. The one who is to do the speaking dresses his arms to represent legs, and puts his hands into a pair of high shoes, though patent-leather boots are much better. A cap or hat with many plumes finishes the costume. Behind him stands the acting player, who thrusts his arms under the make-believe legs of the speaker, and fits them into the sleeves of the jacket. Then the speaker puts his hands on the table, and a third person draws and pins the curtain, so that no one can see the performers. The elf looks amiably about, and then begins a speech. He may be an Christmas or Fairytale Elf, but must use a good many phrases from whatever language is his own. In the mean time, the actor uses his arms in making extraordinary gestures. Then the elf dances his holiday dance, somebody playing the music for him, and the hands do what they please ; the whole being so real, that every child will insist that it is truly an elf.

Parlor Game: Stage Coach

      This is sometimes called "The Family Coach." The players sit as nearly in a row as possible, and each one receives the name of something connected with the coach, as in the form given, in which a story is told, introducing all the different characters ; as, for instance, —

• The Driver.
• Whip.
• Right Wheel.
• Two Horses, - one Gray, one Black.
• Miss Stacy s Box.
• The Old Woman.
• The Parrot (this ought to be the youngest child).
• The Old Woman's Basket.
• The Man with a Long Beard.
• The Girl with a Red Hat.
• The Stage-coach.

      Other parts of the coach, such as axle, or door, or other passengers, can be added if they are needed, and the story altered so as to bring them in.

      The characters who are Italicized get up and turn around as their names are mentioned; and, as has been said, at "Stage-coach" every one gets up at the same time, and turns around once, until it upsets, and they all rush to change seats.

      "One day I wanted to go from Albany to New York in the Stage-coach. It always started very early in the morning, but every thing made me late. I overslept myself; breakfast was not ready ; my boots were stiff, and hard to put on; all seven of the children had to be hunted up and kissed good-by; my wife had fifty last directions; and at the last moment, as I rushed off, out came Miss Stacy, the milliner, with a Box she wanted me to carry to her mother. I hadn't a moment to spare, and I rushed down the street as if I was crazy; but to my delight, when I reached the inn, there stood the Driver snapping his Whip, and now and then patting the Gray Horse.

" 'My goodness !' I cried : ' I expected the Stage had gone.'

" ' Gone !' said the Driver. ' Not much, if an Old Woman can hinder you.'

" 'Go without her,' called a Man with a Long Beard, putting his head out of the Door.

"'Here she comes,' said the Driver; and he snapped his Whip again, and got up on his box.

"The Old Woman was pretty stout; but she came steadily along, carrying a Basket in both hands, with her bonnet swinging on the back of her head.

"' I was half afraid I might be late,' the Old Woman said.

"' Come, get in, get in!' cried the Man with a Long Beard. And he flung open the Door, and the Old Woman climbed in, and I after her; and the Man with a Long Beard banged the Door fast, the Driver snapped his Whip, and the Gray Horse gave a pull, and that wakened up the Black one; and so the Stage-coach started off. In front of the Old

Woman sat a young Girl with a Red Hat, who was forever putting her head out of the window to watch the Right

Wheel, which she said she knew would break down. She had noticed it as she got in the Door.

"I put my Box on the floor, and the Old Woman put her Basket by it, and then the Man with a Long Beard began to talk of robbers.

"'It was only last week,' he said, 'that a Stage-coach going to Rochester was stopped by two men in masks, who' " ' You'd better believe it!' said a strange voice.

" The Man with a Long Beard looked at the Girl with a Red Hat, and she put her head out of the window as if the Right Wheel had spoken.

"' Who,' continued the Man with a Long Beard, ' pulled out pistols, and ' " ' Stuff !' said the voice.

"Then the Man with a Long Beard looked at me, and I looked at the Girl with a Red Hat, and she looked at the Old Woman, who looked at my Box. This made me mad.

"' There's nothing in that Box that isn't right,' I said.

" ' Nor in my Basket,' said the Old Woman ; ' and, if that Black Horse don't run away, I'll be surprised.'

"'I'll eat him with a grain of salt,' said the voice; and the Girl with a Red Hat screamed; and the Driver pulled up both of his Horses, and dropped his Whip under the Right Wheel; and the Man with a Long Beard flung open the Door, put his foot in my Box, upset the Old Woman's Basket; and out jumped a great green Parrot, screaming, 'Fire! Fire !' and this frightened the Horses, and over went the Stage-coach down the hill."

