RIP Mary Travers (Peter, Paul And Mary)

Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary passed away at the age of 72
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090917/ap_on_en_mu/us_obit_mary_travers
Here is their Christmas Song "A Soalin"

RIP Henry Gibson (Laugh-In)

Henry Gibson of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In passed away at the age of 73
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-henry-gibson17-2009sep17,0,1109640.story

Canadian Brass Trumpeter Fred Mills dies in car crash

Trumpeter of the Canadian Brass Fred Mills died Monday in an automobile accident. He was 70.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2009/09/08/fred-mills-obit.html

I re ripped Ed Ames Christmas Is the Warmest Time of the Year

I re ripped Ed Ames "Christmas Is the Warmest Time of the Year" without using any noise reduction other than hum and what I could remove of the pips and pops. The tracks don't sound tinny this way. I will edit the original post to reflect this change too.

Rest in Peace Les Paul

Les Paul passed away today. I was going to post this myself, but our friends at Jingle Bell Rocks! doc beat me to it so I will post the link for their blog.
http://jinglebellrocks.blogspot.com/2009/08/rest-in-peace-les-paul-19152009.html

Ed Ames - Christmas Is the Warmest Time of the Year

Ed Ames “Christmas Is the Warmest Time of the Year” – RCA Records LSP-4385 1970
I found this today at a Thrift Store. The artwork isn’t in the best of shape, especially on the upper right hand corner of the back where it has been torn off.
The album has a few scuffs here and there and light scratches but it doesn’t skip. (The vinyl did look better at the Thrift Store but for its age it really isn’t in that bad shape)

I did my best at eliminating pips and pops and background noise but on a couple tracks, to me, they sound a little “tinny” I don’t know if it has something to do with them being a higher bitrate or what, but it only happened on a couple tracks and only after I tried eliminating the background noise. It was fine after the 60Hz hum removal and fine after the removing of the pips and pops. (I save the file after each step)

This album was recorded in RCA’s Music Center of the World, Hollywood, California, and Webster Hall, New York City.

EDITED 8/23/09 I re ripped the album and didn't use any background noise removal so the songs don't sound tinny.

Recording Engineers: Mickey Crofford, Hollywood, and Ed Begley, New York
Photography: Ken Whitmore
Album design: Wall Batterton


Track Listing:
Side One
01 The Prince of Peace (A Child Was Born)
02 See the Light
03 Silent Night
04 The Little Drummer Boy
05 O Holy Night (Cantique de Noël)
Side Two
01 O Bambino (One Cold and Blessed Winter)
02 Little White Donkey (Carrying the Lord to Jerusalem)
03 Some Children See Him
04 The Lord’s Prayer
05 What Child Is This
06 Christmas Is the Warmest Time of the Year

I re ripped Jackie Gleason "All I Want For Christmas"

I re ripped Jackie Gleason "All I Want For Christmas" and edited my post from August 25, 2008 including the new compressed file. Enjoy.

Regarding Ferrante & Teicher-We Wish You a Merry Christmas

I recently acquired an original release of Ferrante & Teicher ''We Wish You A Merry Christmas'' UAS 6536 and updated my post from September 16, 2008 with the original artwork of the back of the album jacket which is in color. I didn't re upload the compressed file but added the image for the original artwork to my post.

Enjoy

Shell's Wonderful World Of Music Volume 2

Shell's Wonderful World Of Music Volume II by The Longines Symphonette Society. Beginning with these posts, the MP3 files are done at 320 KB instead of 128 KB so they should sound much better but in doing so the file size increases and therefore the zipfile will take longer to d/l. Some of the songs on this set are from Volume I and are also in Volume III. I am including a link for Volume I here so you don't have to go back through my blog to find it.
http://christmas-christmasforever.blogspot.com/2009/03/shells-wonderful-world-of-music-by.html
The inner artwork is the same for all three volumes so I didn't include it in this post. The only difference is the section for the track listing.



Track Listing
Record One Side One
01 Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
02 Away in a Manger
03 Babes In Toyland
04 What Child Is This?
05 Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Record One Side Two
01 It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas
02 O Little Town of Bethlehem
03 O Holy Night
04 Oh Come All Ye Faithful
05 Silver Bells
Record Two Side One
01 The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
02 Ave Maria (Schubert)
03 God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
04 I'll Be Home for Christmas
05 The First Noel
Record Two Side Two
01 White Christmas
02 It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
03 Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
04 Joy to the World
05 Silent Night
Originally, The Longines Symphonette Society released a 4-record set titled "Christmas at the Fireside" and used this picture for the cover of Volume II. All 3 "Shell" sets include some of the songs from this 4-record set.

