west georgia living nov-dec 2015

$3.95 Vol. 5/Issue 6

Bowdon by Candlelight

Feast New Orleans Style

... And much more!Gifts for Book Lovers

Plus ...

In Style for Christmas Parties

Wines of West Georgia

Toys from Your Childhood

Holiday Gift Guide

A Country Holiday!

Nov./Dec. 2015 Life . Art . Music . People

West Georgia

V Li ing

At Southwire, we believe education is the key to success. Through partnerships with the University of West Georgia (Southwire Sustainable Business Honors Program), West Georgia Technical College (Southwire Center for Manufacturing Excellence), Carroll County Schools (12 for Life) and Carrollton High School (Southwire Engineering Academy), we are helping students build brighter futures. Its another way we deliver power...responsibly.

4 West Georgia Living November/December 2015

To advertise in West Georgia Living, call Melissa Wilson at 770-834-6631.

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Copyright 2015 by the Times-Georgian

West Georgia

V Li ing F rom the Editor

Marvin Enderle is Publisher of West Georgia Living, the Times-Georgian and the Douglas County Sentinel.

Ricky Stilley is the Photographer for West Georgia Living and IT Director for the Times-Georgian.

Melissa Wilson is the Advertising Director for West Georgia Living, the Times-Georgian and the Douglas County Sentinel.

Ken Denney is editor of the West Georgia Living

PublisherMarvin Enderle

[email protected]

EditorKen Denney

[email protected]

AdvertisingMelissa Wilson

[email protected]

PhotographerRicky Stilley

[email protected]

DesignRichard Swihart

[email protected]

Contributors

Kitty Barr, Taylor Boltz, Bob Coval, Rob Duv, Josh Sewell, Molly Stassfort, Marilyn Van Pelt

Volume 5 . Issue 6 Nov./Dec. 2015

Dear Readers:

When we first began preparing this holiday issue, it was the middle of summer, and it seemed strange then to be working on proj-ects related to Thanksgiving and Christmas when the temperature was up in the 90s.

Now, however, there is a decided crispness in the air, and some leaves on at least some trees are starting to change color. Its time for all of us to start getting into the holiday spir-it, and we hope that this issue - months in the planning - will help all of you do just that.

One of the main things were proud of this year is our special Holiday Gift Guide, locat-ed in the center of the magazine. Our many merchants across west Georgia have put together several gift suggestions to help you find just the right gift for those special people in your life. We hope that this will make your annual shopping chores a bit easier and, of course, encourage you to shop locally.

All of us have special Christmas memories, and for some of us that includes receiving a special toy during the holidays. Would you believe that some of those toys from decades past are still popular today? Well take a fun look at the history of some of our favorite toys and see how they have changed for 21st Century children.

We also take a look at the history of some of those classic Christmas carols that everyone loves during the holidays. Youll be surprised at how some of these have changed over the years - and how some have nothing to do

with the Nativity.

Rob Duv shows us how to put a little Creole spin on traditional holiday foods, with easy-to-make recipes inspired by New Orleans. And when its time to serve your holiday meal, why not pair the food with some locally made wine? Rob also shows us how west Georgia vineyards are producing excellent table wines, and he has some suggestions on what foods are best suited for the distinctive tastes.

Taylor Boltz has some suggestions for us as to what kind of outfits we should wear for the slew of holiday parties and get-togethers that come with this season and, in a separate article, she also tells us how to avoid gaining weight so we can fit into those outfits.

All this year, we have been looking at the historic and distinctive churches of west Georgia. We end the year with the historic Bethany Baptist Church in Tallapoosa, one of the oldest in our area.

All this and a few more surprises await you inside. We hope each of you will be able to spend time with your loved ones during this holiday season, and will create many joy-ous memories for the years to come. Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to every-one!

Sincerely,

FairField Plantation Golf ClubThe Fair eld Plantation Golf and Country Club displays a high level of commitment to service and excellence in every detail. Tree-lined fairways and rolling hills give the course its charming character.Fair eld Plantation Golf Club is within the gates of Fair eld Plantation at 7500 Monticello Drive. It is located off Highway 61 between Villa Rica and Carrollton. The Public is welcome and we have very reasonable rates.

You can reserve a tee time by calling 770-836-1112, option #1.