       If any one forgets to answer to the name given, a forfeit is paid. These forfeits were not redeemed till various other forfeit-games had been played, each pledge being put on a little table in the corner. 

Parlor Game: Buff

This, like many of the games is only a way of collecting forfeits. One of the players comes forward with a poker, and knocks on the floor three times. " Whence come you ? " one of the company asks. " I come from poor Buff, full of sorrow and care." - " And what did Buff say to you ?"

"Buff said, 'Buff!' And he gave me this staff, And he bade me not laugh Till I came to Buff's house again."

With this the poker is handed to the questioner. But before this is done all have been trying to make the poker-bearer laugh. If there is even the faintest smile, a forfeit is paid. Sometimes the rhyme is like this : " Buff says ' Buff' to all his men, And I say 'Buff' to you again. Buff he neither laughs nor smiles, In spite of all your cunning wiles, But keeps his face with a very good grace, And carries his staff to the very next place."

The poker is handed from one to another till each has said the rhyme, and it must pass from hand to hand as rapidly as possible.

Parlor Game: How, When, and Where Do You Like It?

Then came an old-fashioned guessing game : How Do You Like It? When Do You Like It? AND Where Do You Like It ?

In this, one of the company is sent out, and the rest choose some article or object with several different meanings, which she, on her return, must endeavor to discover by asking the three questions, " How do you like it ?" " When do you like it ?" and " Where do you like it ?" The one whose reply betrays the secret pays a forfeit, and changes places with the questioner.

Example. Fanny leaves the room : her companions, having in her absence decided on the word "box," recall her.

Fanny. Jane, how do you like it ? Jane. Of Chinese workmanship. Fanny. And you, Clara ?
Clara. Not too crowded.
Fanny. Mary ?
Mary. Lined with crimson velvet.
Fanny. Now, Agnes.
Agnes. Filled with pleasant people
Fanny. Martha, it is your turn.
Martha. Green and flourishing.
Fanny. Constance ?
Constance. Well cushioned.
Fanny. And Ellen ?
Ellen. Inlaid with silver.
Fanny. Annie ?
Annie. Not too hard.
Fanny. Come, Emily.
Emily. Large and handsome.
Fanny. And when do you like it ?
Jane. When I'm at work.
Clara. In the evening, after nine o'clock.
Mary. At any time.
Agnes. Some day next week.
Martha. At all seasons of the year.
Constance. Whenever I can get it given me.
Ellen. On my next birthday.
Annie. When I have neglected my music-lesson
Emily. Next time I go a journey.
Fanny. And now where do you like it ?
Jane. On my table.
Clara. At the opera.
Mary. On my toilet.
Agnes. At the theatre.
Martha. In my garden.
Constance. In the best circle.
Ellen. Where it can be seen and admired.
Annie. On my ear.
Emily. In my dressing-room.

If Fanny is still unable to guess the word, she pays a forfeit, and again leaves the room : if not, the one from whom she guesses it changes places with her.

Parlor Game: The Emperor Of Morocco

In this game two of the players must walk solemnly toward one another, bow ceremoniously without a smile, and look steadily at one another while they repeat the following dialogue: First Player. The Emperor of Morocco is dead.

Second Player. I'm very sorry for it.

First Player. He died of the gout in his left great toe.

Second Player. I'm very sorry for it.

First Player. And all the court are to go in mourning, and wear black rings through their noses.

Second Player. I'm very sorry for it.

They then bow again, and retire to their places, while another pair comes forward to go through the same impressive dialogue; and so on, till the game has gone all round the circle; a forfeit being the penalty for the slightest approach to a giggle. By the time almost every one had giggled, and the stand in the corner was covered again with forfeits, supper was ready, it being exactly half-past six; and every one was so hungry, that the piled-up table very soon showed empty dishes, and more sandwiches had to be brought in. The supper was as sensible as the hours, — plenty of delicious sandwiches, three sorts, made from tongue, ham, and chicken ; light, delicate cake, but no heavy, rich fruit-cake ; custards in pretty cups ; plenty of ice-cream and fruit, but no candy, save that to be found in the piles of "crackers," which they pulled after supper, each child putting on the caps they held.