Shell's Wonderful World Of Music Volume III

Shell's Wonderful World Of Music Volume III by The Longines Symphonette Society. A few songs on this set are also on Volume I & II. I did my best to eliminate any pips and pops, but on record 2 Side 2 Track 5 there were a couple loud pops that I couldn't get rid of completely and they sound a little like a thud, but the music doesn't skip. The MP3 files are done at 320 KB so they should sound much better but it also increases the file size for each song and therefore it will take longer to d/l the zipfile. The inner artwork is the same for all three volumes so I didn't include it in this post. The only difference is the section for the track listing.


Track listing:
Record One Side One
01 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
02 Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
03 I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
04 The Twelve Days Of Christmas
05 Home for the Holidays
Record One Side Two
01 The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
02 It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas
03 I'll Be Home for Christmas
04 Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
05 Silent Night
Record Two Side One
01 Sleigh Ride
02 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
03 Winter Wonderland
04 Scarlet Ribbons
05 One Little Tree
Record Two Side Two
01 March of the Toys
02 The Little Drummer Boy
03 Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
04 Medley: Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly - Jingle Bells
05 White Christmas

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Rankin/Bass Presents 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1976) Complete Story and Original Soundtrack. Disneyland Records 1367. Narrated by Joel Grey. Starring Joel Grey, George Gobel, Tammy Grimes and John McGiver. This is done in two tracks Side One and Side Two. There were a couple of big pops that I couldn't get rid of but the sound doesn't skip. I still had the Business Reply card inside the jacket so I'm including it in this post. Enjoy.

Christmas With Eddy Arnold

Christmas With Eddy Arnold 1962 RCA LSP 2554. There isn't a download for this posting as it has been released on CD. I'm doing this post for educational purposes only. The first two images are from the original release of this album and the third image is from the 1967 reissue. The CD was released in 2005 by Sony BMG Custom Marketing Group. An Internet search brings up several sources for the CD. The CD has the reissue artwork and not the original.
I will list the songs below the images. I hope I haven't disappointed anyone and hope you will understand about not doing a download for this album.



Track listing
Side One
01 Christmas Can't Be Far Away
02 Will Santy Come to Shanty Town
03 Jingle Bell Rock
04 White Christmas
05 Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
06 C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S
Side Two
01 I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
02 Winter Wonderland
03 Up on the Housetop
04 It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
05 Jolly Old St. Nicholas
06 O Little Town of Bethlehem

Christmas Music I Taped Off The Radio Two

The music from this cassette doesn't have a lot of station promos and at the time, the radio stations weren't playing all Christmas music so there are some gaps between some songs as I had my finger resting on the pause button while taping so I would only get the Christmas songs. I'm not 100% sure of the year, but am guessing 1984 as at the end of the last song, there is a few seconds of Sheila E.'s The Belle of St. Mark which was released in 1984, maybe 1988 as Faron Young "Candyland" was released in 1988. This tape also may be from a few years combined but I can't remember for sure.

A few songs I can't think of the artist and one song I'm not sure if the title is correct. This particular post is three tracks. If anyone knows the artist or title, please let me know. Thanks.

Side One

Track One

Station Promo WGFB 99.9 FM B-100 from Plattsburg, NY
Perry Como - Frosty The Snowman

Track Two

Elmo and Patsy - Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer
Unknown Artist - White Christmas
Burl Ives - The Twelve Days of Christmas
Johnny Cash - The Little Drummer Boy
Wayne Newton - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Ray Price - God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
Andy Williams - O Holy Night
Ray Conniff and The Singers - The Twelve Days of Christmas (Tape ends before song)
Side Two
Brenda Lee - Marshmallow World
Charlie Rich - O Holy Night
Carpenters - Sleigh Ride
Anne Murray - Winter Wonderland
Station Promo WLFE FM 102.3 in St. Albans, VT
The Ventures - Silver Bells
Faron Young - Candyland
John Lennon - Happy Christmas (War is Over)
Station Promo WQCR FM 98.9 in Burlington, VT (current call letters WOKO)
Band-Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas
Station Promo WQCR
Andy Williams - It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year
A few seconds of Sheila E. The Belle of St. Mark (1984)
Click here for D/L

Christmas Music I taped off the radio. Number one

I thought this might be interesting to other Christmas Music lovers so I decided to copy some cassettes of Christmas music that I taped from the radio back in the late 1970's and early 1980's. In places, it would be difficult to separate each song so I did each side as one track. Some of the songs I don't know the artist. If anyone might know these, please leave me a comment. I've included a text file of the songs in the zipfile too and will list them here. This particular tape was from CFLG-FM 104.5 in Cornwall Ontario. There is static interference from the flashing lights on our Christmas tree. The station didn't always come in that strong so in some places it fades out a little.
A friend of mine helped identify a few of the songs after I initially made this post. I will change the artist's name from Unknown Artist to the Artist's name and use boldface type to show the change.

