Founded December 22, 1933. Incorporated 1955. P.O. Box 3576, Salinas, CA 93912. (831) 757-8085.

The MontereyCounty Historical Society

News from

December 2005

POINSETTIA

Poinsettia, the Christmas Flower,casts a magical spell,

Making all things happyand all things well

The poinsettia originated in Mexico.The Latin name is Euphorbia pulcherri-ma. The traditional Mexican name is Florde Noche Buena (Christmas Eve Flower).The legend is that a poor Mexican girlMaria and her brother Pablo were notable to leave gifts for the baby Jesus atthe manger scene during the annual Mex-ican Christmas festival.

One Christmas Eve Maria and Pablo,on their way to church, picked someweeds growing a long the roadside toplace as a gift to the baby Jesus. As theyproudly laid the leaves around the mangera miracle happened, and the leaves of theweed turned into brilliant red petals.

The bright petals of the poinsettiagive the illusion of being flowers, but arereally leaves in solid red, white or pinkthat surround the cluster of yellow flo-rets, which are the true blossom.

In ancient Mexico the blood redleaves were placed on the chests of those

Christmas Traditionsby Mona Gudgel

suffering heart diseases to help circulation andwere used as a poultice for treating skin infec-tions.

In Mexico today a rich, dark beer is madefrom the leaves and distributed only during theChristmas season.

The name Poinsettia was given to the flow-er when, in 1820, the first U.S. diplomat toMexico, Dr. Joe Poinsett, became so enchantedwith the fire-red flower in Mexico that hebrought several cuttings to his home inCharleston, North Carolina. Today, nearly 185years later, they are as much a part of theChristmas season as the Christmas tree.

MISTLETOE

With the Mistletoe hanging there,A kiss or two I well may dare.

Mistletoe is a parasite that grows on oak,apple and poplar trees, and from the earliesttimes has been the most magical, mysterious,and sacred plants of European folklore. Thecustom of using mistletoe to decorate houses atChristmas is a survival of the Druid and otherpre-Christian traditions.

The mistletoe of the oak was sacred to theancient Celtic Druids who believed it could

perform miracles such as providing fertility tohumans and animals, to healing diseases andprotecting people from witchcraft.

Kissing under the mistletoe has been asso-ciated with primitive marriage rites believingthe plant provided fertility to the wedded cou-ple.

Mistletoe was considered a plant of peace inScandinavia under which enemies could de-clare truce or fighting spouses would kiss andmake-up.

In parts of England, the mistletoe is burnton the twelfth night of Christmas just in casethe boys and girls who have kissed under itshould never marry.

For those of you who hang the traditionalmistletoe remember a man who kisses a womanbeneath its mystical branches should pluck aberry, and when the last berry is removed allkissing stops.

THE CHRISTMAS TREE

The Christmas tree is one of the mostbeloved and recognized symbols of the holidayseason.

One of the legends surrounding the lore ofthe Christmas tree is the story of Saint Boni-

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Contents copyright 2005 by the Monterey County Historical Society.

The Christmas card onthe left is from 1911-1912.

The Poinsettia card onthe first page is fromabout 1920-1930.

Both are in the collectionof the Monterey CountyHistorical Society.

face who was an English monk. One day hecame upon a group of pagans gathered aroundan oak tree preparing to sacrifice a child. Tosave the child the saint flattened the oak treewith one blow of his fist. Suddenly a small firtree sprang up where the oak tree had been.Saint Boniface faced the startled pagans andtold them the fir was the Tree of Life, and rep-resented the life of Christ.

Another legend is that of Martin Luther,the founder of the Protestant religion. Late oneevening, he took a walk through the woods. Itwas a beautiful clear winter’s night. The starswere brilliantly shining through the branchesof the trees giving the impression of twinklinglights. Martin Luther was so inspired by thebeauty of the sight he cut down a small ever-green tree, brought it home, and recreated thestars by putting candles on the tree’s branches.

It appears the tradition of bringing theChristmas tree indoors began in Germany.However, in some areas, evergreen trees werescarce and the families built a Christmas pyra-mid, simple wooded structures, which theydecorated with branches and candles.

In 1841, Prince Albert, husband of QueenVictoria, following the tradition of his Ger-man homeland, set up a tree at Windsor Cas-tle decorated with candles, candies, ginger-bread, and fruit.

