BULLETINmatchcover.org/sierra/Archives/2018/DEC18XL.pdf · The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is be-lieved that Nicholas

BULLETIN

PRESIDENT TREASURER EDITOR

John Bachochin Loren Moore Mike Prero

15731 S. 4210 Rd., POB 1181 12659 Eckard Way

Claremore, OK 74017 Roseville, CA 95678 Auburn,CA 95603

918-342-0710 916-783-6822 530-906-4705

No. 407 Dues due April 1st December 2018

Most of us have been Santa‘s helpers in the past, but what about the lowdown on the ol‘ guy, himself?

The man we know as Santa Claus has a history all his own. Today, he is thought of mainly as the jolly man

in red, but his story stretches all the way back to the 3rd century.

The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is be-

lieved that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey.

Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends. It is said that

he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. One of the

best known of the St. Nicholas stories is that he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery or

prostitution by their father by providing them with a dowry so that they could be married. Over the course

of many years, Nicholas‘s popularity spread and he became known as the protector of children and sailors.

His feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, December 6. This was traditionally considered a

lucky day to make large purchases or to get married. By the Renaissance, St. Nicholas was the most popular

saint in Europe. Even after the Protestant Reformation, when the veneration of saints began to be discour-

aged, St. Nicholas maintained a positive reputation, especially in Holland.

St. Nicholas made his first inroads into American popular culture towards the end of the 18th century. In

December 1773, and again in 1774, a New York newspaper reported that groups of Dutch families had

gathered to honor the anniversary of his death.

The name ‗Santa Claus‘ evolved from Nick‘s Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, a shortened form of Sint Ni-

kolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas). In 1804, John Pintard, a member of the New York Historical Society,

distributed woodcuts of St. Nicholas at the society‘s annual meeting. The background of the engraving con-

tains now-familiar Santa images including stockings filled with toys and fruit hung over a fireplace. In

1809, Washington Irving helped to popularize the Sinter Klaas stories when he referred to St. Nicholas as

the patron saint of New York in his book, The History of New York. As his prominence grew, Sinter Klaas

was described as everything from a ―rascal‖ with a blue three-cornered hat, red waistcoat, and yellow stock-

by

Mike Prero

No. 407 SIERRA-DIABLO BULLETIN-December 2018 Page 2

ings to a man wearing a broad-brimmed hat and a ―huge pair of Flemish trunk hose.‖

Gift-giving, mainly centered around children, has been an important part of the Christmas celebration

since the holiday‘s rejuvenation in the early 19th century. Stores began to advertise Christmas shopping in

1820, and by the 1840s, newspapers were creating separate sections for holiday advertisements, which often

featured images of the newly-popular Santa Claus. In 1841, thousands of children visited a Philadelphia

shop to see a life-size Santa Claus model. It was only a matter of time before stores began to attract chil-

dren, and their parents, with the lure of a peek at a ―live‖ Santa Claus. In the early 1890s, the Salvation

Army needed money to pay for the free Christmas meals they provided to needy families. They began

dressing up unemployed men in Santa Claus suits and sending them into the streets of New York to solicit

donations. Those familiar Salvation Army Santas have been ringing bells on the street corners ever since.

18th-century America‘s Santa Claus was not the only St. Nicholas-inspired gift-giver to make an ap-

pearance at Christmastime. Similar figures were popular all over the world. Christkind or Kris Kringle was

believed to deliver presents to well-behaved Swiss and German children. Meaning ―Christ child,‖ Christ-

kind is an angel-like figure often accompanied by St. Nicholas on his holiday missions. In Scandinavia, a

jolly elf named Jultomten was thought to deliver gifts in a sleigh drawn by goats. English legend explains

that Father Christmas visits each home on Christmas Eve to fill children‘s stockings with holiday treats.

