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CHRISTMAS 2013
Snow Day Memories Poems by Caroler Fans and More!
12 German Christmas Markets 20 Gingerbread The Sweet Smell of Christmas 26 Caroler Accessories Completing your Caroler Displays 32 History of Blown Glass Ornaments 39 The Nativity Christmas Decorating Starts Here 44 www.byerschoice.com Explore our New Online Features 46 A Victorian Christmas 50 Kindles — Guardians of the Christmas Spirit
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note from joyce JOYCE BYERS Founder & Designer, Byers’ Choice Ltd.
Last December, Bob and I took a short trip to Germany to visit the Christmas Markets. It had been twenty years since our last Christmas Market experience, and we planned this trip with visions of nutcrackers, gingerbread and beautiful glass ornaments dancing in our heads. The first stop was a chocolate factory in Cologne where beautiful Christmas candies, similar to those held by Byers’ Choice figurines, were made. In a quaint Bavarian town, we had a lesson in Christmas cookie baking and decorating followed by warm gingerbread Santa cookies to be enjoyed with hot chocolate and Glühwein. The charming old towns, and their magnificent cathedrals and markets decorated for the Christmas season, put the entire country into a holiday spirit. You could hear and feel “Merry Christmas” echoing from every wall. We see less and less of this in the United States today. Are we too busy to take time to enjoy the holiday season? Have we become too politically correct? I hope not. The idea of friends and neighbors congregating to share the spirit and tradition of Christmas is a very old one which goes back hundreds of years. We can’t let it die on our watch. Celebrate, congregate, and share the spirit of Christmas with one and all. Fill your home and your heart with the joy of Christmas. Invite friends to join you. Move into the streets with song and good cheer to thank God for the gifts He has given us. Be a participant in this season we call Christmas. Merry Christmas to All!
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Favorite
Christmas Carols
Traditional Red Velvet Santa
“Walking in a Winter Wonderland” Santa
“Deck the Halls” Santa
Christmas carols spread a little joy throughout the holidays.
And we all have a favorite
whether it is a classic or new jingle. What is your favorite Christmas carol? Do you have fond or comical memories of singing carols with your family each holiday season? Our “Deck the Halls” Display Santa is the next installment in the Santa’s Favorite Carols series. These display Carolers are larger-than-life versions of their more common counterparts. Mounted on a wooden base, they stride confidently into any scene singing with pride their favorite carols. www.byerschoice.com 3
Polish Star Man, Caribou
In Poland, Christmas is often called the
Festival of the Star 4
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Christmas by the
sea
Nautical Mrs. Claus, Nautical Santa
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Over night, a winter storm has covered the landscape with a blanket of thick white snow. Children gleefully wake to news that school is canceled and an afternoon filled with snowball fights and sledding ensues — oh snow day memories!
Left: Snow Day Kid with Sled Snow Day Kid with Snowballs
Poem by April Kellenberger
LET IT SNOW!
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LET IT SNOW!
Snow Day
I looked out the window Hip! Hip! Hooray! The snow has piled up And it’s a Snow Day. For me, no books or tests That I dread Just flying down the hill On my trusty wood sled. I’ll bundle up cozy And head out to play. School is forgotten On this great Snow Day!
BYERS’ CHOICE LTD. 215-822-6700 Kids Skating
LET IT SNOW!
LET
Adults with Skis, Kids with Snowboards
IT SNOW!
When it snows, it’s hard to resist not going out!
LET IT SNOW!
LET IT SN
One of the very best reasons for having children is to be reminded of the incomparable joys of a snow day. Susan Orlean
www.byerschoice.com 7 Kids Roasting Marshmallows
Poem by Donna Barone
Small Snowman with Lights Small Snowman with Candy Canes
Toddler on Sled
Snowman with Santa Hat Snowman with Wreath
Snow is coming… we wait and pray, please keep us home we want to stay. We toss and turn and try to sleep, sleds and snowballs are the dreams we keep. A winter wonderland we awake to find, and school no longer comes to mind. We’re home to stay so let’s all play, for you never know how long it’ll stay!
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Toddler in Wagon
. . . Baby it’s cold outside!
Fun!
Poem by Christine Worrell
SNOW DAY
Peeked out the frosted window, before I went to bed. Not even one flake! I yearn to use my sled! As I peacefully slumbered, the town was painted white. You should have seen it. What a sparkling sight! Listened to the radio, anxiously ready to hear, my school number to be called. A snow day is finally here! Hurry! Hurry! Find my mittens, find my boots. I want to make an angel. Where is my snow suit? Out the door. With a joyous pause to look around. Oh, there’s Billy and Joey Throwing snowballs like clowns! Let’s climb that big hill. And sled down super fast. I like when the cold wind hits my face--it’s a blast! Up and down that powdery hill, we sled all day. But it was getting dark, to our dismay. Quick! Make a plump man Built out of snow. Then trek back home, Tipping full branches as we go.
