December 16, 2016 at 2:20 p.m.
Schluter shares the history of Christmas with local women's group
Schluter shares the history of Christmas with local women's group
By Kayla Thomason-
Last year, Schluter showed the club members a slide show on the many versions of Santa Claus around the world. This year, he focused on the history of the holiday, with a condensed version of a two-hour Powerpoint presentation. He and Brian Jones of Wales researched the topic, he said.
Schluter shared some Christmas facts, such as A.D. Pope Julius I chose Dec. 25 to be Christ's birthday in 400 A.D. and Scotland didn't make Christmas an official holiday until 1958.
In 1840, Alabama was the first state to recognize Christmas as a holiday. By 1860 there were 14 states celebrating. On July 21, 1870, the government declared Christmas a holiday.
A well-known card company, Hallmark, got its start from Christmas, he said.
"I found the fact about the Christmas cards, how they developed and Hallmark, I didn't know Hallmark was the first one that popularized it so they had their own stores," he said.
Santa Claus - whose first outfit was green - wasn't the first character to shimmy down the chimney.
Befana, a friendly witch in Italy, and Odin, who predated Santa, would gain access into homes via the chimney.
"I enjoyed the fact that the Odin character and Befana character from Italy, before Santa Claus, they came down and gave their gifts, they came down the chimney," he said.
People celebrated Christmas then, but not as we do now. In 1843 Charles Dickens wrote "A Christmas Carol" and the way the public celebrated the holiday changed. They focused more on family and kindness.
"It was mainly the rich, they didn't do a lot for the poor back in those days but after 'A Christmas Carol' came out and people saw what the Christmas Past and the Present and whatever, they got the idea that maybe they ought to be a little nicer around Christmas time and all through the year," Schluter said.
"I just wish people would take Christmas more seriously and give more to charity," he added.
Debbie Winchell is brand new to the organization. Tuesday's meeting was her first and she said the Christmas presentation was very informative.
"(It was) interesting, he had a lot of information that I didn't know about before so it was kind of cute," she said.
She was most fascinated by how Santa and the Christmas tree started.
"It was well put together, he did a really good job," Winchell said.
She added that she joined the club because it helps the community and families.
"Looks like they have a lot of beneficial things that they get involved in, in the community," she said of the Woman's Club.
Kay Salewske, president of the Rhinelander Woman's Club, thought the presentation was wonderful.
"It was very informative, I had my mouth open a few times, I didn't know these things," she said, adding that she was surprised to learn Santa's outfit was originally green, where "Merry Christmas" came from and that trees used to be decorated outside.
The presentation got her in the mood for the holidays, she said.
"It was great, it set the tune for a stressful holiday season and it set the mood," she said, reflecting on when she was younger and all she had to worry about was waking up Christmas morning and opening presents. And now it's baking, cooking, getting gifts for children and grandchildren, etc.
"This is a nice way to calm things down for a couple hours and we enjoyed it," she said.
Schluter will be invited back next year for another holiday presentation, she added.
"It's a tradition, we had him last year and he has more programs to offer so it will be a tradition for us to have Ernie back with one of his programs," she said.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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