Pere Noel is responsible for filling the shoes of French children. In Russia, it is believed that an elderly

woman named Babouschka purposely gave the wise men wrong directions to Bethlehem so that they could-

n‘t find Jesus. Later, she felt remorseful, but could not find the men to undo the damage. To this day, on

January 5, Babouschka visits Russian children leaving gifts at their bedsides in the hope that one of them is

the baby Jesus and she will be forgiven. In Italy, a similar story exists about a woman called La Befana, a

kindly witch who rides a broomstick down the chimneys of Italian homes to deliver toys into the stockings

of lucky children. [https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/santa-claus]


What Ever Happened To...Eileen Feather?

There is a special place in American history for Jack and Eileen Feather, who along with their two sons

are the sole owners and proprietors of Cambridge Plan International (i.e., Cambridge Diet).

Jack Feather was determined to fight his way out of his partial paralysis. He said he sent his wife to buy

dime store balloons; sitting in his bed, he would blow them up and then resist the air blowing back into his

mouth. He would lift a weight with his good arm and then try to lower it to the floor with his slowly recov-

ering bad arm. His body came back, but not his voice--he still talked in a hoarse half-whisper. Jack Feather

borrowed $5,000 from his father-in-law and opened the small Berkeley gymnasium that in seven years

turned into the Eileen Feather Reducing Salons.

Figure salons were the sort of business the 1950s might have been invented for; chains were opening na-

tionwide, Jack La Lanne was on television exhorting women into smaller waists and flatter stomachs, and

in the newspaper advertisements Eileen Feather displayed her personal attributes in tight sweaters and

stretch pants. The Feathers bought an airplane and flew it from salon to salon. And when the ladies began

complaining that they were losing weight even where they did not wish to lose weight, Jack Feather de-

signed a small, hand-operated piece of exercise equipment that he named, with no evident sense of irony,

after Jack London's fictional character Martin Eden.

Jack and Eileen Feather later discovered Cambridge. The story of the diet is told at length in the volumi-

nous publicity materials that arrive with the newcomer's introduction to The Cambridge Plan; in the bro-

chure is a picture of Eileen Feather standing with Dr. Alan Howard. When

Jack Feather read published reports of Howard's experimental work with

very low calorie diets, Feather visited Cambridge and obtained the US and

Canadian patent rights to Howard's formula.

Nobody, not even Eileen

Feather, was prepared for what

happened. In February 1981, 25

"counselors" were selling the

Cambridge Diet at the rate of

one can per customer per week

(the counselor bought each can

for $11.67 and sold it for about

$18). By mid-1982, there were

150,000 counselors, and the

company's yearly gross was ap-

proaching half a billion dollars.

Eventually, though, the com-

pany faltered badly. Vaughn

Feather said competition and a

collapsing counselor system

were crippling them. Still, when

both Jack and Eileen passed

away in 2017, they left behind a

37 million dollar estate.


So...Why do flamingos stand on one leg?

I remember going to the Sacramento Zoo, and the first thing visitors saw as they passed the entrance gate

were the....flamingos! You can always recognize...they‘re the birds standing on one leg! The reason for this

behavior is not fully understood. One theory is that standing on one leg allows the birds to conserve more

body heat, given that they spend a significant amount of time wading in cold water. However, the behavior

also takes place in warm water and is also observed in birds that do not typically stand in water. An alterna-

tive theory is that standing on one leg reduces the energy expenditure for producing muscular effort to stand

and balance on one leg. A study on cadavers showed that the one-legged pose could be held without any

muscle activity, while living flamingos demonstrate substantially less body sway in a one-legged posture.

As well as standing in the water, flamingos may stamp their webbed feet in the mud to stir up food from the

bottom.

Flamingos are capable flyers, and flamingos in captivity often require wing clipping to prevent escape.

Young flamingos hatch with greyish-red plumage, but adults range from light pink to bright red due to

aqueous bacteria and beta-carotene obtained from their food supply. A well-fed, healthy flamingo is more

vibrantly colored, thus a more desirable mate; a white or pale flamingo, however, is usually unhealthy or

malnourished. Captive flamingos are a notable exception; they may turn a pale pink if they are not fed caro-

tene at levels comparable to the wild.