Parlor Game: Thus Says The Grand Mufti

      This is a favorite game among children. One stands up in a chair, who is called the Grand Mufti. He makes whatever motion he pleases; such as putting his hand on his heart, stretching out his arm, smiting his forehead, making up a sorrowful face, etc. At each motion he says, " Thus says the Grand Mufti," or "So says the Grand Mufti." When he says, " Thus says the Grand Mufti," every one must make just such a motion as he does ; but when he says, " So says the Grand Mufti," every one must keep still. A forfeit for a mistake. 

Craft a Beaded Cross

    Bend some scrap wire and add your choice of beads to craft this cross for either your Chrismon or Christmas tree. I've included a simple diagram below that demonstrates how the cross shape may be bent.

      If you are thinking of making beaded crosses for a Sunday School project in December, give the children metallic chenille stems to bend into cross shapes instead of a wire that may cut through the skin of their small hands. Then hang the crosses on a Chrismon tree during a service or processional.

More Cross Chrismons to Craft:

• Cross Representations in Chrismon Ornaments
• Dennis Bratcher's articles and free cross stitch examples for Chrismons
• Olmsted Community Church's - Making Beaded Felt Chrismons pdf.

Diagram for beading a simple beaded cross.

The "Unity of the Father and Son Chrismon" 

video from RUMC Angel Workshop

History of Christmas Cards.

      Christmas cards are usually exchanged during the weeks preceding Christmas Day on December 25 by many people (including non-Christians) in Western society and in Asia. The traditional greeting reads "wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year", much like the first commercial Christmas card, produced by Sir Henry Cole in London 1843. There are innumerable variations on this greeting, many cards expressing more religious sentiment, or containing a poem, prayer or Biblical verse; others stay away from religion with an all-inclusive "Season's greetings".

      A Christmas card is generally commercially designed and purchased for the occasion. The content of the design might relate directly to the Christmas narrative with depictions of the Nativity of Jesus, or have Christian symbols such as the Star of Bethlehem or a white dove representing both the Holy Spirit and Peace. Many Christmas depict traditions such as Santa Claus, objects associated with Christmas such as: candles, holly and baubles. Other cards may illustrate winter activities such as shopping, skating, or wildlife scenes typical of a northern winter. Some Christmas cards depict nostalgic scenes of the past such as crinolined shoppers in 19th century streetscapes; others are humorous, particularly in depicting the antics of a modern day Santa and his retinue.

The world's first commercially produced Christmas
 card, designed by John Callcott Horsley for
Henry Cole.

      The first commercial Christmas cards were commissioned by Sir Henry Cole in London in 1843 and featured an illustration by John Callcott Horsley. The picture, of a family with a small child drinking wine together, proved controversial, but the idea was shrewd: Cole had helped introduce the Penny Post three years earlier. Two batches totaling 2,050 cards were printed and sold that year for a shilling each.
      Early English cards rarely showed winter or religious themes, instead favoring flowers, fairies and other fanciful designs that reminded the recipient of the approach of spring. Humorous and sentimental images of children and animals were popular, as were increasingly elaborate shapes, decorations and materials. In 1875 Louis Prang became the first printer to offer cards in America, though the popularity of his cards led to cheap imitations that eventually drove him from the market. The advent of the postcard spelled the end for elaborate Victorian-style cards, but by the 1920s, cards with envelopes had returned.

American card, circa 1940

      The production of Christmas cards was, throughout the 20th century, a profitable business for many stationery manufacturers, with the design of cards continually evolving with changing tastes and printing techniques. The World Wars brought cards with patriotic themes. Idiosyncratic "studio cards" with cartoon illustrations and sometimes risque humor caught on in the 1950s. Nostalgic, sentimental, and religious images have continued in popularity, and, in the 21st century, reproductions of Victorian and Edwardian cards are easy to obtain. Modern Christmas cards can be bought individually but are also sold in packs of the same or varied designs. In recent decades changes in technology may be responsible for the decline of the Christmas card. The estimated number of cards received by American households dropped from 29 in 1987 to 20 in 2004. Email and telephones allow for more frequent contact and are easier for generations raised without handwritten letters - especially given the availability of websites offering free email Christmas cards. Despite the decline, 1.9 billion cards were sent in the U.S. in 2005 alone. Some card manufacturers, such as Hallmark, now provide E-cards. In the UK, Christmas cards account for almost half of the volume of greeting card sales, with over 668.9 million Christmas cards sold in the 2008 festive period.