D epartments

F eatures16 Dressing up in style for those must-attend holiday

functions

21 You sing them during the Christmas season. . . but do you know the history behind the carols?

26 Add a little Georgia flavor to the holiday season with the wines of west Georgia

33 Stop obsessing about the dreaded weight gain during the holidays . . . we have tips to avoid it

Cinema 'It's a Wonderful Life,' revisited 13

Garden Holiday decorating fast and easy 51 Food Explore your inner Cajun this holiday 29

Books Recommended gift books 64

Take 5 Lawyana McElroy 63

evenTs Your Holiday calendar 69

Photos and Cover Art by Ricky StilleyOn the Cover: Lance Hardin puts a country spin on Santa Claus at his family farm in Haralson County

585447

16 3410

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KEN DENNEY

C heesy decorations hanging from lampposts. Incredibly cheesy light displays in neighbors yards. Pump-kins rotting on peoples porches in mid-November; Thanksgiving dinner with cran-berry sauce that looks like a tin can.

Thats what the holidays are like in the coun-try and what makes them great.

People who live out in the country enjoy the holidays. We like the family get-togethers and the gentle sentimentality of the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yes, city folk like Christmas, too, but somehow urban holidays seem just a tad, well, insin-cere.

Now, when I talk about city folk, its impor-tant to understand that I am not talking about the towns of west Georgia. Im talking about the big cities in this country. If youve ever been to New York or Chicago during the holidays, you might know what I mean. Yes, the lights are pretty and the choirs all sing in perfect pitch, but thats the problem. Its too perfect.

Its the same in big Southern cities. If you drive up to Atlanta and cruise through some of those big-city neighborhoods, you will see homes all trimmed up and decked out with the tonier displays of Christmas: artfully placed lights in well-shaped trees; artistic wreathes arranged on doors. They look per-fect, like a photograph, or a Thomas Kinkade painting.

On the other hand, if you drive the roads between Douglasville, Bremen and Carroll-ton you will see some pretty strange sights at Christmas time: fake snowmen standing on brown grass; cheap plastic Santas on rooftops; gigantic, forced-air snow globes

swirling with plastic snow. If you saw one of those inflated wavy tube things made to look like an elf, you wouldnt be too surprised.

Perhaps the big city people sincerely love the holidays, but it doesnt seem to me that their all-too-perfect displays reflect much of the spontaneity of a real holiday.

Come on, admit it. The best Thanksgiv-ing dinners youve ever attended, and the best Christmas mornings youve ever had, were full of noise, confusion and unplanned events. This is the way it should be.

There should be a sense of drama hang-ing over every Thanksgiving dinner. People should be asking whether the turkey will come out OK; or whether the guests will all arrive bringing the same side dish; will the father and son-in-law get along this year, or will Uncle Joe burn down the house trying to deep fry something?

Christmas mornings are supposed to begin somewhere around 4 a.m., when the kids come tearing down the stairs. There should sounds of paper ripping, children laugh-ing, dogs barking and bleary-eyed parents grumbling. The TV should be on, the smell of coffee and bacon in the air, and everybody should be sitting around the living room in robes and pajamas.

Life is a chain of unplanned events and improvised reactions. You can anticipate, you can take precautions, but, in the end, you cannot foresee what life is going to throw at you. The only thing certain is that we are all in this together, and that the family and friends around you are all pas-

sengers in life, all going to the same place.

The holidays exist to remind us that we are human. and that we are connected to this crazy quilt we call existence. You can wrap Christmas in a bow, and you can shoot for the best Thanksgiving dinner, but life will somehow, always, intrude on your plans. People will yell, feelings will be hurt, there will be cries of joy and sadness but all these will be genuine, human emotions.

Living out in the country means living closer to the chaotic universe. There are no streets laid out in perfect symmetry; here the roads meander and wander. No, you cant get up in the middle of the night and get a latte and a bagel, but you can walk outside at night and see the broad sweep of the galaxy in the sky.

Neatly trimmed trees and tasteful outdoor displays are nice to look at, but they dont seem to compare to slap-dash displays put together by people of modest means. Its one thing to put up something nice for the neigh-bors to see; its quite another to decorate a yard out of sheer exuberance for the holiday.

