The Big Book of Christmas

The Big Book of Christmas PDF Author: Aileen Fisher
Publisher: Baker's Plays
ISBN: 9780874409741
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description

The Big Book of Christmas

The Big Book of Christmas PDF Author: Aileen Fisher
Publisher: Baker's Plays
ISBN: 9780874409741
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 164

Get Book Here

Book Description


Christmas in America

Christmas in America PDF Author: Penne L. Restad
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199923582
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
The manger or Macy's? Americans might well wonder which is the real shrine of Christmas, as they take part each year in a mix of churchgoing, shopping, and family togetherness. But the history of Christmas cannot be summed up so easily as the commercialization of a sacred day. As Penne Restad reveals in this marvelous new book, it has always been an ambiguous meld of sacred thoughts and worldly actions-- as well as a fascinating reflection of our changing society. In Christmas in America, Restad brilliantly captures the rise and transformation of our most universal national holiday. In colonial times, it was celebrated either as an utterly solemn or a wildly social event--if it was celebrated at all. Virginians hunted, danced, and feasted. City dwellers flooded the streets in raucous demonstrations. Puritan New Englanders denounced the whole affair. Restad shows that as times changed, Christmas changed--and grew in popularity. In the early 1800s, New York served as an epicenter of the newly emerging holiday, drawing on its roots as a Dutch colony (St. Nicholas was particularly popular in the Netherlands, even after the Reformation), and aided by such men as Washington Irving. In 1822, another New Yorker named Clement Clarke Moore penned a poem now known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," virtually inventing the modern Santa Claus. Well-to-do townspeople displayed a German novelty, the decorated fir tree, in their parlors; an enterprising printer discovered the money to be made from Christmas cards; and a hodgepodge of year-end celebrations began to coalesce around December 25 and the figure of Santa. The homecoming significance of the holiday increased with the Civil War, and by the end of the nineteenth century a full- fledged national holiday had materialized, forged out of borrowed and invented custom alike, and driven by a passion for gift-giving. In the twentieth century, Christmas seeped into every niche of our conscious and unconscious lives to become a festival of epic proportions. Indeed, Restad carries the story through to our own time, unwrapping the messages hidden inside countless movies, books, and television shows, revealing the inescapable presence--and ambiguous meaning--of Christmas in contemporary culture. Filled with colorful detail and shining insight, Christmas in America reveals not only much about the emergence of the holiday, but also what our celebrations tell us about ourselves. From drunken revelry along colonial curbstones to family rituals around the tree, from Thomas Nast drawing the semiofficial portrait of St. Nick to the making of the film Home Alone, Restad's sparkling account offers much to amuse and ponder.

The World Encyclopedia of Christmas

The World Encyclopedia of Christmas PDF Author: Gerry Bowler
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
ISBN: 1551996073
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1075

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Book Description
At last, a truly comprehensive look at Christmas and all of its customs with its long history around the world. The World Encyclopedia of Christmas contains articles on the history of Christmas baking, drinking, and merrymaking, and Christmas dramas, music, literature, art, and films. It includes entries on the evolution of the Christmas tree and the Christmas card, gift-giving, and decoration of church and home. There are profiles of the many gift-bringers, from Santa Claus to Babouschka, and miraculous tales of the numerous saints associated with the season. And there are histories of seasonal celebrations and folk customs around the world, from the United States to Japan, from Egypt to Iceland. Who, for example, knew the links between the Punch and Judy show and Christmas? That the medieval Paradise tree hung with tempting apples was the forerunner of the Christmas tree? About the Peerie Guizers, who terrorized the Shetland Islands, going door-to-door for Christmas charity? Or what Freudians make of our interest in Christmas stockings and Santa’s entrance through the chimney? There are detailed accounts of Wren Boys and Star Boys, mumming and wassailing, the Feast of Fools and the origins of eggnog. And of course stories of the Nativity and legends of the Magi. With beautifully illustrated accounts ranging from the pagan roots of Yuletide, through the birth of Christ, and the long and fascinating history of the festival ever since, The World Encyclopedia of Christmas, is a rich and continually surprising array of religious and secular history, trivia, literature, and art. This wonderful book deserves to find a home with every family that celebrates Christmas.

