Advent Photos 2021. December 3rd and The Snow Globes

 I love my snow globes. One was bought as a Christmas present to myself the Christmas after Colin died and the other was picked up from a charity shop a couple of years ago.

The larger one has a wind up mechanism playing Jingle Bells with Santa going round on his sleigh and a tiny train that appears and disappears in and out of a tunnel, with glittery snow.

The smaller, older one is a snowman or a snow-lady, the snow flakes are white - not sure what they are made out of.

They are on the top of the low bookshelves now - out of the way of small fingers, although in a few years time I'll be able to keep them on the window sill to catch the sunlight.

I've searched through my Christmas books and there is no mention of snow globes in any of them. Not much history and on the t'internet it says ............

At the end of the 19th century the Austrian Erwin Perzy, a producer of surgical instruments, invented the so-called Schneekugel (snow globe) and got the first patent for it. Originally his goal was to develop an extra bright light source for use as a surgical lamp. As he tried to intensify the candlepower of a so-called Schusterkugel (a water filled flask used to focus light since the Middle Ages) with particles made out of different materials for reflection purpose, the effect reminded him of snowfall and it's said that by this he got the idea for a snow globe. He then built his first actual globe with the basilica of Mariazell as a model in it. Because of the great request for his snow globes, Perzy, along with his brother Ludwig opened a shop in Vienna, where the production continues until today as a family business. Today the globes get exported throughout the world; the material out of which the "snow" is made is handed down from generation to generation as a production secret (it should float as long as possible in the water before sinking down).

In the U.S the first snow globe-related patent was granted in 1927 to Joseph Garaja of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

The original snow or "flitter" was made from bone or porcelain chips. The liquid is a mix of water, antifreeze (ethylene glycol), and glycerol. Glycerol is the additive that slows the descent of the snow.

  Sometime in the long distant past I seem to remember having a small plastic globe and also trying to make one with water and sawdust in a jam jar - think that was a fail!

Back Tomorrow

Sue

 

Advent Photos 2021. December 2nd and The Christmas Tree

 Something is definitely needed to cheer up the dark evenings as the wheel of the year turns to the Winter Solstice. So thank goodness for the lights on the Christmas tree.

From my book 'The Medieval Christmas' by Sophie Jackson

 

Below are a couple of pages from another of my books 'A Christmas Scrapbook' compiled by Elizabeth Walter.

 Detail from an Edwardian Christmas card

 (I had to look up Hessians and this is what I found on Wiki.... Hessians  were German soldiers who served as auxiliaries  to the British Army during the American Revolutionary War^. The term is an American word for all Germans who fought on the British side, since 65% came from the German states of Hesse-Kassel and Hesse-Hanue. Known for their discipline and martial prowess, around 30,000 Germans fought for the British during war, comprising a quarter of British land forces ....well who knew that!?)

In 2013 we had lots of Christmas trees around the smallholding but none were suitable to bring indoors so we bought a cheap artificial in the hope it would last us out. But when I took it down last year it had as much 'needle' drop as a real tree. It had to go. 

The Christmas tree is more or less the only decorating I do nowadays so a new artificial was purchased a few weeks ago. I'd love a real one but with the proper central heating here it wouldn't survive very long and it's nice to be able to cheer up the whole of December with lights and baubles. The new one looked a bit cheap and plastic-y  until two sets of  lights and dozens of hanging bits were added. I'm not a minimalist when it comes to trimming the tree!

 

 

And finally a bit of music 

 

 

This bit of music with words that have changed in various countries at different times has a long and complicated history but is usually called "O Tannenbaum" which just means 'Fir Tree'. There's a whole chapter about it in another of my books 'Christmas Carols From Village Green to Church Choir' by Andrew Gant  - much too long to copy here!

Back Tomorrow

Sue

Advent Photos 2021. December 1st and The Front Door Decoration

Photos in Advent (sometimes called Blogmas) have been a "thing" on blogs for ages.(During the month of December rather than proper Advent)

Last year I wrote each day about a different Christmas book that I owned - most of those have gone now and in previous years it's just been photos of something connected to Christmas.

 But for 2021.......what shall I do this year?

I had a big think, but no brainwave...... so it will just be all sorts of Christmas photos again, sometimes with a bit of history thrown in (people say they enjoy the folklore/special days posts - although they might just be being kind!)

Starting with the front door decor. I've not lived anywhere that people could actually see and walk past the door for ages but this year as I'm in the village and not at the end of a cul-de-sac  I decided to join in.

In this months Parish Magazine a lady was advertising her home made wreaths and other decorations which she makes through the year from donated bits and pieces and sells in December in aid of the local Scout Group. So I went to have a look and came home with two for £5 each - one for the door and another (on the ground on the left) which I'm going to put on Col's Mum and Dad's grave in Bacton where I'm also scattering some more of Col's ashes.(I didn't put all of them around the trees at Clay Cottage because I knew I'd be moving sometime and wanted to take a piece of him with me - which sounds odd - but then I am a bit odd!) The swag is all artificial bits and bobs and under the shelter of the porch so if I'm careful with storage it should be OK for next year too.

After hanging it up I trimmed a bit off the bottom to make it easier for the postman.........can't afford to upset a postman in the run-up to Christmas!

 

Back Tomorrow

Sue