A Special Message from Goldilocks Late Wednesday Evening 1-31-24

 A Special Message from Goldilocks Late Wednesday Evening 1-31-24

Good evening, it is with a deeply sad heart that I have been moved to write to you tonight. Salty, a friend to so many of us on this journey has been affected the last few days by a group of people who are going around telling people in various rooms that they have to belong to their room or they will not be able to exchange and that the law will be coming after them.  
 
This threatens the emotional well-being of people and disturbs their souls, and this is why I am sending this message tonight.
 
Folks, we live in a world whereby free speech still exists. Even though various opinions may be out there in Dinarland we all don't agree with, it is important to have them for they touch people in different ways from people who care about others. It is important for us to move into a place of higher ground with each other.  

The ability to live in a place of coexistence through unconditional love is the place where a mature human is able to experience miracles. It is the place where transformations of the human heart become possible.  
I ask you to pray for my friend Salty and those who do not realize what they are doing to those around them in making the stress of this journey far more difficult than it has to be.  
 
My prayer tonight is "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." And watch over my friend Salty. You know she means so much to all of us.
 
© Goldilocks

POPEYE® THE SAILOR MAN DAY | January 17

POPEYE® THE SAILOR MAN DAY | January 17

 January 17 marks the 95th Birthday of the world’s most famous spinach loving, nautical hero — it's Popeye the Sailor Man! Today, we are taking epic strides to honor this legendary sailor who is tough and fit with tons of grit, as one of America’s most renown, pop-culture icons. After all, he yam what he yam!

#PopeyeTheSailorManDay

Popeye is the seeming underdog with bulging forearms, a mean uppercut, and a love of canned spinach. He is a defender of the weak and protector of those he loves. As the embodiment of strength and fitness, Popeye inspires us all to work hard, care for others, be persistent, and stay strong to the finish. Of course, all with the help of a hefty amount of spinach. In 2024, we are celebrating 95 years of this iconic figure, and the timeless inspiration Popeye has brought to billions of people. 

Popeye was created by Elzie Crisler (E.C) Segar and made his first appearance in the comic strip "Thimble Theatre" on January 17, 1929. Originally created as a minor character, Popeye quickly became a super star. By 1938, the comic changed its name to “Popeye,” creating one of the most iconic cultural comic strips of all time.

Popeye has appeared in 1000s of comic strips, over 600 cartoon episodes, and over 100 books since his creation. Today, he has over 9.6 million followers on social media! Popeye is ingrained in pop culture and is one of the most recognizable and beloved cartoon characters in the world.

15 Fun Facts about Popeye®

1. Popeye is 10 years younger than Olive Oyl! He walked on to her strip, “Thimble Theatre,” as a bit character in 1929 and became so popular the strip was eventually renamed “Popeye.”

2. Before spinach became the source of Popeye’s super strength, his power came from rubbing the head of a magical Whiffle Hen named Bernice!

3. Popeye is known as Braccio di Ferro (“Iron Arm”) in Italy, Karl Alfred in Sweden, and Skipper Skraek ("Terror of the Sea") in Denmark.

4. Popeye made his silver screen debut on July 14, 1933 appearing in the Betty Boop cartoon entitled "Popeye the Sailor." The cartoon was produced by Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. 

5. The song "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man" was released in 1933. Composed by Sammy Lerner, the song gave birth to one of Popeye’s most famous catch phrases “I’m strong to da finich ‘cause I eats me spinach.”

6. Popeye is recognized for his influence on America's spinach consumption, so much so that Crystal City, TX, the Spinach Capital of the World, erected a statue in his honor in 1937.

7. The Popeye Village in Malta was developed for the 1980 Popeye movie starring Robin Williams. The village still exists today and has grown into a major tourist attraction in the Maltese Islands.

8. Popeye has inspired many iconic pop-artists over the year, including Andy Warhol (1961), Roy Lichtenstein (1961) and Jeff Koons (2002).

9. In Summer 1976, Tokyo based Magazine House launches the “Popeye” magazine. The magazine was the first fashion and lifestyle magazine to be published in Japan that targets young, Japanese men. The magazine is named “Popeye” because the creator’s son was a fan.

10. In 1957, Popeye’s balloon first appeared in the Macy’s Day parade. Interestingly, Olive Oyl became the first female balloon to join the parade in the early 1980’s.