Above: Small Snowman with Skates, Small Snowman with Birdseed Ball Snowman with Snow Shovel, Snowman with Birdfeeder
Warmed by the crackling fire With sweet cocoa in hand What a fantastic day Aren’t snow days just grand!
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Dear Santa . . .
The tradition of writing a letter to Santa has been in practice for generations around the globe.
Gretel, German Santa, Hansel
Germany Children leave letters on their windowsills for Christkind, a winged figure dressed in white robes and a golden crown, who distributes gifts. Sometimes the letters are decorated with glue and sprinkled with sugar to make them sparkle. 10
Scottish Santa
Old English Santa, Old English Mrs. Claus
BRITAIN Children write their letters to Father Christmas and then throw them into the fireplace so they will float up the chimney and fly to the North Pole. If the lists catch fire first, they have to rewrite them.
UNITED STATES Children begin mailing their letters to Santa during the weeks leading up to Christmas. History shows that the US Post Office began receiving letters to Santa Claus more than 100 years ago! Right: Candy Cane Santas, Candy Cane Table
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Woman Selling Gingerbread, Gingerbread Market Stall, Girl with Gingerbread, Boy with Gingerbread
Germany’s Famous Outdoor
Christmas Markets
Every Christmas, millions of people travel to cities across Germany to experience the magic of the German Christmas markets. For generations, craftsmen have gathered during the month of December to sell their wares to a city’s people. Each city has its own market with a unique character born of the days when only local tradesmen were permitted to attend. In the shadow of the city’s iconic cathedral, the Cologne Christmas market’s vendors lay out their wares in booths and tents packed onto the cobblestones of the old town square. Booths selling hand-made Christmas toys and ornaments nestle in next to food sellers grilling bratwurst and sweets stalls laden down with baskets of foil-wrapped treats sparkling and glittering in the lamplight. The smells of fresh-baked gingerbread and Glühwein—mulled wine, traditional Christmas market fare—fill the chilly air between the stalls. The centerpiece of the market, a giant Christmas tree—the largest in the Rhineland— towers over all but the cathedral spire, twinkling in the night.
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The Nutcracker Woman Selling Straw Ornaments Christmas Market Stall
Painted, decorative nutcrackers got their start in Saxony, in Germany, in the towns and villages of the Erzgebirge, the mountain range that today separates
The Yule Goat is a Scandinavian Christmas
Germany and the Czech Republic. For hundreds of
tradition. Originally, he was an invisible spirit
years, the native inhabitants had mined silver and tin in
who would come to your home to ensure
the foothills. But when the mineshafts began to run dry,
you were properly preparing for the Yuletide.
they turned to the only other natural resource available
He later became associated with pranksters
to them—the lush forests of the Erzgebirge—to earn
and jokers and for a while the Goat was
their living. For many generations, the people of the
the figure that brought gifts to children on
Erzgebirge had decorated their homes with wooden
Christmas day.
carvings and statues and had become accomplished woodworkers. It did not take long for the former miners to begin exporting their creations throughout Germany
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and across Europe.
It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air. ~ W.T. Ellis
In 1872 Wilhelm Füchtner, known as the “father of the nutcracker,” made the first commercial production
Above: Gifting Family Left: Nutcracker Vendor, Kids with Nutcrackers, Nutcracker Market Stall, Snow Trees
of nutcrackers using the lathe to create many of the same design. www.byerschoice.com 15
The Christmas Peddler walks the cobblestone streets of London hawking his wares. Toys, shovels, ornaments, wrapping paper, and more— anything you care to imagine he has somewhere in his kit, and if he doesn’t have it today, he’s sure to have it for you tomorrow!
Christmas Peddler
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fun Facts • In Victorian times, it was very fashionable to go carol singing with small handbells to play the tune of the carol. Sometimes there would only be the bells and no singing! Handbell ringing is still popular today. • In some churches in the UK, it is traditional that the largest bell in the church is rung four times in the hour before midnight and then at midnight all the bells are rung in celebration of Christmas. • Many of the most popular Christmas songs are about the ringing of Christmas bells – “I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day,” “Carol of the Bells,” “Silver Bells,” “Jingle Bells,” among many others. Man with Bells Clockmaker
Man Selling Candy Canes
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Toddler Boy Decorating Tree Toddler Girl Decorating Tree
To prepare our hearts for Christmas, we must cultivate the spirit of expectancy. Handel H. Brown
Christmas Preparations
Santa
has always had trouble with houses that don’t have a fireplace. It used to be that every house on the block had a chimney; he could land his reindeer up on the roof and shimmy down the chimney into the living room to deliver his presents and then dart back up it again without anyone being any the wiser. Nowadays, Santa’s had to start getting creative. He’s been swizzling his way in through the radiator when he can’t find a proper chimney, but that’s a tight squeeze for a big man like Santa! Santa wanted to make sure he could get into every house with good little girls and boys in it to deliver their presents (and make sure he doesn’t get stuck doing it!), so he’s started making these special keys. Each one is enchanted. If you hang it on your doorknob before going to bed on Christmas Eve, it’ll let Santa open your door and deliver your presents. Don’t forget to leave him a plate of milk and cookies to thank him!