Side One
Kenny Rogers - Christmas is My Favorite Time of The Year
Fischer Chöre (Hans Bertram Orchestra) from the album "Die schönsten Weihnachtslieder," Polydor 2371 709. - Leise rieselt der Schnee
Percy Faith, His Orchestra and Chorus - White Christmas
James Last - (Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen) Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
Waldo de los Rios - Jingle Bells
Frank DeVol and The Rainbow Strings - Medley: Here Comes Santa Claus/March Of The Toys
Station Promo
Ella Fitzgerald - God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
Unknown Artist (Possibly Rita Ford) - The Holy City
Ray Conniff and The Singers - The Twelve Days of Christmas
Ed Ames - I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day
Doris Day - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Mormon Tabernacle Choir - O Holy Night (tape ran out before song ends)
Side Two
Station Promo
Mario Lanza - We Three Kings of Orient Are
E. Power Biggs and the Columbia Chamber Orchestra - The Holly and The Ivy
Percy Faith, His Orchestra and Chorus - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Heintje - Alle Jahre Wieder
Pete Fountain - Candy Clarinet
Tony Sandler & Ralph Young - Yea, The Heavenly Child Is Born
Bert Kaempfert - Toy Parade
Connie Francis - Merry Christmas From our House To Your House
Jim Reeves - Blue Christmas
Station Promo
Jim Reeves - Old Christmas Card
Jim Reeves - Merry Christmas Polka
Station Promo
Jim Reeves - White Christmas (station fades in and out/tape ran out before song ends)
Taped off the radio one

Heintje - When The Christmas-Bells Are Ringing

Heintje - When The Christmas-Bells Are Ringing (1971) Polydor 2310 148. My favorite song on this album is "Little Toy Tin Soldier" This is the other song that I haven't heard on the radio since about 1977.

This was also played on the Canadian radio station CFLG-FM 104.5 in Cornwall, Ontario. Basically, it is the same story as to how I tried to find out what album this song was on. I just received this album yesterday from an eBay auction.

Though a few of the songs on this album are also on the album from my previous post in German, there are differences in the music, but still very enjoyable to listen to.

Track Listing:
Side One:
01 When The Christmas-Bells Are Ringing
02 Silent Night
03 Winter Wonderland
04 O Christmas Tree
05 Jingle Bells
06 Little Toy Tin Soldier
Side Two:
01 White Christmas
02 Little Drummer Boy
03 O Thou Joyful Day
04 Wintertide
05 Cowboy-Carol
06 From Heaven High The Angels Come

Weihnachten mit Heintje

Weihnachten mit Heintje (1968) Ariola 78199 IU. There were a couple different releases of this album in 1968 under the same title with different artwork. This album was available on CD awhile back but has been discontinued by the manufacturer. Also, I think there were only 12 or 13 songs on it instead of 14.

My favorite song on this album is "Alle Jahre Wieder" I haven't heard this song on radio since about 1977 when I was listening to a Canadian station CFLG-FM 104.5 from Cornwall, Ontario. They have since change their format. I happened to tape a lot of Christmas music from the radio and have been looking for this album as well as the album I will be posting after this one, for over 30 years.

I called and wrote the radio station several times back then to no avail. Finally through the internet, I was able to find the album title so I knew what to look for. I found this album on eBay about a year ago.

Though the track listings aren't in English, some are obvious what song they are, I will list the English title translation from what I found using an online German to English translation dictionary to the best of my ability. I am by no means a language expert, so the translations may not be exact.