11. Popeye was featured as the Google Doodle in 2009 to honor creator E.C. Segar’s birthday.

12. Popeye is a clean ocean advocate and ambassador for ocean conservation and clean up organization known as The SeaCleaners.

13. Chester, IL, the birthplace of Popeye creator, E.C. Segar, honors hometown hero the Popeye & Friends Character Trail. Every year, granite statues representing the wide cast of characters from Segar’s Thimble Theatre cartoon strips are added to the trail throughout the city.

14. Good Housekeeping’s Nutrition Lab awarded Popeye the “Good Housekeeping Nutritionist Approved Emblem” in their January/February 2024 issue to celebrate his decades-long commitment to healthy eating, fitness as well as his efforts in ocean conservation. Popeye is the first "person" to receive this honor.

15. New Popeye comic strips are still released weekly! You can find the latest strip by Randy Milholland at ComicsKingdom.com.

 To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/popeye-the-sailor-man-day-january-17

The Little White Envelope

TNT:

Mot:  THE LITTLE WHITE ENVELOPE:

"It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past ten years.

It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas. Oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it – overspending and the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma – the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.

Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.

Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was on the wrestling team at the school he attended. Shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes.

As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford.

Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them." Mike loved kids – all kids. He so enjoyed coaching little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That's when the idea for his present came.

That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes, and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed a small, white envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done, and that this was his gift from me.

Mike's smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year. And that same bright smile lit up succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition – one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on.

The white envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning, and our children – ignoring their new toys – would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the small, white envelope never lost its allure.

The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree. And the next morning, I found it was magically joined by three more. Unbeknownst to the others, each of our three children had for the first time placed a white envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing to take down that special envelope.

Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit will always be with us."

For the Man Who Hated Christmas

(A true Christmas Story by Nancy W. Gavin, December 2015)

Merry Christmas from The Dinar Recaps Team

Please scroll down for new posts.

All of us at Dinar Recaps would like to wish all our Readers a Very Merry Christmas. 

We wish that all your dreams and wishes come true this coming year. 

Due to the holiday, we plan to have new posts off and on all day Monday. Please check our  BLOG PAGE  for all new posts. 

On Christmas Day we plan to have 11am and 6pm (ET) email Newsletters. 

Have a happy and safe holiday.  The Dinar Recaps Team

Picture from Viktor Hanacek at Picjumbo.com

A Brief History of How Nutcracker Dolls Became A Christmas Symbol for the Ages

A Brief History of How Nutcracker Dolls Became A Christmas Symbol for the Ages

12 | 14 | 2020   

Around the start of December, it’s not unusual to see decorative nutcrackers on store shelves, arranged on mantelpieces, hanging from Christmas trees, and even decorating holiday sweaters. For some, their colorful outfits, hand-painted faces, and tufts of white hair are the very definition of Christmas cheer. But have you ever wondered how these nutcrackers got to be so popular, and why people usually only bring them out at Christmastime? The answer involves German literature, a Russian ballet, and lots of generous American G.I.s.

From Basic to Beautiful

Humans have been using tools to crack nuts for thousands of years.

The earliest designs were merely two pieces of wood joined by leather or a metal hinge, but as the centuries progressed, artisans started to create figurative designs for nutcrackers, such as brass crocodiles in India and cast-iron squirrels in England.

Wood remained a popular material, and by the 18th century, carvers in Switzerland, Austria, and northern Italy were making fanciful wooden nutcrackers that looked like human and animal heads, sometimes with moving lower jaws.

The nutcrackers best known in America today come from Germany. In fact, they often come from a particular region in Germany, the Erzgebirge — a mountain range near the border with the Czech Republic. Erzgebirge is German for “ore mountains,” and for many years the region was home to rich deposits of silver, tin, uranium, and more. Starting around the early 1700s, as some of the deposits ran out, miners began crafting nutcrackers, toys, and glass ornaments as a way of supplementing dwindling mining income.

By around 1800, the earliest versions of the toy nutcracker dolls so familiar to us today started to appear in Erzgebirge workshops. It’s said that the woodcarvers chose figures of authority for these dolls — soldiers, policeman, politicians — because the common people enjoyed putting toy versions of their overseers  “to work” by having them crack the “hard nuts of life.”

