HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS ELVES

During Christmas, does one of these little fellas occupy a place in your home? I’ve always had an elf or two either sitting on our mantel, hanging from a light fixture, or perched on a Christmas tree limb.

Have you ever wondered when and where these tiny folks first appeared and how they evolved into cute little creatures dressed in green or red with large, pointy ears and pointy hats?

After doing some research, I found there is a lot of conjecture as to the origin of elves, although most folklorists believe they date back to ancient history. Ancient Norse mythology refers to the ‘alfar’, also know as “hidden folk.” The Scandinavian and Celtic cultures had myths of fairies, elves and nature spirits. Interestingly enough, most folklore of that time depicted elves as more naughty than nice, more mischievous than merry.

The Scandinavians and Celts weren’t the only Europeans who believed in supernatural species. Germans had their dwarves and little sprites called kobolds. Scots had house spirits called brownies.

The word, “elf,” derives from the ancestral language of German and Old English and dates as far back as 500 A.D.

The transition of elf myth to Christmas tradition is difficult to explain. Clearly originating from pagan roots, many countries participated in seasonal celebrations, many of which took place during the winter solstice. Centuries of elf traditions merged with the traditions of Christmas.

The association of Santa Claus with elves could well be linked from the phrasing of Clement Moore’s 1823 poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” better known today as “The Night Before Christmas.” That poem refers to Santa Claus as a “right jolly old elf.”

Godey’s Ladies Book

Louisa May Alcott later wrote a book that was called “Christmas Elves” and a popular publication of the times, Godey’s Ladies Book published art work of Santa and his tiny elves.

Harper’s Weekly

 During the 19^th Century, many writers were inspired by the elf link to Christmas. In 1857, Harper’s Weekly published a poem called “The Wonders of Santa Claus,” which tells of the elves working for Santa and making toys and sugar plums to fill children’s stockings.

In 1922, famed artist Norman Rockwell released his painting of an exhausted Santa surrounded by busy elves finishing a dollhouse in time for Christmas. Through the decades, movies have depicted elves helping Santa prepare for Christmas, some quite unconventional, such as 1964’s classic TV special, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and 2003’s “Elf,” starring Will Ferrell.

The trademarked “Elf on a Shelf” started in 2005 when author Carol Aebersold self-published a tale of a little elf sent by Santa to report on children’s behavior leading up to Christmas.

Although Santa Claus will always hold top billing, in the USA, Canada, and Great Britain, diminutive elves clad in green and red also add to the magic of children’s Christmas traditions.

IDIOMS & CLICHES

 

Idioms & Clichés — where did they come from?

An idiom is a word or phrase in which the figurative meaning is different than the literal meaning of the word. There are approximately 25,000 idioms in the English language. 

As authors know, using clichés is considered a no-no. They are expressions, ideas or elements which have become overused, even considered trite and a mark of inexperience or lack of originality.  However, used sparingly, such cliched expressions, particularly used in writing dialogue, is acceptable. When writing idioms or clichés in dialogue in historical settings, it’s useful and interesting to know when it was first used.

Looking up the origins of old and popular phrases, I could have easily “gone down the rabbit hole!” — Sorry, I couldn’t resist! Below is just a few of the thousands of idioms and clichés, many we still hear today. I should add that a few of the origins are speculative or could have come from more than one source.

Rabbit hole — comes from the Lewis Carroll 1865 classic, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In its opening chapter, “Down the Rabbit-Hole,” Alice follows the White Rabbit into his burrow, which takes her to the strange world of Wonderland. Over much of the 20^th century, rabbit hole has been used to mean bizarre and irrational experiences. Now, more often, we say we fell down the rabbit hole, meaning we got interested in something to the point of distraction. Thanks to the wealth of information on the Internet, those “rabbit holes,” can be extremely engrossing and time-consuming!

Kick the bucket — taken literally, it means someone walked up and kicked a bucket out of his way. However, this common idiom is not taken literally, but implies that the person has died. The idiom originated from a reference to someone hanging himself by standing on a bucket and then kicking it away, thus “kicking the bucket.”

Burning the midnight oil — meaning working hard or late at night. Back before electricity, lamp oil was used for lighting and one literally burned the lamp oil at midnight.

Jumping on the bandwagon — In the mid-1800’s, circuses paraded around town before setting up with bandwagons leading the parade. Politicians started renting the bandwagons to speak to the crowds. Eventually, the phrase took on the meaning to go along with whatever became popular.

At the drop of a hat — In the 1800’s, it was customary to drop a hat to begin a race instead of a gunshot.

Heard it through the Grapevine — meaning something heard unofficially or indirectly. At the turn of the century, information was transmitted across the country via the telegraph system with thousands of miles of wire strung several feet above the ground with poles at equal distances. People thought the wires and poles looked like the strings used to secure vines and began calling the telegraph lines “the grapevine.” 

