Re: Wassail

[pdc@acorn.net (pDaleCampbell)]

On Tue, 08 Jul 1997 11:04:00 -0700, Karen Newcombe <kln@staralliance.com> wrote:
> Interesting note about Christmas . . . the sentimental family celebration
> we think of as so traditional is of fairly recent origin.  In the late
> 1800's Christmas was a rather wild time.  In New York the streets would
> fill with drunken "wassailers" who got out of hand and made it dangerous to
> go out at night.  
> 
> There was a conscious attempt at the time by both city government and local
> businesses to sweeten these drastic Christmas revels into a more
> family-oriented -- and more consumerist -- holiday. This also coincided
> with the growth of a more enlightened attitude towards children, who were
> coming to be seen less as miniature workers and more as budding people.  
> 
> One direct result was our now favorite Christmas poem, The Night Before
> Christmas, which was purely designed to promote a nicer holiday -- but with
> some of the loveliest occasional poetry an American has come up with.  

The way I heard it, the author was a minister who regularly wrote poems
for his children, with *no* intention of publishing them.  This poem was
one of those, and he was mortified when it became public.

A useful object lesson for us all (esp. me).

-----------------
pDale Campbell
pdc@acorn.net
About a 6.7 on the Clavin scale.