The Top 40 Traditions of Christmas: The Story Behind the Nativity, Candy Canes, Caroling, and All Things Christmas (6 page)

The man who painted the template for the card was John Callcott Horsley, who painted some of the artwork currently decorating the British Houses of Parliament.

What?

The ancient Egyptians sent New Year greetings on papyrus scrolls. Fifteenth-century Germans made them from woodcuts. Before 1843 they would have been handwritten and hand delivered. Even after Sir Henry Cole’s invention, many would keep on being handmade, his printed ones being quite expensive at a shilling apiece.

Mass production brought the price down and helped create a major industry.

The very first Christmas card showed a family celebrating but also depicted the feeding of the hungry and clothing of the poor, intentions the One whose birthday Christmas represents would surely have appreciated.

Printed on the front were the words, “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.”

Where?

The cards sent in ancient China and ancient Egypt were only for the ruling classes. The postal services that followed were highly localized and only for the wealthy.

In 1680 the Penny Post system was introduced in London, bringing the service within reach of ordinary people who wanted to send letters within ten miles of that city. In 1792 Benjamin Franklin set up the forerunner of the U.S. Postal Service.

The idea spread, and delivery costs came down to the point where even worldwide mail became affordable. Now people can send cards to friends and relatives in almost every corner of the world. And they do! Basically, wherever there is a postal system, someone will be sending greetings cards.

When?

Sir Henry Cole produced the first commercial Christmas cards in 1843.

He had taken part in the reform of the Penny Post, only three years before, so getting people to post cards at Christmas probably served his bank balance very well.

In 1875 German émigré Louis Prang brought the tradition of the printed card to America. Though he produced many different types of printed material, he is principally known today as “the father of the American Christmas card.”

In the mid-1980s greeting cards of all kinds moved into the electronic age, and for the first time, people with Internet access were able to send “cards” to each other via e-mail.

Why?

In previous centuries the majority of the population lived and died in the same small area. Christmas cards and the postal system came along at a time when industrialization, political activism, and better transport were changing all that. Perhaps more than any other time in human history, people were separated from family and friends by vast distances, and those distances probably never seemed greater than at Christmastime.

A Christmas card, despite only being thick, decorated paper, was an affordable way of conveying a lot of love across continents and over oceans. No wonder they are traditionally displayed prominently throughout the festive season and often saved for years!

Who?

Philip Van Doren Stern, a writer, editor, and Civil War historian, wrote the story that
It’s a Wonderful Life
was based on. Frank Capra bought the rights from RKO for the same amount they paid for it. RKO must have thought they were doing well by breaking even.

Director Frank Capra claims James Stewart was always his first choice for the role of George Bailey.

Donna Reed took the role of Mary Bailey, which Ginger Rogers had been offered but considered too bland.

Henry Travers, who played Clarence the angel, had been an architect in England before taking to the stage.

Lionel Barrymore was George Bailey’s nemesis, Henry F. Potter.

What?

It’s a Wonderful Life
started off as a short story called “The Greatest Gift.” Philip Van Doren Stern could not get a publisher for it, so he self-published a few copies. In less than a year the story caught the attention of the film industry.

The film version tells of George Bailey, a small-town boy who yearns for travel and adventure but, through one circumstance after another, is kept home in Bedford Falls, NY. Convinced his life has been a waste, he decides to end it all. But before he can do that, a trainee angel named Clarence turns up to show him what the world would have been like without him.

Where?

It’s a Wonderful Life
shows two sides of America. The fictional small town of Bedford Falls is a charming place; though not without its problems, it’s a place where decent people do the right thing and kindness generally makes everything right.

Potterville is what Bedford Falls would have become if George Bailey had never lived. It is a neon-lit, noisy, harsh place, where people look out for number one and money rules.

Critics argued over which version of the town was the least realistic. But, in truth, both existed in America at the time and probably still do.

Potterville might be easier to find, but Bedford Falls is still out there!

When?

The idea for “The Greatest Gift” came to Philip Van Doren Stern in a dream in the late 1930s. He sent it to friends as a Christmas present in 1943. RKO bought the rights in 1944, and Capra bought it from them in 1945.

It’s a Wonderful Life
was due to be released in 1947 but was released in December 1946, which meant that it didn’t go up against
Miracle on 34th Street
in the Oscars. The film was nominated for five Oscars but, amazingly, won none.

In 1990,
It’s a Wonderful Life
was deemed culturally significant enough by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Film Registry.

Why?

Some stories just need to be told! Philip Van Doren Stern didn’t claim to have created the story. It came to him in a dream. Frank Capra, who made the film, eventually said it didn’t seem like something he had created but more like something with a life of its own. He once compared himself to a father whose son had gone on to become president. “It’s the kid who did the work,” he said, referring to his film as “the kid.”

Perhaps, at a time when the world had just been to war, humanity needed reminding that, as Clarence the angel said, “Each man’s life touches so many other lives.”

Who?

James Lord Pierpont, son of a pastor and uncle of the banker J. P. Morgan, wrote “Jingle Bells.” At age fourteen he ran away to sea, returning nine years later. Pierpont later moved across the country, leaving his wife and children with his parents, to take advantage of business opportunities caused by the California Gold Rush.