Straight from the horse’s mouth — meaning that you are getting the truth from an indisputable source. Its origin came from the fact that a horse’s teeth can tell you a lot about the age, health and general condition of the horse.

Bite the bullet — When there was no painkiller available, soldiers would bite down on a bullet during surgical operations to help withstand the pain. Bite the bullet now means to endure something necessary but displeasing.

Riding shotgun — I’m sure western authors know this meaning and where it came from. In the Old West, the person who sat next to the driver was often equipped with a shotgun to protect the coach from would-be robbers. So “riding shotgun” is a person riding in the front seat of a vehicle next to the driver.

Sleep tight — used to tell someone to sleep well. One possible origin of this phrase dates back to when mattresses were supported by ropes. To sleep tight, meant that the ropes were pulled tight, providing a firm bed.

Flying off the handle — meaning suddenly becoming enraged. This phrase is said to have come from poorly constructed axes of the 1800’s that would detach from the handle.

Cost an arm and a leg — meaning expensive. This strange phrase actually has a very interesting connotation. The story goes that in 18th century, people would have their portraits painted without certain limbs showing. Having limbs show is said to have cost more because it took the artist more time and effort to paint arms, hands and legs.

As I said at the beginning, I found researching such phrases and idioms fascinating. I’ll end this post with one more interesting bit of trivia. Many phrases, expressions and proverbs in existence today either originated or popularized by their use in Shakespeare’s work. Whether theses phrases were already in use or he created them, his plays provide us with the earliest use of many of them.

All that glitters is not gold.

Bated breath

Be-all and end-all

Break the ice

Come what may

Faint-hearted

Forever and a day

For goodness’ sake

In a pickle

In my heart of hearts

Mum’s the word

Own flesh and blood

Laughing stock

Love is blind

Naked truth

Neither rhyme nor reason

Too much of a good thing

Wear my heart on my sleeve

Wild-goose chase

 

Thanks for stopping by and “Happy Trails To You,” My favorite expression of good will, taken from Roy Rogers’ theme song. For you young’uns, he was the iconic cowboy back in the 50’s & 60’s.

 

SWEET HISTORY

 

Although our characters, settings and plots may be fictional, our historical western stories should remain true to important facts in order to make them believable for our readers. Thus, when we authors do research, obviously we check for dates of major events, inventions, the founding of states, cities and towns and the famous and infamous who inhabited them. But we also put emphasis in making sure the small historical things in our stories are factual as well.

Where am I going with this? Well, in the historical western time-travel, YESTERYEAR’S DESTINY, (which BTW, I hope you all will check out!), the main character, Angela Moore chews Juicy Fruit Gum quite regularly. However, transported back in time to 1890, stores didn’t sell that brand yet. So, was chewing gum available then? And if so, what kind? For that matter, when she looked around the local general store, what other kinds of candy would she see? Could she pick up a Hershey’s chocolate bar? How about a Tootsie Roll?

Hence, my post on the American candy industry from the 1800’s forward.

The brand name of the gum Angela did chew was called Adam’s Black Jack Gum.

 Thomas Adams first created the chewing gum in his kitchen by boiling chicle, a natural tree gum. In 1871, he received a patent on the popular gum and in 1884, he added licorice flavoring, the first flavored gum in the U.S. It was also the first gum to be offered in sticks.

Even though the history of candy-making dates back thousands of years, as major advances in candy production developed, it became a major industry. Penny candy in America could be easily produced and sold by the pound, from glass jars in drugstores and general stores. As sugar prices decreased, both home based candy makers and candy factories refined their skills with candy brittles, taffy, caramels and simple hard candies.

However, it wasn’t until the latter 1800’s that candy making became even more popular with the addition of an ingredient called chocolate. Before this time, powdered chocolate was primarily used to create hot chocolate as a drink. Chocolate became more popular with advances made to offer chocolate as a solid, not just a powder. The ingredient could be molded into a bar, used as a flavoring, as well as a coating. Milton Hershey was the first American to bring the chocolate bar into mass production with machinery he purchased from a German company.

 

Out of the hundreds of sweets that could be listed, below is a timeline of some of the favorites I recognize. Many retro candies and their founding companies have come and gone. However, a large percentage of American candies have been around for more than a hundred years.

Hope you enjoy the journey through Sweet History..

1847 Oliver Chase invents a machine for cutting lozenges, which were made into flavored candy wafers. Not until 1901 was NECCO Wafers introduced by the company it was named after — New England Confectionery Company.