Above: Red Velvet Santa with Train Red Velvet Mrs. Claus with Gelatin Mold Fireplace with Candelabrum, Milk & Cookies Table Decorated Tree with Lights Top Right: Santa’s Key
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gingerbread HOW
SWEET
IT IS
Sweet Bungalow
Every year at Christmas time it’s the same. The children all come clamoring into the kitchen where slabs of gingerbread are cooling on racks— soon to be walls, chimneys and roofs— next to bowls of candy and chocolate that will become windows and doors, and one big bowl of white icing to hold it all together. The kids argue amongst themselves, deciding who will get the choicest pieces of gingerbread. Each child clutches a stack of hardbaked gingerbread and sets to work at
the
kitchen
table.
They’re
silent
now, too intent on their work to talk amongst themselves. Soon enough, the houses start to come together; walls rise and roofs take shape. Little hands are reaching for the candy bowls. Rooftops are adorned with gumdrops and ordinary chocolate bars become window shutters. Each house is unique, just as each child is. Some are meticulous and minimalist in their design, with seams carefully hidden by icing and peppermint sticks and not one decoration out of place. Others are ornate mansions, teeming with color. Icing swirls across the rooftops, gumdrops circle the foundation, and not a single inch lacks some
candy feature. It doesn’t matter, of course, every one is beautiful in its own special way! Each child glows with happiness as they add their creations to the little gingerbread village in the dining room and run off to play before Christmas dinner.
“And if I had but one penny in the world. Thou should’st have it to buy gingerbread.” Vanilla Icing
William Shakespeare, Love’s Labours Lost
Gingerbread Santa Gingerbread Mrs. Claus
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Family with Gingerbread, Rock Candy Chimney
Santa’s Chalet
Homemade Gingerbread Stir a bowl of gingerbread, Smooth and spicy brown. Roll it with a rolling pin, Up and up and down. With a cookie cutter, Make some little men. Put them in the oven, Till half past ten.
Sugar Cookie Cottage
Lebkuchen
A relative of gingerbread, this German confection has a lemon glaze and is sometimes dipped in chocolate!
INGREDIENTS 3 cups flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup honey
1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup dark molasses
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 cup mixed chopped candied fruits & peels
1/2 tsp. allspice 1 egg
Nothing says Christmas more than the smell of gingerbread baking
Lemon Glaze: 1 slightly beaten egg white
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Dash salt
on a cold December day. Wouldn’t you agree?
1/2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
Stir together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat the egg. Add the brown sugar and beat until fluffy. Stir in honey and molasses and beat until well mixed. Add dry ingredients to the mixture, stirring well until combined. Stir in nuts and fruits. Chill overnight. Roll chilled dough on a floured surface into a 14-inch
Favorite Family Christmas Traditions Make a Gingerbread House Decorate the Christmas Tree
square. Cut into 3 1/2 x 2-inch rectangles or use cookie cutters to form the desired shapes. Place 2 inches apart
Send Christmas Cards
on greased cookie sheet and bake at 375°F for 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool 1 minute before moving to wire rack. While Lebkuchen is baking, make the lemon glaze. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Brush onto the cookies while they are still warm.
Write a Letter to Santa Open a Gift on Christmas Eve
Gift Idea! www.byerschoice.com 23
Advent For generations people have used a variety of ways to mark the passing of the days leading up to Christmas. Starting in the Protestant regions of Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries, it became popular to Nativity Advent Calendar
hold the season of Advent as a time for reflection and to prepare oneself for the celebration of Christmas. To mark the passage of the season, many families drew lines in chalk on the kitchen wall or put out an “Advent Clock,” a wreath with 24 candles on it, one more of which was lit each night at dinner on each of the days of December preceding Christmas. In 1908, Gerhard Lang, a German, published the first commercial Advent calendar. As a child at Christmas time, his mother had made him a board with 24 candies stuck to it and let him take down one each morning during Advent. Remembering this when he designed his own calendar, Lang made one with little colored pictures so children could add a new one to the scene each day.
Santa’s Sleigh Advent Calendar
Following the war, in 1946 an artist named Richard Selmer created a paper Advent calendar depicting a little town street whose doors
German advent calendars were hugely popular through the 20s and 30s. A myriad of new designs were created and sold all over the world. During the Second World War, however, production ceased when cardboard was rationed and it was forbidden in Germany to print
and windows opened up to reveal Christmas celebrations inside the buildings. He printed it and sold it throughout Germany, later building a business for himself designing
and
printing
Advent
that was carried on by his children and grandchildren
after
his
death.
During
this time, Advent calendars spread to the United States, helped along by pictures in a newspaper article showing President Eisenhower’s grandchildren around
all
the
gathered
Little
Town
Advent calendar, counting down
the
Christmas.
calendars with pictures.
