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Gift biz unwrapped episode 246 At Tinton,
Speaker:gifters, bakers,
Speaker:crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun whether you
Speaker:have an established business or looking to start one now you
Speaker:are in the right place.
Speaker:This is gift to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal,
Speaker:Sue moon Heights Pope.
Speaker:Oh, Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue and thanks for joining me today on this special
Speaker:holiday episode of gift biz on wrapped.
Speaker:My son says,
Speaker:I turn into a 10 year old at Christmas.
Speaker:He's probably right,
Speaker:but what other time of year can you add fantasy and
Speaker:all the traditions into your life without excuse as much as
Speaker:you can on Christmas?
Speaker:Traditions are so special.
Speaker:They bond us to one another and provide comfort and excitement
Speaker:with that expectation of familiar and heartwarming events.
Speaker:Those remembered from childhood.
Speaker:It's a time when we can celebrate memories of past relatives
Speaker:too. Since many of our individual family traditions have been handed
Speaker:down from them.
Speaker:In my family,
Speaker:we have a special four foot Christmas tree that we've lovingly
Speaker:called the sugar plum tree.
Speaker:Somewhere in the 1940s my grandfather braved the blizzardy Minnesota snow
Speaker:and went into the forest to find the perfect branch,
Speaker:one with lots of little baby branch extensions.
Speaker:He brought it home,
Speaker:painted it silver and made a solid wooden base for it.
Speaker:All my life I've seen this beautiful branch decorated with lights
Speaker:and ornaments,
Speaker:our sugar Palm tree with the passing of my mom this
Speaker:year. I'm now the owner and protector of this cherished family
Speaker:tradition. Our sugar Palm tree holds a prime position in our
Speaker:living room now for all to see.
Speaker:I have more family traditions and I bet you do too.
Speaker:They're so worth sharing with future generations to experience,
Speaker:enjoy and connect with those who came before.
Speaker:I thought it would be fun to go back and learn
Speaker:how some of the well known traditions of Christmas got started.
Speaker:It's fascinating to discover the beginnings of symbols and activities.
Speaker:I've always accepted,
Speaker:but never really questioned.
Speaker:Taking into account all of our listeners.
Speaker:I'm limiting the focus as much as possible to nonreligious traditions.
Speaker:Some of these I think are going to surprise you.
Speaker:Are you ready to discover things about Christmas you never knew
Speaker:before? Whoa,
Speaker:Whoa, Whoa.
Speaker:Here we go.
Speaker:It's beginning.
Speaker:Look a lot Like Christmas.
Speaker:It all starts with setting the stage,
Speaker:which seems to always include snow.
Speaker:Why is that?
Speaker:Of course,
Speaker:the origin story of Christmas started in Bethlehem,
Speaker:so the idea of snow seems to be a little confusing,
Speaker:but the truth is both Bethlehem and Jerusalem are on a
Speaker:range of Hills and there can indeed be snow from November
Speaker:to April,
Speaker:so it really is plausible.
Speaker:But the true connection with snow is from the Victorians.
Speaker:They were the ones who created the traditional Christmas.
Speaker:We recognize somewhere around 1837 at that time,
Speaker:Britain was in a mini ice age and often a winter
Speaker:fair was held on the river Thames.
Speaker:This is how snow,
Speaker:ice and cold weather became associated with the Christmas season.
Speaker:As the holiday approaches Christmas cards begin arriving.
Speaker:The first one was mailed in 1842 it was the idea
Speaker:of sir Henry Cole,
Speaker:a British government worker who helped set up the first public
Speaker:record office,
Speaker:what we now call the post office.
Speaker:He thought the service should be used by people of the
Speaker:community for things over and above government services.
Speaker:So he and an artist friend John Horsley designed the first
Speaker:card which caused a little bit of controversy.
Speaker:Surprise, surprise,
Speaker:not because of the idea of holiday cards,
Speaker:but because one of the images on the card was a
Speaker:child being served a glass of wine.
Speaker:It would cause controversy today too.
Speaker:I think they're right.
Speaker:Those first cards sold for one shilling,
Speaker:which would equate to about 8 cents today.
Speaker:Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy.
Speaker:So when the car and got pipe and a button nose
Speaker:and two I've made out of coal,
Speaker:frosty, the snowman is a fairy tale.
Speaker:They say he was made of snow,
Speaker:but the children know how we came to that one day
Speaker:Earlier and earlier,
Speaker:but some time as the season approaches,
Speaker:Carol's begin to be heard.