Track listing:
Side One:
01 Stille Nacht - Silent Night
02 Süßer Die Glocken Nie Klingen - Sweeter The Bells Never Sound
03 Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen - Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
04 Leise rieselt der Schnee - Softly Sprinkles The Snow
05 Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann - Santa Claus Is Coming Tomorrow
06 Kommet, ihr Hirten - Come, O You Shepherds
07 O Tannenbaum - O Christmas Tree
Side Two:
01 O du fröhliche - O Thou Joyful Day
02 Am Weihnachtsbaum die Lichter brennen - On The Christmas Tree The Lights Are Burning
03 Kling, Glöckchen, kling - Ring Little Bell Ring
04 Alle Jahre Wieder - Every Year Again (Comes The Christ Child)
05 Morgen, Kinder, Wird's was geben - Tomorrow, kids, you're gonna get some
06 Ihr Kinderlein kommet - O Come Little Children
07 Vom Himmel hoch - From Heaven above to earth I come

I changed the way comments are added again.

I decided to change the way comments are able to be left on my blog once again to encourage people to leave comments. Please do not leave any rude or profane comments as they will be deleted as well as spammers. Comments don't have to be approved anymore.

It would be nice to hear from other people who enjoy the music I post as much as I do especially since the music has been out of print for 30 or more years and very difficult to find.

The Jack Jones Christmas Album (Stereo) 1964

The Jack Jones Christmas Album - KAPP KS-3339 Stereo (1964)

This is the STEREO release of a previous post of mine from March of 2008 To make it easier to find, I'm posting the link for the MONO album here: The Jack Jones Christmas Album MONO

I like this artwork better than the MONO album and was surprised that KAPP didn't use the same artwork for the MONO album.

This album brings back fond memories of Christmas with my family when I was a young child. I hope it brings back fond memories for others too and would love to hear your comments. Please don't let the fact that comments must be approved by me first stop anyone. As I mentioned in my previous post I had to do it this way to prevent SPAMMERS. I am able to delete those comments now and I can hopefully stop them from happening.

Track Listing:
Side A:
Sleigh Ride White Christmas
The Village Of St. Bernadette
My Favorite Things
I'll Be Home For Christmas
Angels We Have Heard On High/Silent Night/O Come All Ye Faithful
Side B:
Do You Hear What I Hear?
Lullaby For Christmas Eve
The Christmas Song
Mistletoe And Holly
The Christmas Waltz
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen-It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (Adeste Fideles)-The First Noel

I had to change the way comments are added to my posts

Sorry everyone. I have had to change the way comments are left on my blog because of getting SPAM comments and at the present time I can not delete them. Therefore, I have changed the comment section so that any comments must be approved by me before they are posted. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. I thank you for your understanding.

Shell's Wonderful World Of Music

Shell's Wonderful World Of Music by The Longines Symphonette Society LWSH 6. I am not able to find a year or artist listing for this album but if I do I will update the post. I wasn't able to scan the inner sleeve so I took a picture with my digital camera but it isn't that great. After the track listings, I will type what is on the inner sleeve as it is very interesting.

Track Listing
Record One
Side One
01 I'll Be Home For Christmas
02 The Christmas Song
03 Babes In Toyland
04 The Little Drummer Boy
05 White Christmas
Side Two
01 The First Noel
02 The Twelve Days Of Christmas
03 O Holy Night
04 It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
05 God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
Record Two
Side One
01 Joy To The World
02 Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies
03 Good King Wenceslas
04 Away In A Manger
05 Medley: We Wish You A Merry Christmas - I Saw Three Ships - Christmas Is Coming
Side Two
01 Silent Night
02 Medley: Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly - Jingle Bells
03 Ave Maria
04 We Three Kings Of Orient Are
05 Oh! Come All Ye Faithful
Christmas at Home in America
Draws on the Whole World for its Happy, Joyous Traditions!
Christmas in America far transcends the secular... for more than 50,000,000 families will come together to celebrate a happy family holiday. Christmas is for children, and through the youngsters we gain a spiritual gift for ourselves far more lasting than the mere exchange of presents! Christmas has deep religious significance for Christians... but all faiths share the one-time-of-the-year where "Peace on Earth and Good Will to all Mankind" provides a brotherhood of unity.

We have many customs that reflect the warmth and good-fellowship of the holiday season. These traditions have com from all over the world. Things like Christmas Trees and Christmas Lights, Yule Logs and Mistletoe, Christmas Seals and gift giving... we have gathered together for you the interesting histories of many of these customs to both inform and entertain you! As you enjoy these fine Christmas songs, read about Christmas... and enjoy this holiday season with out best wishes!

WHERE DID THE USE OF CHRISTMAS SEALS ORIGINATE?
In 1904 a postal clerk in Denmark, named Einar Holboell, devised a plan for selling special stamps at Christmas to indicate to others that users had given charitably to some worthy cause. It seems to be a modern equivalent of ancient Christian giving to the needy, when none were turned away at the door during the Christmas Season.

