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AMERICA’S TOP CHRISTMAS SONGS WEST POINT DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY
HENRY FORD’S MODEL T
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AMERICAN PATRIOT AMERICA’S TOP CHRISTMAS SONGS
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HENRY FORD’S MODEL T
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
THIS WEEK IN AMERICAN HISTORY
AMERICA’S TOP CHRISTMAS SONGS From the earliest days, music has been an integral part of Christmas. As far back as the second century AD, chants, litanies and hymns in Latin were used by the church to evoke the life and death of Christ. It took until the 13th century, however, for Christmas music to be written for the common man. These so-called “carols” — first initiated by Francis of Assisi — were initially a combination of traditional circle dances and singing. But they soon came to encompass any song in which a religious topic was treated in a style that is familiar or festive. From Italy, it passed to France and Germany, and later to England, everywhere retaining its simplicity, fervor, and mirthfulness. Music in itself has become one of the greatest tributes to Christmas, and includes some of the noblest compositions of the great musicians. 4 AMERICAN PATRIOT
For Americans, the English tradition of caroling was influential. The English perfected and popularized the public singing of Christmas carols as part of Christmas customs, and Christmas eve caroling became a tradition in churches around the world. The status of Christmas as an important feast within the church year also means there is a long tradition of music specially composed for celebrating the season. In America, Christmas music became closely associated with the Christmas spirit — not to mention holiday shopping. For Americans of so many diverse cultures and traditions, Christmas slowly became a unifying national holiday during the first half of the 19th century. By mid-century, Christian groups began to ignore their religious differences over the meaning of Christmas and honored the day with common traditions focused on the Christmas tree and the giving of gifts. This was also true of music. Americans already knew old Christmas songs that came from England and other areas of Europe. But many new American Christmas songs started to become popular. For example, in 1849, a religious leader from Massachusetts wrote the words to “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.” The song “Jingle Bells” appeared seven years later. On the other hand, much of what we think of as Christmas music today was adopted from music initially created for other purposes. Many secular songs are regarded as “Christmas” songs due to the time of year they are most often heard or sung. These include favorites such as Winter Wonderland, Let It Snow and even Jingle Bells. Similarly, classical music, too, has been adopted for Christmas. Examples include The Nutcracker Ballet often performed at Christmastime as well as Handel’s Messiah, actually written for Easter.
BING CROSBY’S RENDITION OF WHITE CHRISTMAS
THE TOP TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS SONGS RECORDED BY AMERICAN PERFORMERS, AS REPORTED BY WCBS RADIO, ARE:
1. White Christmas, Bing Crosby 2. The Christmas Song, Nat King Cole 3. Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer, Gene Autry 4. Sleigh Ride, Leroy Anderson 5. A Holly Jolly Christmas, Burl Ives 6. Little Drummer Boy, Harry Simeone Chorale 7. Do You Hear What I Hear, Bing Crosby 8. There’s No Place Like Home For The Holidays, Perry Como 9. Frosty The Snowman, Gene Autry 10. Mistletoe and Holly, Frank Sinatra 11. It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, Andy Williams 12. Santa Baby, Eartha Kitt Honorable mentions include Let It Show by Monroe Vaughn and It’s Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas by Johnny Mathis. IN A MORE CONTEMPORARY VEIN, WCBS RANKS THESE AS THE TOP 10 . . .
1. White Christmas, The Drifters 2. Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree, Brenda Lee 3. Christmas (Baby Come Home), Darlene Love 4. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, Bruce Springsteen 5. Do They Know It’s Christmas?, Band Aid 6. Happy Xmas (War Is Over), John Lennon and Yoko Ono 7. Jingle Bell Rock, Bobby Helms 8. Run Rudolph Run, Chuck Berry 9. Blue Christmas, Elvis Presley 10. Little Saint Nick, Beach Boys Others include Jose Feliciano’s Feliz Navidad and the Jackson 5’s Santa Claus is Coming To Town.
