Christmas Customs Near and Far (1955)

[Music] [Applause] glory to new [Music] king and mercy God and [Music] Jo Jo the tri of the with [Applause] angelim [Music] Christ Angels glory to the [Music] beautiful children just beautiful your caroling is going to add a great deal to our Christmas Pageant who else is in the pageant Mrs White oh a great many people you see different groups of children whose parents came here from other countries are going to show us some of the ways Christmas is celebrated in other lands and where some of our Christmas customs and traditions come from like where the idea of the Christmas tree comes from that's right and the star on top that's the Star of Bethlehem isn't it yes it is it stands for the star that guided the wise men to the stable where Jesus was born who invented the Christmas tree well why don't you all sit down and rest for a while and I'll tell you all about it the Christmas tree has a long long history and there's an old old story that on the night of jesus' birth all the evergreen trees burst forth into radiant blossoms that was their way of singing Glory to the newborn king and they say that that was the only time the evergreen trees ever had blossoms the first Christmas trees we know about were in Germany and in Germany Christmas is called Von V that's right right and a little later we'll see a German Christmas tree in our pageant but right now let's pretend this is a magic ball and if we stare at it very hard we will see a group of German children playing one of their favorite games [Music] until yes here's the Christmas tree and everyone will help decorate it trees were first decorated with apples and paper flowers and gilded nuts but now the German people use all sorts of gay ornaments just as we do and cookies made of sugar and spice cut in every manner of shape and design at Christmas time German houses are sweet with the smell of wonderful Christmas cakes with wonderful names Springer line leap cucin [Music] feeri round the Christmas tree German families often sing an old song called OT tanan bomb We Know It with these words oh Christmas tree oh Christmas tree how lovely are thy branches the Star of Bethlehem also crowns the Christmas tree of Sweden called the [Music] ulr in our pageant a family of Swedish origin will show us how the Christmas season in Sweden begins on December 13th on luad doen which means St Lucia Day St Lucia wears a crown of Evergreen branches and candles which are symbols of Christmas the World Around The Evergreen stands for the Everlasting Gift of Life brought by Christ and the candle stands for our faith in him since ancient times long before Christ was born there have been feasts and celebrations at this time of year called U tide which means turning time the time when the days start growing longer from such ancient tradition comes the celebration in honor of St Lucia who symbolizes the light of the Christmas season with its renewal of faith hope and love now the Christmas tree has come to the United States along with the custom of giving gifts gifts that tell people we love them and the children if they're good boys and girls and they are all sure they're good hang up their stockings from the mantle or somewhere else if they have no mantle and when the children are in bed Santa Claus Santa Claus has a long history too a man named St Nicholas actually lived 1600 years ago ago he was a bishop of the Christian church in Asia Minor and he was very generous giving gifts and money to people in need many people believed that he dropped purses of money down the chimney so they hung up stockings to catch them St Nicholas became the patron saint of children the Dutch people pronounced his name St Nicholas and this was the name they brought with them when they settled in New York and here the name became Santa Claus Santa Claus is part of the fun of Christmas for Christmas is a Happy Time of the Year yes and we express our happiness in many [Music] ways we decorate our homes to say Merry Christmas to everyone passing by [Music] our stores are decorated with the familiar Christmas scenes so that even in the hustle and bustle of our Christmas shopping we can remember the real Joy of that first Christmas long ago at school we're busy making Christmas cards continuing a custom that began a hundred years ago when an artist in England decorated the holiday letters he was sending his friends Christmas is a time for thinking of others it brings us real happiness to share our food and toys with people less fortunate than [Music] we at church school we may decorate a mitten tree with mittens the girls and boys have brought to send to children in foreign lands [Music] and there are many other ways as churches and as families that we share our Christmas Joy with people all around the world just as people all over the world have shared their wonderful Christmas customs with us for the celebration of Christmas is much the same everywhere but of course there are differences did you know that in Mexico they don't don't have Christmas trees they don't they don't they have laata we'll see one in our pageant La Pinata is a gay decorated device that's made in all sorts of shapes can you guess what's hidden inside a big pottery jar filled with candies and toys on Christmas Eve the children take turns trying to break it open three tries and Rosa didn't hit it maybe Mana will will be the one to Break [Music] It o o har and how the children Scramble for the toys that fall from the pinata the pinata which is the Christmas tree of Mexico I think that would be fun but I'd still rather have a Christmas tree and the manger scene was the baby Jesus yes that is an important part of our Christmas our Christmas tree comes to us from the north of Europe and our Christmas crib from the south of Europe particularly Italy where it is called a precipio each member of the family helps build it and make the figures of the Shepherds and wise men the animals and Joseph and Mary and the bamboo boino the baby [Music] Jesus it was in Italy 750 years ago that St Francis of aisi made the first scene of the Nativity and standing around it his followers sang the first Christmas [Music] carols traditional Italian dances are performed by groups who go from house to house singing and dancing and asking for food and money and Candy which they will distribute among children less [Music] fortunate yes Joy is everywhere at Christmas and so our pageant is to show us some of the joyous custom and traditions which have come to us from other lands but that's not all for as Christianity has spread throughout the world so has the celebration of Christmas and so the last scene in our pageant will give us a picture of Christmas far away in China in China Christmas is called Shania which means the holy birth festival and this is is how Chinese children present the story of the Holy birth here are the Shepherds who heard the good tidings of great joy about the birth of Christ and journeyed to Bethlehem to honor the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a [Music] Manger here is the first of the three kings the wise men who saw the star in the east and follow it as the Bible tells us till it came and stood over where the young child was and when the wise men saw the young child with Mary his mother they fell down and worshiped him and when they had opened their Treasures they presented unto him gifts gold and Frank incense and myrr as these children present the story of the Nativity just as it is presented in our own country and throughout the world we see in the celebration of Christmas that all people everywhere are children of God world whether we carry a lantern or a candle as a symbol of our faith we are joining with our brothers around the world when we rejoice in the miracle of Christmas [Music] [Applause] [Music]