MiniMeanderings
A snippet blog for things that interest me, which may, or may not, have anything to do with projects I'm working on.
I'm a museum curator, social historian, amateur photographer, occasional artist, baseball fan, equestrian, sarcastic princess and a whole lot of other things rolled up in a pretty nifty package.
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My favourite Christmas story is The Box of Delights by John Masefield. I have several different versions of it in print (though I’m still looking for more). I adore the BBC adaptation of it from 1984, too. If I can figure out how to make my VCR go with all of the very technically advanced gadgetry we’ve replaced it with, I’ll be able to watch my VHS copy of it. To my knowledge they have never produced it on DVD, but boy, would I wet myself to get my hands on a clean copy of it. The picture above is of the magical Punch and Judy man speaking to young Kay Harker.
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Audio post reblogged from WIL WHEATON dot TUMBLR
For Glenn, via Wilw and others.
The Pogues— “Fairy Tale of New York”
It was Christmas eve, babe, in the drunk tank
[Ed. note: h/t and thank you to ladymisskate, who introduced me to this song via her Tumblr a few years back. How timelessly important is THAT?!]
While I adore this version, the new one released by Paleface this Christmas on the Avett Brothers My Favorite Gifts rocks my goddamned world as well. I’d highly encourage you to check it out.
This is the greatest Christmas song of all time.
OF ALL TIME.
(Source: thetenssf)
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Photo reblogged from Fuck Yeah, Victorians!
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Some gift ideas. TO GET YOU SLAPPED.
Oh, retro advertisements, they are so hilarious and sexist.
McClary, by the way, was a London, ON, company.
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Photo reblogged from The Stuarts
Father Christmas was banned by the Puritans under Cromwell in the mid-17th century. He went ‘underground’ along with Minced Pies, Christmas games and the like. Occasionally secret publishers would print Broadsheets (a sort of newspaper) with a verse about ‘Old Christmas’. He became the personification of everything the British people held dear about Christmas.
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I’ve heard a number of people arguing that to write Xmas rather than Christmas is to strip the ‘Christ’ out of it in an effort to appeal to non-Christians. Like so many assumptions, this is incorrect. And for those who do use Xmas as a way to secularise Christmas, they’re doing it wrong. I could argue that they’re specifically putting the Christ in Christmas. Irony.
Xmas is not a new term. Xmas is one of those words that goes in and out of favour and has for over 500 years. No, really. And that’s just in writing. Think of it as an abbreviation, rather than a secularisation. In fact, Xmas isn’t remotely secular in its origins. For that matter, neither is Xtianity. It’s a Greek thing. Just like the name Jesus Christ. “Jesus” was derived via Latin from the Greek for the Hebrew name Joshua, which approximately means Yahweh delivers. “Christ” is directly derived from Christos, which is Greek for “the anointed one” or another term you might be familiar with (another Hebrew word), Messiah. Anyway, back to that pesky X.
According to the Christian Writer’s Manual of Style by Robert Hudson, “…the abbreviation has a long and established history in English, dating back to Old English form used in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of the twelfth century. The X is actually the Greek letter Chi and has been used as a symbol for the name of Christ (Christos) since the first century.”
While the majority of cards spell out Christmas, there are plenty of Victorian and early 20th century Xmas cards floating around, too. If you’re up on your history, you know Church-going was still pretty darn popular back then. In fact the world’s first Christmas postage stamp (from Canada, no less) actually uses the abbreviation. Considering the proliferation of churches in late 19th century Canada, it’s probably a safe bet that the stamp wasn’t designed to upset the citizens.
To sum up, the X in Xmas (and Xtianity) is an abbreviation of Christ, or symbolic of “Christos”, not a bastardisation. It is most certainly not “taking the Christ out of Christmas.” Now you can take this knowledge and impress your friends or colleagues at your next Xmas party.
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I made last year’s ‘alternative’ xmas card available to purchase through my deviantArt page. If you dig it and have friends as demented as me (or you), consider buying a set and spreading the fear this holiday season.
Edit, December 26th, 2011: Hey you guys ! 127 likes and reblogs? I am blown away. It’s a Christmas miracle.
