| It is that time of the year again. You know, when the | | | | made with the same equipment as used in the |
| weather cannot make up its mind. HOT COLD HOT | | | | manufacture of the company's regular toilet brushes! |
| COLD. You dress to make a frontal attack on your | | | | - Animal Crackers, cookies beloved by generations of |
| local shopping mall. Good grief, look at those lines and | | | | children, were imported in the late 1800s, from Great |
| those are just to get in through the entrance doors. By | | | | Britain to the United States. The boxes holding the |
| now, perspiration is running down your face in rivulets. | | | | cookies were shaped like Barnum's circus-train cars |
| Do you want to face bodily injury trying to get through | | | | and with their string handles, were intended to be hung |
| the mobs at the toy store? Special on suspenders? | | | | as decorations on the family Christmas tree. |
| Oh, look! Polka-dotted scarves made in 17 colors, none | | | | - The next time you get an urge for a snack, try |
| of which even begin to complement the others. | | | | nibbling on your Christmas tree. Several parts of pines, |
| Blink! A light goes on over your head, pulsating inside | | | | spruces, and firs are edible. Vitamin C abounds in the |
| the proverbial cartoon cloud. That's right! If we can | | | | needles and pine nuts, or pine cones which are very |
| ever find our car again we can go Christmas tree | | | | nutritious. |
| shopping at the corner lot. The smell of pine...the sticky | | | | - Two to three Christmas seedlings must be planted in |
| sap on your fingers. A veritable symphony of smells | | | | order to be able to harvest one viable adult tree. |
| and textures. This looks so good I think I just might | | | | - Traditionally an American Christmas flower, the |
| have my afternoon snack right here. Try some | | | | poinsettia is native to Mexico. Called the "Flower of the |
| crunchy pine needles. | | | | Holy Night," it was brought to the United States by Joel |
| - Tinsel to decorate your Christmas tree was invented | | | | Poinsettia in 1829. |
| in Germany around 1610. Genuine silver was used; | | | | - United States President Theodore Roosevelt was an |
| machines had to be designed to pull the silver out in | | | | ardent conservationist and environmentalist, banning |
| exceedingly narrow strips. In spite of being | | | | Christmas trees wherever he lived, including the White |
| hard-wearing, the tinsel strips were not practical | | | | House. His children managed to sneak Christmas trees |
| because of a rapid rate of tarnishing. Surprisingly | | | | of their own into their bedrooms. |
| though, real silver was used up through the mid-20th | | | | - With the dawn of the millennium came the existence |
| century. Can you imagine being the poor servant back | | | | of the heavy-duty white metal Christmas tree. Meant |
| in Victorian times whose job was to polish the strips | | | | for strictly outdoor use, it had hundreds of built-in |
| until there was no trace of tarnish? | | | | miniature lights that did not have to be untangled every |
| - Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and their children | | | | Christmas season, making for happy homemakers. |
| were adored by their subjects. Because of a | | | | - The first known Christmas tree dealer was Mark |
| photograph of the Royal Family standing lovingly | | | | Car. In 1851, he dragged two overloaded sleighs, |
| around their Christmas tree, it became the height of | | | | brimming with just-cut trees, from the Cat skills in |
| fashion to have one's own tree. These decorated | | | | upstate New York all the way to New York City, |
| trees were clamored for by British and East Coast | | | | opening the first retail Christmas tree lot in the United |
| American High Society. | | | | States. |
| - The Addis Brush Company of America made the | | | | - One acre of Christmas trees allows for the daily |
| original brush Christmas tree. This type of artificial tree | | | | oxygen requirements for 18 people. |
| was much stronger than the feather tree and was | | | | - Unhappy news for the environment: An artificial |
| able to hold heavier ornaments and decorations. | | | | Christmas tree can last for six years in storage and on |
| However, it did have a somewhat objectionable | | | | display, but no matter how hard you try to break it |
| aspect in its mode of manufacture - at least to the | | | | down for recycling, it will last for centuries in a landfill. |
| more fastidious and squeamish among us - as it was | | | | Let's hear it for live trees!! |