THE DRIFTERS’ RENDITION OF WHITE CHRISTMAS AMERICAN PATRIOT 5
WEST POINT DUTY HONOR COUNTRY
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From the very beginning of the United States, West Point has played a vital role in our nation's history. As early as the Revolutionary War, it became clear that this commanding plateau on the west bank of the Hudson River was critical. George Washington considered West Point the most important strategic position in America, he had fortifications built there, and transferred his headquarters in l779. Soldiers built forts, batteries and redoubts and extended a l50-ton iron chain across the Hudson to control river traffic. Never captured by the British, West Point has been the oldest continuous military post in America. After the Revolutionary War was won, the new leadership — Washington, Hamilton, Adams among them — recommended that West Point be the location for an American institution devoted to building a homegrown military. It took until 1802 for the idea to become reality, when President Thomas Jefferson signed legislation establishing the United States Military Academy. The real foundation for the West Point we know today emerged when Colonel Sylvanus Thayer, known as the “father of the Military Academy,” served as Superintendent from l8l7-l833. He established strict academic standards, instilled military discipline and emphasized honorable conduct. Aware of the need for engineers in the raw and growing country, Thayer made civil engineering the foundation of the curriculum. And Academy graduates played a large role in construction of the nation’s infrastructure. After gaining experience and recognition during the Mexican and Indian wars, West Point graduates filled the highest ranks on both sides during the Civil War. Academy graduates, headed by generals such as Grant, Lee, Sherman and Jackson, provided leadership in both the North and South. In the post-Civil War period, West
Point broadened its curriculum beyond civil engineering to include all military arts and sciences. In World War I, Academy graduates again distinguished themselves on the battlefield. Eisenhower, MacArthur, Bradley, Arnold, Clark, Patton were among the array of Academy graduates who stepped up to leadership posts in the World War II. In 1964, President Johnson increased the size of the Corps of Cadets; today it stands at 4,000. In addition, minorities and the first women were brought into the Academy reflecting a more diverse and multicultural society. In recent decades, the curriculum permits cadets to major in any one of more than a dozen fields, including a wide range of subjects from the sciences to the humanities. The history of West Point is integral to the history of the U.S. A favorite expression at West Point is that “much of the history we teach was made by people we taught.” Guided by the motto, “Duty, Honor, Country,” West Point continues to prepare its graduates to serve as commissioned leaders of character in America's 21st Century Army.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WEST POINT AMERICAN PATRIOT 7
The most dangerous animals in the forest don’t live there.
ONLY YOU CAN PR E VE N T W I L D FIRE S. w w w. s m o k e y b e a r. c o m
HENRY FORD’S MODEL T Henry Ford did not invent the automobile. He did not invent the assembly line. His insight was to put the two together. In so doing, he changed the face of America.
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Ford was a born tinkerer, coming into the world on his father’s family farm in 1863. At sixteen, against the wishes of his family, he left the farm for Detroit, where he became a mechanic's apprentice. He advanced steadily and worked his way up to chief engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company. Overseeing the steam engines and turbines that produced electricity, Ford began to envision adapting an engine to a small passenger vehicle. At twenty-four, Ford married Clara Bryant, whom he called “The Believer” because she encouraged his dream of building
Michigan, in 1910. Here, Ford had his next great
a “horseless carriage.” As early as 1891, he
breakthrough. He combined precision manufac-
showed Clara a design for an internal combus-
turing, standardized and interchangeable parts,
tion engine; by 1896, Ford had constructed and
a division of labor, and a continuous moving
sold his first automobile so as to raise funds
assembly line. Workers remained in place, adding
for a more sophisticated model.
the same component to each automobile as it moved past them on the line. Delivery of parts
After two brief failures, he managed to get the
by conveyor belt to the workers was carefully
Ford Motor Company up and running in 1903.
orchestrated to keep the assembly line moving.
The small firm produced only a few cars a day;
The introduction of the moving assembly line
groups of two or three men worked on each car
significantly reduced assembly time per vehicle,
from components made to order by other com-
thus lowering costs.
panies. His first car, the Model A, was out by 1903 and the Model N by1906. But Ford was
In the 1920s, the Ford Motor Company contin-
frustrated because he had not reached his goal
ued to grow. In 1925, it was producing 10,000
of producing a simple, affordable vehicle for
cars every 24 hours. On May 26, 1927, accom-
everyday people. The third time was a charm, as
panied by his son Edsel, he watched the fifteen
the Model T turned out to be the answer. This
millionth Model T Ford roll off the assembly line.
simple but powerful car could reach 45 mph
By that time, Ford’s ingenuity had made his com-
and had a 25 mpg. It made its debut in 1908
pany the largest automobile manufacturer in the
with a purchase price of $825, and ten thousand
world, provided average Americans with a car they
were sold in its first year.
could afford, revolutionized American society, and helped shape the world we live in today.
To meet the growing demand for the Model T, the company opened a large factory at Highland Park,
PEAK INSIDE THE HIGHLAND PARK PLANT HERE AMERICAN PATRIOT 9
THE BEAUTIFUL
BRANDYWINE VALLEY
The Brandywine River winds from Southeastern Pennsylvania into Delaware carving out the beautiful rolling hills and valleys that characterize of the Brandywine Valley. The Valley is where the Du Pont's made their fortunes and built their lives, where early American industry thrived, where great artists like Howard Pyle and three generations of Wyeths worked, and where a pivotal Revolutionary War battle was fought. The original inhabitants of the Brandywine Valley were an Algonquin Indian tribe who called themselves Lenape. The Lenape were eventually displaced by early Swedish, Finnish and Dutch settlers. One of the Valley's most famous figures was William Penn, who had made Pennsylvania into a bastion of religious and political tolerance. He encouraged his fellow Quaker members of the Society of Friends to settle throughout the Valley, where their quiet commitment to community is still a major influence. Under Penn and his successors, a large numbers of English settlers arrived. Water-powered mills on the swiftly falling river made the Brandywine the most important milling center in the country from the last half of the 18th century, and well into the first half of the 19th. The area became the largest supplier of quality flour in the world. 10 AMERICAN PATRIOT
By the early 18th century, the Brandywine Valley was also the America's paper milling center. In 1776, the mills supplied the paper to print currency for the colonies and the Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence. The peaceful nature of the valley was shattered, when British and Hessian forces fought American Continentals and local militia under George Washington and Marquis de Lafayette in the largest land battle of the Revolutionary War. The Brandywine River lay between the advancing British troops under General Howe and the American capital at Philadelphia. The battle was fought on September 11, 1777, and the Americans were defeated. The British drove the Americans north into Pennsylvania, and then marched on to take Philadelphia. The Brandywine River watershed today is still a land of green and gently rolling hills. It looks as it does, in large part due to the protection and conservation work of the Brandywine Conservancy founded in 1967. Concerned residents took quick action at a time when the Valley was threatened by massive industrial development. They permanently protected and preserved more than 32,000 acres of land that is literally the heart and soul of the Brandywine.