Links to Handmade Christmas Cards

• MJ Crafts Design Studio - Christmas Handmade Craft Collection
• Ideas for Handmade Christmas Cards from thriftyfun
• Specialty Cards 4 U Handmade Christmas Cards and Tags
• Christmas Cards and Tags from Planning With Kids
• Traditional Christmas Cards
• Christmas Cards from painted fish studio
• Christmas Card Set from Handmade Parade
• Christmas Cards with Jolly By Golly
• Angels We Have Heard on High Card
• Delightful Decorations Christmas Card

Links to Christmas Cards by Children

• Charity Christmas Card Shop from Cambridge UK

Send an internet Christmas Card

• DaySpring
• Smilebox
• Inspire21.com
• Franciscan E-cards
• Send Persian Musical Christmas eCard Greetings

Christmas Postmarks

• Noel Christmas Postmarks
• North Pole Postmarks

The Mohogany Tree.

       William Makepeace Thackeray , born on 18 July 1811 and died 24 December 1863, was an English novelist of the 19th century. He is famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.

       Thackeray, an only child, was born in Calcutta, India, where his father, Richmond Thackeray (1 September 1781 – 13 September 1815), was secretary to the Board of Revenue in the British East India Company. His mother, Anne Becher (1792–1864), was the second daughter of Harriet Becher and John Harman Becher, who was also a secretary (writer) for the East India Company. Read more about his history here...

• "The Adventures of Thackeray on his way through the World: An online exhibition at the Houghton Library
• Illustrated quotes by William Makepeace Thackeray at Christian Clipart Review

The Mohogany Tree by William Makepeace Thackeray.

       "Some years since" said Thackeray in a public speech, "when I was younger, and used to frequent jolly assemblies, I wrote a Bacchanalian song to be chanted after dinner;" and a contemporary record has preserved a note of "the radiant gratification of his face whilst Horace Mayhew sang The Mahogany Tree, perhaps the finest and most soul-stirring of Thackeray's social songs."_
       In seeking a Souvenir of this Christmas season the ballad of "The Mahogany Tree" lends itself most felicitously to the present purpose which is to:

  "--wish you health, and love and mirth,

  As fits the solemn Christmas-tide."

       Putting aside for an hour the affairs of a work-a-day world, let us take our places around the convivial board, on the time-stained surface of which we may find in fancy the initials of so many boon companions of other days cut deep.
       It is pleasant to sport "round the stem of the jolly old tree" in congenial company, and to renew our youth at the bidding of this gracious Toastmaster, the centennial of whose birth we shall celebrate
presently; the anniversary of whose death was yester-e'en.
       But while remembering that we shall be none the worse tomorrow for having been happy today, we are not permitted to forget entirely the Blue-devil Sprite that awaits the dawn. The play-spell is over; the lights are out in Vanity Fair; and here in Mr. Dulac's drawing is the leader of our Christmas Chorus as he shuts up the box and the puppets--"for our play is played out."

The Mohogany Tree

Christmas is here;

Winds whistle shrill,

Icy and chill,

Little care we;

Little we fear

Weather without,

Sheltered about

The Mahogany Tree.

Once on the boughs

Birds of rare plume

Sang, in its bloom;

Night birds are we;

Here we carouse,

Singing, like them,

Perched round the stem

Of the jolly old tree.

Here let us sport,

Boys, as we sit--

Laughter and wit

Flashing so free. 

Life is but short--

When we are gone,

Let them sing on,

Round the old tree.

Evening we know,

Happy as this;

Faces we miss,

Pleasant to see. 

Kind hearts and true,

Gentle and just,

Peace to your dust!

We sing round the tree.

Care, like a dun,

Luke at the gate;

Let the dog wait;

Happy we'll be!

Drink, every one;

Pile up the coals;

Fill the red bowls,

Round the old tree!

Drain we the cup,--

Friend, art afraid?

Spirits are laid

In the Red Sea,

Mantle it up;

Empty it yet;

Let us forget,

Round the old tree!

Sorrows begone!

Life and its ills,

Duns and their bills,

Bid we to flee. 

Come with the dawn,

Blue-devil sprite;

Leave us to-night,

Round the old tree!

Dramatic Reading of "The Mohogany Tree"

Christmas Plum-Pottage.

