INVENTING AN ICON Who created the jolly ol’ elf?

from Inside Pennsylvania Magazine - Holiday 2022

by The Daily Item

SPICING UP YOUR SEASON Who started this pumpkin spice thing?

Inventing an icon icon

Who created the jolly ol’ elf?

Story by Jean Knouse

Have you ever heard of Thomas Nast? If you have, you probably know he was Boss Tweedʼs worst nightmare in New York City in the late 1800s. Perhaps you are thinking he was a criminal or a policeman? Nash was a cartoonist — a political cartoonist.

Thomas Nast, who was born in 1840 in Bavaria (now Germany), used his drawing pencil in a variety of ways beginning in the 1860s until his death in 1902. During the Civil War, Nastʼs pen was influential to the cause of Emancipation — even if his idea of freedom for the slaves was a perfect middle class life and years later he published some cartoons of Black people that were far from flattering. One of his most famous political drawings depicts this ideal.

And, while he was a staunch abolitionist — sometimes — he was a Republican who became a friend to Abraham Lincoln, even though he didnʼt hesitate to disagree with Lincoln when he thought Lincoln was wrong. However, Nast was influential in helping the citizens of the northern states understand what they were fighting for.

According to the website logcabinsage.com, Lincoln said, “Thomas Nast has been our best recruiting sergeant. His emblematic cartoons have never failed to arouse enthusiasm and patriotism, and have always seemed to come just when these articles were getting scarce.”

Nash was mostly supportive of the Lincoln presidency, but he was brutal to Andrew Johnsonʼs.

The power of his pencil was so effective that when Ulysses S. Grant was elected president in 1868, Grant attributed his election ʻto the pencil of Nast,ʼ according to grantrevealed.com

How did a man who had strong — often controversial — opinions; drew political cartoons that were sometimes violent; and was deeply prejudiced against the Irish and the papacy be the person who envisioned and drew our modern Santa Claus? Nast drew at least 30 Christmas Covers for Harperʼs Weekly, a part-newspaper/part-magazine publication where he worked from 1863 through 1886.

His first Santa cover, in 1863, illustrates a Union Civil War Encampment. Santa Claus is drawn handing out gifts to the soldiers. He is dressed in a jacket covered with stars (Nast was very patriotic) and there are two boys in the foreground playing with a jack-in-thebox. Nastʼs love for his family apparently influenced the emphasis on children and families he regularly

Photos provided ABOVE: “EMANCIPATION,” BY THOMAS NAST, 1863, TOP LEFT: “SANTA CLAUS IN CAMP,” THOMAS NAST. HARPER’S WEEKLY, JANUARY 3, 1863 AND LOWER LEFT: “MERRY OLD SANTA CLAUS” BY THOMAS NAST. HARPER’S WEEKLY, JANUARY 1, 1881. PHOTOS PROVIDED BY MACCULLOCH HALL HISTORICAL MUSEUM, MORRISTOWN, NJ WHICH HOUSES THE THOMAS NAST COLLECTION.

included on his Santa drawings. The Harperʼs Weekly cover “Santa Claus in Camp” is Nastʼs first drawing of the modern Santa. He drew him as “chubby and plump, a right jolly old Elf” just as Clement Clark Moore had described him 40 years earlier.

Thomas Nast is also responsible for some of the Christmas traditions we treasure today. He was the first person to suggest Santa had a “naughty and nice” list and that children might receive toys and candy or sticks (or coal if you live in Pa.). He also conceived the idea of a workshop at the North Pole and the grandness and celebration of Christmas.

Unlike his political cartoons which had to be drawn much more quickly, Nastʼs Christmas drawings are some of his most detailed work.

