Dec 31

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Karen’s Chatt!

The holiday season is nearly over and another year comes to an end. Today is the last day of 2024 and at midnight we welcome 2025.

Out with the old year, in with the new year. A new year, a new beginning, new resolutions, new hopes.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2025, filled with love, peace, and joy. 

Dec 27

Oranges at Christmastime

When I was in elementary school at Willshire, probably during the first three or four grades, just before Christmas Santa would visit the school and give each a student a gift, a little brown paper bag with an orange in it. There may have also been an apple and a candy cane in the bag, but I distinctly remember the orange.

Oranges

It was a real treat. I was excited to get the gift from Santa, even if it was only an orange. A gift is a gift and oranges are a sweet, tasty fruit treat.

Last week I featured some letters to Santa that were written in 1917. Most of the children at that time asked for fruit and candy. When they asked for fruit, they were likely asking for oranges.

Oranges have long been a popular Christmas gift, often put in a Christmas stocking. In some areas and at certain times, like during the Great Depression, oranges were a rare, special treat that may have been the only gifts under the Christmas tree.

There is an old tale behind the tradition of oranges as Christmas gifts.

Saint Nicholas, aka Santa Claus, was the son of a wealthy merchant who later became a bishop. He lived near a man with three daughters. When the man fell on hard times, Saint Nicholas secretly threw three bags of gold through his window. A bag of gold landed in each daughter’s stocking, stockings that were hanging on the mantle to dry. People eventually learned the identity of the gift giver, called him Saint Nicholas, and oranges came to represent the bags of gold he gave. An orange placed in the toe of the stocking was used to represent good fortune for the recipient.  

Oranges also symbolize giving and sharing during the holiday season because the orange segments can easily be shared with others.

Oranges

Yes, oranges are a symbol of Christmas, a common item included in holiday fruit baskets, and a popular winter fruit.

Dec 24

Merry Christmas!

The Nativity, on wood.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas from Karen’s Chatt!

Wishing you and your family all the blessings of Christmas!

Dec 20

Letters to Santa, 1917

December 1917. The U.S. had entered World War I a few months earlier and Christmas was right around the corner. Even though we were at war, children were making Christmas lists and writing letters to Santa.

Dear Santa, Celina Democrat, 21 Dec 1917

The Celina Democrat printed a few Dear Santa letters in 1917, most from local children. The children’s wish lists were fairly minimal back then, although one little girl asked for a piano. Candy, fruit, and peanuts were popular Christmas list items. These children also seemed to be conscious of the needs of others.

Dear Santa letters from the 21 December 1917 issue of The Celina Democrat:

Dear Santa Claus:
I will not ask for much. I want a coaster sled and don’t forget my little cousins Horson and Holdy and my brother Vernon would like a pair of mishing [sic?] socks. Don’t forget my cousins out of town. I will close and say my prayer.
John Loyda Bader (RR Mendon)

I’m not sure what mishing socks were. There were a lot of typos in these letters and mishing may have been a typo.

Dear Santa Claus:
Please bring me a new doll and a piano and some candy and nuts, oranges and fruits. I am four years old. I go to Sunday School. Please don’t forget to bring Evaun and Kahle something…
Marielle Jenkins (RR Celina)

Dear Santa Claus:
I am a little girl nine years old, and I go to school every day and study my lessons very good. I want you to come to my house and bring me Sleepy Night Stories striped hair ribbons, some candy, nuts, and oranges. I live three miles southwest of Celina. I’ll go to bed early.
Pearl Andrews (Celina)

Dear Santa Claus:
I don’t go to school. I am five years old. I would like to have an A.B.C. book, a handkerchief, hair ribbon and overshoes and candy, oranges, bananas, and peanuts for Christmas.
Ruth McGee (Celina)

Dear Santa Claus:
I am eight years old. I go to school and am in the fourth grade. I would like to have a handkerchief, story book, and pretty goods to make my doll a dress, and candy, oranges, bananas, and peanuts for Christmas.
Blanch McGee (Celina)

James, Romania, William, and Mary Carlin, probably siblings in Columbus, Ohio, each wrote a letter to Santa and each asked Santa not to forget the poor.  They remembered their parents, grandparents, and siblings as well. Each also mentioned that they would have the fire lit when Santa came in so that he could get warm. These are the other items they asked for:

Dear Santa Claus:
I would like to have a machinic [sic] and some candy.
James John Carlin

I would like a doll and some candy.
Romania Marie Carlin

I would like a machine and candy.
William Charles Carlin

I would like a red go-cart and candy.
Mary Elizabeth Carlin

I wonder what that machine was that the two boys asked for.

Things have not changed all that much over the years since 1917. Children still wish for special presents and ask Santa for them, although today’s Christmas lists may be digital Amazon Wish Lists and many of the items are technical electronics. Children still anxiously wait for Santa’s arrival and anticipate the excitement and fun of opening presents on Christmas morning.

A couple weeks ago I featured a letter from a November 1917 issue of The Celina Democrat, written by Albert C.  Heffner, of Chatt, written while he was in basic training in Nebraska. Before he entered the war he and his brother-in-law Jake Bauer were piano dealers in Celina. This was their Christmas ad:

Albert Heffner, piano dealer, Celina Democrat, 21 Dec 1917

Perhaps Santa got a piano for little Marielle Jenkins from their store.

Dec 17

80th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge

Yesterday, 16 December, was the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge, one of the most important battles for the Allies during World War II.  

The Battle of the Bulge, aka the Ardennes Offensive, lasted for over a month and by 25 January 1945 the Allies had restored their line to its previous position. It was the largest land battle ever fought by the U.S. Army and the last major German offensive campaign in the West before the end of the war.

Losses of both Allied and German soldiers were high. Nearly 20,000 American service members were killed during the battle, accounting for about 10 percent of all American combat casualties during WWII. In addition, over 23,000 American soldiers were captured and became prisoners of war.  

My dad fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He entered the battle just before Christmas, as a replacement, in the 84th Division, 333rd Company, Infantry. He fought in the northern part of the Bulge, in the Ardennes and in Belgium towns.

He said the conditions were terrible. It was the coldest winter on record, and they were not outfitted for the severe conditions they encountered. He had the standard issue of winter clothes: a wool uniform, sweater, and 2 pairs of socks, but it was not adequate clothing for the harsh weather conditions, when temperatures ranged from 0 to minus 10-15 degrees with knee-deep blowing snow. He said they were constantly on the move, walking and moving forward during the day and digging shallow fox holes to try to keep warm and get a little sleep at night. He did not see the inside of a building until the end of January 1945.

Our service members fought bravely and suffered greatly during the Battle of the Bulge. Many made the ultimate sacrifice.

Certificate, Battle of the Bulge Association.

Sir Winston Churchill said that the Battle of the Bulge was “…undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory.”

Herb & Florence Miller, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2024 photo by Karen)

Last Saturday was Wreaths Across America Day. This is the wreath I ordered from them to mark my parent’s grave-site for Christmas.