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calendars
Woodland Santa Advent Calendar
days
until
Christmas Tree Advent Calendar, Fireside Advent Calendar, Christmas House Advent Calendar
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Set the stage for any scene you can imagine with these
Accessories
New!
they’re the perfect items to tie — a group of Carolers together and make your display stand out.
Gingerbread Market Stall
(11”W x 6”D x 18”H)
Lamppost
(Electric; 22” High)
Milk and Cookies on Table (6” High)
Decorated Picket Fence (20”W x 7”H x 1.5”D)
New!
Sweet Bungalow Resin Gingerbread House (9”W x 12”H x 10.5”D)
Display Riser Kit (11”H x 20”W x 10”D)
Candy Cane Table (7”W x 9.5”H x 3.5”D)
Reindeer (8” High)
Spiral Staircase (Left; 24” High)
New! Nativity Table
(8” High; Astd. Styles)
Caribou
(11” High)
Decorated Tree with Lights (Requires 3 “AA” Batteries; Not Included / 18” High)
Red Candy Cane Tree
Fireplace with Candelabrum
(10”W x 8”H x 3.5”D)
(12” High)
Green Candy Cane Tree (13” High)
Street Clock (Requires one “N” battery – not included; 19” High)
Seated Polar Bear Cub (4”H X 4”L)
Polar Bear Cub (5.5”H x 8”L)
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A Colonial Williamsburg Christmas www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/holidays Photos courtesy of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, VA.
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2013 Colonial Holiday Family
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Dickens of
a Christmas
The first time we saw Gerald Charles Dickens perform A Christmas Carol, we knew that we had seen something very special. There are so many movie and TV versions of the story that it is hard to find a person who is not familiar with Ebeneezer Scrooge. But Gerald’s version was new and unique.
Gerald bears more than a passing resemblance to
During his energetic one-man show, Dickens brings
his famous ancestor, Charles Dickens, who originally
A Christmas Carol to life. He leaps, he sobs, he
toured the U.S. in 1867 reading his literary works
laughs . . . as he entertains . . . depicting 26
before spellbound audiences. According to Gerald, his
characters of the classic tale, with just a table, wing
great-great grandfather adored theater and initially
chair, and hat rack accompanying him on stage. He
wanted to be an actor but pursued writing as a
has created different postures and voices for each
career for practical purposes. For many years, Gerald
character, achieving this so adeptly that the audience
says that he himself “avoided anything to do with
has no doubt about “who is who,” so to speak.
Dickens like the plague.” But in 1993 when a friend asked him to do a reading of A Christmas Carol on
Gerald will perform at Byers’ Choice again this
its 150 anniversary of publication for a fundraiser, he
December. Please visit our website for details and
couldn’t turn him down. To his surprise, he enjoyed
Gerald’s complete 2013 American Tour Schedule.
doing it and has been delighting audiences around the world with his rendition ever since.
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Scrooge, Mrs. Cratchit, Bob Cratchit & Tiny Tim, Spirit of Christmas Present, Marley’s Ghost
“Given what A Christmas Carol meant to Charles Dickens, what it means to my family and to me, I am honoured to be performing it for audiences today.” Gerald Charles Dickens
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Blown Glass ornaments Germany has contributed many of the elements that we consider a “natural” part of the Christmas celebration. But there are other Christmas items we take for granted that have their origins in German Europe. The next time you decorate the Christmas tree (or take the decorations down), take a closer look at the ornaments. Those shiny glass balls (glaskugeln) and tinsel (lametta) are German inventions. continued on page 34
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Crier Selling Glass Ornaments, Woman & Children with Glass Ornaments
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It is believed that the first glass balls
selling millions of dollars of ornaments
made to be hung on a Christmas
at nickel and dime prices.
tree were produced by a German
Glass Ornaments, 1940’s-1950’s
glassblower in the river valley town of
The
American
Lauscha in the early part of the 19th
European glass ornaments continued
century. It wasn’t long before locals
through
fell in love with the shiny decorations,
Second World War when the British
and he began producing enough for
Blockade of 1939 prevented exports to
gifts to be sold in his shop.
the U.S. The Corning Glass Company
to
love
the
affair
beginning
with of
the
in New York seized the opportunity
Nearly all of the early glass ornaments that hung on American Christmas trees
Soon this unique holiday decoration
and stepped in by converting a light
were imported from Europe. However,
spread across Germany and all the
bulb making machine to one that
beginning with the British Blockade
glassblowers
made ornaments.
of 1939, no further ornaments were
producing blown glass ornaments to
imported until after World War II. The
keep up with the demand. By the
Many
Corning Glass Company in New York
mid to late 1800s, entrepreneurs were
these glass ornaments as part of
stepped in and, by converting a light
blowing glass Christmas ornaments all
our childhood. They take us back
bulb making machine to one that
over Germany not only for domestic
in our minds and hearts to a more
made ornaments, began producing
use, but for export into the United
uncomplicated,
ornaments for the Christmas of 1939
States as well.
