Reviews of 5 paragraphs/research paper/essay

I reviewed Noelle, Sanders, and Grace's research posts and they all turned out to be really good! I learned a lot about Coney Island, Ragtime music and advertisements. I think we all did really well on this project, and all learned a good amount of information from this time. Now, it's time for me to go study for the test thursday...

Christmas during 19th & 20th Century

Pagan Symbol--Christmas was a pagan holiday

            It is hard to believe that the holiday of Christmas had been celebrated long before people had a clue about Jesus Christ. In actuality, Jesus was probably not born in December. So how did December 25^th become important? Ages ago in Babylon, people celebrated every December 25^th for the Goddess of Nature. These celebrations included: feasts, parties, liquor, and gift-giving. Eventually, Christmas started to catch on in Europe and was slowly brought to America by Dutch settlers. In the late 19^th century and early 20^th Century, aspects of Christmas involved: Santa Claus, Christmas trees, and the controversies over commercialized Christmas.

The 1910 version of Santa Claus

The idea of Santa Claus arose during this time period.  When settlers came to New York, St. Nicholas became their patron saint. People believed St. Nicholas would bring presents in stockings, every December. As Santa Claus’s persona grew, more people became curious about if he was real or not. Through authors, illustrators and news articles, Santa Claus grew into a phenomenon.  One of the most infamous newspaper editorials was a response to an eight year old girl writing about whether or not Santa was real. “Yes, Virginia, Santa is Real.” To this writer, Santa appeared to be an angelic god-like figure—“He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, […] he lives, and he lives forever…” To people in the late 19^th Century, Santa Claus was a sense of comfort during hard times. 

Advertisement that includes Tree

The tradition of Christmas Trees in America started from the German Settlers i the 1830s. By 1890, ornaments became popular to decorate the tree. Large, colorful became popular throughout American homes during the early 20^th century. The popcorn garland and tinsel also originated in this time. Americans liked a lot of color during the holidays. Advertisements continually pictured large decorative trees in homes. Eventually Trees were placed in town squares all over the country. The traditional Rockefeller Christmas tree was first placed in 1931. 

Ladies World Magazine that included
the article "Greedy Wife"

Dear Virginia
letter

In the late 19^th Century the people faced the fear of Christmas becoming commercialized. The actual meaning of love during Christmas time was easily forgotten by the attempts to create the popular ritzy style of a Victorian Christmas. Newspapers, Magazines, and plays, satirized the thought of a commercialized Christmas. In an article from a newspaper, the writer mentions the art of giving. “If you have money to spend on presents, do not waste on people richer than yourself, but on those poorer.” Christmas became commercialized by people not following this piece of wisdom—presents were the prominent aspect of Christmas to many people in America. Further, in the skit “A Gentle Reminder”, Santa Claus explains to the little boy that presents were for those in need, to essentially cheer them up. The little boy had everything she wanted and didn't need any petty gifts.  Lastly, in 1892 in the magazine “The Ladies World”, published an article about how a husband could not satisfy his wife because all she wanted was material possessions for Christmas and not his love itself.  By the 21^st century, Christmas became fully commercialized.

Christmas originated as a pagan holiday. In the late 1800s and early 1900s Christmas developed a lot of the same traditions like Santa Claus and trees. During this time period, many holidays, especially Christmas, started became an annual event. These traditions kicked off how people celebrate the holidays now. 

Research Proj

I've started with my Paragraph on Santa Claus and the Christmas tree. I changed my topic to Christmas. But I'm having trouble with finding primary sources. I have two

Research Project Description.

For this research project, I am researching the different products that were advertised back in late 1800s, through the early 1900s. So far, I have gathered information from two primary resources. I have looked at entertainment ads and product ads.

Halloween Spending Compared to other holidays

In 2011 people have overall spent about 6.86 BILLION on Halloween.  Courtesy of the seasonal Halloween stores, people buy Halloween decorations and costumes in excess. Plus, people feed into the Halloween attractions, pricey parties, and Halloween-themed movies. Not even ten years ago, Halloween spending was less than half of the current amount. In 2011, people spend, per person, over $70.  In relation to other holidays in 2011, on average, people would spend about $700 for Christmas. Halloween has become another excessive American holiday. Do other countries even celebrate Halloween?

Equal Pay For Women?

The AFL sought equal pay for women in order to make the women less attractive to employers. This looked like a great thing towards women until they realized this would drive all women out of jobs.

Men Should be "Breadwinners" ?!?!?

Some women supported the idea that men should be "breadwinners" and others pointed out that women should have equal opportunities in the work place. Although, wages often didn't allow men to properly support families. This caused for women to also have to work.

Immigration

America is considered to be a "nation of immigrants" because a majoirty of the current population's ancestry immigrated into the country years ago. The immigrants helped pave the way America is today. They had to be strong to be able to leave they're true home to come over to such a different place. Plus, they also needed to to not let go of their true roots. Most all immigrants held on to their rituals and foods so they could remember family and the past. These traits shape America because it shows citizens what America had to go through to get to the point we are at now. 

I feel somewhat aware of my family history on both sides of my family. I know that on my Dad's side, my great- great-grandparents came from Mexico and Spain to America. Although, I do not the reasons to come to America. I do know that once they immigrated they changed their last name from Canalez to Laurel. Symbolically, Laurel means noble, glory, and victory. This could illustrate that my ancestors came to America to gain freedom. On my mother's side, her ancestors are dutch. I don't know much about them, except that they came to America during 1800s. 

Faces of America

In the films "Faces of America" a genealogist talked to several different important people that are in today's current affairs. The genealogist took a deeper look into each of their family trees and helped them connect the dots on their ancestry. Some of the influential people that were featured on the film included: Yo-Yo Ma, Meryl Streep, Kristi Yamaguchi, Mario Batali and several other well known people of this day.
These videos were very interesting. From viewing the film, one might learn that there is a lot about family history that is mysterious and uncovered. Someone might appreciate these videos because it might urge one to use a genealogist to learn more about their family tree. This is important since history always repeats itself. It could also be important to figure out medical illnesses prevalent in one's family tree, like what Dr. Oz was saying.

Rockefeller Philanthropy is what's upppp.

The Rockefeller family began philanthropy in 1884. The Rockefeller's started a foundation in 1931, for their philanthropy known as the Rockefeller Foundation He first  prioritized health causes such as establishing medical schools, support eradication of yellow fever and hookworm, donated grants to research of penicillin. Although, hrough this foundation not only medical causes have been helped but also Chinese relations, College funds, help with founding new groups, and recently donated to Hurricane Katrina victims. The Rockefeller's decided to donate their money to help assist people all around the world, and currently this is their same mission. I found out about his missions and strategies here.