Speaker:Not many holidays have traditional songs attached to them the way
Speaker:Christmas does,
Speaker:and it's the act of Carolyn that makes it unique.
Speaker:Carol's have been song for thousands of years in Europe,
Speaker:but they were pagan songs,
Speaker:song for the winter solstice.
Speaker:They actually were used for all seasons,
Speaker:but only Christmas.
Speaker:Caroline survived.
Speaker:Christians took over the tradition in one 29 when a Roman
Speaker:Bishop said that a song called angels him,
Speaker:it should be song for Christmas service in seven 60 comas
Speaker:of Jerusalem wrote another Christian him for the Greek Orthodox church.
Speaker:After that,
Speaker:many composers everywhere started creating and forming what is now our
Speaker:Christmas caroling tradition.
Speaker:I just love the images that you see with family gathered
Speaker:around the piano,
Speaker:singing out all the Christmas carols and just enjoying being together.
Speaker:When else do we do this?
Speaker:During the year as a child,
Speaker:some of my friends and I would make a party of
Speaker:getting all bundled up,
Speaker:going out to houses,
Speaker:knocking on the door,
Speaker:singing Christmas carols,
Speaker:going to the next house,
Speaker:doing the same thing,
Speaker:and then hopping back to the originators house for hot chocolate
Speaker:and marshmallows.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:What great memories.
Speaker:Also part of setting the scene are all the decorations.
Speaker:As the years have gone on.
Speaker:Some may say it's getting a little bit out of hand.
Speaker:I just think it's all in such good fun,
Speaker:but where did it start?
Speaker:Oh Whoa.
Speaker:The mistletoe mistletoe grows on a number of trees like Willow,
Speaker:Apple, and Oak.
Speaker:The ancient droids believed it possessed mystical power and brought good
Speaker:luck and fended off evil spirits for your household.
Speaker:It's also a sign of love and friendship according to Norse
Speaker:mythology. That's where kissing under the mistletoe came from.
Speaker:The mistletoe is really easy to hang,
Speaker:but then comes the Christmas tree and as we all know,
Speaker:that's a bigger job.
Speaker:Deck the halls with thousa,
Speaker:Holly
Don
Trees and branches have been used throughout time to celebrate winter
Speaker:festivals, also to decorate homes during the winter.
Speaker:As a reminder that spring will come and Christians use it
Speaker:as a sign of everlasting life with God,
Speaker:most likely Christmas trees began about a thousand years ago in
Speaker:Northern Europe.
Speaker:Funny enough,
Speaker:at that time,
Speaker:they were hung upside down from the ceiling,
Speaker:just like chandelier's.
Speaker:So in whatever form it comes,
Speaker:we now have a tree.
Speaker:But what about the ornaments?
Speaker:These originated in Germany in the 16th century,
Speaker:200 years later,
Speaker:the tradition came to America where it was initially rejected by
Speaker:Puritans because of its pagan origins,
Speaker:but the German settlers were persistent and decorating for the holidays.
Speaker:Started catch on.
Speaker:In the late 1840s an image was published showing queen Victoria
Speaker:celebrating Christmas with her German born husband,
Speaker:Prince Albert,
Speaker:and their family included was a decorated evergreen tree,
Speaker:and as many times happens with Royal family practices,
Speaker:Christmas tree decorating then began in earnest and daughter commercialism in
Speaker:the 1890s Woolworths,
Speaker:which is an old US-based retailer.
Speaker:Some of you young ones may not know.
Speaker:Sold German hand-blown glass ornaments that evolved into decorating trees with
Speaker:tinsel, silk,
Speaker:and even wool.
Speaker:In the olden days,
Speaker:it was in 1973 that hallmark introduced their famous keepsake ornaments,
Speaker:limited edition specials created and collected by millions every year.
Speaker:And of course,
Speaker:we can't have Christmas without all the lights.
Speaker:In the olden days,
Speaker:accompanying ornaments on the trees would be lit candles.
Speaker:I remember when I was a little girl,
Speaker:I went for piano lessons to my European piano teacher.
Speaker:True to tradition.
Speaker:There would be a beautiful tree,
Speaker:a glow with these tall,
Speaker:thin candles,
Speaker:and yes,
Speaker:lit with real flames.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:It was so beautiful.
Speaker:But all I can think of now is all of the
Speaker:fires these were sure to have caused back then enter Thomas
Speaker:Edison in 1880 who installed his new electric light bulbs in
Speaker:his office.
Speaker:It was actually his colleague,
Speaker:Edward Johnson,
Speaker:who's strong,
Speaker:80 red,
Speaker:white and blue lights together for his New York apartment.
