Holiday History 101 A Bright Idea
by Jessica Bayramian Byerly
Originally, Christmas trees weren’t strung with lights, but affixed with candles. Of obvious danger, brave revelers would keep a bucket of water or sand close by just in case the dried-out tree happened to catch fire. It wasn’t until the mid-twentieth century that the incandescent bulb, first invented by Thomas Edison, was strung with any regularity on Christmas trees throughout the US. In 1882, Edward H. Johnson, the vice president of Edison’s Electric Light Company, displayed a red-, white- and blue-light strewn Christmas tree in the window of his Fifth Avenue home, thereby becoming the Father of Christmas Tree Lights. But Christmas lights wouldn’t become a widely accepted candle replacement or reasonably priced for decades to come. Following a tragic candle-induced Christmas tree conflagration in 1917, then teenager Albert Sadacca repurposed the white lights his family produced to colored bulbs and created the first Christmas lights. In 1925, Sadacca established the National Outfit Manufacturer’s Association Electric Company, or NOMA, which developed the infamous “bubble lite” in 1946 and held reign as the largest Christmas light manufacturer in Edward H. Johnson’s Christmas tree strung with strings of electric lamps, December the world until the 1960s. 25, 1882.
December 2013 • Section A
IN THIS ISSUE 9
LOCAL FISH MARKET OFFERS LOCAL MEAT AND MORE
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BOZEMAN PUBLIC LIBRARY
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GALLATIN VETERINARY HOSPITAL
A Sweet Tradition
Did You Know . . .
According to the Downtown Bozeman Partnership, of the dozens of communities that started putting up the much beloved holiday “spiders” decades ago, Bozeman is one of only two cities in the U.S. that continue to do so.
Kwanzaa: The Evolution of a Modern Holiday
Dating back just 47 years, Kwanzaa was founded by Dr. Mualena Karenga, who was then chairman of black studies at California Sate University in Long Beach. Linking African traditions with American customs, Kwanzaa celebrates seven principles – unity, selfdetermination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, faith – from December 26th through January 1st. During each of the holiday’s seven days, a candle is lit and placed in the candleholder, or kinara. Then, family and friends discuss that day’s principle and its impact on those gathered at the celebration. The first candle lit is the black candle, the symbol of unity. The remaining candles are red, which are often placed on the left side of the black candle, and green, which are placed to the right. Derived from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning “first fruits of the harvest,” Kwanzaa commemorates harvest festival traditions and the abundance resulting from family and friends working together. Though Kwanzaa traditions vary and continue to evolve, most celebrations include giving (making) gifts, sharing meals, honoring ancestors and wearing traditional African clothing.
Over 350 years ago, hard sugar sticks were a popular confection produced by amateur and professional candy makers alike. When, around the seventeenth century, European Christians adopted Christmas trees as part of their holiday celebration, these candy sticks became an integral decoration. In 1670, a choirmaster in Germany’s Cologne Cathedral created representative “shepherd’s staffs” by hooking the end of the candy sticks, which were then given to attending children during the long Christmas services. The custom quickly spread through Europe and eventually, in 1847, to America. Around 1900, candy-makers began to make the traditional red-and-white striped canes and added classic peppermint and wintergreen flavors.
How Lovely Are Thy Branches
Although evergreens are steeped in pagan beliefs and celebrations, the modern Christmas tree tradition finds its roots in 16th century Germany when devout Christians decorated trees and brought them into their homes. Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, is credited with, in an apparent reenactment of a starry evening walk amidst the pines, first bedecking a tree with lighted candles. However, the Puritan insistence on observing Christmas with solemn respect, not joyous celebration insured that most Americans deemed Christmas trees unacceptably pagan until 1846, when Queen Victoria and her family were sketched standing around a Christmas tree and the fashionable tradition could no longer be ignored. By the turn of the century, Americans were decorating their increasingly larger trees with homemade ornaments. Eventually, popcorn-and-berry strands were added. The invention of electricity soon led to Christmas lights and the modern Christmas tree, in all of its glittering, glowing glory, was finally an American mainstay.
Homemade Hot Chocolate
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F11
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VERGE THEATRE
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CIGAR OF THE MONTH
2 cups powdered sugar 1 cup cocoa powder (Dutch-process preferred) 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons cornstarch A pinch of cayenne or more to taste Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and incorporate evenly; mix can be stored indefinitely in the pantry in an airtight container. Mix two tablespoons mix into 8 oz. warm milk of your choice and enjoy! Additional cayenne, cinnamon and/or nutmeg may be added for a spicier hot chocolate. Recipe adapted from Alton Brown’s hot cocoa recipe, which can be found at www. foodnetwork.com/recipes.
A Top That’s More Than a Toy
A four-sided spinning top, the dreidel is a Jewish version of the teetotum, a gambling toy found throughout many European cultures. Played with during the Hanukkah holiday, the dreidel tradition dates back to when the Jews hid from the Greeks in caves in order to learn the Torah. According to legend, when a teacher would hear Greek soldiers, he would instruct the children to hide their torah scrolls and take out their dreidels instead. Some rabbis believe that the dreidel’s traditional markings are historically significant, representative, for instance, of the four exiles to which the nation of Israel was historically subject—Babylonia, Persia, Greece and Rome.
Sources: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/news/a-brief-history-of-christmas-lights, http://inventors.about.com/od/foodrelatedinventions/a/candy_canes.htm http://www.history.com/topics/history-of-christmas-trees, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreidel, http://www.bhg.com/holidays/kwanzaa/traditions/kwanzaa-history-traditions/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwanzaa, http://www.kbzk.com/news/bozeman-spiders-bring-christmas-spirit-to-downtown/
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EARTH’S TREASURES
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HARLEY’S CORNER
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THE GREAT ROCKY MOUNTAIN TOY COMPANY
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MENTAL HEALTH MONTHLY