a smell or a song, one look at a
and became the prime manufacturer of American ornaments.
in
Lauscha
began
Like
us to one another and the past.
to manufacture Christmas ornaments,
now consisted of all sorts of glass
especially for silver and other metals,
pieces such as fruits and nuts, hearts
which were needed for the war effort.
and stars, and dozens of other shapes
a
time.
actually made their way to the United glass balls. The Christmas ornaments
created
innocent
remember
memories back again, and reconnect
shortage of the materials necessary
II
probably
By the time the Christmas ornaments
severe
War
us
special ornament can bring all those
States, they were no longer just tiny
World
of
There is a direct correlation between
an endless prism of hues and forms.
each year of the war and the
The inside of the ornaments were
appearance of our ornaments. The
made to look silvery, at first using
first wartime ornaments were made
mercury or lead, then later using a
from glass, but were not silvered on
special compound of silver nitrate and
the inside. That made them appear
sugar water.
Another German invention, tinsel was first created around 1610 and was made from genuine silver. Machines were invented that shredded silver into thin tinsel-sized strips. Since silver tinsel tarnishes and loses its shine with time, artificial replacements were invented. The original inventor of tinsel remains unknown.
decorated with a sprig of tinsel on
In the 1880s it was the American
While
the inside to make them sparkle. As
dime-store magnate, F. W. Woolworth,
fruits and such, today’s Christmas
the war effort intensified, even this
who discovered Lauscha’s glassworks
ornaments remain a beautiful sight
practice was abandoned because
during a visit to Germany. Despite his
to see. No two Christmas trees ever
every piece of metal was needed.
initial reluctance to stock the glass
look alike and the traditions that
ornaments, he later made a fortune by
began in the early years continue
importing the German glass ornaments
to
to the U.S. By 1890, Woolworth’s was
continued on page 52
that had been molded and colored in
very dull, so very quickly they were
34
early
grow
and
ornaments
prosper.
resembled
Those
tiny
Joyce Byers has designed a variety of figures you might see walking down the street in Victorian London. Everything from street vendors and criers to normal people on a stroll down the avenue. They group nicely together to bring back the feel of a cobblestone street in Old London Town.
Pharmacist
DID YOU KNOW? October is American Pharmacists Month! The pharmacist’s trade dates back hundreds of years. For centuries apothecaries, the forerunners of modern pharmacists, weren’t only responsible for mixing and selling medicines, but also for diagnosing illnesses and even for performing surgery and delivering babies! Man with Pocket Watch, Street Clock
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Belsnickel Visit from Belsnickel Santa
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The German immigrants who came to Pennsylvania around 1700 brought with them their own beloved Christmas traditions, which are still alive and well in Pennsylvania Dutch communities today. When
German
immigrants
first
arrived
in
December, usually portrayed by a masked uncle
Pennsylvania, however, they were taken aback by
or grandfather clad all in furs, and make himself
their English neighbors’ lack of Christmas spirit!
known with a rap on the window pane with the
In Germany they had been used to a Christmas
wooden switch he used to beat naughty children.
filled with joy and mirth, where friends and
“Der Belsnickel!” screamed the children as they
family gathered to sing and eat, exchange gifts
ran from the frightening creature. Soon enough,
and make merry. Few colonists in the north paid
their parents would gather them up and sit them
much attention to the holiday, letting it pass
down in front of Belsnickel. In a rumbling voice,
by without celebration like any other day. The
Belsnickel would ask each child if they had been
Pennsylvania Dutch responded by celebrating
naughty over the past year; an honest admission
their most cherished Christmas traditions from
of guilt would earn a rap on the knuckles, but
home and creating a few new ones.
lying resulted in an even worse punishment! Once every child had been judged, each was
At the center of a home’s Christmas celebration
asked to recite a prayer or prove something they
was the tree, a fir cut from Pennsylvania’s
had learned in school to earn a small treat from
abundant woods and brought inside a few days
Belsnickel’s bag.
before Christmas. Children kept busy stringing popped corn and cranberries to hang on the tree for decoration and making ornaments out of
One hundred years ago,
blown eggshells (leftover from baking Christmas
pretzels were used as
treats) and bits of colored paper to adorn the
decorations on Pennsylvania
tree’s branches. Around the base of the tree,
Dutch Christmas trees.
or somewhere nearby, a “Putz”—the Pennsylvania
Today, this tradition
Dutch version of a nativity scene—would be set
continues for humor and
up, the figures and setting often handmade by
good luck.
the family out of clay or wood. Finally, each child would set out a little basket for gifts from their parents and from Christkindl—the Christ Child—
Even after Belsnickel and the Christkindl were
who came on Christmas Eve.