1848 John Curtis produces the first branded chewing gum, made from tree sap, called The State of Maine Spruce Gum.

1854 The first packaged box of Whitman's Chocolate is produced.

1868 Richard Cadbury and the Heart-Shaped Box: The invention of the heart-shaped chocolate box by Richard Cadbury in the 19th century cemented the association of chocolate with Valentine's Day. These boxes were not just containers for chocolates; they were ornate and decorative, doubling as keepsakes.

1880s Wunderie Candy Company creates candy corn, which remains a best-selling Halloween candy.

 

1893 Quaker City Confectionery Company, located outside Philadelphia, introduces Good & Plenty which becomes the oldest retro candy still in production.

1893 Milton Hershey attends the World’s Colombian Exposition in Chicago and watches chocolate being manufactured. Impressed, he purchases the German equipment for his factory in Pennsylvania.

1893 William Wrigley, Jr. introduces Juicy Fruit Chewing Gum and Wrigley’s Spearmint Chewing Gum

1894 Milton Hershey creates what is known as the first “American” candy bar, although his famous Milk Chocolate Bar won’t be invented for a few more years.

1896 Leo Hirshfield, New York confectioner, introduces Tootsie Rolls, named after his daughter’s nickname, Tootsie.

 

1900 Milton Hershey introduces a variation of what will become the Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar.

1900 Clark Gum Company introduces Teaberry Gum.

1901 Multicolored candy disks called NECCO Wafers first appear.

1902 New England Confectionery Company makes the first Conversation Hearts which remains a thriving Valentine’s tradition.

1904 Emil Brach starts Brach’s Candy.

 1906 Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Kisses appear in the famed silver foil wrapping. The town of Derry Church changes its name to Hershey. The first name for the popular candy was called Silvertops.

1906 The American Chicle Company, founded by Thomas Adams, introduces Chiclets, the candy-coated gum that uses chicle (derived from the sweet sap of a tropical tree and means chewing gum in Spanish) inside.

 

1911 Ethel and Frank Mars open a candy company in Tacoma, Washington. The company, later Mars, Inc., would become one of the largest, privately owned candy companies in the entire world.

1912 Life Savers, reportedly named because of their resemblance to life preservers, are introduced in peppermint flavor. The five-flavor roll isn’t marketed for another 22 years.

1912 The Whitman's Sampler box of chocolates debuts and is the first box of chocolates to include an index for chocolate lovers to pick exactly which piece they want to eat.

1913 Goo Goo Clusters is introduced, the first candy bar to combine milk chocolate, marshmallow, caramel, and peanuts.

1914 The Heath Bar is introduced by L.S. Heath & Sons.

1914 Mary Janes, a peanut-butter and molasses flavored taffy-type candies are created by Charles N. Miller in Boston, MA.

1916 George DeMet introduces the Turtle, a chocolate covered caramel and nut candy that resemblances a real turtle.  

 

Hope this post satisfied your “sweet tooth!”

Also, I sure hope you’ll check out my latest release, Yesteryear’s Destiny, an adventure-filled time-travel, available at Amazon and soon available at many more distributors.

 

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SHAMROCK  VS  CLOVER

 

With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, the image that comes to my mind beside a leprechaun and Ireland’s patron saint, St. Patrick, is the green shamrock.

 

How many of you know the difference between a shamrock species of clover and the four-leaf kind? “Clover” is a generic term that refers to trefoils, or any of the 300 species that belong to the Trifolium family. These plants have leaves that are separated into three leaflets, but you may find four-leaf, five-leaf or even six-leaf clovers as a genetic abnormality.

 

“Shamrock,” on the other hand, comes from the Irish word, “seamrog,” and means “little plant.” It refers to the white clover species or the suckling clover species. Although a real shamrock only has three leaves, that doesn’t mean it’s not lucky. In Irish folklore, the number three is considered very lucky.

 

 Saint Patrick is said to have used the shamrock as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity. It has been used as a symbol of Ireland since the 18^th century and is registered as a trademark by the Government of Ireland.

 

So, remember, shamrocks are clovers, but not all clovers are shamrocks.

 

Around our house in North Carolina grew large patches of clover and I loved to search for ones with four-leaves. Over time I had collected a few and still have a couple pressed between plastic. Did they bring me luck? Who knows, but like finding pretty sea shells on our Florida beaches, I enjoyed the challenge of the hunt!

 Scientific studies have said that the odds of finding a single four-leaf clover is about one in 10,000.  However, when further analyzed, about a 5-foot square patch of clover could contain 10,000 sprigs and thus, one would have a chance of finding a four-leaf one.  

 I’ll conclude this bit of clover trivia with the popular decades old song I would sing while searching for those illusive four-leaf clovers.

 

I'm looking over a four-leaf clover
I overlooked before
One leaf is sunshine, the second is rain
Third is the roses that grow in the lane

No need explaining, the one remaining
Is somebody I adore
I'm looking over a four-leaf clover
I overlooked before

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