GIFT GIVING AT CHRISTMAS TIME
Exchanging gifts at Christmas follows the example of the Wise Men who brought gifts to the Christ child-gold, frankincense and myrrh. They received gifts in return. In Spain, children put out their shoes filled with straw. The Wise Men ride by during the night. The straw for their horses is gone and gifts are in its place.

THE BEGINNING OF CHRISTMAS CAROLS

Christmas plays in cathedrals during the holidays were set to music. This beautiful practice soon spread outside the church to give rise to the Christmas carols. The word carol, means "to dance in a ring" and with dancing always comes singing... and during the joyous Christmas celebration the merry-makers became know as caroliers.

HERE WE GO "A-WASSAILING"

The Saxons, during the wars in England, fought with great vigor by day and drank with fervor by night, from a bowl brimming with mead and passed from hand to hand with the cry "Wass Hael", which means "Your Health". This was the beginning and afterwards the name of the bowl that became the Wassail bowl. The contents were carefully compounded of a mixture of hot ale, sugar and nutmeg. On Christmas Eve, apples were roasted on a string until they dropped off into this great bowl of spice ale. Then they would take the bowl into the streets and "go-a-wassailing" and serenade all the neighboring homes with Christmas Carols.

WHO IS SANTA CLAUS?

Santa Claus is the spirit of Christmas. He was Nicholas, the bishop of a church on the southern coast of Asia Minor about 1,600 years ago. He was a kindly man and did much to help people. After his death many people spoke of the miracles he had worked and the church had made Nicholas a saint. The Dutch, or low German people called him San Nikolaas; the high German people called him Nikolaus which name is shortened to Klaus or Claus. Santa Claus is the American and English way of saying Saint Nicholas.

In Europe, St. Nicholas became a figure on a white horse who wore the robes of a bishop and sometimes carried a bunch of twigs in one hand to punish naughty children and a bag of presents in the other for good children. The evolution of this gift giving Santa Claus includes aspects of Father Christmas, a folk figure long known in Northern Europe. He wore a red robe trimmed in white fur, was jovial, enjoyed merrymaking and encouraged kissing under the mistletoe.

Washington Irving, the American author, described the St. Nicholas to the Dutch settlers in 1809 and made him a popular figure in America. The description of Santa Claus and his reindeer in Clement C. Moore's poem, "The Night Before Christmas," imprinted and images on the American public in 1823 of Santa as a jovial, hearty gift giver riding through the sky in his sleigh.

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

Living plants exemplifying the essence of beauty helped to dispel the gloom of Winter and the evergreens particularly symbolized eternal life. Holly and Ivy, fragrant herbs, mistletoe and other favorites were used lavishly in decking halls and churches on these long Yuletide holidays.

Holly, both the tree itself and its brightly berried branches holds special significance for use at Christmas. The very name is believed to be derived from the word holy-thus holly tree from holy tree. Other people considered the holly sacred and used it in healing the sick. It would repel evil spirits and protect a house from lightning. Branches hung around the house and stable were a good omen. It was believed that cattle would thrive if holly were placed where it could be seen on Christmas Day. In parts of England and Germany hollies are referred to as "he' and "she"... those with heavily spined leaves are known as the "he" Hollies while the smooth leafed kinds are associated with the gentler sex. The type brought in for Christmas would determine, according to another custom, who was to be head of the household for the coming year.

The Scotch-Irish who settled Pennsylvania cherished this custom for many years and added to the belief the if the holly were brought indoors in fair weather, the wife would rule the household whereas if it were cut and brought in during a storm the man would be master for the coming year.

WHY DO CHILDREN HANG A STOCKING ON CHRISTMAS EVE?

The story is that the bishop (the first St. Nicholas) heard of a poor man who was about to sell his three daughters into slavery because he could not provide a dowry for then. Saint Nicholas saved the daughters, one by one, with gifts of gold. Each time, because he wished to remain anonymous, he threw the gift into the house rather than present it. One version of the legend is that he tossed the gold down the chimney where it fell into a stocking that was hung there to dry. And so it is that children still hang up their stocking and often find-in the toe-a tangerine, to represent a lump of gold.

CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS

If one walks into the winter-corn on Holy Christmas Eve, he will hear all that will happen in the village that year. On Christmas Eve thrash the garden with flail with only your shirt on and the grass will grow well next year. Tie wet strawbands around the orchard trees on Christmas Eve and it will make them fruitful. Put a stone on every tree and it will bear the more. If the fire burns brightly on Christmas morning it betokens prosperity during the year; if it smoulders, adversity.

