1. The song wasn’t around on the first Independence Day, in 1776. In fact, it wasn’t until the second war with Britain, decades later, that it was written.

2. The words of the song were written near the end of the War of 1812 — in September 1814, to be exact, by Frances Scott Key. The British had just burned Washington, DC, and were headed to Baltimore to bombard Ft. McHenry. Key was on a British ship seeking the release of another American and was kept on the fleet to prevent him from warning about the British plans.

3. Key wrote a poem, “Defense of Ft. McHenry,” in honor of the huge American flag that hung after the successful American defense of Ft. McHenry. The poem later was set to the music of a popular tune at the time, “The Anacreontic Song.” Ironically, that song had been written by a Brit, probably John Stafford Smith.

4. The stirring song was unofficially adopted as the national anthem and played at 4th of July celebrations throughout the 1800s. In 1889, it was officially adopted by the Navy as the song to be played when the flag is raised. (Click on the link below to hear the Navy Band play it.)

In 1897, it was played at the opening day baseball game in Philadelphia. In 1916, President Wilson ordered it played at military and other patriotic occassions. The song became even more popular when it was sung at the 1918 World Series of Baseball, in honor of the armed forces fighting in World War I.

5. On March 3, 1931, Congress proclaimed the Star Spangled Banner as the national anthem.

6. In our Storybook Quilt, Emily and Maurice the Cat hear the band playing the Star Spangled Banneras their runaway balloon soars above the park.

7. The song is very difficult to sing! In 2009, the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian held a national singing contest that anyone could enter. See the results here.

Star Spangled Banner by the Navy Band

©2010 Storybook Quilts Rocks!. All Rights Reserved.

Well, Eastre (Easter) was a northern European goddess whose holiday is the first day of Spring. She is said to have amused children by turning her bird into a rabbit, the rabbit then laid colored eggs. Hmmm. Sounds familiar.

In addition to the Easter bunny, who are some of the other famous bunnies?

Peter Rabbit — always in trouble with Mr. McGregor

Bre’r Rabbit — made famous by Walt Disney. Remember Zippity Doo Da? (cheery video clip from the movie)

Uncle Wiggly

The Velveteen Rabbit

Bugs Bunny — Ehh. What’s up doc? (Yep, that’s him!)

Thumper

Peter Cottontail — who also has his own song (Sing along with these kids!)

The White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland

The Energizer Bunny

Can you think of others?

Well, there are magicians’ rabbits. To us, the most famous one of those is our own DanZy. We’ll post his video debut here tomorrow!

©2010 Storybook Quilts Rocks!. All Rights Reserved.

When did the Rose Parade begin?
In 1890, 121 years ago, the Valley Hunt Club of Pasadena staged the first — the Tournament of Roses Parade. It was meant to showcase and celebrate the mild weather in California by people who had moved there from the East and Midwest.

By 1895, the parade had become a huge event, with reviewing stands and all kinds of activities — even a race one year between a camel and an elephant (the elephant won).

When did football become part of the celebration?
In 1902, the first post season college football game ever was held as part of the festivities. Stanford was crushed by the University of Michigan and gave up in the third quarter with the score at 49-0. Considering the game a major flop, the Tournament Association replaced it with — Roman-style chariot races! Football came back in 1916 and the new stadium, nicknamed “the Rose Bowl” was opened in 1923. The game has been a sell-out every year since 1947.

This year the No. 8 BCS-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will battle the the No. 7 BCS-ranked Oregon Ducks.

Who decides what the floats will be?
Since 1918, the parade has had a theme that the floats must depict. The first was “Patriotism” and this year’s is “A Cut Above the Rest.” If you would like to know what the theme was in your birth year, the list is here.

How long does it take to make the floats that appear in the parade?
The process begins just a soon as the year’s festivities are over; the floats take a year to create. The application form for a 2005 float, click here, shows what’s involved in applying.

How many flowers are used on each float?
That depends on the float, but at least as many as the average florist would use in five years. The 2005 float in the answer above had over 11,500 individual flowers! THAT is a lot of flowers!

Why are horses in the parade?
Well, remember, the parade began before cars existed. Horses were a major part of the first parades and the tradition has continued. Each parade features over 300 horses and riders.

How many marching bands participate?
Only 16 bands are selected each year, out of approximately 50 entries.

What and who is the Grand Marshall?
The Grand Marshall is the official host. Those for the Rose Parade have been very prominent, including singers, astronauts, generals, former presidents, industry leaders, actors and actresses. This year’s GM is Captain Chesley Sullenberger III, who landed the damaged US Airlines plane in the Hudson on January 15th, 2009.

What time does the Parade take place?
It begins at 11:00 AM EST (8:00 AM PST) on New Year’s Day. It will be broadcast on ABC, the Hallmark Channel, HGTV, KTLA (Tribune), NBC, RFD-TV, Travel Channel and Univision. The Parade also is broadcast in more than 200 international territories and countries.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

©2010 Storybook Quilts Rocks!. All Rights Reserved.