Originally, these nutcrackers had no specific association with Christmas, and it’s not clear exactly when such a link began. But the seasonal significance makes some sense when you consider they were created in workshops alongside toys and games that were often given as gifts. Some have also suggested that a link arose because nuts are an important component of German holiday baking.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.triviagenius.com/a-brief-history-of-nutcrackers/X9egyuv_UAAGBswc

White Hat Auxiliaries Briefing #198

2023- Politics BLeW, CRYPTO Grew as THE GLOBAL SETTLEMENTS Aim For a Coup

White Hat Auxiliaries   Briefing #198          Dec 23

We come to the end of another year, our 11th with you. I once again invoke dominus privilegium and address you directly, except where indicated otherwise. This will be the last briefing of the year.

What a year! Thank you all for your incredible contributions to the discussion section. The amount of information shared was tremendous, spread across a diverse subject matter too varied to note here. Having the freedom to share whatever one wishes (within the bounds of common decency) has created fertile soil for interchange of ideas, the revealing of historical expurgations, and sharing of valuable information which many might find beneficial in their daily lives.

Some important items to review and discuss as we approach the beginning of 2024:

Global Settlements

Most of our readers know that the GS is now proceeding along a BRICS pathway. Key to this, the South Korean president recently paid a visit to London.

A recent communiqué from our London GS trustee on this visit:

The South Korean President and his wife have spent a highly successful week in London, plus full State entourage on an official State visit, where the British have honoured him with full Royal ceremonial horse driven carriages, troop guards of honour, bands, and major family turnouts at Buckingham Palace, presented at Court and attended various top level British Global Institute initiatives.

He has met the English shadow guard above the State. Shows like this are accorded to very few. Always Britain has an agenda. No more US NY bait and switch scams which derailed the last GS attempt in NY. This time the Zio snout was out! Intense dialogue has made real progress. But, it's a geo political global cauldron of issues. Especially Defense! All issues to factor in. Off grunt's pay grade. Only alluded to via WHA, close to seismic potential changes.

BRICS, Bitcoin, Blockchains and Cryptos change everything. Bond market volatility, bank loss planning and the pending collapse of Ukraine will lead to roller coaster rides next year. Risk management is key. Real world issues factored in.

Why were they all in London? A prep dry run! Huge security and secrecy issues. Global game changes are coming. Is what is happening off all public radar, potential end of empires? This is so sensitive nothing is leaking. It's above most politicos' pay grades. What power orchestrates that vast ceremonial show and vast police blocking vehicles for autocades able to stop London?

South Koreans, the last real bastions of vast Gold holdings, are not only well aware of the US Cut and Run practices in Vietnam, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, they now question the point of costly protectorate treaties with a visibly ailing and failing hegemony parasite nation who will cut and run as China and India take ever more of the Far East and Asia.  

Why keep being Greenmailed with a dying Dollar from a nation with no control of its own Jew-controlled central bank and being bled dry by the Zionists? The impact of BRICS to America will be seismic, as was the collapse of Rome. Asia is awakening and leaving.

America now owns nothing, and with no central bank of its own, faces economic oblivion, if, as expected, BRICS takes c60% of the global economy. Britain is its own Jekyll Island in a sea of flotsam out there. Survivors.  67% of all Global Foreign Exchange trading is processed via London. Unlike the fake Fed, real bankers to the world. Culture, the Commonwealth and opportunity. That far outweighs the failing US.

The founders of democracy, instigators of the Industrial Revolution, Saviors of Europe post WWII, with pending vast economic changes tracking ahead, as two big dogs cannot live from a meal for one, are we seeing US imperialism soon to be dead?

Gold is King. Who are the King-makers now? How long will the parasites sucking the life blood out of America remain unchallenged? Gaza has wrong footed the lot. Also exposed the reality It now travels. Will 60% plus nations lead with their feet and walk?

Lose the Dollar - lose the plot. Lose the Dollar - lose the lot! The biggest vulture is culture. America has no concept. How long before America is BRIC-king it? Reality for the blind, at what price? Britain went Brexit. The UK is going Global. The US goes where? 

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://whitehatauxiliaries.com/2023/12/23/briefing-198/

Santa Claus Images History

Santa Claus Images History

Lorraine Boissoneault   December 19, 2018

A Civil War Cartoonist Created the Modern Image of Santa Claus as Union Propaganda

Thomas Nast is legendary for his political cartoons, but he’s also responsible for the jolly St. Nick we know today

You could call it the face that launched a thousand Christmas letters. Appearing on January 3, 1863, in the illustrated magazine Harper’s Weekly, two images cemented the nation’s obsession with a jolly old elf. The first drawing shows Santa distributing presents in a Union Army camp.