It just seems to me that country people get the holidays. Not that city slickers dont also, but being closer to Nature, amid the rustling multi-colored leaves and the cold winds of fall and winter it seems that we feel life more keenly. Country people know that he holidays are about family, and love, and holding close as many good times and cel-ebrations as possible.

When the holidays are over, and the house is quiet; when all the food is eaten and the dishes are all washed, think of the friends and family who, for better or worse, have created another memory for another year. And rejoice. WGL

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November/December 2015 West Georgia Living 11

PHOTOS BY RICKY STILLEY

Bethany Baptist Church was founded on Aug. 28, 1830, making it the oldest church in Haralson County. Originally, there were only 11 members, but the congregation eventually grew large enough to create several other churches, including First Baptist Church of Tallapoosa. The building has undergone many additions and renovations over the years, most recently in 2008, but in recognition of the 185-year history of the church, the membership chose to stay as close to the original design as possible. The building has increased seating capacity by 80 percent, but it still feels like a country church inside. The church is now led by Pastor Kevin Ayers and has 200 members


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The manger scene, above, points the the birth of the Savior, while the communion table, left, calls remembrance of His sacrifice.

S ince 2008, Ive intermittently used my weekly newspaper column (which you can read in the Times-Georgian and the Douglas County Sentinel) for a series known as Catching Up on the Clas-sics. Thats when I get real and admit that, even though Ive been writing about movies for nearly 14 years, there are still plenty of iconic films Ive yet to experience.

Over the years, Ive discussed my first impressions of The Apartment, Vertigo, North by Northwest and It Happened One Night, all of which I now consider some of my favorites. But for this holiday issue of West Georgia Living, Im admitting what might be my most shameful secret of all: I somehow made it to age 34 without seeing Its a Wonderful Life.

Dont get me wrong, Im not Amish or any-thing. I know all about the story and Ive absorbed most of the iconic lines through cultural osmosis. But theres a big difference between knowing a movies plot and becom-ing emotionally invested in the characters.

Despite just seeing Frank Capras most beloved work, the fictional people he co-cre-ated now seem like close friends. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the power of great cinema. I cant even imagine how strong those con-nections are for longtime fans who have made the film a Christmas tradition, watch-ing it every year since childhood. To them, each viewing must feel like a family reunion.

It made me feel a little better to learn that I was not alone in my later-in-life viewing of such a revered work. When I announced my plans for this column on Facebook and Twitter a few weeks back, several friends and family members told me they either still hadnt seen it, or didnt watch it until they had kids of their own.

I wonder if those friends and relations had the same realization I did during my initial viewing: that Id spent most of my life with a fundamental misunderstanding of the plot.

The most famous part of the story is when bumbling angel Clarence (Henry Travers) shows the eternally decent George Bailey (James Stewart, in arguably his best perfor-mance) what the world wouldve been like if


JOSH SEWELL

Seeing "Life" for the first time

CINEMA

It's a Wonderful Classic

"It's a Wonderful Life," 1946, starring Thomas Mitchell, Donna Reed and Jimmy Stewart. Images from Paramount Pictures.


hed never existed.I always figured that was how the movie got its name and what took up the bulk of its 130-minute running time. But I was wrong thats just the last half-hour. Instead, the title refers to the entirety of Georges life, which viewers get to experi-ence in several beauti-fully ordinary vignettes.

Those are the moments that communicate what a fine man George is, and why it hurts so much as fate deals him one nasty blow after another. When he loses his hearing in one ear because he saves his younger brother from drowning in an icy lake? I figured that was a small price to pay for his siblings life.

When he cant go to college because he has to take care of his ailing fathers affairs? Well, that just proved George is a good son. When a run on his familys bank the one he continues to manage, even though he loathes it prevents him from taking his wonderful bride Mary (the phenomenal Donna Reed) on their honeymoon? Thats when I started to think this guy had the worlds worst luck.

Then, when things are finally looking up, Georges dunderheaded Uncle Billy (Thom-as Mitchell) flat-out hands the villainous Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore) an envelope stuffed with every dollar they own. Im not exaggerating when I say it felt like Id been punched in the stomach. At that point, I honestly couldnt blame poor George for considering a dive into that freezing river.

But those moments, as wrenching as they are, prove that George Bailey in large part because of Stewarts performance and the quietly devastating screenplay is one of the most fundamentally decent characters in cinema history. Hes right up there with Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.When young George (Robert J. Anderson) takes a beating from his boss because he knows the grieving pharmacist was about to poison a patient, my throat tightened. When George uses his honeymoon savings to keep his banks customers afloat, my eyes got watery.

