Saturday, December 26, 2015
Her Maj's Message, 2015
Extracts from the Queen's Christmas message yesterday:
At this time of year, few sights evoke more feelings of cheer and goodwill than the twinkling lights of a Christmas tree.
The popularity of a tree at Christmas is due in part to my great-great grandparents, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
After this touching picture was published, many families wanted a Christmas tree of their own, and the custom soon spread.
In 1949, I spent Christmas in Malta as a newly-married naval wife.
We have returned to that island over the years, including last month for a meeting of Commonwealth leaders, and this year I met another group of leaders: The Queen's Young Leaders, an inspirational group, each of them a symbol of hope in their own Commonwealth communities.
'Losing a loved one'
Gathering round the tree gives us a chance to think about the year ahead - I am looking forward to a busy 2016, though I have been warned I may have Happy Birthday sung to me more than once or twice.
It also allows us to reflect on the year that has passed, as we think of those who are far away or no longer with us.
Many people say the first Christmas after losing a loved one is particularly hard. But it's also a time to remember all that we have to be thankful for.
It is true that the world has had to confront moments of darkness this year, but the Gospel of John contains a verse of great hope, often read at Christmas carol services: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it".
. . . .
There's an old saying that "it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness".
There are millions of people lighting candles of hope in our world today.
Christmas is a good time to be thankful for them, and for all that brings light to our lives.
I wish you a very happy Christmas.
Friday, December 25, 2015
Quote for the Day
". . . and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!"
- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Merry Christmas, dear readers.
In the words of Bill and Ted, be excellent to each other. Party on.
- Otto
Song Spot: Happy Xmas (War is Over).
I’m not a great one for Christmas carols although I love Mario Lanza’s rendition of O Hoy Night. Hear it by clicking on:
Along with Rudolph, Frosty, Santa and Wenceslas, this is the time of year that we hear John Lennon’s Happy Xmas (War is Over). It has become the equivalent of a Christmas carol.
Some information and trivia about that song . . .
______________________________
Link:
______________________________
Lyrics:
Happy Xmas Julian)
So this is Xmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Xmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Xmas (war is over)
For weak and for strong (if you want it)
For rich and the poor ones (war is over)
The world is so wrong (if you want it)
And so happy Xmas (war is over)
For black and for white (if you want it)
For yellow and red ones (war is over)
Let's stop all the fight (now)
A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Xmas (war is over)
And what have we done (if you want it)
Another year over (war is over)
A new one just begun (if you want it)
And so happy Xmas (war is over)
We hope you have fun (if you want it)
The near and the dear one (war is over)
The old and the young (now)
A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now
______________________________
About the song:
Happy Xmas (War is Over) is sung to a traditional melody known as “Skewball”, the name of an 18th century racehorse. That song concerns Skewball winning a race in which it is the underdog (or should that be underhorse?).
Hear the Peter, Paul and Mary version at:
The Joan Baez version titled “Stewball”) is at:
There are different melody versions, such as by Woody Githrie, but the above two are identical in melody to Happy Xmas (War is Over).
The Woody Guthrie version is at:
Another good version, also dissimilar to Lennon’s melody, is by Steeleye Span:
______________________________
John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote the song in 1971 and it was recorded by the John and Yoko Plastic Ono Band.
The Vietnam War was still in progress when the song was released. John and Yoko had been protesting for peace for a couple of years, including erecting billboards in major cities with the words “War is over! (If you want it).” Those billboards were erected in 1969. Two years later the same words were incorporated in Happy Xmas.
Lennon felt that each of us had a responsibility for war, “that we're just as responsible as the man who pushes the button. As long as people imagine that somebody's doing it to them and that they have no control, then they have no control."
______________________________
This was originally released on clear green vinyl with Yoko Ono's "Listen, The Snow Is Falling" as the B-side.
At the beginning of the song, two whispers can be heard. Yoko whispers: "Happy Christmas, Kyoko" (Kyoko Chan Cox is Yoko's daughter with Anthony Cox) and John whispers: "Happy Christmas, Julian"
______________________________
Other versions:
Celine Dion:
Delta Goodrem:
Sarah McLachlan:
Neil Diamond:
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Quote for the Day
Some more nativity humour . . .
The Three Wise Women . . . but as they left, they said
Vintage Australia,Part 2
Continuing a look at some images of Australia past . . .