replaced by the Santa Claus we know today, the tradition of “Belsnickling,” where groups
But before children could receive any gifts,
of masked young people went door to door
the children were visited by Belsnickel. He
entertaining on the nights preceding Christmas,
would arrive unannounced on an evening in
continued for many years. Above: Pretzel Ornament
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Holy Family, Shepherd Man, Shepherd Boy, Donkey, Lambs, Nativity Backdrop
Christmas Decorating Starts with a
Nativity Throughout the western world, the nativity is perhaps the most recognizable symbol of Christmas aside from the Christmas Tree. Centered on the Holy Family— Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus—the nativity display (called a crèche in French or a presepe in Italian) depicts the birth of Christ on the very first Christmas night in a manger in Bethlehem. Often, the Holy Family is placed in a stable with animals adoring the newborn child and surrounded by shepherds, the three wise men, and a chorus of angels. Nativity displays grew out of the “miracle plays” of the Middle Ages. Traveling players would stage performances of prominent Bible verses in town and village squares and teach people the meaning of important biblical stories. In a time when very few people could read and almost no commoners could understand the Latin used to conduct mass in the Catholic Church, miracle plays were an important way for people to learn about the Bible. Saint Francis of Assisi is said to have created the first nativity in the early 1200’s in the little town of Greccio, Italy. Francis then gathered the townspeople together and shared with them the Christmas story. In the surrounding fields, shepherds tended to their flocks, just as they had on the first Christmas night. For many years after, the townspeople told the story that the next day one villager’s sickly cow ate the hay St. Francis used to fill the manger and was suddenly cured of her ailments and returned to perfect health. continued on page 41 www.byerschoice.com 39
decorating
Try at least one new decorating idea this Christmas season!
Decorating Family
Caroler
Condo
A tidy little home for your Carolers! Safely store your collection until the next time you put it on display. Stores 12 Caroler figurines; made of sturdy cardboard with protective vinyl cover. (14�Hx15.5W)
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continued from page 39 Word spread quickly and the tradition of putting on a live nativity scene at Christmastime grew in popularity, eventually
spreading
throughout
the
Christian world. Different
people
added
their
own
unique touches and over time, new animals, shepherds, angels, and the three wise men were added to the scene. Eventually the live actors and animals were replaced by stone, wood, and plastic statues, but the spirit of the scene created by St. Francis lives on.
Above: Just a few of the nativities from around the world in the year-round display in the Crèche room at the Byers’ Choice Gift Shop located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. For details, visit : www.byerschoice.com
The charity closest to the Byers family’s heart is the Salvation Army. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each Caroler in the Salvation Army line goes to this benevolent organization. In 1992, the Salvation Army gave Byers’ Choice permission to design a line of figurines representing Salvation Army members. Joyce introduced the line beginning with the Salvation Army Women with Kettle on the one hundredth anniversary of their trademark red kettle symbol. Since then, Joyce has created more than a dozen figures in the series.
Right: Salvation Army Series — Girl w/ Doughnuts, Man w/ Soup Pot, Woman Shopping, Boy w/ Coffee, Red Kettle w/ Tripod
www.byerschoice.com
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This is the last year that all twelve pieces will be in production!
Above: Partridge in a Pear Tree Santa, Two Turtledoves Woman, Three French Hens Chef, Four Calling Birds Man, Woman with Five Gold
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Rings, Six Geese A-Laying Man, Seven Swans A-Swimming Woman, Eight Maids A-Milking Woman, Nine Ladies Dancing Woman, Ten Lords A-Leaping Man, Eleven Pipers Piping Man, Twelve Drummers Drumming Man
Counting Down
Celebrating one of the most famous Christmas songs of all time, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” Carolers each represent one of the gifts the singer receives from his “true love” in this traditional carol. First published in 1780, The Twelve Days of Christmas was originally sung by English school children during the time between Christmas Day and the beginning of the season of Epiphany. They would often sing this song as a game where anyone who failed to sing the correct words had to share his sweets with all the others. Because all the previous lines are repeated after each new one, the game grows harder and harder the longer ones play!
The Byers’ Choice Countdown Calendar is charmingly illustrated and designed with 12 numbered doors allowing room for a small surprise for each day. It is ideal for the young and young-at-heart as they find each gift from their “true love”— enjoying the excitement and delights of the season!
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Come
Explore our New Website
This Fall, Byers’ Choice launched a brand new interactive website that has loads of new images, display ideas and added functionality to enjoy. In addition to expanded information about our Company, Products and Christmas Museum in Bucks County, PA, we have really tried to pay extra attention to the stories and traditions that are the inspirations behind Joyce’s creations. We invite you to take a moment and explore our site at www.byerschoice.com.