His lasting contribution to the tradition of Santa Claus has had “staying power.” The famous Coca-Cola Santa of 1931 mimics Nastʼs — with the exception that it is

brightly colored. Wedgwood has "NAST IS A FASCINATING produced salad plates based on

HISTORICAL FIGURE Nastʼs drawings, Reed & Barton produced a Christmas plate with — BOTH IN TERMS Santaʼs likeness and, if you walk into a card shop, you will surely

OF HIS CHANGING see a Nast image smiling at you POLITICAL VIEWS AND from a Christmas card. Although his Christmas HIS CONTEMPORARY drawings softened his critics somewhat, the owners of (I.E., CIVIL WAR ERA) Harperʼs Weekly severed ties with him in 1886. After that

RESONANCE.” time, Nast found it hard to find work and he was nearly — PAUL BARBA, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY. destitute (the economic crisis of 1873 hadnʼt helped his financial situation). In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt named Thomas Nast as an envoy to Ecuador. A short time after arriving in South America, Nast contacted yellow fever and died. Despite the highs and lows in his life, his love for family and the happy times of Christmas endure. PA

Saving Christmas

Photo provided by Penn Wells Hotel. ABOVE: DURING THE FESTIVITIES IN WELLSBORO, SHINY BRITE ORNAMENTS ARE DISPLAYED THROUGHOUT THE TOWN. THIS BOX CAN BE SEEN AT THE PENN WELLS HOTEL. LEFT: CHRISTMAS ON MAIN STREET IN WELLSBORO IS ESPECIALLY BEAUTIFUL WHEN THERE IS SNOW.

Pa. town factory turns lightbulbs into holdiay ornaments during WWII

Story by Cindy O. Herman

In the late 1930s, Max Eckardt watched in dismay as Germany moved closer to starting World War II in Europe. A department store supplier, Eckardt was expected to stock F.W. Woolworth stores with the delicate, glass Christmas balls that Americans loved to hang on their Yuletide trees — and 95 percent of those balls were made in Germany.

When the blockade of Germany halted imports in 1939, it threatened the beloved tradition of trimming the tree.

“There were not a lot of presents then, but the tree was one of the main parts of the holiday,” said Ellen Bryant, president of Wellsboro’s historic Penn Wells Hotel and Lodge.

Eckardt came up with a plan, but it would take a

Robert Inglis/Inside PA JULIE HENRY, SEATED, HOLDS ONE OF THE SPECIAL SILVER SANTAS. WITH HER ARE ANJA STAM, POP’S CULTURE, LEFT, AND ELLEN BRYANT, PRESIDENT OF PENN WELLS HOTEL AND LODGE. THESE THREE ARE AMONG THE MANY VOLUNTEERS WHO IN WELLSBORO DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON.

38th annual Dickens of a Christmas

● When: Saturday, December 3, 2022 ● Where: Downtown Wellsboro, Pa. ● More information: Visit wellsboropa.com or call 570-724-1926

7th Annual Wellsboro Christmas on Main Street

● When: Friday through Sunday, December 9 – 11 ● Where: Downtown Wellsboro, Pa. ● More information: Visitwellsboropa.com or call 570-724-1926 monumental amount of work to change the process.

Knowing that the Corning Glass Works (CGW), in Tioga County, manufactured light bulbs, he approached the New York-based company about making the ornaments there, where “ribbon” machines poured a ribbon of molten glass that sagged into openings in metal molds. A puff of air into the molds created 3 million hollow light bulbs each day.

Wellsboro workers rose to the challenge of tweaking the machines they were using to create new molds to make Christmas ornaments. On Dec. 21, 1939, the “Wellsboro Gazette” reported that during the previous two months, 70 employees at CGW had produced one million ornaments, stating, “The achievement of a successful Christmas tree ball at a low price is a triumph of American industry.”

Wellsboro had officially become the “Town that Saved Christmas.”

“They made Christmas ornaments at a time when the country needed that comfort of something familiar and traditional,” Bryant said. “And ‘Made in the USA’ was very important then.”

The ornaments were shipped to Eckhardt and other wholesalers to be lacquered in red, green, silver, gold and blue. The following year, Corning Glass Works purchased their own silver and lacquering machines, allowing 41 million colorful ornaments to sparkle on holiday trees. Wellsboro had become the glass ornament capital of the world.