______________________________
Christmas train shortage forces well-to-do passengers into cattle cars
The opening of new lines meant the Victorian train network was placed under significant strain over the 1882 holiday season. A carriage shortage forced operators to resort to an old plan of utilising cattle trucks to transport Christmas "excursionists". This satirical cartoon, published in January 1883, poked fun at their uncomfortable predicament: "Christmas time must be a season of peace and goodwill to all the cattle who look contentedly at their tormentors being whirled away in the very vehicles in which they have so often suffered."
______________________________
Cockatoo pie for Christmas dinner
Prussian scientist Ludwig Leichhardt (pictured) was hailed as the "prince of explorers" in 1845 after he and his exploration party completed a 4800km journey from the Darling Downs to Port Essington. On Christmas Day 1844, midway through the expedition, herecorded in his journal that his party enjoyed a "Christmas dinner of suet pudding and stewed parrot" — possibly a cockatoo or a galah. Delicious. It was not unheard of for early settlers to put native birds on their Christmas dinner tables if domestic fowl was scarce. In 1834, the year South Australia was declared as a colony, local woman Mary Thomas described eating a traditional ham and cockatoo pie for Christmas.
______________________________
Vintage chocolate ads show off Australia’s finest sweets
MacRobertson's Chocolate, founded in 1880 by legendary businessman Macpherson Robertson, created some of Australia's most iconic treats — including Picnic, Cherry Ripe and Freddo Frog. But Robertson's finest creation was Old Gold chocolate, launched in 1916, and made to European standards using special equipment in a purpose-built factory. These advertisements, probably made sometime in the 1920s, show something that's missing from most modern chocolate ads: people actually eating and enjoying chocolate. Cadbury acquired MacRobertson's in 1967 and still manufactures Old Gold, though the product's recent ads are more abstract. A 2008 campaign depicted Old Gold-loving Aztecs being invaded by conquistadors.
______________________________
Platypuses dazzle New Yorkers
Australian zoologist David Fleay was the world's foremost platypus expert, the first to ever breed the animals in captivity in 1943. Four years later he became a New York City celebrity when he delivered three platypuses to the Bronx Zoo: Cecil, Penelope and Betty, who were housed in a "platypusary" built to Fleay's specifications. The exhibit was a massive success, according to a tongue-in-cheek newsreel that reported how "the popular peepshow packs in plenty of perplexed people" (and which dubbed the unique animals "nature's nervous mistake"). Betty died of an illness not long after arriving at the zoo. In 1957, Penelope escaped the platypusary and was never seen again; two years later, Cecil died all alone.
______________________________
The first Aussie Christmas cards
The first ever Christmas card was printed in England in 1843, but the cards didn't really become A Thing until printing costs dropped in the 1870s. Soon after, the first Australian Christmas cards "with specifically Australian subjects" emerged — they depicted gorgeous wildflowers painted by artist Helena Forde. In the following decade the Christmas card entered its heyday, with local companies churning them out. But by the 1900s, Christmas postcards had become more popular: this one was sent around 1907 by New South Wales teacher Frank Moore. The card proves humanity was obsessed with adorable kittens long before the internet came along.
______________________________
The aviatrix and the kitten
In May 1934, New Zealand aviatrix Jean Batten set a world record by flying from England to Australia in just under 15 days. After her arrival in Sydney, the "young, slim and feminine" Batten toured the country to celebrate. Upon landing in Brisbane (with stops at Newcastle and Coffs Harbour) she told the 25,000-strong crowd who greeted her that "I have someone here". She then pulled a kitten from the cockpit of her Gipsy Moth: named Buddy, the cat had been given to Batten by ex-servicemen at Sydney's Prince of Wales Military Hospital. "He's the first kitten to fly from Sydney. Isn't he wonderful?" Batteen asked with a "mischievous smile". Buddy stayed with Batten as she toured Australia and New Zealand, but the cat became neurotic from constant flying — "every time she flew with it ... there was this terrible mess to be cleaned up", according to one of Batten's assistants.
______________________________
French orphan smuggled to Australia in a sack
"I will tell you the story of my life," a French boy named Henri told reporters when he arrived in Brisbane in 1919, "I'm told it is very interesting." It was: Henri was orphaned early on in World War I, when he was about five, and spent the war scrounging for shelter and food from British troops.
On Christmas Day 1918, Henri encountered the No. 4 Squadron of the Australian Flying Corps, who were based near Cologne. Dubbed "Young Digger" by the airmen, Henri bonded with Brisbane mechanic Tim Tovell — whose own young son had died of meningitis during the war. So Tovell decided to take Henri home to Australia with him, smuggling the boy aboard a troopship inside an oat sack. The boy proved such a popular stowaway that the Queensland government arranged papers for him to live in Australia.