About the Carolers • In
this section, we have included a
• The Caroler Care page provides information about the best ways to care for
new Production Gallery of images
your Carolers and store them safely at the end of the season.
highlighting the Caroler-making process. Scroll through this gallery, and you’ll feel like you’re looking over the shoulder of our artisans as they handcraft each step in the process from the wire hanger armature to the final dressing department. • The Special Pieces section shows recent custom Caroler designs that Joyce has made for various organizations, businesses and specialty retailers. Joyce designs dozens of figures for groups with special requests each year. • If you are trying to identify an older piece, there is a new
“CAROLER PRODUCTION” GALLERY
Old Friends Look Up page to make it easy. • Scroll down further and you’ll find an expanded Decorating Tips & Display Gallery filled with tips and suggestions of new ways to arrange your Carolers this year.
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BYERS’ CHOICE LTD. 215-822-6700
There are many sites on the internet that promote and sell the Byers’ Choice Carolers, and it is easy to get confused. If you are online and interested in seeing our company site, make sure you find our Home Page at www.byerschoice.com.
We hope you’ll come and see it soon!
Online Store • We’ve
also included lots of new
information about each Caroler including its background Story of inspiration and expanded display galleries with more images of the Carolers and Kindles in group settings. You’ll be able to view all the new designs from each angle and even leave a Review of your favorite pieces for others to enjoy.
Store Locator • If you are looking for a Caroler dealer close to your home, just click on the Store Locator at the top of the screen and type in your zip code to find the authorized dealers in your neighborhood.
My Account • For the real Caroler fans, there is an area to create your own My Account page. Use this area to create your own personal Collections and even make a personalized Wish List of Carolers that can be e-mailed to a friend. By setting up your personal account, you can request information and special promotions regarding the collections and activities that are of specific interest to you!
Christmas Traditions • If you are a fan of Christmas history and are interested in learning more about how Christmas is celebrated around the world, including photos and recipes, visit the Christmas Traditions section of the site for additional background information.
Design Your Own Caroler • Want
to create a one-of-a-kind Caroler
as a special gift? Go to the Design Your Own Caroler section and choose everything from the figure’s clothing colors and style of dress, to its facial features, hair and eye colors. It’s really fun to design a Caroler to represent each member of your family. Put on your designer hat and give it a try!
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Victorian
Christmas The Victorian Era saw a great revival in the celebration of Christmas in Great Britain. Two hundred years before, Christmas celebrations had been briefly banned by the Puritan government during the English Civil War. Although the law lasted only a few years, Christmas was no longer a fashionable holiday, and was seen by the wealthy and middle classes as a holiday for the poor to forget their sorrows for a short time. First published in 1843, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol almost single-handedly restored Christmas to its former glory. The first printing of the book sold out in less than a day in London. Readers across Britain were touched by the story of the redemption of the bitter old miser Ebenezer Scrooge and fell in love with Dickens’ idealized picture of a jolly, mirthful Christmas focused on family and filled with charity and good will towards men.
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BYERS’ CHOICE LTD. 215-822-6700
Manor House Footman, Manor House Cook www.byerschoice.com 47
Christmas Pudding
No dish speaks to Victorian Christmas dinner quite like the pudding. Many households kept their own special pudding recipes, closely guarded secrets handed down generation to generation. Puddings are traditionally made on “Stir-up Sunday”—the Sunday before Advent, the fifth before Christmas Day—when each member of the household must take a turn at stirring the pudding mix while making a wish. Often, a few silver coins or a ring are placed in the mix, to bring riches or luck to whoever may find them in the piece they are served on Christmas Day. The pudding is then boiled in a pudding cloth and set to rest until Christmas Day so the flavors can mix.
In the years that followed this explosion in popularity, English Christmas began to take its modern form. In 1850, a Christmas tree became a necessity in every fashionable Victorian home when a print was published depicting the royal family gathered around their own Tannenbaum, a tradition Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, introduced from his native Germany. Soon enough, live trees could be seen in every home, strung with popcorn and cranberries, hung with hand-made paper and wooden ornaments, and lit with dozens of glowing candles. On Christmas Eve the whole family would gather together—uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents—and sit around the tree, exchanging small, hand-made gifts with each other. Christmas Eve was also the time for caroling, an age-old English tradition that had all-but disappeared, but was revived when two writers named William Sandys and Davis Gilbert took it upon themselves to gather together traditional Christmas songs from the towns and villages of the English countryside. Carolers would go door-to-door in the chilly winter air, singing at each house they came to and hoping to be invited in for a warm drink.
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BYERS’ CHOICE LTD. 215-822-6700
Chef Baking Christmas Cookies
Chef w/ Wine & Cheese
Taste of History
Mulled wine was popular in Victorian England at Christmas. One recipe was Smoking Bishop which appears in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. “SMOKING BISHOP” 5 unpeeled oranges
1/4 pound of sugar
1 unpeeled grapefruit
2 bottles of red wine
36 cloves
1 bottle of port
Wash the fruit and oven bake until brownish. Turn once. Put fruit into a warmed earthenware bowl with six cloves stuck into each. Add the sugar and pour in the wine (not the port). Cover and leave in a warm place for a day. Squeeze the fruit into the wine and strain. Add the port and heat. DO NOT BOIL! Serve “smoking” warm.