SITES TO SEE Longwood Gardens Thousands of acres of garden, fountains and woodlands, and a former duPont estate www.longwoodgardens.org >
Winterthur Museum & Gardens A former duPont estate and home to a worldclass collection of American furniture and decorative arts. www.winterthur.org >
Nemours Mansion & Gardens This beautifully preserved French villa, surrounded by acres of landscaped gardens, was given by a duPont heir. www.nemoursmansion.org >
Brandywine Battlefield Park Authentic displays of the Revolutionary War and era amid rolling hills, including the Washington and Lafayette headquarters.
www.brandywinebattlefield.org >
Hagley Museum & Gardens The original duPont gunpowder mills, estates and gardens. www.hagley.lib.de.us >
Delaware Art Museum Known for its collection of the works of Howard Pyle, and other English and American art. www.delart.org >
Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation A working farm from the 18th Century, with special events and living history weekends. www.colonialplantation.org >
Brandywine River Museum A grist mill converted into a collection of artwork by the Wyeth family.
www.brandywinemuseum.org >
AMERICAN PATRIOT 11
‘NATIONAL TREASURE’ KEPT FOLK ART ALIVE
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Nancy Sweezy, who died last month, rode a surge of interest in American folk arts, to save Jugtown pottery, a famous and traditional North Carolina craft that was on the verge of disappearing. For her efforts, the National Endowment for the Arts designated Sweezy “a national treasure,” saying that her efforts had “helped inspire a revival of the traditional pottery community.” The declaration noted that the number of potteries in an area east of Charlotte, centered around Seagrove in the Piedmont Hills, increased from seven in 1968 to nearly 120 today. Potters in this area were turning out fine work before the American Revolution and as early as the 1740s. Because the clay and talent were exceptional, the area became a major producer of utilitarian and decorative pottery and tableware. With the advent of modern manufacturing techniques, the potteries fell onto hard times in the mid-1800s, and by the early 20th century were nearly gone. Enter Julia Royster Busbee, a predecessor to Sweezy. In 1917, Busbee is said to have fallen in love with a striking orange plate she saw at a county fair in North Carolina. She and her husband, Jacques, a painter, scouted the area, found a few potters dabbling in the old traditions by making plates and pickle jars to satisfy local demand. The Busbees moved into a log cabin in a settlement they named Jugtown — the generic name for rural potteries that supplied earthen vessels to moonshiners. There, they nurtured the resurrection of old ways, sometimes in new styles. They introduced the pottery to New Yorkers (including Eleanor Roosevelt) who took to it, and the area also became a tourist attraction for wealthy Northerners visiting nearby Pinehurst.
Another decline came from the 1950s through 1970s, and once again a savior stepped in. When Sweezy and her daughter Lybess came shopping in March 1968, they learned Jugtown was in danger of closing. “Mother and I looked at the log cabin house and the kilns which were falling apart,” Lybess Sweezy is quoted as saying. "And we made up our minds to buy it in an hour." Sweezy begged and borrowed the money to buy the financially staggering Jugtown in 1968. She came up with new glazes to replace ones that used lead, and gave them appealing names like Blueridge Blue and Dogwood White. She recruited talented apprentices; leaned on influential acquaintances, including the Rockefellers, for support; developed marketing strategies; and got Jugtown pottery into upscale Northern stores. The pottery area around Seagrove is thriving today. Sweezy's effect on North Carolina is "profound and very much felt to this day," said George Holt, director of the N.C. Museum of Art's performing arts and film programs. Holt helped organize an exhibition in 2005, "The Potter's Eye," of which Sweezy was the co-curator. She also wrote two books on pottery and folk arts.
WATCH A VIDEO OF NANCY SWEEZY ON JUGTOWN POTTERY AMERICAN PATRIOT 13
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Oh, for the good old days when people would stop Christmas shopping when they ran out of money.” — AUTHOR UNKNOWN
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THIS WEEK IN
AMERICAN HISTORY 2002. President George W. Bush signed the Department of Homeland Security into law, a bureaucracy tasked with fighting terrorism. This came as a reaction to perceived weaknesses in U.S. antiterrorism efforts, as exemplified by the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge was placed in charge of the new Department. TAKE A LOOK AT THE GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY FOR A NEW CONSOLIDATED DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY > AMERICAN PATRIOT 15
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