The greater flamingo is the tallest of the 6 different species of flamingos, standing at 3.9 to 4.7 feet with a

weight up to 7.7 pounds, and the shortest flamingo species (the lesser) has a height of 2.6 feet and weighs

5.5 pounds. Flamingos can have a wingspan as small as 37 inches to as big as 59 inches. [https://

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamingo]


Collecting Florists

Floristry is the production, commerce and trade in flowers. It encompasses flower care and handling, flo-

ral design, or flower arranging, merchandising, and display and flower delivery. Wholesale florists sell bulk

flowers and related supplies to professionals in the trade. Retail florists offer fresh flowers and related prod-

ucts and services to consumers. The first flower shop opened in 1875.

In the Netherlands, the first horticultural college was founded in 1896 in Naaldwijk; the second horticul-

tural college was founded in 1897 in Aalsmeer. In 1926, the first national professional qualification exami-

nations in floristry were held in the Netherlands. The horticultural college in Aalsmeer celebrated its 75th

anniversary in 1972 and in 1997 its 100th anniversary. The first professional floristry education started at

the RMTS in 1968. The first professor in floristry at the horticultural college in Aalsmeer was Mr. Theo

Boerma. In 1972, Theo Boerma started teaching professional evening courses for the floristry diploma: vak-

diploma Bloemist-Winkelier. In 1980, Theo Boerma and his wife José Boerma founded the first privately

owned floristry school; Boerma Instituut International Floral Design School in Aalsmeer. The floristry di-

ploma was recognized by the Dutch government until 1996. When the borders of Europe opened, the di-

ploma was no longer needed but professional training for Dutch and international students is still organized

by the Boerma Instituut.

You might not think that there would be many Florist covers, but Lion Match Co. produced a slew of

them as Lion 21 Features and Lion 30-STICKs, and that‘s in addition to the assortment of covers from flo-

rists from all over the U.S. Additionally, being centered around flowers, many of the covers are quite color-

ful.

The late Jo Wilding, TX, reported in June 1997 that she had 581 Florist covers in her collection.


Hollywood’s Ciro’s

Ciro's (later known as Ciro's Le Disc) was a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset

Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip, opened in January 1940 by entrepreneur William Wilkerson. Herman

Hover took over management of Ciro's in 1942 until it closed its doors in 1957. Hover filed for bankruptcy

in 1959, and Ciro's was sold at public auction for $350,000. Ciro's combined a luxe baroque interior and

an unadorned exterior and became a famous hangout for movie people of the 1940s and 1950s. It was one

of "the" places to be seen and guaranteed being written about in the gossip columns of Hedda Hopper,

Louella Parsons and Florabel Muir.

Among the galaxy of celebrities who frequented Ciro's were Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart and

Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Sidney Poitier, Anita Ekberg, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz,

Joan Crawford, Betty Grable, Marlene Dietrich, Ginger Rogers, Ronald Reagan, Dean Martin, Mickey

Rooney, Cary Grant, George Raft, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Judy Garland, June Allyson and Dick

Powell, Mamie Van Doren, Jimmy Stewart, Jack Benny, Peter Lawford, and Lana Turner (who often said

Ciro's was her favorite nightspot) among many others. During his first visit to Hollywood in the late

1940s, future President John F. Kennedy dined at Ciro's.

In 1968, Ciro's became a Sunset Strip rock and roll club which was called "It's

Boss" after being briefly renamed "Ciro's Le Disc" in 1965 and "The Kaleido-

scope" two years later. The Byrds got their start there in 1964. Accounts of the

period (reproduced in the sleeve notes to The Preflyte Sessions box set) describe a

"church-like" atmosphere, with interpretive dancing. The club also served as the

host during the recording of the 1965 Dick Dale album "Rock Out With Dick

Dale: Live At Ciro's".