Wine Santa
Yield: 15 to 20 servings www.byerschoice.com 49
Coco
Bakerkin with Chocolate Spoon
Tangle
Kindle with String of Lights
Perhaps you have already seen their work. If you’ve ever wondered how a snowman seems to wink just as you walk by, or how the lights on the tree seem to have an extra sparkle on Christmas Eve — consider Kindles. Far away, in a land where snow falls in glittering heaps of confectioner’s sugar, there
Crumb
Bakerkin with Gingerbread Man
lives a group of sprites whose vast experience, energy and spirit have given them an extraordinary opportunity. These aren’t just elves, they’d be quick to point out with pride and distinction: they’re Kindles, Guardians of the Christmas Spirit. It seems a Kindle’s work is never done, but far from being drudgery, the Kindle’s work involves mounds of chatter, laughter and lightheartedness. A room that has been touched by Kindles is swept with the glitter of fantasy, the charm of Christmas gone by and the sparkling prospects of what is yet to come.
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Icing
Bakerkin with Gingerbread House
Wraps Kindle with Packages
Dingaling Kindle with Jinglebell
Each Kindle is an original from the top of their hats to the tips of their toes. Sometimes musing and more often amusing, they are sure to evoke the creative spirit within!
Stamp
Kindle with Letter
Axel
Kindle on Skates
Gherkin Kindle with Glass Pickle Ornament
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Christmas The
Pickle
continued from page 34 glass balls that were once blown in Germany now are sold all over the United States and many other countries in the world. Not only does nearly every Christmas tree have at least a few of these traditional Christmas ornaments on it, we now cover our trees with a spectacular showcase of lights and other ornaments, many of which have been passed down through the family for generations. The next time you look at your Christmas tree, or any Christmas tree, think about the origin of the Christmas ornament. It was more than 200 years ago when the first glass bulbs were hand blown by the glassblower in Lauscha, Germany. And yet still today, we decorate our Christmas tree with bulbs that are nearly identical in nature. Christmas ornaments have only become increasingly popular over the years. It’s a tradition that is likely to be passed on for many more years to come!
Tree Decorating Tips When decorating your Christmas tree, put the lights on first, then the garland and lastly, the ornaments. Also don’t hang all your ornaments on the tips of the branches. Place ornaments and other decorations ‘inside’ your tree to add depth and interest.
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BYERS’ CHOICE LTD. 215-822-6700
By Christmas Eve, there’s only one very special ornament yet to be added to our family’s tree—the glass Christmas Pickle. It waits in its box on the mantel until all the children go to bed. “You’d better go to sleep,” we say after they’ve helped put out the milk and cookies, “or else Santa will have to skip our house!” After we’re sure they are all asleep, we tiptoe back downstairs and bring out the presents from their secret hiding place. We carefully arrange our gifts for them under the tree. There’s one present, wrapped in bright green paper and ribbon, left over on the mantelpiece. It goes with the Pickle; whichever child finds the Pickle receives this gift. “Where should we hide the Pickle?” I wonder aloud. We both circle the tree and look for the perfect place, nowhere it would be spotted immediately, but somewhere it can still be found with a little effort. Finally, we settle on a little hollow in the branches just low enough for all the children to be able to reach it and tiptoe back upstairs to bed.
Mom! Dad! It’s Christmas, wake up! In the morning, we are awoken by little hands tugging on our sleeves. “Mom! Dad! It’s Christmas, wake up!” We both slide out from under the covers and into our slippers and follow the little ones downstairs. As soon as they see the tree and all the presents underneath, their eyes light up. I tell them to each pick one from their pile and take turns opening them, one at a time. A half hour later, there’s one present left under the tree, wrapped all in green. “Who’s that one for?” they ask. “Well think about it,” I remind, “who was the special present for last year?” Realization dawns on their faces— they dash off to search high and low on every branch of the tree, behind every ball and bauble… “Mom, Dad, look! I found it!”
Mother’s Day Tradition
textiles • stoneware • watercolors • wood carving • handbags • quilts • glass • metal • clothing • prints
Fine Traditional and Decorative Crafts by 70 Skilled and Professional Craftsmen
textiles • stoneware • watercolors • wood carving • handbags • quilts • glass • metal • clothing • prints
As a company based on the values of handcrafted items, we couldn’t be more excited to host this one-of-a-kind artisan showcase. We know the love and dedication that goes into the pieces that will be on display, and we’re eager to highlight some of the best artisans. It will be a great way for people to spend Mother’s Day Weekend. ~ Joyce Byers
www.byerschoicecraftshow.com
painting • furniture • jewelry • photography • leather • pottery • weaving
painting • furniture • jewelry • photography • leather • pottery • weaving
3rd Annual American Artisan Showcase
4355 County Line Road Chalfont, PA 18914 Customer #
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Thanksgiving 2013 Pilgrim Family, Native American Family, Harvest Wheelbarrow
$6.00 CHRISTMAS 2013