The Holly and The Ivy

"The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown."

This six-verse song first appeared in an English broadside* of 1710; later published in a collection in 1861. By 1953 The Holly and the Ivy had been made into a movie.


Holly has long been associated with Christmas. Its image appears on decorations, on wrap and Christmas cards. Sprigs of holly are hung in wreaths, on mantles and over doorways. The red berries and green leaves make the plant an attractive choice in December.

*A broadside was a large single-sheet, printed on one side, often of illustrated ballads.

Tomorrow: In many countries the holly is thought to have supernatural qualities.

Thought for Today:

"One can never pay in gratitude, one can only pay 'in kind' somewhere else in life."

~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author.

The movie, It's a Wonderful Life, is based on a short story, The Greatest Gift. The author could not interest a publisher in his work so he had the story printed on Christmas cards and sent to 200 friends. A Hollywood agent was among the recipients. He convinced RKO studio that it would make a great movie.

Even after its release as a movie in 1946 it was not an instant success. For years after its copyright expired in 1974, television stations broadcast it without charge.

In 1993 Republic Entertainment assumed control of the copyright and broadcast fees are once again in effect.
Starring in this Frank Capra Christmastime film are Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Ward Bond and Frank Faylen.

The World Encyclopedia of Christmas, McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2000.

Charles Dickens describes a Victorian Christmas tree ~ the centrepiece of the seasons' decorations :

"I have been looking on ,this evening, at a merry company of children assembled round that pretty German toy, a Christmas Tree. The tree was planted in the middle of a great round table, and towered high above their heads. It was brilliantly lighted by a multitude of little tapers; and everywhere sparkled and glittered with bright objects. There were rosy-cheeked dolls, hiding behind the green leaves; and there were real watches (with movable hands, at least, and an endless capacity of being wound up) dangling from innumerable twigs;

"there were French-polished tables, chairs, bedsteads, wardrobes, eight-day clocks, and various other articles of domestic furniture (wonderfully made, in tin, at Wolverhampton), perched among the boughs, as if in preparation for some fairy housekeeping; there were jolly, broad-faced little men, much more agreeable in appearance than many real men -- and no wonder, for their heads took off, and showed them to be full of sugar-plums; there were fiddles and drums; there were tambourines, books, work-boxes, paint-boxes, sweetmeat-boxes, peep-show boxes, and all kinds of boxes;

"there were trinkets for the elder girls, far brighter than any grown-up gold and jewels; there were baskets and pincushions in all devices; there were guns, swords, and banners; there were witches standing in enchanted rings of pasteboard, to tell fortunes; there were teetotums, humming-tops, needle-cases, pen-wipers, smelling bottles, conversation-cards, bouquet-holders; real fruit, made artificially dazzling with goldleaf; imitation apples, pears, and walnuts, crammed with surprises; in short, as a pretty child, before me, delightedly whispered to another pretty child, her bosom friend, "There was everything, and more."

"This motley collection of odd objects, clustering on the tree like magic fruit. . ."

The Victorian Christmas Book, Antony & Peter Miall, J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1978.

For larger image, dbl. click on picture of old post card.

Santa Claus Parade 2010 Cayuga

If you had told Cabernet five years ago that she would shivering in a Santa Claus parade in Canada, she might have covered her ears with her paws. Cabernet is a rescued dog from New Orleans' Katrina.

Cayuga Santa Claus Parade 2010 ~

(For larger image dbl. click on photo.) More parade photos on Lorna's Facebook.

Feel free to tag if identity known. Thanks.

Rebecca is on her way to Friday Light Up Night in Cayuga.

Animal Stories ~

Part chihuahua, part pincher, Uno prefers the classics; however, when pressed he will read Animal Stories.