OUR NATIONL ELF SERVICE-- CHRISTMAS ALL WRAPPED UP
Christmas all Wrapped Up
You may have noticed amongst youngsters there is new epidemic, no not Strep A, sweeping the country and that is the “Elf on a Shelf” which comes from a recent children’s book and it requires the house holder to move an elf, which was handily sold with the book around the house every day before Christmas. It’s now become a tradition: Even though the tradition only dates back to 2005 and so it’s barely hatched in terms of a “tradition.” Grief I’ve just written tradition three times in a row, such is my bemusement with this particular modern fad: Particularly as elves were in the past associated with bringing illness not presents. Ah, back to Strep A!
Christmas all Wrapped Up
Elves like Christmas tree they are a fairly modern innovation and date all the way back to the reign of Queen Victoria and her hubby, Prince Albert. Now Albert was a German princeling and he brought all manner of Teutonic ideas to this set of nations, including Christmas Trees, and it’s him we have to thank for pine needles on the carpet on January 6th as we take down the tree and wonder why we do this every year and wouldn’t it be better to have an artificial one next year. But we can never bring ourselves to do it as we want a bit of nature indoors. Although this year with extravagant fuel costs and coolish temperatures in the living room the fir tree might last long enough to plant in the garden. Hands off the thermostat!
Christmas all Wrapped Up
Now elves are very mischievous beasties and they haven’t made up their mind if humans count at all, or should they be punished. They first appeared in German and Scandinavian literature around the time of the early middle ages, previously called the Dark Ages, and can also be found as fairies in other, particularly French, cultures. Then of course we all forgot it all! All the old traditions and elves were re-invented, re-purposed if you may in the cause of commercialised Christmas. In The Night Before Christmas poem A Visit from St Nicholas, Santa or Father Christmas as we say, was characterised as "a right jolly old elf.” Now we are stuck with charming elves, stripped of their malice and sugar sweet to boot! Perhaps we can live without them? Are they better than the old kind of elves that were full of malice, danger and self, or should I say elf-regard?
Christmas all Wrapped Up
One thing you can’t live without, in my humble opinion, is James Pirie’s cracking value for money and our free gift wrapping service. All you have to do is select Gift Wrapping at checkout. And for your delight and the loveliness of a present there is a choice of 5 different gift wrapping papers and YES you can even add your personal message at the same time. That’s our National Elf Service.
