“Go Lt Doghing- i you Dismay by ge God rest ye, merry gentlemen, Let nothing you dismay! HE words sounded through the hall of the big oflice building In a high, clear soprano, which made both John Harden and his son, Ralph, took up, startled’ and irritated, Then, as “merry gentlemen” sounded farther off, John Harden thought, “It's a good thing that woman didn’t come in here singing that! ‘Merry gentlemen,’ indeed!” and he looked over at his son, who sat brooding at his desk. “If Ralph would only give me his confidence!” he thought. “Money I'd help him out If he'd only tell me. Troubles enough of my own, but not about money. ¥ a million dollars would remove this threat of blindness, I'd pay it in a minute,” “Let nothing you dismay!" the clear, light voice again, and Ralph thought : “How ean I help being dismayed, spt out from under? Father suspects, too. I know, for he looks glum all the time, and keeps his hand over his eyes so much, pr——————— | only ask me, be I'd may- have the to tell the singing the Har- voice neared office again, den growled, “Tell that girl to hwish up or go away!" Then the office door opened, and the words “merry gentlemen” made both look up. Impa- tiently. But, in- stend of a bold young woman ~~ men stood a serubby newsbhoy, savin for the Times. Cire cer's s0 busy he sent “Collectin’ ulnt- in" mg “Where did you learn to a ain ced tiph. “Si. uke's cl dollar ing a Gee, and never get Got five think? choir saved fer a been sick way, I'd L Whaja out o if it clothes dol money overcoat another “and 1 toward 1° hope your [athe you!" exclaimed the 1 pocketing the dollar Fhank boy, “Giee, 1 hope he ‘cause he's all the family 1 He works in a factory where the does, too, ad, and son g his eyes go where else?™ box eve work, Harden who that You a your owns note to take name? Wickens, and he's You tell ‘em my life, an’ 1 Presently Harden looked up, “Her the and a dollar ew Year's eling in ad ance. Don’t for get to come In ith it—it's paid for. remember!” “You bet TH come! Fad get a handsome it my Dad ever heard o my bein’ crooked! I'm proud o° my ole man an’ I want to make: him proud 0 moe” With that, door <Q und the voice was father's “Albert all right! said so—known him all recommend him.” sayi note, liekin the nmed, young heard caroling down the hall, The two men looked at each other, speaking simultaneously : “Son, I have something to say—" “Dad. 1 have something to tell—" Then. with half-embarrassed amuse. ment, they both laughed, healingly. “1 guess there's a good deal we have to tell other,” said John Harden, *1 that we get a private root at the club and have tunch., and talk things over.” “Great!” said Ralph, rising te help his father with ula cont, “I'm not locking forward, exnctly, to what 1 have to say, because I'm ashamed of ft. hist iH be a relief” “No:hing you ean tell me will be as had ns this estrangement has been” replied his father. “If it's anything 1 ean help you shout" “It is, and If you'll straighten me out this time, 1 know [I'N never get in such a hole again. When vald, ‘I'm proud o my ole man, and I wunt him to be" Ralph choked and stopped. but by this time they were in the outer hall, ee? each propose some arm nnd pressed It affectionately, An the elevator reached the street fevel the two looked at ench and smiled. for down the hall they heard a high, clear volee singing: Cod rest yo, merry gentlemen, tot nothing you dismay! (5 1527 Western Newspaper Union) Y tian Bawa yi¥ie WGAaS et I — Tat. the first Greelutg Cord | Tua L___———— i pH ogg PR 7 afd Ph By ELMO SCOTT WATSON T WAS unknown wit who made statement re- cently that “Christmas greet. ing cards will cost this coun try $55,000,000, and that does pot take into account the time lost in trying to remenk ber to whom they should be sent.” Although it woulc be difficult to estimate the value of the time “lost in trying to remem- ber,” as this wag suggests, there are who can testify to the fact that hig estimate of 855,000,000 as the total Christmas ing cards Is a modest actually an underestimate, Dealers in Christmas will tell their has virtually doubled cessive year for the iast five or six years. the season of 1027 trobably will exceed all others in the volume of One wholesale dealer in Christmas cards has reported that eariy in November his orders had already passed the 1026 total and each week over the previous week, The mas cards used in the United passed out of the realm of millions If there popularity of the custom © some the those cost of greet- one, if not you that each suc And cards business giles saw a steady increase number of Christ. States lon +t is anyone who can testify to i creasing { Christmas cards, it is Uncle Sam's mail man. will tell you that board the burden on his around Christm: time, Time was when you could send a Christmns card Now dt re bled these gay little its of Cn i have doubled anc quadrupled back two cents, bat not into the offers of i Tost for one cent. costs even this extra thousands of Office cards which begins to pour into the malls at the beginning .of the third December and continues until after January 1, For the use for remembering one's Rich and poor alike send her ecards of special design costly vellum and them out by the hundred. The working girl buys hers at the “five-and-cen” and them out hy the dozen. Count that man poor in friendship, indeed. who hans never Christmas Ard some complain of an “embarrassment of riches” in this regard, for the a the wit in the opening penny— which soon dollars for the c¢ department—hoes diminished week In card is a gift in universal riendes nt the