CHRISTMAS CAROL TIMELINE (approximate)
Courtesy of Becky Wharton

UNKNOWN: O Tannenbaum, German; Here We Come A Wassailling, English; We Wish You A Merrie Christmas, English.

1300:               Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mild; German lullaby

1580:               What Child Is This? (Greensleeves), probably older

1591:               Coventry Carol, part of a play, England; words Robert Croo, unknown composer

1666:               I Saw Three Ships, England, published 1833

1696:               While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night, G.F.Handel, Nahum Tate, poet.

1700s:             Angels We Have Heard On High, published 1855;  The First Noel, published 1833, English & French

1719:               Joy To The World, Isaac Watts, Engllish

1751:               O Come All Ye Faithful, French & English

1780:               Twelve Days of Christmas, English & French

1800s:             Go Tell It On the Mountain, spiritual;   Deck The Halls, Welsh melody, American words.

1818:               Silent Night, Gruber, German

1827:               God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, English

1840:               Hark The Herald Angels Sing, German & English

1849:               It Came Upon A Midnight Clear, Massachusetts

1850:               Jingle Bells, published 1857, James Lord Pierpont, Massachusetts/Savannah Ga.

1887:               Away In A Manger, published, German

1904:               Carol Of The Bells, Ukranian

1907:               Pat-A-Pan, published in English, Burgundy, France carol

1932:               Santa Clause Is Coming To Town, John Coots & Haven Gillespie

1933:               I Wonder As I Wander,  Annie Morgan, Murphy, NC, published 1934 John Jacob Niles

1934:               Winter Wonderland, Felix Bernard

1940:               White Christmas, Irving Berlin, (movie Holiday Inn, Bing Crosby 1942)

1943:               I’ll Be Home For Christmas, Walter Kent, Bing Crosby

1944:              Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, Hugh Martin, performed by Judy Garland

1944:              The Christmas Song/Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire/Merry Christmas To You, performed 1946

1945:              Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Sammy Cahn & Jule Styne

1946:              All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth, Don Gardner, Perry Como Radio Show

1947:              Here Comes Santa Claus, Gene Autry

1948:              Sleigh Ride, Leroy Anderson

1948:              Blue Christmas, Billy Hayes & Jay Johnson

1949:              C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S

1949:              Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Johnny Marks

1950:              Silver Bells, Jay Livingston & Ray Evans

1951:              It’s Beginning To Look Like Christmas, Meredith Willson

1951:              Christmas in Killarney, Irish

1951:              Frosty The Snowman, sung by Gene Autry

1952:              I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause, Tommie Carter

1953:              Santa Baby, Tony & Phil Springer & Joan Javits

1954:              Caroling, Caroling, Alfred Burt

1954:              There’s No Place Like Home For The Holidays, Robert Allen.  Sung by Perry Como

1955:              I’m Getting Nuttin’ For Christmas, Sid Tepper & Roy Bennett

1956:              I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day, Johnny Marks, words Henry W. Longfellow 1863

1958:              Jingle Bell Rock, Joe Beal, James Boothe

1958:              Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree, Johnny Marks

1958:              Little Drummer Boy(Carol Of The Drum), Katherine Davis

1958:              The Chipmunk Song, Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.

1959:              The Secret Of Christmas, Sammy Cahn & Jimmy VanHeusen

1961:              Must Be Santa, Hal Moore & Bill Fredricks

1962:              Do You Hear What I Hear? Gloria Shayne Baker, plea for peace during Cuban Missile Crisis

1963:              It’s the Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, George Wyle & Edward Pola; Andy Williams

1964:              Holly Jolly Christmas, Johnny Meeks

1966:              Christmas Is, Percy Faith

1966:              We Need A Little Christmas, Jerry Herman

1970:              Feliz Navidad, Jose Feliciano

1970:              Merry Christmas Darling, Richard Carpenter & Frank Pooler

1979:              Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer, Randy Brooks.

Women as Agents of Change

Women as Agents of Change

A different kind of revolution has occurred in the United States since the American Revolution.  John Hoyle Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution used narration, music, antique clothing and historic objects to enlighten Chapter members of women’s impact in American history over the last 250 years.  Members Suzanne Williams and Harriet Bannon, assisted by Melinda Herzog, Executive Director of the Catawba County Historical Association and Denise Baxter Yoder, vocalist with the Puddingstone Group, facilitated the presentation at the October 14 meeting.

Upon arrival, members received a feast for the eyes - Peggy Travis and Tina Hatcher, mother and daughter, modeling Victorian-era gowns.   Travis and Hatcher research and sew their own authentic costumes.  Travis wore a brilliant two-piece blue calico print trimmed in white over a puffy white blouse and hoop skirts.  A small lacy white hat trimmed in ribbons and flowers, delicate gloves and a large broach finished off the look.   Hatcher wore a gorgeous Victorian off-the-shoulder lavender satin ballgown laden with lace and made voluminous with a hoop, long white gloves and a dramatic feather headpiece.  Around her waist was a long silk bag to discreetly carry her umbrella if needed as protection against the sun.

Williams then introduced the presentation, and Yoder launched an instrumental vocal of “I Am Woman” by Helen Reddy.  Historian and storyteller par excellence Melinda Herzog began the narrative of the struggles of North Carolina woman Grace Bowman.  Bowman manufactured gunpowder for the patriots during the Revolution.  While looking for the culprit, British loyalists came upon Grace’s farm.  They didn’t find the gunpowder but stole some of her horses.  She went after them and forced the soldiers to return her livestock.  Like Grace, many brave women were instrumental in winning American independence.

Women’s suffrage, the Temperance Movement and serving in public office were Herzog’s next subjects.  This was the era of Carrie “down with demon rum” Nation and Florence Nightingale, a celebrated English social reformer and founder of modern nursing.  To set the tone, Denise Baxter Yoder sang and played “The Temperance Army” followed by a costumed, corseted and clamorous Carrie Nation as portrayed by Peggy Travis, a historical researcher and member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Next Herzog spoke of labor conditions and especially child labor from mid-1800s through WWI.  During this period Florence Kelley, American social and political reformer, campaigned against dangerous and difficult work conditions and the exploitation of children in factories and tenement sweatshops. This era is documented in more than 5,000 heart-rending photos by Lewis Hine (1874-1940), American photographer and sociologist, housed at the Library of Congress.  One positive outcome of WWI and WWII was getting women into the workforce and preparing them for a political and economic voice.  Period music “Babies in the Mill” and “Bread and Roses” were sung by Yoder, as John Hoyle Chapter DAR Chaplain Betty Schwartz appeared in a historic nursing uniform.

Finally, changes in laws and attitudes toward education for women and children were explored by Herzog.  In rural America, wealthy farmers and plantation owners hired tutors to educate their children, and often children of surrounding well-to-do neighbors were included.  This practice helped only the privileged until public education laws were passed for all children.  Today we are surprised to learn that from circa 1840 up to the 1930’s, a woman had to be single to teach.  If she wished to marry, she had to give up her career.  Betty Schwartz and Eleanor Herbert modeled a typical teacher’s and young girl’s clothing from that period while the 1907 song “School Days” was played and sung by Yoder.

The meeting ended with an exhibit of interesting and antique items primarily used by women over the years, and a viewing of a portrait painted by member Carol de Perzcel titled “Granny’s Gown”.