But the dam finally burst during the famed final sequence, when the citizens of Bedford Falls prove just how much George means to them by donating baskets full of cash to keep him out of jail. Even though Id seen the ending a million times, thanks to its pervasiveness in pop culture, experienc-ing it in context for the first time absolutely destroyed me. Im glad I watched it alone, because I was a sobbing mess.

From a cultural and technical standpoint, Its a Wonderful Life mostly holds up in the modern era, a small miracle consider-ing it was released nearly 70 years ago. The one hilarious exception is when Clarence tells George hes not supposed to reveal

what became of Mary in the world where George doesnt exist. Turns out shes single and enjoys being a librarian the hor-ror!

And, even though that previously mentioned cultural osmosis prepared me for the fact that the story concludes without tying up all the loose ends, I was still gobsmacked that the eras production code allowed Mr. Potter to remain unpunished for his treachery (even though thats a far more realistic outcome).

Oh, well. Looks like Ill have to go through life pretending that the hys-terically dark lost ending depicted in an old Sat-

urday Night Live sketch which features Uncle Billy suddenly remembering what he did with the money, leading to an angry mob breaking into Mr. Potters home and beating him to death is how the movie actually wraps up.

Im not exactly proud that it took me 34 years to see Its a Wonderful Life, but Im glad that I finally corrected the oversight. I have a feeling itll be the first of many view-ings to come, as Im adding it to the list of Christmas movies our family watches every holiday season.

Its a Wonderful Life is not rated. WGL

"Clarence! Get me back! Get me back, I don't care what happens to me! Get me back to my wife and kids!"

"A toast to my big brother George: The richest man in town."


Holiday time is party time. A few simple tips can help you look your best for every occasion.

Well, its that time again. The holidays are approaching, along with the parties, food, decorations and outfits. The Tacky Christmas Sweater party, always a staple during the holidays,remains one of

the easiest events to dress and prepare for, but what about the Family Cocktail party, the Black Tie event, or the Festive Attire shindig?

Ladies, first things first: Laura Williams of the personal finance blog MoneyCrashers writes that its not necessary to go overboard on spending, which means, save on items you might only wear once or twice. She recommends bargain stores such as Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, and Target, each of which offer a ton of different options for dresses and other equally appropriate outfits.

Yet splurging may be necessary for parts of outfits you may use throughout the year, like pants, jack-ets, or shoes. Williams also includes stockings in

this list, because you dont (want to) end up with a nasty run because you chose to wear cheap hose expensive tights cost less than $30, so go ahead and indulge.

She recommends, though, saving on bags, earrings, necklaces, and rings, as these can make your outfit. Try a sequined clutch, a statement-making cock-tail ring, and a long, simple necklace for when your hair is down and your outfit main-tains a modest neckline. When your outfit has an open back and your hair is up, some chandelier

earrings and a wrist cuff, along with a simple satin clutch may do the trick. A wide statement necklace with a mini bag on a long chain is a perfect finish for an outfit with a deep neckline.

But how do you know what to wear when? We all become confused with the different options.

STORY BY TAYLOR BOLTZPHOTOS BY RICKY STILLEY

Evan Harte is wearing a black tuxedo with a plaid cumberbund, bow tie and patent black dress shoes. Outfit courtesy of The Squire Shop, Carrollton.

Ana Forde is wearing a green and tan knit sweater and dark skinny jeans with black suede ankle booties. She's modeling a sample casual attire outfit.


Megan Kaplan of realsimple.com deciphers the party dress codes:

The Black Tie Affair, for example the most formal of holiday events is easy for men, since the name of the event tells them what to wear: a tuxedo and bow tie (not necessarily black.) For women, such an event usually requires a tea or floor-length gown in either satin, taffeta, or beads. A-line is typically the easiest dress cut and works for everyone, but you know what looks best on your body. With this kind of event, classic remains key and you should opt for time-honored diamond drops or a pearl necklace, over something too costumey.

The Cocktail Event is what everyone else might call semiformal. Here, Kaplan recommends rich fabrics with a modest hemline, or separates, like pants and a blouse. Either way, fancy footwear is mandatory. She recommends that men pull out a dark, fitted suit, with a white shirt.

