Giving gifts is a major Christmas tradition. Gifts are bought or made for all people. Often school chil­dren will make gifts in their classrooms for their par­ents or grandparents. The gifts are wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree to be opened on Christmas morning. Some children are so excited on Christmas Day that they […]

n 1918, at eleven a. m., on the elev­enth day of the eleventh month, the world re­joiced and celebrated. After four years of bitter war, the Armistice between the Allies and Germans was signed. World War I, called the “war to end all wars,” was over. November 11 was set aside as Armistice Day in […]

Long ago, children hung their own stockings, or socks, over the fireplace mantel. Santa entered down the chimney and left candy and presents inside the socks for good children. Bad children received a lump of coal. Today the tradition of hanging up a stocking is carried on, but now many of the stockings are large […]

Songs, poems, stories, and performances are a regu­lar part of the Christmas season for many families. One well-known poem is “The Night Be­fore Christmas” written by Clement Moore in 1823. American children often listen to this poem before they go to bed on Christ­mas Eve, in anticipation of Santa’s visit. A favorite Christmas story is […]

SECOND MONDAY IN OCTOBER OLUMBUS Day is a legal federal holi­day that commemorates the first voyage of Christopher Columbus, who sailed west from Spain in 1492 and reached the islands of present day Bahamas. This region was little known to Europeans, although it had been explored and inhabited by Native peoples for over 30,000 years. […]