State

Cfjrigtmas t£oton Salem lias known for 200 years liow lo keep Clirisflinas well. By KILL SIIAKPL Old Salem is almost as famous as a Christmas town as it is as an Eastern town. The annual Candle Teas usually attract around a thousand visitors, and this year they will be held from Wednesday through Saturday, Decem¬ ber 3-6, from 2 p.m. until 9 p.m. in the Brothers House on Salem Square in Winston-Salem. On these days, hostesses in the cos¬ tumes of early Salem settlers arc busy making by hand the beeswax candles to be used later in the lovefeast. Actually, it requires about 2 and one- half months to make the thousands of candles necessary. Great cakes of beeswax along with tallow arc melted in two vats built into the old white¬ washed brick oven. When the mix¬ ture has been melted, stirred and strained, it is cooled in pans, then cut into small blocks and melted again in an old coffee pot on the stove. Then it is poured into the moulds, through which strings have been drawn for wicks. The finished candles are trimmed with a ruff of red fireproof paper. Meantime, down in the deep, deep cellar is the new "putz" (rhymes with “foots"), from the German word put- zen, meaning to decorate. The custom of putz-building was brought to Salem from Germany, and was never allowed to languish. Traditionally, the Christ¬ mas put/, is a Nativity scene, but other scenes often arc added. In the past, most Moravian families made putz in their homes, but now the most colorful and elaborate is the one made for the whole community in the Brothers House. Some of the dolls and animals and other sets used here have been handed down from early putz-builders. but the scene is constantly changing with each generation. Lovcfcasts. a 226-year-old cus¬ tom, are held in Moravian churches throughout the year and are among the cherished customs of these people. But many people believe the Christmas lovefeast in the Old Home Church is the most beautiful of all. It is a simple service, based on the idea that Christians are of one family and show their fellowship by breaking bread together. At Christmas, the church is colorfully decorated and the program includes the singing of Christmas hymns. Small beeswax candles — the ones hand-made in the Brothers House — arc passed out. and as the concluding part of the program everyone who will in the coming year try to follow Christ as I he Light of the World holds up his candle in the dim church. Not exactly Christmas, but as¬ sociated with the holiday, is the S o'clock New Year's Eve services, when the bishop reads the Memorabilia. This is a review of events in the world, the state, nation, and community, and originally was designed to give the little band of settlers the benefit of the information available to their scholarly leaders. At 11:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve a watchnight service closes the old year. A lovefeast also is held in con¬ nection with these New Year's Eve observances. Top, Old Buck, a figure in Rodanthe's Old Christmas; center, a Roan Moun¬ tain tree buyer; and below, Wilming¬ ton’s "world’s largest" live Christmas tree. — (Photos from State News Bureau.) THK STATE, Vol. XXI; No. 26. Kn tried a* second-claM matter. Junr I. 1913. at thr Potto (Псе at Kalelch. North Carolina, under thr acl ol March J. I8T9. Published by Sharpe Publishing Co.. Inc.. Lawyer» Bide.. Kalelch. N. C. Copyrljhl, 19SJ, by the Sharpe PuMUhlnc Co.. Inc.