       Mortifying as Lord Macartney's great plum-pudding failure may have been to the diplomatist, he might have consoled himself by remembering that plum-porridge was the progenitor of the pride and glory of an English Christmas. In old times, plum-pottage was always served with the first course of a Christmas-dinner. It was made by boiling beef or mutton with broth, thickened with brown bread; when half-boiled, raisins, currants, prunes, cloves, mace and ginger were added, and when the mess had been thoroughly boiled, it was sent to table with the best meats. Sir. Roger de Coverley thought there was some hope of a dissenter, when he saw him enjoy his porridge at the hall on Christmas-day. Plum-broth figures in Poor Robin's Almanac for 1750, among the items of Christmas fare, and Mrs. Frazer, 'sole teacher of the art of cookery in Edinburgh, and several years 'colleague, and afterwards successor to Mrs. M'Iver,' who published a cookery-book in 1791, thought it necessary to include plum-pottage among her soups. Brand partook of a tureenful of 'luscious plum-porridge' at the table of the royal chaplain in 1801, but that is the latest appearance of this once indispensable dish of which we have any record.

         As to plum-pudding, we are thoroughly at fault. Rabisha gives a recipe in his Whole Body of Cookery Dissected (1675), for a pudding to be boiled in a basin, which bears a great resemblance to our modern Christmas favorite, but does not include it in his bills of fare for winter, although 'a dish of stewed broth, if at Christmas,' figures therein. It shared honours with the porridge in Addison's time, however, for the Tatter tells us: 'No man of the most rigid virtue gives offence by an excess in plum-pudding or plum-porridge, because they are the first parts of the dinner;' but the Mrs. Frazer above mentioned is the earliest culinary authority we find describing its concoction, at least under the name of 'plumb-pudding.' Robert Chambers' Book of Days, 1869

• Allegra McEvedy's Christmas 'plumb porridge'
• The history of 'plumb porridge' at Christmas

Argus for the Christmas table.

      Next in importance to the boar's-head as a Christmas-dish came the peacock. To prepare Argus for the table was a task entailing no little trouble. The skin was first carefully stripped off, with the plumage adhering; the bird was then roasted; when done and partially cooled, it was sewed up again in its feathers, its beak gilt, and so sent to table. Sometimes the whole body was covered with leaf-gold, and a piece of cotton, saturated with spirits, placed in its beak, and lighted before the carver commenced operations. This 'food for lovers and meat for lords' was stuffed with spices and sweet herbs, basted with yolk of egg, and served with plenty of gravy; on great occasions, as many as three fat wethers being bruised to make enough for a single peacock.



      The noble bird was not served by common hands; that privilege was reserved for the lady-guests most distinguished by birth or beauty. One of them carried it into the dining-hall to the sound of music, the rest of the ladies following in due order. The bearer of the dish set it down before the master of the house or his most honoured guest. After a tournament, the victor in the lists was expected to shew his skill in cutting up inferior animals. On such occasions, however, the bird was usually served in a pie, at one end of which his plumed crest appeared above the crust, while at the other his tail was unfolded in all its glory. Over this splendid dish did the knights-errant swear to undertake any perilous enterprise that came in their way, and sucour lovely woman in distress after the most approved chevalier fashion. Hence Justice Shallow derived his oath of 'By cock and pie!' The latest instance of peacock-eating we can call to mind, is that of a dinner given to William IV. when Duke of Clarence, by the governor of Grenada; when his royal highness was astonished by the appearance of the many-hued bird, dressed in a manner that would have delighted a medieval de or Sober.
 Robert Chambers' Book of Days, 1869

The video is by Dave's Exotic Foods

Boar's Head for Christmas?

      The 'brave days of old' were, if rude and unrefined, at least distinguished by a hearty and profuse hospitality.

      During the Christmas holidays, open-house was kept by the barons and knights, and for a fortnight and upwards, nothing was heard of but revelry and feasting. The grand feast, however, given by the feudal chieftain to his friends and retainers, took place with great pomp and circumstance on Christmas-day.