Kris's Kringles

Kris's Kringles PDF Author: Linda Bleser
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press Inc
ISBN: 1509236260
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 79

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Book Description
Christmas hasn't been the same since Kris Miller's beloved grandmother passed. Every year, she made him a special batch of cookies she named Kris's Kringles. So when he discovers the local cookie contest will publish the winning entry, it seems the perfect legacy to honor her. Unfortunately, there's no record of the secret Kringle recipe. Single mom, Sophie Lawson's new catering business is barely making ends meet. The opportunity to recreate Kris's grandmother's recipe from memory is almost as tempting as he is. She agrees to help on one condition--he'll have to bake them himself. She has her own entry and desperately needs the cash prize. But when they begin this friendly rivalry, they never expect their growing attraction to include consequences.

About Christmas

About Christmas PDF Author: Nicolae Sfetcu
Publisher: Nicolae Sfetcu
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 394

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Book Description
Christmas characters and food, Christmas-linked holidays and music, Santa Claus and traditions. Related to Annunciation, Incarnation; Crucifixion; Advent, the four weeks preceding Christmas; and the period between the day after Thanksgiving and the Sunday after New Year”s Day, the American holiday season. Christmas or Christmas Day is a holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity. Aspects of celebration may include gift-giving, Christmas trees, display of Nativity sets, church attendance, the Father Christmas/Santa Claus myth, and family gatherings. Users of the Gregorian calendar observe the holiday on December 25. Some Eastern Orthodox Churches celebrate on December 25 by the Julian calendar, which currently corresponds to January 7 on the Gregorian calendar. These dates are merely traditional; the great majority of scholars agree that the actual birthdate of Jesus is unknown. In Western culture, the holiday is characterized by the exchange of gifts among friends and family members, some of the gifts being attributed to Santa Claus (also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Basil and Father Frost). However, various local and regional Christmas traditions are still practiced, despite the widespread influence of American, British and Australian Christmas motifs disseminated by film, popular literature, television, and other media.

Now You Know Christmas

Now You Know Christmas PDF Author: Doug Lennox
Publisher: Dundurn
ISBN: 1554882478
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
From oversized socks filled with treats to firs in living rooms and strange stories and songs, Christmas makes us all scratch our heads now and then. Now You Know Christmas will help everyone make sense of the holiday season, with answers to questions like: How fast would Santa have to travel in order to deliver toys to all the children in the world in one night? Why are Christmas songs called "carols"? Why did the Wise Men bring gold, frankincense and myrrh as gifts?

Christmas on the Screen

Christmas on the Screen PDF Author: John A. Zukowski
Publisher: The Pilgrim Press
ISBN: 0829821767
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
“Christmas movies are revealing windows into religion, consumerism, family, and American pop culture, and Zukowski offers a compelling, highly readable guide to this long-flourishing genre. Exploring classics as well as flops, he illuminates both the resilience and the limitations of the holiday’s celebration on screen.” —Leigh E. Schmidt, Washington University in St. Louis, author of Consumer Rites: The Buying and Selling of American Holidays How the Grinch Stole Christmas weighs materialism against community. The Polar Express tests the wonder of miracles in an age of cynicism. And Die Hard (yes, Die Hard) wrestles with the impact of broken relationships on holiday joy. With Christmas on the Screen, journalist John A. Zukowski takes readers on an historic tour of Christmas films and changing American values to ask the question, “What does Christmas mean to us?”

Beeecause Those Kringles Jingle

Beeecause Those Kringles Jingle PDF Author: Annie J. Lang
Publisher: Annie Things Possible
ISBN: 1573770507
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 26

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Book Description


Christmas in Snowflake

Christmas in Snowflake PDF Author: Rusty Fischer
Publisher: Decadent Publishing
ISBN: 1613339348
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
Molly Swift had a choice to make that fateful Christmas Eve: break her boyfriend’s heart or become a famous country music star. She chose stardom and, for awhile, all was a picture book fairy tale for Molly. She cut her debut album, made the rounds on the concert tour, and then…nothing. When Molly’s agent dumps her just before Thanksgiving a few years later, she has nowhere left to go but her hometown of Snowflake, South Carolina. There she struggles to find work. That is, until she happens in on a little year-round Christmas restaurant called Café Kringle and finds her ex-flame, Nate Night, at the piano, tickling the ivories. Can Nate forgive Molly for running out on him? What’s more, can Molly forgive herself? And can the two team up to bring customers into the Café Kringle before its owner decides to close the doors before the holidays?

The Christmas Chronicles

The Christmas Chronicles PDF Author: Jeff Guinn
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9781585426690
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 752

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Book Description
In three holiday novels, Santa Claus recounts his adventures, his wife describes how she protected the holiday from the Puritans, and Santa discusses his experiences competing on a reality show that was looking for the "real" Santa.