See if you can say each of these three times — fast!

Crispy Christmas cookies create crunchy carpets.

Ten tiny tin trains toot ten times.

Santa’s seven sleighs slid sideways.

Eleven elves licked eleven licorice lollipops.

Pretty packages perfectly packed in paper.

Snow slows Santa’s sleigh.

Santa’s short suit shrunk.

©2010 Storybook Quilts Rocks!. All Rights Reserved.

Let’s take one of our customized Storybook Quilts as an example. Many grandparents choose one to give as a wonderful surprise — but consider instead collaborating with your grandchild to create a handmade, original, customized Storybook Quilt. This is a wonderful way to enhance closeness and create memories that will be treasured for a lifetime (or two!). And NO special skills are required!

Here’s how it works. For the sake of this story, we’ll assume that “Grandma” is the giver and “Olivia” is the recipient. But, of course, it could include Grandpa, be for a boy, or be two Storybook Quilts for twins!

Step 1. Grandma gives Olivia a Storybook Quilts gift certificate for Christmas (or for Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or a birthday). Olivia receives a special, handmade card with a special message from Grandma.

Step 2. The holidays pass. January arrives with its sudden quiet and, often, dark and dreary days. The blahs are waiting in ambush.

Step 3. Grandma and Olivia begin to customize their Storybook Quilt, corresponding with us back here in the workshop. (We’ll help with ideas, when you need us, and guide the process along.)

First, Grandma and Olivia think and talk and think and talk — and finally choose one of the eight (soon to be nine) Storybook Quilt themes: Maurice the Cat, Maggie the Dog, Dapper Dan the Snowman, DanZy the Rabbit, Vroom Vroom the Car, Amos the Bear, Luna the Turtle, Winnie the Frog or Per — oops! That’s our January surprise!

Then, they decide what words will be embroidered on the special square in the quilt.

Together, they write a message to be printed in the storybook and a pick a photograph to include there, too.

Dapper Dan Storybook Quilt Package

Step 4. The completed Storybook Quilt is delivered in time for the next get-together. Grandma and Olivia open the package together, snuggle up under the quilt and Grandma reads Olivia their story.

What a gift! What a memory! What a way to overcome the miles! What a great way to fight the Winter blahs! And, of course, your grandchild doesn’t have to live far away for you both to enjoy this creative project.

Storybook Quilts are available in eight themes and with various types of personalization and customization. To see them all, visit us at www.StorybookQuilts.biz Or give us a call to find out more. You can call us free using the Google Voice service on our order page.

We look forward to making your gift the most memorable ever.

©2010 Storybook Quilts Rocks!. All Rights Reserved.

Hanukkah gifts aplenty are not part of the traditional observance of this holiday, as many now believe, nor is the holiday of great significance in the Jewish religion. Hanukkah is observed to remember a miracle: after the Jews succeeded in driving out oppressors and taking back the temple, only enough oil was available to produce light for a single night. Yet, that oil burned eight nights, long enough to make additional oil. The lighting of one candle in the menorah each night for eight nights commemorates this miracle.

Although small gifts of money are an ancient Hanukkah tradition, the giving of many gifts is not. Instead, this practice has been borrowed recently from the Christian culture by Jews who live in countries where such gift-giving is common.

But wait! The giving of many gifts at Christmas isn’t really a Christian tradition, either! True the original “wise men” took gifts to Jesus, but the Bible isn’t clear when this occurred. The visit was anywhere between 40 days and two years after his birth, not on his birthday.

In fact, the timing of Christmas has very little to do with the actual date of Christ’s birth. Sometime in the third or fourth century, the Roman church chose December 25th as the official time to observe Jesus’s birth, but this was not meant to be historically accurate. Instead, the date coincides with the festival of the Roman god, Saturn, at the time of the Winter Solstice (when the hours of light begin to exceed the hours of darkness). The church adopted this festival and called it the mass of Christ – “Christmas.” By absorbing such festivals and traditions, the church hoped to retain those pagans who had converted to Christianity and attract others.

The gift-giving tradition actually began in earnest, in the US at least, in the early- to mid-1800s. Its origins, according to scholars, were partly commercial and partly a matter of public safety. By the 1820s, Christmas celebrations were becoming increasingly disruptive, particularly in industrializing urban areas. It became “traditional” for mobs of the poor to take to the streets to forcefully “beg” gifts and drinks from those more prosperous, yelling threats, pounding on doors and worse.

In response, a campaign was begun to move Christmas celebrations off the streets and inside, into the family circle. Clement Clark Moore, author of A Visit From St. Nicholas (better known now as The Night Before Christmas) was among those who were instrumental in producing this change by vigorously promoting the ideals in his poem.

So, does this mean we shouldn’t give gifts at Hanukkah or Christmas? No, of course not. But it does mean we should think about why we are giving them and about the original significance of the event we are commemorating.