      Among the dishes served up on this important occasion, the boar's head was first at the feast and foremost on the board. Heralded by a jubilant flourish of trumpets, and accompanied by strains of merry minstrelsy, it was carried—on a dish of gold or silver, no meaner metal would suffice—into the banqueting-hall by the sewer; who, as he advanced at the head of the stately procession of nobles, knights, and ladies, sang:

'Caput apri defero,
Reddens Laudes Domino.
The boar's head in hand bring I
With garlands gay and rosemary;
I pray you all sing merrily,
Quid estis in convivio.
* * * *
The boar's head, I understand,
Is the chief service in this land;
Look wherever it be found,
Service cum cantico.
* * * *
Be glad, both more and less,
For this hath ordained our steward.,
To cheer you all this Christmas
The boar's head and mustard!
Caput apri defero,
Reddens laudes Domino.'

        The brawner's head was then placed upon the table with a solemn gravity befitting the dignity of such a noble dish:

'Sweet rosemary and bays around it spread;
His foaming tusks with some large pippin graced,
Or midst those thundering spears an orange placed,
Sauce, like himself, offensive to its foes,
The roguish mustard, dangerous to the nose.'

       The latter condiment was indispensable. An old book of instruction for the proper service of the royal table says emphatically:

'First set forth mustard with brawn; take your knife in your hand, and cut brawn in the dish as it lieth, and lay on your sovereign's trencher, and see there be mustard.'

The red boar costume.

      When Christmas, in the time of the Commonwealth, was threatened with extinction by act of parliament, the tallow-chandlers loudly complained that they could find no sale for their mustard, because of the diminished consumption of brawn in the land. Parliament failed to put down Christmas, but the boar's-head never recovered its old supremacy at the table. Still, its memory was cherished in some nooks and corners of Old England long after it had ceased to rule the roast. The lessee of the tithes of Horn Church, Essex, had, every Christmas, to provide a boar's-head, which, after being dressed and garnished with bay, was wrestled for in a field adjoining the church. The custom of serving up the ancient dish at Queen's College, Oxford, to a variation of the old carol, sprung, according to the university legend, from a valorous act on the part of a student of the college in question. While walking in Shot over forest, studying his Aristotle, he was suddenly made aware of the presence of a wild-boar, by the animal rushing at him open-mouthed. With great presence of mind, and the exclamation, 'Greacum est,' the collegian thrust the philosopher's ethics down his assailant's throat, and having choked the savage with the sage, went on his way rejoicing.

      The Lord Jersey of the Walpolian era was a great lover of the quondam Christmas favourite, and also—according to her own account—of Miss Ford, the lady whom Whitehead and Lord Holdernesse thought so admirably adapted for Gray's friend, Mason, 'being excellent in singing, loving solitude, and full of immeasurable affectations. 'Lord Jersey sent Miss Ford a boar's head, a strange first present, at which the lady laughed, saying she 'had often had the honor of meeting it at his lordship's table, and would have ate it had it been eatable! 'Her noble admirer resented the scornful insinuation, and indignantly replied, that the head in question was not the one the lady had seen so often, but one perfectly fresh and sweet, having been taken out of the pickle that very morning; and not content with defending his head, Lord Jersey revenged himself by denying that his heart had ever been susceptible of the charms of the fair epicure.  Robert Chambers' Book of Days, 1869

 A contemporary German meal of wild boar.

The Christmas Yule Log Traditions of England.

      The burning of the Yule log is an ancient Christmas ceremony, transmitted to us from our Scandinavian ancestors, who, at their feast of Juul, at the winter-solstice, used to kindle huge bonfires in honor of their god Thor. The custom, though sadly shorn of the 'pomp and circumstance' which formerly attended it, is still maintained in various parts of the country. The bringing in and placing of the ponderous block on the hearth of the wide chimney in the baronial hall was the most joyous of the ceremonies observed on Christmas Eve in feudal times. The venerable log, destined to crackle a welcome to all-comers, was drawn in triumph from its resting-place at the feet of its living brethren of the woods. Each wayfarer raised his hat as it passed, for he well knew that it was full of good promises, and that its flame would burn out old wrongs and hearthurnings, and cause the liquor to bubble in the wassail-bowl, that was quaffed to the drowning of ancient feuds and animosities. So the Yule-log was worthily honored, and the ancient bards welcomed its entrance with their minstrelsy.