Dressy Casual, one step down from semiformal, leads into the land of knit or sweater dresses, or nice tops with dark jeans and heels, making

Kaan Ural is wearing khaki pants by Ralph Lauren, with a white button-down shirt and red tie. This dressy casual holiday outfit was supplied by The Squire Shop in Carrollton.

Taylor Boltz is wearing a navy A-line dress with black pumps, offering a sample formal attire outfit.

Sydney Thomason is wearing a black and purple baby doll dress with lace tights and black suede boots, showing a sample cocktail or festive holiday outfit.

Amanda Shoemake is wearing a blue fitted dress with nude pumps, showing a possible dressy casual holiday outfit.

Jenna Harte is wearing a maroon long sleeve dress with opaque tights with calf-high boots, a festive or cocktail holiday outfit.


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what Jamie Edelen of Baltimore Magazine calls Party Perfect. Dressy Casual would also be appropriate for an office party, at which guys should wear dark denim and a nice button-up.

For the Casual Event, both men and women should dress in nice jeans and a nice top, but its a more everyday affair, meaning theres a little more leeway for your outfit.

The Festive Event, as laid out in Kaplans article, allows you to show off your fun side, meaning color, jewelry and exciting details. Some people recommend sophisticated jewelry and vibrant colored dresses, or a jeweled cardigan, opaque tights, and heeled booties. For the guys, this means a playful blazer with corduroys, or nice pants and a sweater. This is a great opportunity to have fun and play around with the differ-ent aspects of the holidays. For women, sparkles, glitter and beads are, of course, filled with the holiday spirit. For men, embrace holidays and try something new, like a velvet blazer or a spirited tie. Whether it be New Years or Christmas, these small touches will be sure to put you and the other guests in the holiday mood.

The holidays are all about having fun with those closest to you, so don't wear anything that may be uncomfortable while dancing or laughing the night away and always remember to just be yourself and wear what is best for you and your body. WGL


Away In a MangerMost people know that a manger is a rough con-tainer for animal feed and that Mary placed the newborn Jesus into one. Fewer people know that the verses of this carol came down to us from Lutheran migrs to Pennsylvania, that the music isnt even called Away In a Man-ger, and that the carol is sometimes considered theologically suspect.

The song first appeared in print in the U.S. in 1885 in a Lutheran songbook for children which mistakenly claimed it had been writ-ten by Martin Luther, the founder of Prot-estantism, for his children. Actually no one knows who wrote it. The original song only had two verses; the third was added when it was republished in the late 1890s. The original melody for the song disappeared at the same time, replaced by a tune called Cradle Song, itself an adaptation of a much earlier melody called Sweet Afton.

Although the song is clearly about the Nativity, some aspects of the song raise questions for some church leaders. For one thing, there are references to cattle low-ing, whereas there are no references in

Luke to mooing cows or any other animal present at the scene of Jesus birth. There is also the line The little Lord Jesus, no cry-ing he makes, which of course is unusual for an infant. Some church scholars believe this is a veiled reference to Gnosticism, in which supernatural traits overshadow the humanity of Christ.

Such arcane theological issues is not a con-cern for the millions of people who love the classic song and the imagery it evokes. Perhaps that is why it has become a holiday classic, recorded over and over throughout the years.

Hark! The Herald Angels SingWhen this song first appeared in 1739, its author, Charles Wesley leader of the Methodist movement had the opening couplet as Hark! How all the welkin rings / Glory to the King of Kings, and intended it to be sung with slow and solemn music

Fortunately, Wesley didnt get his wish, either in terms of lyric or music. A friend and fellow clergyman, George Whitefield, changed the opening couplet to what we know today, presumably because absolutely no one knew what a welkin is (its from a Middle English reference to the sky.) And, 100 years after the songs original publi-cation, it got its familiar tune from Felix Mendelssohn, a German composer of the Romantic period.

Mendelssohn had written a cantata to com-memorate, of all things, the invention of the printing press. An English musician named William H. Cummings adapted the chorus of the secular cantata to fit Wesleys

F or some, Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer is a hal-lowed Christmas classic. Other, well, normal people, prefer classic Christmas tunes for their most festive holiday. But any song can get so lost in tradition that the meaning behind it becomes obscured.