holiday Christmas season, them, The “social leader” has engraved on sends sends received a enrd. problem, as sugested by parngraph of this article, flow many times have lem to many. is a real prot you, lookir hrou of eards that the mail man come HCTOSs one than momentarily as Mr. and Mrs, Blank. year?" In fact, cards has ventional-minded realized the meaning of giver-is-bare” sl that they “Never again!” But the next year adding their quota to the mountain of Christmas eards which pile up in post offices throughout the land. Although Christmas card Is a comparative newcomer among Christmas traditions, it by no means be regarded as an “infant industry.” The figures already cited prove that. But as one during Chri nas week, held you said, Did we you which your 4 “Here's one from them one this the custom of sending Christmas those con have never fully “eift without-the have declared, become such a problem to persons who the tement finds them the can our forefathers withont sometimes how Christmns cards. For it only 81 3 ga, in that the first ecard- the sense that it was the forefather the pres ent Christmas ecard ldea—was sent out. The man originated it Henry famous as a social and educational reformer, He had already begun applying the fine arts to man- ufscture and was the pioneer in illustrating books with woodcuts of famous ever man {‘hristmas ders aged to celebrate wns 1846. Christmas first, lenst, in who was Sir Cole, later Just where Sir Henry got the idea—if it was not original with him—for his Christmas card is not known. Lover curds and illustrated writing been popular In Europe for many years, In Germany {lluminated eards were sent 1844 some unknown person in the city of Leith, Qeotland. 1s sald to have sent out New Year's cards to his friends benring a laughing face and the words “A Gude New Year to Ye,” but since this did not have a wide circulation, it is doubtful if Sir Henry got the idea there. He may have got It from the custom of English school boys of writing “Christmas pieces” on paper Ww hich they decorated with many scrolls.and much flourish of penmanship. But wherever Sir Henry got his inspiration, after deciding to send out cards to his friends hearing his good wishes for their happiness at Christmas, he went to J. C. Horsley, a member of The German influence may be seen in the Germanesque style of leafy trellises which The smailer mas cheer. This ecard was six by four inches, hand, and a thousand copies were issued, For some unexplained reason, Horsley “Felix Summnierly,” and the ecard bears the line “Published at Summerly's Hive Treasury Office, 2 Oid Bond Street, London,” Since this card bears the inseription “A Merry regarded as the first printed and sent out as the holiday greeting forerun ne to become world r Cole's friends wer remembrance ar uch unfavorable « » experiment card a-borning. However, in the early six sented envelopes began appear in joners’ shops around the holiday season of i the use of these began to increase each year, Next these in relief In the ter of a card with colored or decorated by stencil or by hand ness of slowly. It were stan ped Con embossed edges Thus the busi making Christmas cards got under way was even America and it was not until 1873 nings were apparent in this country. In that sear Louis Prang, a Boston, exhibited samples of his flowered business cards at the Vienna exposition and they attracted considerable attention, He had an agency in London and one of his women employees there (her name is unknown) suggested to him that he put a greeting in place of the name of his firm and them as Christmas This done the next year, so that 1874 marks the begin ninz of the Christmas card in this country. It was not until two years later, however, that the Christmas card idea became widespread and this was due to the exhibits of such cards by differ ent printers and lithographers at the Centennial exposition in Philadelphia. Another forward step in the Christmas card business was taken in 1870 when a British com- pany, which had offered prizes for Christmas ecard designs. held an exhibition of the best ones sub mitted in Dudley hall in London, About this time a Boston card manufacturing company held a similar exhibit at whieh the first prize winner wns given the sum of $2000, At the London exhibit it was learned that the majority of the prize winners were women and two of them, Kate Greenway and Alice Havers, later became famous for their Christmas card designs. In fact, in the early years of the Christmas ecard business, before the great demand for them resulted In mass production and more emphasis upon quantity than quality, the Christmas card design was an important plece of creative art, so much so that it has been said that “The Christmas card enjoyed a golden age ¢f art in the decade from 1878 to 1888" One of the reasons for this was that the exhibitions and contests which were being held by the producers of Christmas cards were stimulating interest in this form of art and uncovering many new artists, “One of the art events of the year 1880 was a Christinas card exhibition arranged by Louis Prang at the Amerlean Art galleries,” writes one investigator in the history of the Christmas card, “For several yeurs thereafter similar exhibitions were held, with competitions in the artistie merit and popularity of the designs; and such men as ftichard M. Hunt, John La Farge and Louis C Tiffany were sufficiently interested to act as judges, The exhibition of 1884 carried a special feature, The quantity of dilettante work that hitherto had found Its way to the