Co-founder Wilkerson also opened Cafe Trocadero, in 1934, and the restaurant

La Rue, both on the

Strip, and later originated

The Flamingo in Las Ve-

gas, only to have control

of the resort wrested

from him by mobster

Ben jamin "Bu gs y"

Siegel.

The site of Ciro's became

The Comedy Store in

1972.

An American Tour:

131


There are eight million stories in my albums. This is one of

them...

If you wanted to see celebrities in New York in 1920s, 30s and

40s, Dave‘s Blue Room was the place to be. A small restaurant in

the heart of Broadway, famous songs were written on the table

covers by Tin Pan Alley chiefs between cups of black coffee,

according to gossip columnist George Tucker. Movie and theater

stars breakfasted on plates of bacon and eggs.

Owner Dave Bonigiflio had a big heart and never refused a

meal to struggling actors and musicians. Frank Sinatra, Eddie

Cantor, Edward G Robinson, George Raft, Milton Berle and

Lilian Roth were among its patrons. Singer Julie London ate there

after her shows. Even gangsters dined there – Lucky Luciano was

a regular. Dave's Blue Room closed on Broadway in the 1940s,

beset by money troubles. [https://lovemenuart.com/products/

daves-blue-room-new-york-1930s]


Heaven

Heaven is Heaven, you may think. But, Heaven isn‘t perceived in the same way by everyone around the

world, not even just Christians.

Traditionally, Christianity has taught that Heaven is the location of the throne of God as well as the holy

angels, although this is in varying degrees considered metaphorical. In traditional Christianity, it is consid-

ered a condition of existence (rather than a place somewhere in the cosmos) of the supreme fulfillment of

unifying with God. In most forms of Christianity, heaven is also the abode for the righteous dead, usually a

stage before the resurrection of the dead and the saints' return to the New Earth.

While the concept of Heaven is much discussed within the Christian and Islamic religions, the Jewish

concept of the afterlife is not discussed so often. The Torah has little to say on the subject of survival after

death, but by the time of the rabbis two ideas had made inroads among the Jews: one, which is probably

derived from Greek thought, is that of the immortal soul which returns to its creator after death; the other,

which is thought to be of Persian origin, is that of resurrection of the dead.

The concept of Heaven in Islam differs in many respects from Judaism and Christianity. Heaven is de-

scribed primarily in physical terms as a place where every wish is immediately fulfilled when asked.

Heaven as happy, without negative emotions. Those who dwell in Heaven are said to wear costly apparel,

partake in exquisite banquets, and recline on couches inlaid with gold or precious stones. Inhabitants rejoice

in the company of their parents, spouses, and children. If one's good deeds outweigh one's sins then one

may gain entrance to Heaven. Conversely, if one's sins outweigh their good deeds they are sent to hell. It

has been said that the lowest level of Heaven, the first one, is already over one-hundred times better than

the greatest life on Earth. The highest level is the seventh Heaven. Houses are built by angels for the occu-

pants using solid gold.

In Buddhism there are several Heavens, all of which are still part of illusionary

reality. Those who accumulate good karma may be reborn in one of them. How-

ever, their stay in Heaven is not eternal—eventually they will use up their good

karma and will undergo a different rebirth into another realm, as humans, animals

or other beings. Because Heaven is temporary, Buddhists focus more on escaping

the cycle of rebirth and reaching enlightenment (nirvana). Nirvana is not a heaven

but a mental state.

In the native Chinese Confucian traditions, Heaven is an important concept,

where the ancestors reside and from which emperors drew their mandate to rule in

their dynastic propaganda

In Hinduism, attaining heaven is not the final pursuit in Hinduism, as heaven itself

is ephemeral and related to physical body. Heaven cannot be perfect either and is

just another name for pleasurable and mundane material life.