“We have a high-class labor force here,” said Amory Houghton, then CGW president. “Wellsboro employees, some coming from local farms, are hard-working, earnest citizens who have great pride and a philosophy that there isn’t anything that can’t be done.”

“They had a real can-do attitude,” said Anja Stam, who with her husband, Julian Stam, owns Pop’s Culture Shoppe, in Wellsboro. Noting that farmers are known for learning to fix much of their own equipment, she added, “They don’t look at a problem and say, ‘Oh, it can’t be done.’”

The ornaments were marketed under various brand names, but primarily Shiny Brite. Focusing on their American-made status, Eckardt even designed Shiny Brite ornament boxes with an image of Santa Claus and Uncle Sam shaking hands. “Americans really liked those Shiny Brites,” said Julie Henry, executive director of the Wellsboro Area Chamber of Commerce. “There was lots of demand for them.” “Every Woolworth in the country had Shiny Brites in it,” Bryant said. When the United States actively entered the war in 1941 and Wellsboro men were deployed overseas, the town’s women — and teenagers — stepped in to fill vacant CGW positons.

“It was neat to see the community rally,” Stam said. “Rosie the Riveter, she was here. School kids were picked up by bus after school and taken to Corning to work. The

Photo provided THE YOUNG FOLKS OF WELLSBORO ARE LEARNING THE STORIES THAT MADE THEIR COMMUNITY SPECIAL. AT THE SAME TIME, THEY ARE HAVING SO MUCH FUN!

Robert Inglis/Inside PA STANDING IN FRONT OF THE FLAG MADE OF RED, WHITE AND BLUE CHRISTMAS BALLS MADE IN 1946 TO WELCOME HOME WORLD WAR II SOLDIERS, JULIE HENRY, LEFT, AND ELLEN BRYANT, SHARE TWO OF THE MANY BOXES THAT HELD SHINY BRITE ORNAMENTS.

factory needed so much help.”

Always moving forward, Corning Glass Works went on to create ornaments beyond the simple ball. A 1941 design notebook shows bells, pine cones, oblongs, reflectors and lanterns. Even a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and a Santa Claus ornament were produced.

After the war, Corning Glass workers returned to their former jobs, and the factory continued creating and innovating Christmas ornaments until it closed in 2016. Generations of families worked there. Just about everyone in the close-knit community knew or was related to an employee, and the town still pulls together to create their annual holiday celebrations.

“Everything goes back to the core of the community,” Henry said. “We’re always looking out for the best interests of the entire community.”

EVENTS HONOR ANCESTORS

It hasn’t been until recent years that townspeople are acknowledging the role they played in saving — not just Christmas — but a sense of comfort and cheer for a country facing fearful, unprecedented times. “People thought, ‘Oh, it was my job,’” Stam said. “As we tell the story, people are becoming proud of it.”

“I think anything that reminds you of the holidays is going to bring you comfort,” Bryant said. “Decorating the tree is one of the things you do at Christmas as a family.” Honoring their town’s can-do spirit and years of holiday cheer has led community organizers to host two, back-toback Christmas celebrations: the 38th annual Dickens of a Christmas, on Saturday, December 3, 2022, followed by the seventh Annual Wellsboro Christmas on Main Street,

“EVERYTHING GOES BACK TO THE CORE OF THE COMMUNITY. WE’RE ALWAYS LOOKING OUT FOR THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.”

— JULIE HENRY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE WELLSBORO AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Jean L. Knouse/Inside PA THIS PAGE FROM THE 1941 DESIGN BOOK ILLUSTRATES HOW MANY ORNAMENT SHAPES WERE DEVELOPED IN FOUR YEARS.

Robert Inglis/Inside PA THIS SILVER SANTA FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIE HENRY IS HIGHLY COVETTED AMONG ORNAMENT COLLECTORS from Friday through Sunday, Dec. 9 – 11.