WHY DO WE BURN A YULE LOG?

At the end of every year (based on the year's shortest day) it was thought that the sun stood still for twelve days. An enormous log was cut, large enough to burn throughout this period and burn away the evil of the past year. In France it was know as La Tonche, the tree trunk, and was lighted for a few minutes on Christmas Eve. The the fire was put out and the log covered with a cloth. The children who came to observe were urged to beat the cloth with sticks to see if they could bring the log to life again, but as always the effort was hopeless. They were then told to go aside and beg pardon for their faults which had prevented the log from coming back to life. While the children were asking pardon the parents assembled the presents that were to be given to them, and hid them under the cloth. Then the children returned, again beat the cloth, and found the presents. Half burned on Christmas Eve after the gift ceremony, it was then stored as a protection against lightning. The ashes of the log were buried at the base of fruit trees to insure greater productivity in the coming year. Today, however, the Yule Log is just used as a foundation for the Christmas Eve fire.

CANDLES

A Thirteenth century French legend tells of a gigantic tree lit with candles in the forest. Some of the candles were straight and some were upside down. The tree represented humanity-the candles were people good and bad.

ELECTRIC CANDLES

Many years ago, a child upset a candle on the Christmas tree of Ralph E. Morris, a telephone man in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Fortunately, Morris was able to smother the flame and save the child from injury. Shaken by this incident, however, he vowed that candles would never again be used on a tree in his home. During the next year, he worked on an idea. Evening after evening, he soldered tiny switchboard lamps to a pair of wires. The result: the first electric lights for a Christmas tree-an idea that made holidays safer for everyone.

HOW DID KISSING UNDER THE MISTLETOE ORIGINATE?

A Scandinavian myth that eventually became accepted during the joyous Christmas season. Starting with Baldur, the beautiful god of light and spring, was troubled by dreams that his life was in danger. His mother, Frigga, goddess of love, traveled over the world asking earth, air, fire and water to promise not to hurt her son. However, she did not ask the mistletoe, a parasitic plant which attaches itself to trees and therefore does not grow from any of the four elements. Loki, god of fire was jealous of Baldur and finally had him slain with a dart of mistletoe. The tears of Baldur's mother became the white berries of the plant, and she decreed that mistletoe would never again be used as a weapon and that she would place a kiss on anyone who passed under it.

Kissing under the mistletoe grew out of another ancient practice. White robed priests cut mistletoe with a golden sickle in oak groves. The plant was regarded as a symbol of future hope and peace. Whenever enemies met under the mistletoe they would drop their arms, forget their enemies and embrace.

WHY ARE MINCE PIE AND PLUM PUDDING TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS DESSERTS?

Mince pie has been a symbolic food of the Christmas season for a long time. Because it is full of spices and fruits, it represents the choice and exotic treasuries of the East, the home of the Wise Men. Plum pudding is the other standard dessert for Christmas and it has a history almost exactly the opposite of mince pie, which seems deliberately to have been concocted to stand for splendor and luxury. It is told that in the early days of England a king and his men were lost in the forest on Christmas Eve. Since they had intended to be at their destination for the celebration of the night they had only meager provisions. The cook for the party decided to combine everything he had so that there would be one dish for all.

WHERE DID "XMAS" COME FROM?

XMAS, an abbreviated form of Christmas, represents the Greek letter X, usually translates into English and pronounced as "CH", has come into common use in this era of short cuts. NOEL from the French means birthday or it may be derived from a word meaning news. In either case, the reference is to the birthday of Christ or to news of that momentous event.

WHERE DID THE CHRISTMAS TREE COME FROM?

One tale describes Martin Luther as attempting to explain to his wife and children the beauty of a snow-covered forest under the glittering star besprinkled sky. Suddenly an idea suggested itself. He went into the garden, cut off a little fir tree, dragged it on the nursery, put candles on its branches and lighted them.

Although today, we celebrate the Holiday Season with one big Christmas tree for the entire family, it was not always this way. When the custom first originated, the tree was small and each child in the family was given their own Christmas tree together with their individual Christmas presents.

Still another story dates back to very early times when the passion plays were presented in the Church. In order to dramatize the story of Adam and Eve, more clearly, a flat wooden pyramid was constructed. On it were hung branches of evergreens and apples. Many people thought this tree so lovely that they built a similar one in their own homes... adding shelves for presents and trinkets