Have you ever wondered why they are called carols in the first place? The word carol is from an old French word carole - which is a type of circle dance. Medieval dance songs evolved into music for religious occasions. During the Protestant Reformation, the Calvinists, in their zeal to take frivolity out of religion, tried to ban them, but they lived on. With the arrival of the printing press, many old folk tunes and poems about the Nativity were collected and handed down to new generations, often with new melodies and words trans-lated for modern ears.

So, here are the hidden back-stories of 10 of the most well-known Christmas carols, as chosen by us at West Georgia Living.

The Story Behind the Carol

STORY BY KEN DENNEYPHOTOS BY RICKY STILLEY

Ornaments courtesy of David and Beth Warner, Tallapoosa.


hymn. That adaptation also necessitated a lyrical change to Wesleys hymn. Two of his short stanzas were combined to fit the music, and the refrain, repeating the first two lines of stanza one, was also added to accommodate the tune.

Although there are a total of six stanzas to the song, the final four are usually not sung because they are dense with theol-ogy and biblical allusion. Thus, a murky, dirge-like hymn has evolved over the years to be a festive song of celebration.

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

Sometimes titled with an a instead of a the, this was originally written as a poem in 1849 by Edmund Sears, pastor of a Unitarian Church in Massachusetts. When most people hear this song, they no doubt think about the birth of Christ but it actually has nothing to do with biblical times.

Instead, Sears meant this to be a com-mentary on his own time: the tumultuous years leading up the Secession Crisis and the U.S. Civil War. In the poem, Sears alludes to the song of the angels in Luke 2:14. But scholars say he is only contrast-ing that angelic choir with the growing social discord in the U.S. that followed the Mexican-American war, and the increasingly violent debate over whether the territories acquired as a result should be admitted as slave states.

In 1850, Richard Storrs Willis who, incidentally, had trained under Mendels-sohn wrote a melody called Carol, and that tune has become the one Americans associate with this song. In the United Kingdom, however, the song is sung to a tune called Noel, adapted in 1874 from an English melody. If youve never heard

that version, you owe it to yourself to find it on YouTube.

Thus, a Christmas carol that doesnt even mention the birth of Christ has now become an international anthem of peace, even if there are two different ways of singing it.

Silent Night

In 1816, a young German priest named Father Joseph Mohr wrote a poem called Stille Nacht. Two years later, Mohr approached a schoolmaster and organ-ist named Franz Xaver Gruber to write a melody for it. The result is what has been anglicized into the carol Silent Night.

The song was first performed Christmas Eve, 1818, at St. Nicholas parish church in what is now the town Oberndorf bei Salzburg in Austria. In 1859, an English translation was published by an Episco-

pal priest named John Free-man Young, who was serving Trinity Church in New York City. That published work changed Grubers original melody from a sprightly, danceable tune in 6/8 time, to the slow lullaby that we know today.

Gruber originally wrote the melody for guitar, which was unusual for the time. In the 1930s, a book printed in the United States told a false story that a guitar was used because the organ at the St. Nicholas church wasnt working due to mice eat-ing away at its bellows. But

it is true that an organ builder, sent to do maintenance on the organ, obtained a copy of the carol and took it to other towns.

It became very popular when a troupe of folk singers performed the carol with a few altered lyrics - across Europe. In 1839, the song was first performed in America. Today, 197 years after it was first per-formed, the song remains one of the most popular carols of the season.

Twelve Days of Christmas

This carol is beloved by many because it is so fun to sing, and because of the impressive pile of presents that appear by the end of the song.

While the true love of the song may be overly enthusiastic in the gift giving, there really are a 12 days of Christmas - running from December 25 and the celebration of the Nativity, to January 5, marking the eve of the Epiphany. Tradi-tionally, celebrants of this Twelvetide have given gifts representing a wish for a corresponding month of the New Year.

However, despite a popular belief that the song has a religious connotation, theres really no evidence of that. The carol has

its roots in 18th Century England, where children sang it as a memory-and-forfeit game. The singers had to remember all the previous verses and add a new verse at the end. If you couldnt remember a verse, you had to pay a forfeit, usually in the form of a kiss, or a piece of candy given to the other singers.