      The allusion at the commencement of the second stanza, is to the practice of laying aside the half-consumed block after having served its purpose on Christmas Eve, preserving it carefully in a cellar or other secure place till the next anniversary of Christmas, and then lighting the new log with the charred remains of its predecessor. The due observance of this custom was considered of the highest importance, and it was believed that the preservation of last year's Christmas log was a most effectual security to the house against fire. We are further informed, that it was regarded as a sign of very bad-luck if a squinting person entered the hall when the log was burning, and a similarly evil omen was exhibited in the arrival of a bare-footed person, and, above all, of a flat-footed woman! As an accompaniment to the Yule log, a candle of monstrous size, called the Yule Candle, or Christmas Candle, shed its light on the festive-board during the evening. Brand, in his Popular Antiquities, states that, in the buttery of St. John's College, Oxford, an ancient candle socket of stone still remains, ornamented with the figure of the Holy Lamb. It was formerly used for holding the Christmas Candle, which, during the twelve nights of the Christmas festival, was burned on the high-table at supper.

      In Devonshire, the Yule log takes the form of the ashton fagot, and is brought in and burned with great glee and merriment. The fagot is composed of a bundle of ash-sticks bound or hooped round with bands of the same tree, and the number of these last ought, it is said, to be nine. The rods having been cut a few days previous, the farm-labourers, on Christmas Eve, sally forth joyously, bind them together, and then, by the aid of one or two horses, drag the fagot, with great rejoicings, to their master's house, where it is deposited on the spacious hearth which serves as the fireplace in old-fashioned kitchens. Fun and jollity of all sorts now commence, the members of the household‚Äîmaster, family, and servants‚Äîseat themselves on the settles beside the fire, and all meet on terms of equality, the ordinary restraint characterizing the intercourse of master and servant being, for the occasion, wholly laid aside. Sports of various kinds take place, such as jumping in sacks, diving in a tub of water for apples, and jumping for cakes and treacle; that is to say, endeavoring, by springs (the hands being tied behind the back), to catch with the mouth a cake, thickly spread with treacle, and suspended from the ceiling. Liberal libations of cider, or egg-hot, that is, cider heated and mixed with eggs and spices, somewhat after the manner of the Scottish het-pint, are supplied to the assembled revellers, it being an acknowledged and time-honored custom that for every crack which the bands of the ashton fagot make in bursting when charred through, the master of the house is bound to furnish a fresh bowl of liquor. To the credit of such gatherings it must be stated that they are characterized, for the most part, by thorough decorum, and scenes of inebriation and disorder are seldom witnessed.

         One significant circumstance connected with the vigorous blaze which roars up the chimney on Christmas Eve ought not to be forgotten. We refer to the practice of most of the careful Devonshire housewives, at this season, to have the kitchen-chimney swept a few days previously, so as to guard against accidents from its taking fire. In Cornwall, as we are informed by a contributor to Notes and Queries, the Yule log is called 'the mock,' and great festivities attend the burning of it, including the old ceremony of lighting the block with a brand preserved from the fire of last year. We are informed also that, in the same locality, Christmas Eve is a special holiday with children, who, on this occasion, are allowed to sit up till midnight and' drink to the mock.'  Robert Chambers' Book of Days, 1869

The following ditty, appropriate to such an occasion, appears in the Sloane Manuscripts. It is supposed to be of the time of Henry VI:

WELCOME YULE

Welcome be thou, heavenly King,

Welcome born on this morning,

Welcome for whom we shall sing,

Welcome Yule,

Welcome be ye Stephen and John,

Welcome Innocents every one,

Welcome Thomas Martyr one,

Welcome Yule.

Welcome be ye, good New Year,

Welcome Twelfth Day, both in fere,

Welcome saints, loved and dear,

Welcome Yule.

Welcome be ye, Candlemas,

Welcome be ye, Queen of Bliss,

Welcome both to more and less,

Welcome Yule.

Welcome be ye that are here,

Welcome all, and make good cheer,

Welcome all, another year,

Welcome Yule.'

(And here, in connection with the festivities on Christmas Eve, we may quote Herrick's inspiriting stanzas:)

‘Come bring with a noise,

My merry, merry boys,  

The Christmas log to the firing,

While my good dame she

Bids ye all be free,

And drink to your heart's desiring.

With the last year's brand

Light the new block, and,  

For good success in his spending,

On your psalteries play

That sweet luck may

Come while the log is a teending.

Drink now the strong beer,

Cut the white loaf here,

The while the meat is a shredding;

For the rare mince-pie,

And the plums stand by,

To fill the paste that's a kneading.'