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- to you and yours during this festive season
~' and all the days that follow. ~~ - __ _ -
WIEN ALASKA AIRLINES
To our customers of long standing ... to our friends of many years... and to those
whom we hope will become old customers and old friends ... to all whose courtesy and
: friendship have made our Christmas more thoroughly enjoyable, we say sincerely and
heartily, Merry Christmas. Your trust and confidence in this modern banking institution
■! is truly appreciated and we want to express our genuine appreciation for the privilege
of serving this great community.
Miners & Merchants Bank of Alaska
Nome, Alaska
Branch at Kotzebue
Strange Heritage of the Christmas Tree
By Jules Loh
UP! Slaff Writer
Most traditions are children of
strange ancestry, and the two
most popular Christmas customs
—Santa Claus and the Christmas
Tree — may have the strangest
heritage of them all.
Does it come as a surprise that
the lighted tree is entirely Chris
tian in origin while the jolly fig
ure sometimes called Nick was
born of Pagan parents?
True, the name Santa Claus is
derived from St. Nicholas—or
Sinter Klaas, as the Dutch called
him. But the Saint and the Elf
have nothing in common except
the name.
This is how they came to be
joined in Christmas lore:
For years the Feast of St.
Nicholas, Dec. 6, was observed in
Europe by giving gifts to children.
He is their Patron Saint, and the
custom still is practiced in some
European countries.
Few historical facts are known
about the Saint. He was Bishop
of Myra in Asia Minor and died
about the year 350. He was an
orphan, and a generally accepted
legend is he often helped poor
children by slipping coins through
their windows at night.
Dutch immigrants to America
brought the traditional Dec. 5
“Visit from St. Nicholas” to their
colony of New Amsterdam. They
had clung to the custom even
after the reformation.
Later, when the English found
ed the Colony of New York in
the same territory, their children
liked the idea of a nocturnal
visitor coming to their homes,
too.
But the idea of a bishop was
disagreeable to the New Yorkers,
many of whom were Presby
terians. Also, they did not cele
brate feasts of Saints.
In the withered pages of Ger
manic Folklore, familiar to these
Anglo-Saxons, was the Pagan God
Thor.
He was the God of the peasants;
an elderly, jovial man with a long
white beard. His color was red,
his element was fire, and the
hearth was sacred to him. On the
occassions when he left his home
among the icebergs of the north
land, he frequently would come
down chimneys into his element.
He rode in a chariot pulled by
two white goats, Cracker and
Gnasher.
Exchanging gifts at Christmas
was traditional with the English
Americans, and it was not sur
prising the jolly old Elf now
familiar to us all, should emerge
as the new delivery boy.
• Santa Claus is strictly an Amer
ican citizen.
Germans also had the custom
of erecting in their homes during
Advent a candle-bedecked wood
en pyramid topped by a star, sig
nifying the flight of the world”
which shone from the stable at
Bethlehem.
During the 16th Century they
began combining the two symbols,
usually adding beneath the tree
the Christmas Crib which former
ly stood at the foot of the pyramid.
Trees began appearing in
American homes after the first
big wave of German immigration
in about 1700.
Esther and Joe Wallace
To Spend Winter Travelling
Esther and Joe Wallace are
taking a real vacation and will
spend the winter in travel. For
Christmas they are at Inglewood.
Calif., where their daughter and
family will join them.
So far on their trip they have
visited with Ken Rude family
in Salem; Ruby Stormfeltz in Eu
gene, Ore.; the Lehtis in Klamath
Falls, Gabrielsons and McDonalds
at Morgan Hill, Calif.; Don Travis
family at Salinas; Grant Jack
sons and Ollie Weavers at Santa
Barbara; Hugh Pearson and fam
ily in Los Angeles; Clyde Kam
merer and family at Long Beach;
Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Richter
at Gardenia; Mr. and Mrs. Bill
Tuttle at Fallbrook near San
Diego.
They plan to take in the Rose
Bowl Game on New Year* Day
and the Pasadena Rose Parade and
also enjoy Disneyland along with
the rest of the young people.
Jackie Jefford daughter of Jack
Jefford of F. A. A. is now Mrs.
Heer and teaches school in Fair
banks.
Sandy Maien, son of Mr. and
Mrs. David Mazen is now a
Counselor at the Blythe Junior
High School in Blythe, Calif.