In short, its all about the gifts. Each year, PNC Wealth Management of New York publishes the cost of all the items mentioned in the song, based on current


trends of inflation and wages (maids-a-milking, for example, are reckoned to earn minimum wage.) In 2014, the True Love of the song would have to fork out a total of $116,273 for all 364 gifts that would accrue by the last verse.

O Holy Night

This song terrifies most soloists because of the formidable and notorious high note toward the end. And while it carries a strong Christian message, this carol has a decidedly secular pedigree.

It was composed in 1847 to accompany a French poem called Minuet, Chrtiens (Midnight, Christians) that was written by a wine merchant and poet named Placide Cappeau a self-professed anticleric and atheist. As if that werent enough, the composer of the melody, Adolphe Adam, was of Jewish ancestry, and likely didnt celebrate Christmas at all.

The story goes that the parish priest of Roquemaure, the French town in which Cappeau lived, asked Cappeau to write a poem to celebrate the renovation of the church organ. He did so, basing the text on the second chapter of Luke. Cappeau commissioned Adam to write the melody,

and the song was performed at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. The song, known as Cantique de Noel, became very popular until the heads of the Church, learning of its origins, deemed it unfit for church services. The French people kept singing it anyway.

It came to the United States in 1855 by John Sullivan Dwight, a Unitarian min-ister and Transcendentalist, who trans-lated the song from French to English. Since Unitarians reject the doctrine of the Trinity, some Evangelical churches of today might have their own problems with the song.

Immune to doctrinal conflicts, the song is beloved by people worldwide and is sung at many churches every year by soloists who usually meet the challenge of that high note at the end.

The First Noel

This song first appeared in a collection of carols published in 1823, but it is far older than that possibly as early as the 1600s. You might think it has a French origin, since the word Noel in the title is French for Christmas, but the actual title of the song is "The First Nowell," an old English version of the French "Noel." Somehow it got switched back to the French. No one knows how.

And no one knows who wrote the origi-nal carol. The version we know had its origins without music in an 1823 collection published by Davies Gilbert, a member of Parliament who was keen on preserving traditional carols known around his native Cornwall. In 1833, Wil-

liam Sandys republished the work, but this time with a tune he said was a tradi-tional English melody.

Sandys collection, Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern, became the primary source for many of the English traditional songs we sing during the Holidays.

With its six verses, the carol combines the shepherd story told in the second chap-ter of Luke with the Star of Bethlehem described in the Gospel of Matthew, to create a scene unknown in the Bible: that of shepherds seeing the same star as the Magi.

O Come All Ye Faithful

Originally written in Latin as Adeste Fideles, this song has a particularly murky history, with attributions to vari-ous authors and an alleged tie to a politi-cal revolution.

The earliest copies of the hymn bear the signature of John Francis Wade (1711-1786), who fled to France in 1745, after Charles Edward Stuart (a.k.a. Bonnie Prince Charlie) failed in his attempt to stage a revolution and restore the House of Stuart. Some scholars claim the song is full of code words referring to the would-be king, each of which would be decipher-able by the faithful, that is, loyal Jaco-bites. But Wade is not known to be the actual author, so this is just speculation.

Whatever the truth is, an English transla-tion of the hymn was published in 1841 by an English Catholic priest named Freder-ick Oakeley, who also extended the origi-nal four verses to eight, most of which are usually omitted during performances, par-ticularly the eighth, which is only meant


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to be sung on the Epiphany.

The melody that accompanies the song is usually attributed to Samuel Webbe and dates to 1782, but it has evolved over the years with improved harmoni-zation.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Heres another example of a song tradi-tionally associated with Christmas, but which has nothing to do with the Nativity of Jesus.

Instead, this song has to do with an old English tradition in which wealthy people gave treats to carolers on Christmas Eve, including the figgy pudding mentioned in the song. Pudding, by the way, is nothing like what we call pudding in the South; in the English sense, pudding, is

just another word for dessert, and Christ-mas puddings are a cake-like dessert with lots of fruit and a kick of alcohol.

There is a reason why carolers might expect a treat for their singing: caroling was actually banned twice in English his-tory, once in the Middle Ages, and again after the English Civil War. Fortunately, people in villages were willing to risk the wrath of authorities and kept the old traditions alive by going door-to-door at Christmastime.