Lest any reader question Santa’s allegiance in the Civil War, he wears a jacket patterned with stars and pants colored in stripes. In his hands, he holds a puppet toy with a rope around its neck, its features like those of Confederate president Jefferson Davis.

A second illustration features Santa in his sleigh, then going down a chimney, all in the periphery. At the center, divided into separate circles, are a woman praying on her knees and a soldier leaning against a tree. “

In these two drawings, Christmas became a Union holiday and Santa a Union local deity,” writes Adam Gopnik in a 1997 issue of the New Yorker. “It gave Christmas to the North—gave to the Union cause an aura of domestic sentiment, and even sentimentality.”

The artist responsible for this coup? A Bavarian immigrant named Thomas Nast, political cartoonist extraordinaire and the person who “did as much as any one man to preserve the Union and bring the war to an end,” according to General Ulysses Grant. But like so many inventors, Nast benefitted from the work of his fellow visionaries in creating the rotund, resplendent figure of Santa Claus. He was a man with the right talents in the right place at the perfect time.

Prior to the early 1800s, Christmas was a religious holiday, plain and simple. Several forces in conjunction transformed it into the commercial fête that we celebrate today. The wealth generated by the Industrial Revolution created a middle class that could afford to buy presents, and factories meant mass-produced goods.

Examples of the holiday began to appear in popular literature, from Clement Clarke Moore’s 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (more commonly known by its first verse, “Twas the night before Christmas”) to Charles Dickens’ book A Christmas Carol, published in 1843. By the mid-1800s, Christmas began to look much more as it does today.  

 To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/civil-war-cartoonist-created-modern-image-santa-claus-union-propaganda-180971074/

At a Gas Station on a Cold Christmas Eve............

A NEW CHRISTMAS STORY . . .This story is better than any greeting card.

The old man sat in his gas station on a cold Christmas Eve. He hadn't been
anywhere in years since his wife had passed away. It was just another day to
him. He didn't hate Christmas, just couldn't find a reason to celebrate.

He was sitting there looking at the snow that had been falling for the last
hour and wondering what it was all about when the door opened and a homeless
man stepped through.

Instead of throwing the man out, Old George as he was known by his
customers, told the man to come and sit by the heater and warm up. "Thank
you, but I don't mean to intrude," said the stranger. "I see you're busy,
I'll just go."

"Not without something hot in your belly." George said.

He turned and opened a wide mouth Thermos and handed it to the stranger.
"It ain't much, but it's hot and tasty. Stew ... Made it myself. When you're
done, there's coffee and it's fresh."

Just at that moment he heard the "ding" of the driveway bell. "Excuse me,
be right back," George said. There in the driveway was an old '53 Chevy.
Steam was rolling out of the front. The driver was panicked. "Mister can you
help me!" said the driver, with a deep Spanish accent. "My wife is with
child and my car is broken." George opened the hood. It was bad. The block
looked cracked from the cold, the car was dead.

"You ain't going in this thing," George said as he turned away.

"But Mister, please help ..." The door of the office closed behind George
as he went inside. He went to the office wall and got the keys to his old
truck, and went back outside. He walked around the building, opened the
garage, started the truck and drove it around to where the couple was
waiting. "Here, take my truck," he said. "She ain't the best thing you ever
looked at, but she runs real good."

George helped put the woman in the truck and watched as it sped off into
the night. He turned and walked back inside the office. "Glad I gave 'em the
truck, their tires were shot too. That 'ol truck has brand new ." George
thought he was talking to the stranger, but the man had gone. The Thermos
was on the desk, empty, with a used coffee cup beside it. "Well, at least he
got something in his belly," George thought.

George went back outside to see if the old Chevy would start. It
cranked slowly, but it started. He pulled it into the garage where the
truck had been. He thought he would tinker with it for something to do.
Christmas Eve meant no customers. He discovered the the block hadn't
cracked, it was just the bottom hose on the radiator. "Well, shoot, I can
fix this," he said to himself. So he put a new one on.