In 1846, the Illustrated LondonNews published a sketch of QueenVictoria and her German prince, Al-bert, standing with their childrenaround a Christmas tree. Because ofQueen Victoria’s popularity, what wasdone at court immediately becamefashionable with Britain.

The customs of using decoratedtrees begin to grow and by the1880s, the demand in the Londonarea was so great that nurseries had

to ensure that they had a healthy supply oftrees.

The Christmas tree followed the Germanimmigrants to America. However, in the 1830smost Americans still considered the Christmastree to be an oddity and a pagan symbol. It wasnot until the late 1800s that the Christmastree was accepted.

In the Victorian era, the Norway fir be-came very popular and was important for theexchange of small gifts. The tree was decoratedwith cakes, sweetmeats, ribboned bags of sug-ared almonds or bonbons. In 1865, glass trin-kets, silver wire ornaments, and the use of im-ported German glass ornaments begin to deco-rate the boughs of the trees. However, only thewealthy bought the expensive German glass or-naments until in 1880 Woolworth’s producedthem commercially, making them affordable tothe average home.

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This Christmas card, dated 1912, is in thecollection of the Monterey County Historical Society.

Tinsel was another German decoration. Itwas originally made in the early 17th centuryusing a special machine to make real waferthin silver tinsel to use for decorative purpos-es. This was used, until the 1950s, onChristmas trees. The modern version is madeof aluminum foil sandwiched between twolayers of clear plastic.

After the invention of electricity in 1879many people began using electric fairy lightson their trees in place of candles. The lightscame to America around 1882, and did notreach Britain until 1895. By the 1920s, theuse of the candle on the Christmas tree wason its way out.

Within my own family, a traditionalChristmas tree included spending hours bak-ing and decorating gingerbread men and candycane cookies for use as decorations. However,when Jigs, our Australian shepherd, became amember of the family, he would proceed to eathalf of the gingerbread men on the bottom ofthe tree. Tired of this, I decided one year tomake paper gingerbread men. We cut, pastedfelt trousers and faces, and proudly hungthem on the tree. Jigs came in tail wagging,full of excitement, grabbed one of the “ginger-bread” men, and then looked at us, put hishead down, and sorrowfully wandered away. Ifelt so guilty I removed all of the paper men,and my children and I baked and decorated allday to return “the real thing” to the tree. Inthe evening with the Christmas tree lights onwe proudly looked at the most beautiful treein the world—with the half eaten gingerbreadmen scattered around the bottom of the tree.

May you have a Christmas tree lit withsparkling lights and decorated with familytradition to inspire warm memories of Christ-mases past.

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The Christmas card at the top is from the early1900s. It is in the collection of the Monterey CountyHistorical Society.

The card to the left is from 1926, and is in the Bres-chini collection.

THANK YOU

Thank you to Comgro Incorporated andGeorge Fontes for making possible a drainpipecrossing our property to his for all of the raindrainage which comes from the upper Borondaarea. Comgro shared the project by providinglabor for the placement of the pipe.

Thank you to Ausonio Construction fortheir generous donation towards the purchaseof the drainpipe.

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

Supervisor Louis E. CalcagnoBill WilkinsonMrs. Louise AnguloLucille Alvarado DiazKathy Yamamoto/Coldwell Banker Gay

Dales, Inc.Donald Chapin/Don Chapin Co.Marjorie McCarthy

MEMORIALS

Donor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .In Memory Of

Nick G. Cominos . . . . . . . . . . . . .Eva KoulosNick G. Cominos . . . . . . . . .Walter A. MoserNick G. Cominos . . . . . . . . . .Mary GeorgalosSophie Britton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Elsie Massa

IN HONOR OF

A Gift Membership in honor of Ms. Lee Stew-art . . . . . . . . . . . . . .from Mr. W. K. Stewart

A Gift Membership in honor of Michael P.Georgariou . . . . . . . . . .from Sophie Britton

WEBSITE

Don’t forget the website at:

http://www.mchsmuseum.com

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The Christmas card above is from 1926, and is in the Breschini collection.

The Christmas cards on the back page are as follows (from top left moving clockwise): 1925 (Breschini collection);1912 (Monterey County Historical Society collection); and 1925 (Breschini collection).

Landscape grading at the Boronda Adobe History Center, September 21, 2005.

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Landscape grading at the Boronda Adobe History Center, October 18, 2005 (and you should see it now!).