In Mesoamerican religions, the Aztecs, Toltecs, etc. believed that the heavens

were constructed and separated into 13 levels. Each level had from one to many

Lords living in and ruling these heavens. The Thirteen Heavens were ruled by

Ometeotl, the dual Lord, creator of the Dual-Genesis who was both male and fe-

male. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven]


Off-Center Printing

Errors Ads

TRADERS! I crave traders! My

kingdom for traders! (are there

any left?) Mike Prero, rmsed@

matchpro.org

Coming Up

SOUTHERN SWAPFEST

2019: March 19-23. Holiday Inn

Hotel and Suites - Busch

Gardens, Tampa, FL 33612,

(813) 971-7690. Rates are the

same as 2018: Single: $89.00,

Single Deluxe: $99.00, and

Exec. Suite: $109, includes free

hot breakfast. Make your

reservations early. FMI: Bill

Hayes at 727-470-9148 or

largomatch@hotmail. com, or

Frank Denzler at 352-360-0769

or [email protected].

TRANS CANADA SWAP-

FEST 2019: May 2 – 4, 2019,

Radisson Hotel Kitchener

Waterloo,2960 King Street East

Kitchener, ON N2A 1A9 (519)

894-9500 (800) 333-3333. Much

more information will follow.

UES 2019: June 11-17, 2019,

Ramada Plaza Hotel, 1718

Underpass Way, Hagerstown,

MD 21740 (301-797-2500).

Freebee tables, dealers, auctions,

displays, bingo, awards banquet,

free chicken & pizza on Friday.

2019 RMS CONVENTION: August 18-24, 2019, Holiday Inn

Cleveland/Strongsville,15471

Royalton Road, Strongsville,

OH. 44136 (440 238-8800).

Latest details: > Convention

Central!


Replace with advertising text

Company Name

COMING

UP

Jan: “Shades!”

Feb: “Presidents”

Mar: “ Collecting...Anti-„”

SIERRA-DIABLO...we’re

the hottest club in the

hobby!

Well, that got me started

on...me! I looked around at my

house, my land, my prized Mus-

tang, etc. and realized that none

of it is really mine. I‘m just a

transient, a tenant. When I‘m

gone, it will all be someone

else‘s...and one and on. This is

not to be morose, however...I

guess I‘m just getting old....My

God! How did that happen?

Happy Birthday!

Lewis, Greg.........................12-1

Burnell, Dennis...................12-5

Ready, Duane......................12-6

Brennan, Richard................12-7

Rauzy, Jim..........................12-9

Balin, Barry.......................12-13

Stevenson, Dave...............12-14

Valachovic, Tom...............12-17

Burton, Charles.................12-29

Clark, John........................12-29

Jones, Martha......................01-5

Greer, William....................01-6

Ritter, Nadine......................01-8

Van Tol, Carry..................01-11

Haslebacher, Bev..............01-14

Schneider, Ken..................01-16

Molinaro, Jack..................01-20

Unger, Sandy....................01-23

Willard, James..................01-24

Ewart, Don........................01-26

Cummings, Chuck............01-31

Kirby, Kathleen.................01-31

The Sierra-Diablo Bulletin is a

publication of the Sierra-Diablo

Matchcover Club. Deadline for all

submissions is 2 weeks before the

issue month. Any information

herein may be reproduced with

appropriate credit line. Dues of $5

(e-bulletin); or $10 hard copy

(individual), $15 (family), $15

(Canada/Mexico) or $20 (outside

N. America) are payable to the

Sierra-Diablo Matchcover Club, c/

o Loren Moore, POB 1181,

Roseville, CA 95678

Visit the Sierra-Diablo Web Site

at: http://www.matchcover.org/

Sierra. You can reach the Ed. on

line at [email protected] for

h e lp wi th Bu l l e t in /h obby

questions, concerns or problems.

The Transiency of Life

I was thinking the other day

about all the recycling we do in

the hobby: our unwanted covers

go to our traders and freebie ta-

bles; our collections eventually

go to other collectors; used

pages are recirculated to others

for their own use; etc.

December’s Smile

E

D

I

T

O

R

I

A

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Documents

BULLETINmatchcover.org/sierra/Archives/2018/DEC18XL.pdf · The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is be-lieved that Nicholas