FReeper Canteen ~ Favorite Christmas Ornaments ~ 18 DEC 2007

Serving The Best Troops And Veterans In The World | The Canteen Crew

[laurenmarlowe]

 

 

 

The FReeper Canteen Presents

~Favorite Christmas Ornaments~

Welcome to the FReeper Canteen! It's great to have you with us!!
Thank you to all of our Troops, Veterans, and their families for allowing us to entertain you!

Late in the Middle Ages, Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees inside their homes or just outside their doors to show their hope in the forthcoming spring. Our modern Christmas tree evolved from early traditions.

In the early 1800's, Christmas trees in Germany were typically decorated with candles, cookies, fruit, paper novelties, and candy. Then, a glassblower in Lauscha (a district long recognized for the quality of its glass) crafted some small glass balls to hang on his family's tree.

Around the midpoint of the Nineteenth Century, in addition to candle lights, decorations hanging from Christmas trees included miniature replicas of fruit, animals, toys, musical instruments and angels made primarily out of materials available in homes.

Another concept began to take hold with the German families in whose homes the first “popular” trees resided. Food, often gingerbread or other hard cookies, would be baked in the shape of fruits, stars, hearts, angels and bells.

As the idea of decorated Christmas trees spread, various countries added their own variations. Americans, for instance, would string long strands of cranberries or popcorn to circle their trees. Small gifts began to be used to decorate the tree, sometimes contained in little intricately woven baskets, sometimes nestled in the crook of a bough, sometimes just hanging by a thread or piece of yarn.

 F.W. Woolworth brought the glass ornament tradition to the United States in 1890. From 1870's to 1930's, Germans made the finest molds for making ornaments with nearly 5,000 different molds at the time. At the turn of the century there were over one hundred small cottage glass blowing workshops in Europe.

The Christmas tree market was born in 1851 when Catskill farmer Mark Carr hauled two ox sleds of evergreens into New York City and sold them all. By 1900, one in five American families had a Christmas tree, and 20 years later, the custom was nearly universal.

Six species account for about 90 percent of the nation's Christmas tree trade. Scotch pine ranks first, comprising about 40 percent of the market, followed by Douglas fir which accounts for about 35 percent. The other big sellers are noble fir, white pine, balsam fir and white spruce.

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT~Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allies military and the family members of the above. Honoring those who have served before. 

 
Please remember: The Canteen is a place to honor and entertain our troops. The Canteen is family friendly, and please leave politics at the door. Let's have fun!

We pray for your continued strength, to be strong in the face of adversity.
We pray for your safety, that you will return to your families and friends soon.
We pray that your hope, courage, and dignity remain unbroken, so that you may show others the way.

God Bless You All ~ Today, Tomorrow and Always

 

 

 

[SandRat]

200?

[gpapa]

This Day in U.S. Military History December 18

1972 - The Nixon administration announces that the bombing and mining of North Vietnam will resume and continue until a "settlement" is reached.

On December 13, North Vietnamese negotiators walked out of secret talks with National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger. President Richard Nixon issued an ultimatum to Hanoi to send its representatives back to the conference table within 72 hours "or else."

The North Vietnamese rejected Nixon's demand and the president ordered Operation Linebacker II, a full-scale air campaign against the Hanoi area. White House Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only if all U.S. prisoners of war were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire were in force.

Linebacker II was the most concentrated air offensive of the war, and was conducted by U.S. aircraft, including B-52s, Air Force fighter-bombers flying from bases in Thailand, and Navy and Marine fighter-bombers flying from carriers in the South China Sea. During the 11 days of the attack, 700 B-52 sorties and more than 1,000 fighter-bomber sorties were flown. These planes dropped roughly 20,000 tons of bombs, mostly over the densely populated area between Hanoi and Haiphong.

The North Vietnamese fired more than 1,000 surface-to-air missiles at the attacking aircraft and also used their MiG fighter-interceptor squadrons, eight of which were shot down. In a throwback to past aerial combat, Staff Sgt. Samuel O. Turner, the tail gunner on a Boeing B-52D bomber, downed a trailing MiG-21 with a blast from his .50 calibre machine guns over Hanoi. Six days later, airman, first class Albert E. Moore, also a B-52 gunner, shot down a second MiG-21 after a strike on the Thai Nguyen railyard. These were the only aerial gunner kills of the war. Twenty-six U.S. aircraft were lost, including 15 B-52s. Three aircraft were brought down by MiGs; the rest, including the B-52s, were downed by surface-to-air missiles.

American antiwar activists dubbed Linebacker II the "Christmas bombing," and charged that it involved "carpet bombing"--deliberately targeting civilian areas with intensive bombing that "carpeted" a city with bombs. The campaign was focused on specific military targets and was not intended to be "carpet bombing," but it did result in the deaths of 1,318 civilians in Hanoi.

The Linebacker II bombing was deemed a success because in its wake, the North Vietnamese returned to the negotiating table, where the Paris Peace Accords were signed less than a month later.

[VA Voter]

Bluefish,

Welcome to FReeper Canteen. I think you will like it here, will feel appropriately welcome and won’t mind continuing your comments on this thread. The folks here are pretty sharp and will pick up quickly on your point of view.

CC: ohioman; seanrobins; Post-Neolithic

[Kathy in Alaska]

Welcome to the Canteen, Vicki...what a neat ornament. And what a special memory....thanks for sharing.

[PROCON]

Hitting the sack!!

Love you all!!

Some of us WORK for a living!!

LATER!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

91 dozen??? My goodness, Taz, you've been busy!

[TASMANIANRED]

They are too funny...

[TASMANIANRED]

Isn’t that the truth...

Spices make the house smell very good.

[TASMANIANRED]

“Please don’t send any to Oregon!!”

You already said you didn’t want any.

Course you are forgiven..

I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas as well.

[Soaring Feather]

Finnish Tree decorated with the Flag of Finland, and little hand carved elves. Yes, my tree.

[Soaring Feather]

Hi TAS!! *HUGS*

[luvie]

Wish you guys were here to share them.:D

I don’t do this very often!

I’ll bet Sissy’s house is STACKED with cookies! LOL!

[TASMANIANRED]

Made springerles in anise and chocolate.

Toll house with and without pecans.

Cow boy cookies

Peanut butter cookies

Fruit cake cookies.

Hidden secret cookies

Snickerdoodles are mixed and in the fridge awaiting oven time.

[TASMANIANRED]

Night ...

Working for a living right now.

[TASMANIANRED]

Went quickly with a baking slumber party..

We had a good time.

My girls hung out in the kitchen drooling praying for an accident.

[TASMANIANRED]

Evening Feather, Dahling. Hugs.

Lovely tree.

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Any chance I can get you to post your cowboy cookie recipe again?
Pleeeease?

[TASMANIANRED]

I hauled them down to the basement for safekeeping.

No way I would trust Solitare with them on the table.

Way too much temptation for her.

Took 4 trips to haul them down.

[luvie]

My goodness. I hope you have that basement door well secured! LOL!

That dog is sneaky when it comes to food! :D

[MS.BEHAVIN]

I bet both your houses smell really good..
Mine smells like a roast pork dinner tonite!