Dickens of a Christmas rekindles the old-fashioned Christmas spirit, with the Wellsboro gas lights shining on a Victorian marketplace that offers craft vendors, strolling musicians and singers, dancers, and street corner thespians. “A little dusting of snow at the end of the day, and it’s just magical,” Stam said.

Guests can sing with carolers, watch holiday plays, rub elbows with folks dressed in Dickens costumes, shop for Christmas gifts and enjoy food vendors offering everything from bread pudding and homemade baked goods to hot beef sandwiches, crab cakes, cheddar worsts, apple cider and more. Cherish the true meaning of the season by joining the Peace Walk at 5 p.m. and participating in the community Christmas tree lighting and carol sing. Christmas on Main Street started in 2015 after a particularly dismal, rainy day affected the turnout for Dickens of a Christmas, and community organizers asked, why put all the retail opportunities in one basket?

Christmas on Main Street offers a map of businesses throughout Wellsboro displaying Shiny Brite ornaments and offering holiday shopping, live music, glass blowing demonstrations and other events. The beauty of it is that it focuses on the everyday offerings of the downtown retailers. “The businesses promote what they’re already doing,” Bryant said. “They don’t have to do anything particular, just be the wonderful, independent shops that they are.” For example, Pop’s Culture Shoppe might offer a game night. My Shelf Books & Gifts will feature a local author. Dunham’s Department Store will sponsor a Hat Trunk Show, etc. A percentage of profits from the weekend goes to various charities.

Perhaps the best part of the weekend is the display of Shiny Brite ornaments. Stam described a rare, silver Santa ornament and mold she displays in her store.

“I feel honored to be able to display those every year,” she said.

Henry noted that she has one of those rare Santas, too.

“It was my ornament. My Dad handed it to me to put on the tree,” she said, adding that one of the best things to come out of displaying these cherished ornaments is the awareness it brought to locals who took them for granted. “People didn’t realize what they had in a box in their basement.”

The ornaments have always connected family members to one another, Bryant said, but now they also connect them to the community and to their efforts during World War II. “I think that’s more meaningful to people,” she said.

Stam, who interviewed former CGW employees to write annual brochures for Christmas on Main Street, said she was fascinated by their history.

“The more I learned, the more I realized we have to preserve this history,” she said. “I think people today are proud that they had a part in people’s Christmas traditions.” And, in saving Christmas! PA

Cindy O. Herman/For Inside PA WELLSBORO WORKERS TWEAKED THEIR RIBBON MACHINE AND THE METAL MOLDS THAT ONCE MADE LIGHT BULBS, AND A CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT FACTORY WAS BORN.

Photo provided RYAN ROOT STANDS NEXT TO THE RIBBON MACHINE WHICH ALLOWED A NEVER-ENDING RIBBON OF HOT GLASS TO DROP INTO MOLDS WAS INVENTED AND MANUFACTURED IN WELLSBORO. IT WAS USED IN FACTORIES AROUND THE WORLD.

The miracle continues

After Wellsboro’s Corning Glass Works saved Christmas during WWII, it continued to produce ornaments for several more decades before being bought out by a couple of different owners and then quietly closing in 2016. On December 24, 2019, ribbon machine operator Ryan Root learned that Ribbon Machines S-1 and No. 9 were being decommissioned and scrapped within a month.

“The ribbon machines were built here. Even the ones used around the world were built here,” said Anja Stam, who with her husband, Julian Stam, owns Pop’s Culture Shoppe, in Wellsboro.

In what is being called a new Christmas miracle for Wellsboro, Root posted a Facebook message saying, “If I was a millionaire I would ship them back up here and put them on display in Wellsboro.”

That post caught the attention of former plant engineer Grant “Skip” Cavanaugh, who persuaded Growth Resources of Wellsboro (GROW) to grant a loan that allowed him to save the machines just minutes before being demolished. The two historical machines were shipped back to Wellsboro on June 15, 2020.

Today, money is being raised to build a museum to house the machines. Tax deductible donations are accepted at: Wellsboro Foundation, 114 Main St., Wellsboro, PA 16901. Please reference “Ribbon Machine” in the check memo.