Speaker:And that began the Christmas tree lights that we know today.
Speaker:At that time though only rich people could afford electric lights
Speaker:on their trees because very few even had electricity.
Speaker:Widespread use of lights started in 1895 with president Grover Cleveland
Speaker:when he used them in the white house.
Speaker:The tradition of the national Christmas tree and the white house
Speaker:lawn started a little while later in 1923 with president Calvin
Speaker:Coolidge back then,
Speaker:a string of 24 lights cost $12 that may sound cheap,
Speaker:but we're talking about only 24 lights.
Speaker:I just purchased a string of 200 lights this year for
Speaker:the same price.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:now the stage is set.
Speaker:We've got snow,
Speaker:Christmas cards,
Speaker:and Caroline,
Speaker:the mistletoe is hung.
Speaker:The tree is lit and decorated.
Speaker:What's next?
Speaker:The main characters,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:we've got so many to choose from.
Speaker:They're Scrooge,
Speaker:that Grinch and frosty to name a few,
Speaker:but let's focus on the top two.
Speaker:Nicholas Lean.
Speaker:You're here this way.
Speaker:Ah, Santa Claus.
Speaker:Father Christmas,
Speaker:Pierre, Noel,
Speaker:Kris Kringle.
Speaker:This figure is known by many names across the land.
Speaker:Here's the most famous story about how Santa Claus came to
Speaker:be. Once upon a time there was a very poor man
Speaker:with three daughters.
Speaker:He couldn't afford a dowery,
Speaker:which meant his daughters could never get married.
Speaker:One night,
Speaker:a man named Nicholas secretly dropped a bag of gold down
Speaker:the poor man's chimney.
Speaker:It fell into a stocking that had been hung by the
Speaker:fire to dry.
Speaker:This allowed the first daughter to be married.
Speaker:Nicholas repeated this gesture again for daughter number two.
Speaker:Now the poor man desperately wanted to know who was doing
Speaker:this, so he hit by the fire every night until he
Speaker:caught Nicholas in the act.
Speaker:Nicholas didn't want people to know it was him,
Speaker:but the secret couldn't be kept.
Speaker:Once word got out,
Speaker:anytime someone received a secret gift,
Speaker:they thought it was from Nicholas.
Speaker:There are other ideas about the chimney entrance.
Speaker:In pagan lore,
Speaker:hearths were thought to contain spirits or gods important to the
Speaker:prosperity of the household and the fire itself was sacred.
Speaker:There was also the belief that supernatural creatures like elves and
Speaker:fairies entered the house through chimneys.
Speaker:There are various extensions of this story and its evolution.
Speaker:But suffice it to say that this character,
Speaker:regardless of his name in origin story,
Speaker:stands for giving to others and providing happiness and Goodwill.
Speaker:But now Santo needs to get around.
Speaker:He's got a lot to do in just one night,
Speaker:enter Rudolph the red nose.
Speaker:Reindeer had a very shiny nose,
Speaker:and if you ever saw him,
Speaker:you would even say it glows.
Speaker:Rudolph was born okay.
Speaker:Created in 1939 by Robert May,
Speaker:a 33 year old copywriter with Chicago based retailer,
Speaker:Montgomery ward.
Speaker:This was shortly after the decade long,
Speaker:great depression,
Speaker:and there were rumblings of an upcoming war,
Speaker:so the spirits at the time weren't altogether bright.
Speaker:Robert was tasked with creating an animal story for the following
Speaker:Christmas to brighten everyone's mood.
Speaker:Hm. What to do.
Speaker:He and his daughter,
Speaker:Barbara, loved going to the zoo.
Speaker:Her favorite animal was the reindeer.
Speaker:So naturally that would be the animal for Robert's new assignment.
Speaker:Gazing over Lake Michigan.
Speaker:One day he got the idea of a misfit reindeer with
Speaker:the now famous oversize,
Speaker:glowing nose.
Speaker:Side note.
Speaker:Rudolph's name was almost Rolo,
Speaker:Reginald Rodney or Romeo.
Speaker:I think Rudolph was the right choice,
Speaker:don't you?
Speaker:Robert could relate to Rudolf as a child.
Speaker:He was the smallest in the class,
Speaker:frail, uncoordinated,
Speaker:and never asked to join school teams.
Speaker:The story was created as a 32 page illustrated booklet given
Speaker:as a free gift to children when they visited one of
Speaker:Montgomery wards,
Speaker:620 department stores during the holidays.
Speaker:Obviously this was a very successful commercial strategy.