"Those tires ain't gonna get 'em through the winter either." He took the
snow treads off of his wife's old Lincoln. They were like new and he wasn't
going to drive the car anyway.

As he was working, he heard shots being fired. He ran outside and beside a
police car an officer lay on the cold ground. Bleeding from the left
shoulder, the officer moaned, "Please help me."

George helped the officer inside as he remembered the training he had
received in the Army as a medic. He knew the wound needed attention.
"Pressure to stop the bleeding," he thought. The uniform company had been
there that morning and had left clean shop towels. He used those and duct
tape to bind the wound. "Hey, they say duct tape can fix anythin'," he said,
trying to make the policeman feel at ease.

"Something for pain," George thought. All he had was the pills he used for
his back. "These ought to work." He put some water in a cup and gave the
policeman the pills. "You hang in there, I'm going to get you an ambulance."

The phone was dead. "Maybe I can get one of your buddies on that there
talk box out in your car." He went out only to find that a bullet had gone
into the dashboard destroying the two way radio.

He went back in to find the policeman sitting up. "Thanks," said the
officer. "You could have left me there. The guy that shot me is still in the
area."

George sat down beside him, "I would never leave an injured man in the
Army and I ain't gonna leave you." George pulled back the bandage to check
for bleeding. "Looks worse than what it is. Bullet passed right through 'ya.
Good thing it missed the important stuff though. I think with time your
gonna be right as rain."

George got up and poured a cup of coffee. "How do you take it?" he asked.

"None for me," said the officer.

"Oh, yer gonna drink this. Best in the city. Too bad I ain't got no
donuts." The officer laughed and winced at the same time.

The front door of the office flew open. In burst a young man with a gun.
"Give me all your cash! Do it now!" the young man yelled. His hand was
shaking and George could tell that he had never done anything like this
before.

"That's the guy that shot me!" exclaimed the officer.

"Son, why are you doing this?" asked George, "You need to put the cannon
away. Somebody else might get hurt."

The young man was confused. "Shut up old man, or I'll shoot you, too. Now
give me the cash!"

The cop was reaching for his gun. "Put that thing away," George said to
the cop, "we got one too many in here now."

He turned his attention to the young man. "Son, it's Christmas Eve. If you
need money, well then, here. It ain't much but it's all I got. Now put that
pea shooter away."

George pulled $150 out of his pocket and handed it to the young man,
reaching for the barrel of the gun at the same time. The young man released
his grip on the gun, fell to his knees and began to cry. "I'm not very good
at this am I? All I wanted was to buy something for my wife and son," he
went on. "I've lost my job, my rent is due, my car got repossessed last
week."

George handed the gun to the cop. "Son, we all get in a bit of squeeze now
and then. The road gets hard sometimes, but we make it through the best we
can."

He got the young man to his feet, and sat him down on a chair across from
the cop. "Sometimes we do stupid things." George handed the young man a cup
of coffee. "Bein' stupid is one of the things that makes us human. Comin' in
here with a gun ain't the answer. Now sit there and get warm and we'll sort
this thing out."

The young man had stopped crying. He looked over to the cop. "Sorry I shot
you. It just went off. I'm sorry officer."

"Shut up and drink your coffee " the cop said.

George could hear the sounds of sirens outside. A police car and an
ambulance skidded to a halt. Two cops came through the door, guns drawn.
"Chuck! You ok?" one of the cops asked the wounded officer.

"Not bad for a guy who took a bullet. How did you find me?"

"GPS locator in the car. Best thing since sliced bread. Who did this?" the
other cop asked as he approached the young man.

Chuck answered him, "I don't know. The guy ran off into the dark. Just
dropped his gun and ran."

George and the young man both looked puzzled at each other.
"That guy work here?" the wounded cop continued.

"Yep," George said, "just hired him this morning. Boy lost his job."

The paramedics came in and loaded Chuck onto the stretcher. The young man
leaned over the wounded cop and whispered, "Why?"

Chuck just said, "Merry Christmas boy ... and you too, George, and thanks
for everything."

"Well, looks like you got one doozy of a break there. That ought to solve
some of your problems."

George went into the back room and came out with a box. He pulled out a
ring box. "Here you go, something for the little woman. I don't think Martha
would mind. She said it would come in handy some day."

The young man looked inside to see the biggest diamond ring he ever saw.
"I can't take this," said the young man. "It means something to you."