His business failed, and he returned home, eventually accepting a position as church organist in Savannah, Georgia, in the church where his brother was pastor. This position allowed the musical side of his personality to flourish.

Several of his compositions were performed professionally in his lifetime, and Bob Dylan based his song “Nettie Moore” on Pierpont’s “Gentle Nettie Moore.”

What?

“Jingle Bells,” or “One Horse Open Sleigh,” as it was originally called, is one of the most recognizable of all Christmas carols. It has no religious content, but its joyful imagery and catchy chorus make it a favorite with all ages.

Jingle bells aren’t actually a particular type of bell. The phrase is an encouragement to jingle the bells on the horses’ harnesses with some exuberant sleigh driving.

The song tells of a young man collecting a young woman in his sleigh, but he drives too fast and tips them both out of it. Undeterred, he decides to keep the fun going by doing it all over again another night.

Where?

“One Horse Open Sleigh” was written not in a sleigh nor in a tavern, as popular legends have it. Pierpont was friendly with the owner of a boardinghouse and visited there to play the piano. Hearing him try out a new tune, the boardinghouse owner, Mrs. Waterman, praised his composition and encouraged him to put words to it. Mrs. Waterman’s boardinghouse later became a tavern, giving rise to the idea that Pierpont, the son of a minister, wrote songs in a drinking den.

The boardinghouse was in Medford, Massachusetts. The town is rightly proud of the connection and commemorates it with a plaque.

When?

According to the commemoration plaque in Medford, “One Horse Open Sleigh” was written in 1850, around the time Pierpont would have been considering his move to California. It wasn’t published until seven years later while Pierpont was giving music lessons and playing the organ at his brother’s church. Two years later the piece was rereleased with the new title “Jingle Bells or the One Horse Open Sleigh.”

Just before Christmas in 1965 the astronauts aboard Gemini 6 reported seeing a fast-moving object, driven by a man in red. Then they gave Mission Control a rendition of “Jingle Bells”!

Why?

Despite being a Christmas favorite, “Jingle Bells” was actually a Thanksgiving song. The only connection with Christmas is the idea of riding in a sleigh. Of course, Santa rides a sleigh, but his is pulled by reindeer, not horses.

Historians in Medford, Massachusetts, suggest Pierpont was inspired by Thanksgiving sleigh races held every year in the town. Young men driving “cutters,” or single-horse sleighs, would race through the snow from Medford town square to the center of nearby Malden. It was an exciting event, and the drivers would have been popular among the young women of both towns. Pierpont’s composition wonderfully describes the thrill and joy of it all.

Who?

While he didn’t compose “Joy to the World,” the man who inspired it may actually have been King David! And Isaac Watts based his song on Psalm 98.

Watts, who wrote around 750 hymns, is often referred to as the father of English hymnody.

The music was composed by Lowell Mason, who also came up with the tune to “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Mason composed over sixteen hundred hymn tunes.

“Joy to the World” has been recorded by many choirs and artists over the years, including Andy Williams, the Supremes, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston.

What?

Isaac Watts, a theologian and writer, lived in a time when songs sung in church were nearly always based on the psalms or other Bible verses. His song “Joy to the World” was part of a collection of songs based on biblical writings. It was titled
The Psalms of David: Imitated in the Language of the New Testament and Applied to the Christian State and Worship.

Lowell Mason’s music “Antioch” is believed to have been based on a piece by classical composer George Frideric Handel.

At the end of the twentieth century, “Joy to the World” held the record for being the most-published Christmas hymn in the United States.

Where?

Isaac Watts was friendly with Sir Thomas Abney and his wife, Lady Mary. Their manor house in Stoke Newington, in England, had extensive gardens, which Watts used to enjoy.

After Sir Thomas’s death, Watts moved into Abney House. He lived there with Sir Thomas’s widow and daughter until his death later that year. But there had been many years for sitting in the grounds of Abney House, wandering by the river, watching wildlife, and writing. The Abney House gardens were the place of inspiration for many of his works, including “Joy to the World.”

Lowell Mason did his composing in Boston, where he was a banker and a choirmaster.

When?

The Psalms of David: Imitated in the Language of the New Testament and Applied to the Christian State and Worship
,
including “Joy to the World,” was published in 1719.

Lowell Mason took the original tune and adapted it, borrowing heavily from Handel, into the tune we are familiar with 120 years later.

At the age of forty-five, Watts’s ill health led him to cut back on his preaching duties. Not wishing that his increased free time should be wasted, he set himself the daunting task of setting the psalms to verse. “Joy to the World” was probably written during this period.

Why?

Despite being one of the world’s most popular Christmas hymns, “Joy to the World” is not, in fact, about Christmas or the birth of Christ. The “joy” that Isaac Watts had in mind was to be when Jesus
returned
to the world—in other words, the Second Coming!

Watts, the son of a nonconformist English preacher, went on to become a nonconformist preacher himself. The return of his Savior to this world would surely have been the greatest joy he could have conceived.

Watts’s prolific writing output probably stemmed from a childhood habit of rhyming nearly continually. When he was once punished for it, he apologized—in rhyme.