Speaker:2.4 million copies were distributed that year,
Speaker:but the following year,
Speaker:the 1.6
Speaker:million planned didn't come true due to the paper shortages of
Speaker:world war two.
Speaker:Rudolph was all but forgotten until 1946 and with Rudolph's reappearance,
Speaker:he was more popular than ever.
Speaker:Robert May eventually was given full copyright to Rudolf and we
Speaker:know what's happened since then.
Speaker:Rudolf is a beloved holiday reindeer known for overcoming obstacles,
Speaker:embracing differences,
Speaker:and recognizing everyone's unique potential.
Speaker:Meanwhile, he's busy,
Speaker:busy, busy as Santas helper delivering gifts.
Speaker:On Christmas Eve.
Speaker:He lands on the roof with the other reindeer and the
Speaker:sleigh, and this is where our direction shifts to the fireplace.
Now in this fireplace,
Speaker:are you a logs?
Speaker:Once again,
Speaker:this can be traced back to Nordic tradition and the winter
Speaker:solstice festivals in Scandinavia and Europe.
Speaker:Believe it or not,
Speaker:the UL log was originally the entire tree.
Speaker:Isn't that crazy?
Speaker:It was chosen and brought into the house with great ceremony.
Speaker:Then the largest end of the log would be placed into
Speaker:the fireplace with the rest of the tree reaching out into
Speaker:the whole room.
Speaker:The burnt log from the prior year,
Speaker:which had been carefully stored,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:was used to light this new UL log you a log,
Speaker:but remember it was the whole jury
milk for Santa is a more recent tradition starting in the
Speaker:1930s and the great depression.
Speaker:This was a time of real hardship,
Speaker:but parents wanted to instill in their children how important it
Speaker:is to give to others and show gratitude for gifts they
Speaker:receive no matter how meager the offerings available.
Speaker:Well, there were other origins to this practice from other countries.
Speaker:I'm going to leave it at this for now because we
Speaker:need to move on to the gifts.
Speaker:The custom of giving and receiving gifts goes back to the
Speaker:days of Jesus.
Speaker:The wise men came to him bearing the gifts of frankincense,
Speaker:gold and mirth.
Speaker:As the years go by,
Speaker:gifting becomes more and more commercialized,
Speaker:but the really important thing is that it's the thought and
Speaker:the act of giving that is so much more important than
Speaker:the actual physical gift.
Speaker:It's a potent lesson that needs to be stressed again and
Speaker:again. What else do we see in our mind's eye when
Speaker:we think of Christmas year are some other symbols that we
Speaker:immediately connect to Christmas,
Speaker:Jingle bells,
Speaker:jingle bells,
Speaker:jingle all the way.
Speaker:Oh well it is to ride in a one horse open
Speaker:sleigh. Hey,
Speaker:You just can't hear jingle bells without thinking of Christmas and
Speaker:they're everywhere from slays to doors to decorations once used to
Speaker:call everyone to church in the ancient times,
Speaker:these bells also signaled the start of sunset.
Speaker:Sunset represented the end of the current day and the start
Speaker:of the new day.
Speaker:So church services would be the entrance to a new day,
Speaker:which meant right after sunset In Victorian times people would go
Speaker:caroling with small bells to accompany their voices.
Speaker:Sometimes they even use the bells without singing.
Speaker:Today handbell ringing is still very popular.
Speaker:One other fun fact,
Speaker:jingle bells was the first song broadcast from space from the
Speaker:Gemini six in 1965 Tom Stafford and Wally Seraw,
Speaker:the astronauts on that mission even say they spotted a sleigh
Speaker:in space,
Speaker:could it have possibly been a Santa citing ah,
Speaker:the good old USA Massachusets to be exact claims ownership of
Speaker:creating the candy cane in 1837 actually they were called candy
Speaker:sticks at first because it was just a straight white sugar
Speaker:stick, but no cost Costa frat very quickly thereafter,
Speaker:stripes were added.
Speaker:They switched to be called candy canes in 1866 and then
Speaker:connected specifically with Christmas in 1874 the flavor evolved to from
Speaker:pure sugar to the winter green or the most popular peppermint
Speaker:flavor of today.
Speaker:There's some dispute here though.
Speaker:Legend has it that in 1670 the cane shaped candy became
Speaker:historical. When a choir master at the cologne cathedral in Germany
Speaker:bent the sugar sticks into canes to appear as shepherd hooks.
Speaker:Something else red and white traditionally seen for the holidays are
Speaker:poinsettias. I'm dreaming of a,
Speaker:I used to know these plants are native to central America
Speaker:and they flower in the winter.