©2010 Storybook Quilts Rocks!. All Rights Reserved.

When did the tradition of having a national tree begin?
In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge presided over the first lighting of a National Christmas Tree. Woodrow Wilson had instituted the tradition of a tree at the Capitol in 1913.

Was there ever a time when the National Christmas Tree was not lit?
Yes, from 1942 to 1944 wartime blackouts meant the tree was not lit.

What day are the lights turned on?
This year, it’s December 3rd. Originally, the tree was lit on Christmas or Christmas eve. It was President Eisenhower, in 1954, who saw the value of lighting the tree earlier in the month to allow more tourists to be there.

Where does the National Christmas Tree come from?
Unlike some other huge Christmas trees, the National Christmas Tree is a living tree that stays right there in the same place all year long. The current tree, originally from Maryand, has been in place for 31 years, since 1978. It is 46 years old and nearly 42 feet tall.

Is the lighting ceremony shown on TV?
Yes, but the full ceremony will be broadcast the next day. To see it all live, go to www.thenationaltree.org on December 3rd at 5:00 PM (EST). Every performance, presenter and holiday festivity from the ceremony will be broadcast online.

To see a short history of the National ChristmasTree in pictures, visit http://www.thenationaltree.org/timeline/

I know what I hope to be doing Thursday at 5:00 PM! How about you?

©2010 Storybook Quilts Rocks!. All Rights Reserved.

Who started Cyber Monday and when?
The National Retail Federation, a trade organization representing 1.6 million retailers, coined the term in 2005.

Is Cyber Monday the biggest online sales day of the year?
No. Consumers generally spend more online as the holiday draws nearer. The busiest time for online holiday shopping is December 5th through the 15th.

Are more retailers promoting Cyber Monday sales?
Yes. This year, 87% of retailers will have special Cyber Monday promotions, up from 84% last year and 72% in 2007.

Is Storybook Quilts having a Cyber Monday promotion?
Yes, we are, through our ArtFire shop. We just couldn’t resist being part of the fun! Dapper Dan the Snowman will delight your favorite child at a 20% discount; any Storybook Quilt package ordered that day also is eligible for a free year-occasion customized square. But shop early! Only two of each special are available at this discount.

Dapper Dan Storybook Quilt Package

We hope you enjoy CyberMonday! Remember, of course, to buy only from reputable websites. Scammers are looking for a little extra holiday cash, too! For useful tips about being cautious, see this article.

©2010 Storybook Quilts Rocks!. All Rights Reserved.

THANKSGIVING IS . . . .

Thanksgiving is
a time of changing seasons, when leaves turn golden
in Autumn’s wake and apples are crisp
in the first chill breezes of fall.

Thanksgiving is
a time to reflect on the changes,
and to remember that we, too, grow and change
from one season of life to another.

Thanksgiving is
a time of gratitude to God,
whose guidance and care go before us . . .
and whose love is with us forever.

Let us remember the true meaning of Thanksgiving.
As we see the beauty of Autumn,
let us acknowledge the many blessings which are ours . . .
let us think of our families and friends . . .
and let us give thanks in our hearts.

~~Author Unknown.~~

All of us at Storybook Quilts wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving.

©2010 Storybook Quilts Rocks!. All Rights Reserved.

So, I wondered, why is the day after Thanksgiving, when shoppers nationwide hit the stores, called “Black Friday”? Well, it depends on whom you ask.

In an earlier post, we noted that Thanksgiving football actually started in Philadelphia, basically our backyard. It seems that the term “Black Friday” did, too, in the mid-1960s. Philadelphia policemen dreaded this day, when downtown would be crammed with traffic and shoppers, and coined the term. It did not have a positive connotation, as you can tell!

Around about 1980 or so, merchants decided to try to put a positive twist on the “black” half of the term. “Black Friday,” they claimed, was a happy day when the holiday shopping season would start to pull their balance sheets into the black (and out of the red). This seems a wee bit farfetched — any merchant who operates in the red 11 months out of the year isn’t likely to be very profitable, but the myth has stuck.

Perhaps we can re-interpret this one more time. How about “black” because it’s dark when shoppers spring out of bed to rush to the sales? Or “black” because millions of computer screens remain turned off long after their normal wake-up times? Or “black” because millions of fathers, sons and daughters make their own breakfasts, while mom shops, and end up burning the toast? OK, that one was weak. So — your suggestions?

If you’re one of the early risers, I wish you a successful foray and a safe return home to a nice, long nap.

(No, sorry, Storybook Quilts isn’t having a sale on Black Friday. But on Cyber Monday (11/30), we are offering two specials through our Artfire Kiosk on our our Facebook Fan Page): a 20% discount on the first two Dapper Dan the Snowman Storybook quilts orderd and a free year-occasion square on the first two SQ packages ordered.

©2010 Storybook Quilts Rocks!. All Rights Reserved.