Henri died in a car crash in 1928, when he was about 18.
______________________________
Conductress changes tram sign during World War 2
Initially hired to count tram ticket clippings and reconcile them against conductors’ takings, women were thought to lack the physical strength required of gripmen, and the agility required of conductors. The union opposed their advancement – it threatened male employees, who earned one-third more for equal work. As women took on more roles in the workforce during World War I, the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company flirted with the idea of hiring conductresses, but swinging along the footboards outside the tramcar was dismissed as unsuitable for women. Come World War II, conductresses were employed, thanks to manpower shortages and evolution in tramcar design. Preference was given to wives of male employees on active service, and to protect existing employees’ rights, women were paid the adult male rates, an Australian first.
______________________________
Winston Churchill demands (and receives) a platypus
1943 was the height of World War II, and though British prime minister Winston Churchill presumably had a lot going on at the time, he still took the time to write to Australia to demand a live platypus. He had a passion for exotic pets and, being the PM, he got what he wanted. Sadly, the platypus died just days before the ship carrying it from Brisbane docked in Liverpool — likely from shock when its ship was shelled, or because its ration of worms ran short on the journey. Saddened but undeterred by the death, Churchill had the platypus stuffed and mounted on his desk — where it became a prized display.
______________________________
Muscle men pose in body covering swimwear
Bathing costumes have come a long way since Australian Annette Kellerman courted controversy in 1907 by wearing a men's bathing costume that – shockingly – left her arms and legs bare. Kellerman went on to design the first one-piece swimsuit for women. Here, a 1940s lady models a then-contemporary one-piece, surrounded by others in beach attire that was dated even back in those days. The contrast between the one-piece and the trousered outfit (far-left), acceptable in the Victorian era but not mainstream until the 1920s, is stark. Swimwear would continue to evolve: After cutting a one-piece in half in 1936, Paula Stafford became the first local manufacturer of bikinis in 1947. The look would not begin to dominate beaches until the mid-1960s.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Vintage Christmas, Part 1
Christmas in Australia is different to that in the Northern hemisphere. They have cold, we have hot; they have snow, we swelter in the hottest time of the year. Santa visits them in a sleigh with reindeer; he visits us on a surfboard with led by kangaroos. That has to be true, the Australian Embassy even depicts it.
My thanks to Graham E for sending me the link to photographs and commentary of past Christmases in Oz, a look at some bygone customs and moments in time.
This is the link: http://pickle.ninemsn.com.au/2015/12/21/09/24/a-kodak-for-christmas
______________________________
A camera for Christmas
While digital cameras and mobile phones have revolutionised the way we take and store photographs, there was a time in the not-too-distant past when capturing a moment with stand-alone cameras and film was considered novel. George Eastman popularised photography with the first simple camera, the Kodak, in 1888. Over the next half-century, these cameras became more practical. This Australian advertisement, circa 1938, pitches the latest Kodaks as more than Christmas gifts. They are the "happy promise of a thousand delightful snapshots", and the Kodak film they use, essential.
______________________________
The 100 year old cat who arrived on the First Fleet
There were 11 ships in the First Fleet: two Royal Navy Escorts, six convict transports, and three supply ships. One of these was the Golden Grove, "the Noah's Ark of Australia": it carried cows, horses, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs and seven cats. Incredibly (in the literal sense of the word), one of these cats went on to live for more than 100 years, eventually winding up in the NSW town of Gundagai. According to a Tasmanian newspaper's 1876 yarn, "this wonderful cat has subsisted on pork sausages, and will not touch any other diet." Fifty years later, a Gundagai paper denied any local knowledge of such a cat, sniffily dubbing it "a mare's nest" — that is, an astounding-but-fraudulent discovery. The local disdain for felines is hardly surprising. Gundagai is, after all, a dog town.
______________________________
30 hours inside a dead whale to cure rheumatism
"The smell and heat were hardly bearable… great blasts of gas and horrible bubbles would gush out around us and make our hair stand on end," reported a putrid story in the Sydney Bulletin in 1896. The yarn described a bizarre, revolting cure for rheumatism: climbing inside the belly of a slaughtered whale for 20 to 30 hours to expose oneself to the corpse's healing "ammoniacal gases… of an overpowering and atrocious odour". The remedy was supposedly discovered near the New South Wales whaling town of Eden when a rheumatic drunk fell into a dead whale (as you do) and emerged hours later from the "huge mountain of decomposing blubber" feeling better than ever. Not only was the cure unlikely to work, it was also rarely practised — thankfully.