Speaker:It was the first ambassador from the U S to Mexico,
Speaker:Joel Robert point set who brought the flowers to his Southern
Speaker:Carolina plantation and then started sharing them with his friends.
Speaker:There's also a story about how they came to be associated
Speaker:with Christmas.
Speaker:You want to hear it.
Speaker:Once upon a time,
Speaker:a poor Mexican girl named puppy de wanted to give baby
Speaker:Jesus a gift.
Speaker:She was heartbroken though because her family could barely afford feeding
Speaker:themselves much less having an extra money for a gift.
Speaker:A cousin tried to comfort pepita by telling her that any
Speaker:small gesture would make baby Jesus happy.
Speaker:It didn't need to cost a lot.
Speaker:So pepita set out to meet baby Jesus and gathered weeds
Speaker:along the path on her way.
Speaker:Something would be better than nothing.
Speaker:She thought by the time she reached her destination,
Speaker:she had a sizeable grouping of green foliage as she placed
Speaker:it beside baby Jesus.
Speaker:It miraculously blossomed into a bouquet of bright red flowers ever
Speaker:after. These plants are known as the flowers of the Holy
Speaker:night. Back to my house,
Speaker:the Mon hight residents,
Speaker:we started a new tradition about four years ago.
Speaker:Every Christmas Eve we have a gingerbread house decorating contest.
Speaker:We divide into two teams.
Speaker:Most of the time girls versus boys and build,
Speaker:decorate and name our houses.
Speaker:Then we put them on Facebook for everyone to vote on
Speaker:their favorite house.
Speaker:It's now something we look forward to and yes,
Speaker:it's getting a little bit competitive.
Speaker:All in good fun of chorus.
Speaker:If you'd like to see this in action,
Speaker:watch my Facebook account and you can even join in on
Speaker:the voting.
Speaker:If you like To dive a little bit deeper into the
Speaker:story of a gingerbread house.
Speaker:Ginger root was first cultivated in China over 5,000
Speaker:years ago.
Speaker:The Europeans first baked gingerbread in the 11th century when the
Speaker:crusaders brought back the idea of spicy bread from the middle
Speaker:East. Ginger is also a natural preservative,
Speaker:which of course was so important back then.
Speaker:Since then,
Speaker:it has been an interesting evolution,
Speaker:including Swedish nuns using it to aid in digestion.
Speaker:In 1444 queen Elizabeth though is credited with forming gingerbread into
Speaker:shapes when she created likenesses of her guests in cookie form.
Speaker:The tradition of gingerbread houses,
Speaker:however, comes from Germany in the early 18 hundreds shortly after
Speaker:the appearance of the new fairy tale,
Speaker:Hansel and Gretel,
Speaker:there's a walled medieval town called Dingles bull that looks like
Speaker:a village full of real life,
Speaker:colorful gingerbread homes complete with a small town square and cobblestone
Speaker:pathways and streets.
Speaker:Here's a brand new tradition.
Speaker:One of the newest well-known traditions is from 2005 so very
Speaker:recent and a story created by Carol oversold and her daughter
Speaker:Shonda bell.
Speaker:Do you know what it is?
Speaker:It's a rhyming story explaining how Santa knows whether you've been
Speaker:naughty or nice.
Speaker:The elf on the shelf.
Speaker:Of course,
Speaker:this is a special spy who is sent from the North
Speaker:pole to keep watch over your behaviors and encourages you to
Speaker:be nice.
Speaker:He watches you during the day and goes back to report
Speaker:his findings each night,
Speaker:naughty or nice.
Speaker:Which list are you on?
Speaker:Okay. Have the Holly jolly Christmas.
Speaker:It's the best time of the year.
Speaker:I don't know if they'll smelled.
Speaker:Have a cup of cheer.
Speaker:Have a Holly jolly Christmas.
Speaker:And when you walked down this street,
Speaker:say hello dear friends.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:and everyone you meet,
Speaker:Traditions, the ones we cherish from the past and the ones
Speaker:we create for the future are away.
Speaker:We pulled together,
Speaker:connect deeper and love in the most genuine way this year.
Speaker:I hope I've given you some inspiration on this show.
Speaker:You've heard some beautiful voices from some young ladies that would
Speaker:be ever lastly and Addie together.
Speaker:We wish you a very Merry Christmas.
Speaker:I want to wish you a Merry Christmas.
Speaker:I want to wish you a Merry Christmas.
Speaker:I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of
Speaker:my
Dad
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas.
Speaker:I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas.