"And now it means something to you," replied George. "I got my memories.
That's all I need."

George reached into the box again. An airplane, a car and a truck appeared
next. They were toys that the oil company had left for him to sell. "Here's
something for that little man of yours."

The young man began to cry again as he handed back the $150 that the old
man had handed him earlier.

"And what are you supposed to buy Christmas dinner with? You keep that
too," George said. "Now git home to your family."

The young man turned with tears streaming down his face. "I'll be here in
the morning for work, if that job offer is still good."

"Nope. I'm closed Christmas day," George said. "See ya the day after."

George turned around to find that the stranger had returned. "Where'd you
come from? I thought you left?"

"I have been here. I have always been here," said the stranger. "You say
you don't celebrate Christmas. Why?"

"Well, after my wife passed away, I just couldn't see what all the bother
was. Puttin' up a tree and all seemed a waste of a good pine tree. Bakin'
cookies like I used to with Martha just wasn't the same by myself and
besides I was gettin' a little chubby."

The stranger put his hand on George's shoulder. "But you do celebrate the
holiday, George. You gave me food and drink and warmed me when I was cold
and hungry. The woman with child will bear a son and he will become a great
doctor.

The policeman you helped will go on to save 19 people from being killed by
terrorists. The young man who tried to rob you will make you a rich man and
not take any for himself. "That is the spirit of the season and you keep it
as good as any man."

George was taken aback by all this stranger had said. "And how do you know
all this?" asked the old man.

"Trust me, George. I have the inside track on this sort of thing. And when
your days are done you will be with Martha again."

The stranger moved toward the door. "If you will excuse me, George, I have
to go now. I have to go home where there is a big celebration planned."

George watched as the old leather jacket and the torn pants that the
stranger was wearing turned into a white robe. A golden light began to fill
the room.

"You see, George ... it's My birthday. Merry Christmas."

George fell to his knees and replied, "Happy Birthday, Lord Jesus"

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND GOD BLESS!

What Does It Take To Be A "Professional Santa"? Turns Out, A Lot

What Does It Take To Be A "Professional Santa"? Turns Out, A Lot

The highly competitive process to become a holiday pro

By Bronwyn Petry  Dec. 15, 2023

Like Mariah Carey and awkward family dinners, shopping mall Santas are a staple of the holiday season. But what tends to be glossed over about these festive figureheads is that being a mall Santa is not just a fun hobby or a public service — it’s a job.

Becoming a working Santa over the holidays means jockeying into a competitive industry and knowing how to sell yourself.  Have you ever wondered about what it takes to become a professional Santa? About what’s involved in the process, and how much it costs?

We looked into the steps required to transform into “the man in the red suit.” Here’s what we found out.

Where did he come from?

We have a soft drink to thank for our collective, cultural image of Jolly Old Saint Nick.

Before the 1800s, Santa Claus was often depicted as an austere religious figure.

But, in 1931, Coca Cola commissioned an ad designer, Haddon Sundblom, to draw an ad featuring a friendly, wholesome looking Santa drinking a bottle of Coke. This became the hallmark of the company’s holiday advertising for the next several decades.

And when this version of Santa collided with the 20th century shopping mall, it meant profits galore.

People generally agree that the first person to dress as Santa in order to drum up holiday business did so in 1890.

There are two other main influences on the tradition of hosting Santa at the mall: In 1924, at its first-ever Thanksgiving Day parade, Macy’s closed the festivities with Santa Claus, which is an appointment he’s kept ever since. Finally, the release of the Christmas classic “Miracle on 34th Street” permanently added the department store Santa Claus to pop culture.

Santa’s sack (of cash)

Mid 2010s estimates suggest that one mall alone could bring in about $1 million in revenue during the holiday season, which isn’t counting the revenue brought in by people who come in to see the Santa display, then do the rest of their shopping. It is estimated that in a busy week in December, Santa Claus could see as many as 60 kids in one hour.

But if you think you can just pick up regalia at a costume store and get hired, be warned: There is some training involved.

According to ZipRecruiter, in December 2023, the average national hourly wage for a mall Santa is just over $23.50 — although that’s dependent on your experience and skill level.

To get those skills, a lot of wannabe Santa Clauses enroll in school.

Putting On The Red Suit

There are several Santa schools in the U.S.