______________________________
Christmas party in a WW1 hospital
When it came to Christmas in World War I's military hospital wards, every effort was made to ensure the wounded servicemen enjoyed themselves. Soldiers were joined by their army officers, nurses and doctors to celebrate the occasion. Wards were festively decorated, some with ribbons, others with images of Santa Claus and maps of Australia, and food was plentiful. It's not recorded precisely where or when this photo was taken, but elsewhere, the 2nd Australian General Hospital in Egypt celebrated Christmas Day 1915 with a traditional roast dinner, and even the doctors pitched in – one carved the turkey and ham, while another gave out beverages.
______________________________
19th century miners cook up golden Christmas ‘cake’
In the late 19th century, immigrants were still coming to terms with what an Australian Christmas looked like. Absent were carols, snow and mistletoe, and in their place were picnics, sports and soaring temperatures. In the bush, new Australians gathered around night fires while travelling stockmen shared stories, and on the gold fields, mining companies celebrated with large "crushings" of gold. They would then exhibit these "golden Christmas cakes" in the windows of local banks. This illustration, published on January 1, 1872, depicts a cake after its crushing. The previous holiday season saw what was believed to be the largest ever golden cake produced in Victoria, weighing 106.7kg, then valued at £15,026.
______________________________
Santa rides an emu to department store’s famous toy fair
Foy and Gibson's, one of Australia's earliest department stores, was famous for its annual toy fairs, which boasted "unprecedentedly low prices", and holiday season attractions. Melbourne's Bourke Street store attracted customers with its rooftop carnival, complete with ponies, train rides and a ferris wheel that teetered so close to the edge of the rooftop that "it felt as if you were falling from the top of the building". Children could also meet Father Christmas, but it's doubtful he was as smartly dressed as this poster from the late 19th century suggests — or that he rode in on an emu.
______________________________
Father Christmas rides an eagle on terrifying card
Santa Claus’s design has evolved over hundreds of years. By the early 20th century, the contemporary interpretation of a portly man with a bushy beard and furs had taken hold. What hadn’t, clearly, were his animal sidekicks of choice. While he might now prefer reindeer, Santa has been known to ride a goat named Ukko, a kangaroo, and even an eagle carrying a basket of presents in its talons. This poster for drapery firm Craig Williamson Pty Ltd features Santa riding one such eagle in service of a bad pun: "Our attractive show catches the eagle-eye of Father Xmas". The show caught the eye of Sidney Myer (of Myer department store fame), who bought the company in 1908.
______________________________
Santa’s gifts to children of men killed in WW2
Santa Claus swapped his sleigh for a yacht on Saturday, December 15, 1945. Disembarking at Point Walter, Perth, Santa delivered presents to the children of men killed during World War II. Before his arrival, the 109 Australian Convalescent Depot worked tirelessly to ensure that the Christmas party was a memorable one, organising a bevy of cakes and sweets, and a sports program including swimming and tennis. Over 1000 youngsters, wives and guardians were estimated to have attended the event.
______________________________
Children celebrate Christmas next to unfinished Harbour Bridge
On the afternoon of Saturday, December 6, 1930, Rear Admiral Evans and the officers of HMAS Australia II welcomed families onto their warship for the annual children’s Christmas party. The ship was moored at Garden Island, Sydney, and transformed into a festive playground, complete with slides and celebrities. While "Mickey the Mouse" thrilled youngsters, the great cannon on deck fired off salvos of multi-coloured balloons. The crane, usually reserved for munitions, carried children in a cage out above the ocean, in full view of the as-yet-incomplete Sydney Harbour Bridge (it opened in 1932). Its passengers included Rosemary Budge, the daughter of the secretary to the Governor of New South Wales, pictured on the left wearing glasses.
______________________________
Santa steals a Christmas kiss from a nurse
In a bid to lift the spirits of children struggling with illness over the holiday season, Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital hosted an annual Christmas picnic in 1944. Children left the ward and bathed in the summer sun. While some years brought special attractions, like camels, Santa was a constant. He dressed more like a wizard with cotton balls stuck to his robe than contemporary incarnations of the gift-giver, and in December 1944, he was certainly not afraid to get more than a little festive with a nurse.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)