Bringing Home the Christmas Tree ~
Vintage Post Card from The Old-Fashioned Congratulations Postcard Book by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

Oh Christmas Tree

. . . still to be decorated.

Inscribed and scribbled
Book inscriptions are a funny thing. They can increase the value of a first edition. They can render a book worthless for retail. I recently removed a book from the bookshop shelf ~ it remains in a drawer until I decide what to do with it. "To Lorna who comes from my neck of the woods. . ." is hidden on the second page. Don't remember the signing. Have not read.

Reminds me of a story about George Bernard Shaw. Shaw came across a copy of one of his works in a secondhand bookshop. Discovering his own handwriting on the flyleaf, "To _ _ _ with esteem, George Bernard Shaw," he bought the book and returned it to his friend, adding the inscription: "With renewed esteem, George Bernard Shaw."

I have decided to read the book in the drawer. I am sure that it is a good book. I recall paying the list price for it. Perhaps hoping for "renewed esteem."
More and more, I am beginning to believe that the use of a lead pencil is preferable to INK. Lead appears to be as permanent as ink or can easily be erased if the inscription no longer applies ~ leaving the book more attractive and relevant to a new owner. We have seen inscriptions that deface a book but perhaps more bewildering are the discarded books bearing personal, intimate declarations of "forever" inscriptions.

CHRISTMAS ~ In the Spirit?
Readings with local author, John Passfield ~ poems, stories, ballads, hymn and song lyrics old and new, humorous and serious.

Please join us at The Neat Little Bookshop

Thursday, December 8 1:00 p.m.

(Always lively, always casual. Coffee and Tea. No Admission.)

Note: John Passfield is the author of several books including: Jumbo, Inside the Wright Brothers, Out of the Park and Water Lane.

~Graphics A Reproduction of an Antique Christmas Classic circa 1870. A PaperStar Book, 1997 by The Putnam & Gosset Group.

Carol Shields, Pulitzer Prize winning author, shared her memories of her mother's Christmas correspondence.
"My mother's Christmas cards made me see her differently. Her life was wider, more vivid, more thrilling than it appeared. Furthermore ~ and this seemed close to impossible to believe ~ she had had a real life before she met my father, before her children were born. Before me. ..
"The most eagerly awaited card, really a mimeographed letter, came from a man called Alvah Swain. My mother had met Alvah Swain ~ a journalist, a politician, a friend of Will Rogers ~ on a train trip she took when she was 20, and it flattered her to think that such an important person remembered the brief connection and honoured it each Christmas season with a detailed account of his busy year. She opened his letters breathlessly and read them aloud to the family, always, of course, setting Mr. Swain into historical context."

Source: "It's in the Cards," Carol Shields (1935 - 2003), Canadian Living, December 1998

Santa Came to Town ~

Santa Came to Town ~

In Wonder, Ian Eagerly Watches the Parade

Carol Shields, American born Canadian author shared her thoughts on Christmas cards in the Canadian Living magazine, December, 1998. "My mother's Christmas cards made me see her differently. Her life was wider, more vivid, more thrilling than it appeared. My Mother saved them all, even those sent from our insurance company and from the gas and light utility.
"A few weeks before Christmas, my mother took from the highest shelf in her cupboard a large silver-plated tray. She always shook her head when she looked at this tray, the way it had blackened since the previous Christmas. Then quickly, she busied herself with a tin of silver polish and a linen cloth, taking a concentrated, anticipatory pleasure in the task. When restored to its traditional lustre, this tray was centred on our walnut coffee table, ready to receive the annual onslaught of Christmas cards.
"These came slowly at first, then soon became a toppling pile....
"This was her tradition, the silver tray centred on the coffee table, where anyone might sit comfortably on the sofa and take pleasure going through the separate greetings...I never doubted that she took pride in her act of elegance and originality.
"I, too arrange my cards every year on a silver tray on the coffee table. I can't imagine doing anything else."
~ Carol Shields (1935 - 2003) U.S. Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, Governor General's Award in Canada.

Tomorrow: Mother's Correspondence

Merry Christmas ~ the custom of sending Christmas cards

I have a list of folks I know, all written in a book;
And every year when Christmas comes, I go and take a look;
And that is when I realize that these names are a part
Not of the book they're written in, but of my very heart.

For each name stands for someone who has crossed my path sometime,
And in that meeting they've become the rhythm in each rhyme.
And while it sounds fantastic for me to make this claim,
I really feel that I'm composed of each remembered name.

And while you may not be aware of any "special link,"
Just meeting you has changed my life a lot more than you think.
For once I've met somebody, the years cannot erase
The memory of a pleasant word or of a friendly face.

So never think my Christmas cards are just a mere routine
Of names upon a Christmas list, forgotten in between;
For when I send a Christmas card that is addressed to you,
It's because you're on the list of folk whom I'm indebted to.

For I am but the total of the many folk I've met,
And you happen to be one of those I prefer not to forget.
And whether I have known you for many years or few,
In some way you have had a part in shaping things I do.
And every year when Christmas comes, I realize anew,
The best gift life can offer, is meeting folks like you!
~ Helen Steiner Rice

Note: We are indebted to our friends, Pat & Jim Northcott of Woodstock, Ontario, for sending this verse to us. Thank you to Sharon Jackson ~ after our appeal ~ for identifying the author as Helen Steiner Rice (1900 -1981) American writer, best known for her inspirational poetry. Thank you to Shirley & Gary O'Donnell and family for the above Christmas card.