Very Very Interesting - To continue reading, please go to the original article here: LINK

"The Story of Rudolph" posted by Mot at TNT

Mot:  Story of Rudolph

A man named Bob May, depressed and brokenhearted, stared out his drafty apartment window into the chilling December night.

His 4-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing. Bobs wife, Evelyn, was dying of cancer.

Little Barbara couldn't understand why her mommy could never come home. Barbara looked up into her dad's eyes and asked, "Why isn't Mommy just like everybody else's Mommy?" Bob's jaw tightened and his eyes welled with tears.

Her question brought waves of grief, but also of anger. It had been the story of Bob's life. Life always had to be different for Bob. Small when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called names he'd rather not remember.

From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in. Bob did complete college, married his loving wife and was grateful to get his job as a copywriter at Montgomery Ward during the Great Depression. Then he was blessed with his little girl. But it was all short-lived. Evelyn's bout with cancer stripped them of all their savings and now Bob and his daughter were forced to live in a two-room apartment in the Chicago slums. Evelyn died just days before Christmas in 1938.

Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn't even afford to buy a Christmas gift. But if he couldn't buy a gift, he was determined a make one - a storybook! Bob created an animal character in his own mind and told the animal's story to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope.

Again and again Bob told the story, embellishing it more with each telling. Who was the character? What was the story all about? The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form. The character he created was a misfit outcast like he was. What was the name of the character? A little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose. Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on Christmas Day. But the story doesn't end there.

The general manager of Montgomery Ward caught wind of the little storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book. Wards went on to print, ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ and distribute it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores. By 1946 Wards had printed and distributed more than six million copies of Rudolph. That same year, a major publisher wanted to purchase the rights from Wards to print an updated version of the book.

In an unprecedented gesture of kindness, the CEO of Wards returned all rights back to Bob May. The book became a best seller. Many toy and marketing deals followed and Bob May, now remarried with a growing family, became wealthy from the story he created to comfort his grieving daughter. But the story doesn’t end there either.

Bob's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, made a song adaptation to Rudolph. Though the song was turned down by such popular vocalists as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore, it was recorded by the singing cowboy, Gene Autry. ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ was released in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, selling more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of ‘White Christmas.’

The gift of love that Bob May created for his daughter so long ago kept on returning back to bless him again and again. And Bob May learned the lesson, just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being different isn't so bad. In fact, being different may be a blessing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44bL90HP0Ys

Getting The Gift Giving Right - Old Soul Etiquette 12-20-23

Getting The Gift Giving Right Old Soul Etiquette 12-20-23

Is It Good Manners To Ask Someone What They Want For Christmas

By   Patricia Shannon Updated on November 6, 2023

Do you freeze when someone asks you what you want for Christmas? Let us walk you through the best way to answer. Gift giving is a tricky business. Whether you’re the giver or the receiver, there’s a whole list of dos and don’ts that can be applied to nearly every situation. Thankfully, any awkwardness can quickly be thwarted if armed with the etiquette know-how to see you through.

That even applies to the question that strikes more fa-la-la-la fear in the hearts of holiday revelers than running out of spiked eggnog on Christmas Eve: “What do you want for Christmas?” It’s a loaded question, no matter which way you look at it.

Getting The Gift Giving Right

“It’s the holiday season, and most everyone wants to do their best when it comes to gift giving,” says etiquette expert Erika Preval of Charm Etiquette. “Even Santa requests a list to be certain he gets it right.” Preval says graciousness and appreciation is the most important factor when receiving a gift, even if it’s one that you pointed the giver toward in the first place.

Regardless of the path that leads to the gift you are given, thought and care went into the process and the proper thanks should be given—which we all know requires a thank-you note, even if you passed along plenty of thank yous in person. 

So what if you’re the one who is presently perplexed on the best gift to give those on your holiday shopping list? Mariah Grumet, Old Soul Etiquette founder and instructor, says it’s perfectly acceptable to ask as long as you do it correctly.

“It ensures you are spending your money on something your friend or family member will truly enjoy or utilize,” she says. “It also shows them that you care enough to get them something they want, rather than getting them anything just to check a name off of a list.” 

For those who prefer to sleuth out the perfect gift themselves, Grumet assures that’s acceptable too. “In the end, the gesture and message that you thought of them this holiday season are what truly matters.” 

 How Should You Respond if Someone Asks What You Want for Christmas?

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

LINK