exhibitions tended to turn away the best artists, but pow thelr interest was deliberately sought in the hope of ralsing the level of Christmas eard design, g slower in getting started In $ 1 hat the begin lithographer of jssue cards was “ aa——— New Year Tiearty Greetings and Best Wishes for Christmas nnd the coming ens MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR Twentviwo artists ! sioned to paint and entered those whose i, the dean of An 1 Alden Weir. And the ex New York, but ne Aris in Boston fleld not only In Fi Cl mediocrity proved ton Of CORO. erwl best artist tinued Interest of the card designing and the tration only reading Then poelry on the car Mme so popular th mas card field sever noted poets, 4 London firm offered Lord Tennyson §5 gion a for 12 poems of eight lines each to be Christmas carde, but he declined the o craze for was poetry became so pronounced used =o that finally forced to pin t limit was pop r from the 1890 one generously facturers of cards were upon the verses ! set thi The religio peginning and declared that the most popular of all card designs was a reproduction of the Natvity scene, with Marillo’s Nativity ns favorite. Since that time various motifs have appeared in Christmas until gymbol of Christmas, contributed by every nation appears on our Christmas cards, % alen manufacturer {Hiristmas the greatest cards now every Camels, the star in the east the men, palm trees, buildings of decided oriental appearance recall the scenes in Palestine where Christ was born on the first Christmas; the Yule log and the mistletoe are reminiscent of the Druids of ancient Britain: holly, plum puddings, roast beef, singers of i English Iandscapes remind one of the good cheer of the English old Santa Claus, originally a Dutch patron saint, but now thoroughly Americanized (one Christmas ecard this year shows him speeding the snowy londecape in sn automobile of distinctly American make!) appears on many; the turkey is a symbol for both Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts and ig a distinctly American contribution, Nor do Christmas cards stop with Christmas symbols, Each new idea introduced with new symbols which are not especially rs gocinted with Christmas, In 1011 the Uickens cen. tenninl was echoed on the Christmas cards: the revival of interest in Americana In recent years has put all kinds of antigues—{furniture, hoop skirts, muffs, bonnets, sleighing parties and husk. ing bees—on our Christmas cards, and last year, #8 the result of the great interest in ship models, many a ship went safling across the cards. Just as Christinas curds of the past reflect the interests of Americans of those days, so do this year's cards indicate some of the major Amer. jean Interests now. Among them are radio and aviation, the latter, no doubt, due to the various historic flights which have thrilled the nation during the past year, Sports, too, have their place and it la not unusual to find on Christmas cards scenes Hlustrative of the various types of outdoor recreation, Thie, however, is not a new iden, since swimming, boating, cricket and tennis scence were reproduced on English Christinas cards more than thirty years ago. three wise carols, 0 al Chrigimas observance of Christmas; Jolly over year sees a gr : ay 5 § Building “Health Center” Has Cut Mortality Rate Fast Harlemn, one of the most con- gested districts in Manhattan, has car- ried on a most interesting health pro. gram during the past six years, result- ing In a decidedly mortality rate, writes Savel Zimand, in the N York Times. The East Harlem operated by the health departinent the city, private and social agencies, During the ls five years the general death rate Manhattan has while ths reduced health center assisted by heal © increased The rate for Manhatian 49 per cent greater than wer, according to Kenneth D. Widdemer, executive center, {ine of tality. under 144" | § 3 PEER 1 QeCTed Close Association of Parents and Teachers Parer te to the pertinent : o¥ ih your orates of trees or sai is fruit trees would he go much more itizens of the state cost of fruits and nuts, becoming prohibitive? nt every other tree should be nut tree, and 1 believe every be willing to pay for or put tree. I'm 1 would pay for more than one the highways attractive hy fruit and nut trees among the ghade trees f of each, at and give fruit and nuts to all” least See Home a It will Be Architectural service is not an ex travagance, not even an expense—it is an investment and a genulpe sav. ing. Always build from plans, and be fore going ahead have a picture made of what the plans call for: in that avoiding disappointment later: when the building is up. way The expense of a rendered perspec tive sketch iz small, and it often re ‘yeals the need of changes here and there. Those can be easily made in the plans, The Weed Law flank weeds give a neighborhood = seragely and unkempt air. The com plete citizen attends regularly to the mowing and removal of unsightly wee patches wherever he may be respon sible for those unpatriotic growihs Where the property owner or vacant fot owner neglects his duty, there is authority and respunsibility to inspect and act for the community good af the expense of the derelict weed-crop producer. = Lafayette Journal and Courier, Aa Don’t Spare Paint Those who refrain from adequately painting exposed wood are in the class with the penny-wise, pound-foolish, In addition, failure to paint loses one any esthetic pleasure which must be Siasned with one of the truest joys of life,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers