Jody Victor : In 3.5 days we will be greeting each other with "Happy New Year!" for at least a week or two. There will be parties the night before and that day with family and friends. But January 1st was not always the day of celebration for the new year.

The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. The Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon(actually the first visible cresent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring). This is a more logical time to start a new year since it is the season of rebirth, planting new crops, blosssoming trees and plants. January 1 has no astronomical nor agricultrual significance - it is purely arbitrary.

The Romans continued to observe the new year in late March, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors. Eventually, in 46 BC, Julius Caesar established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar which had January 1 as the new year.

Howerver you celebrate the New Year, Joe Victor, Steve Victor and I wish you a happy and healthy one!

Jody Victor

Jody Victor : We believe the name Santa Claus evolved from many different names and publications such as the early 1600's Dutch legend called Sinterklaas, the stories written by American author Washington Irving about Saint Nicholas bringing presents on Christmas Eve, and the famous poem written by Clement Clarke Moore, "The Night Before Christmas." Around the world Santa Claus is known by many different names.

England - Kris Kringle or Father Christmas

Italy - Babbo Natale

Germany - Weihnachtsmann or Sankt Nikolaus

Sweden - Jultomten or Christmas Brownie

Hawaii - Kanakaloka

Chile - Viejo Pascuerro

France - Pere Noel

Japan - Hoteiosho - a priest who bears gifts or Santa Kurohsu

Russia - Ded Moroz - Grandfather Frost also Baboushka, a witch that visits good children on Christmas.

Whatever you call him - hope you have been very good this year and will have a wonderful visit from him!

Jody Victor

Jody Victor: If you haven't already started a Christmas tradition in your family - get together and decorate your Christmas tree like the Victor family. The evergreen tree is one of the oldest symbols of Christmas and the tradition goes back past recorded history.

 First recorded were the Druids in ancient England and Gaul, and the Romans in Europe who used evergreen branches to decorate their homes and public buildings to celebrate the Winter Solstice. In the 1600's trees were used by families in Germany and surrounding countries. They set up these trees in a prominent location of their home and decorated them with colored paper, small toys, food, and sometimes candles. When these people moved or immigrated they brought the tradition with them.

As the world moved into the 1900's new and different things were used to decorate Christmas trees - strings of popcorn, homemade cards and pictures, cotton to immitate snow, candy in all shapes and sizes, and occasionally, fancy store made glass balls and hand blown glass figurines. Due to fires being caused by candles on the trees many different candle holders were devised to try to prevent tree fires. Electric tree light were first used just 3 years after Thomas Edison had his first mass public demonstration of electric lights back in 1879. The early Christmas tree lights were handmade and quite expensive.

Today, Christmas tree ornaments and the trees themselves can be found in nearly every size, color, and shape imaginable. The fun of decorating a Christmas tree is for all ages, young and old!

Jody Victor

Jody Victor : Mistletoe is a fun tradition around the Victor house at Christmas time. I've often wondered where and how it started.

Mistletoe was often hung over the entrances to homes of the pagans in Scandinavian countries to ward off evil spirits. An old Scandinavian myth tells of the seemingly invulnerable god, Balder, who was struck down by a dart made from mistletoe. The tears of his mother, Frigga, became the white berries of the mistletoe and it was decreed that the plant must never again be used as a weapon. Frigga, who was the goddess of love, henceforth gave a kiss to anyone who passed under the mistletoe which may be where our present custom of kissing under the mistletoe originated.

Another legend tells that the Druids, who were members of a pagan religious order in ancient Gaul, Britain, and Ireland, held the mistletoe in such reverence that if enemies met under it in the forest, a truce was declared for the day. It was also their belief that only happiness would enter a home when mistletoe hung over the doorway.

For more info on this and other Christmas traditions go to Merry-Christmas.com.

Jody Victor