No one knows much of the history of the song; it does not appear in published col-lections of traditional Christmas hymns, such as that by the aforementioned Wil-liam Sandys. Yet, it is found in many mod-ern collections, starting with an arrange-ment published in 1935 under the title A Merry Christmas.

Joy to the World

This is another carol that does not men-tion shepherds, mangers, wise men or anything else associated with the Christ-mas story. Instead, its meaning is rooted in the second half of Psalm 98 (make a joyful noise), as the hymn was written in 1719 for a book by Isaac Watts wwith a very long title, the first four words of which are: The Psalms of David.

Watts was writing a hymn celebrating the return of Jesus, not his arrival. Back in his day, congregational singing was limited to the Old Testament songs in poetic form, but Watts was determined to liven things up a bit and began writing hymns in imi-tation of the Psalms, so this hymn, calling upon the nations of the world to celebrate the arrival of a source of salvation, was written in imitation of Psalm 98.

In 1839, an American leader in church music named Lowell Mason adapted a mel-ody from George Frederick Handels Mes-siah to Watts original lyrics. The name of the melody, incidentally, is Antioch.

It has since become one of the most pub-lished Christmas hymns in North Ameri-ca. WGL

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ofThe

I llustration by Ken Denney

B uy local, eat local, right? Well, lets assume youve shopped at a few local businesses, or the many farmers mar-kets in west Georgia and gathered up the best ingredients possible: maybe braised, local beef short ribs with seared butternut squash, and some of the last fall greens.

So why next go out and buy a Napa Valley cabernet to serve with that locally-grown meal?

Whether you are planning a holiday or every day meal, keep in mind that our area pro-duces some of the best wines in the country.

It may be hard to believe, but in the mid to late 19th Century, west Georgia and east Alabama were one of the largest grape-producing regions in the United States. That is, of course, until Prohibition first on the state level, then with the 21st Amendment shut down the regions vineyards and the economic engine they powered.

Then, in 1992, a pharmaceutical entrepre-neur named Don Panoz traveled to one of his research laboratories near Gainesville, Ga., and tried one of the many types of mus-cadine wine familiar to the region. He asked why more prevalent wine grapes werent being grown in those parts and he was told it cant be done.

Fortunately, he didnt believe that was true. He purchased a large tract of land near Bra-selton, and opened Chateau Elan, in the pro-cess setting in motion the future of Georgia wine making. Since then, not only have some of the most popular wine grape varietals been grown in our area, but also some very unique and interesting new grapes, bred especially for the high heat and humidity of the South.

Not only has this introduced a new sector in Georgias economy, it has also encouraged Georgians to expand their taste palates and appreciation for all our locally produced wines. Even the venerable muscadine wine has has found a new level of respect among those who enjoy local wines with local foods.

So lets get to know the grapes - and wines -

of our west Georgia region:

Lenior

When the Huguenots emigrated from France to settle in the Low Country near Savannah and Charleston, S.C., they brought European grapes with them to begin community vine-yards. At some point, either by intent or by accident, those grapes crossed with a native variety known as the summer grape (Vitis aestivalis), and the result was a new cultivar with a nearly black skin. In fact, its often known as the Black Spanish grape, along with many other names. It has proven to resist many diseases and to flourish in hotter climates, making it a great Southern wine grape.

Lenoir tends to be an Off Dry wine that works very well with our local cuisine that is, it goes very well with barbecue and smoked or grilled meats, especially those with a sweeter sauce or glaze. It also lends itself to light cheeses or darker fruits and fruit jams. Lenoir is also a great wine for heavier, oilier fish, such as salmon or smoked bluefin tuna. Lenoir is best served just below room temperature.

Norton

This particular cultivar was introduced in Richmond by Dr. Daniel Norton in the early 1800s, and its lineage seems to have almost as much mystery as does the Lenoir.

Its said that this breed is a cross between the aforementioned domestic summer grape


STORY BY ROB DUVPHOTOS BY RICKY STILLEY

Add Some Local

Flavor to Your

HolidayFeast

In the mid to late 19th Century, west Georgia and east Alabama were one of the largest grape-producing regions in the United States.


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and a now-extinct variety known as Bland but, because it is extinct, this is now impossible to prove. Norton grapes flourish in the Napa wine region of California, but do equally well in the Mid-Atlantic states, the Southeast, and the Midwest. It is the state grape of Missouri and won a very pres-tigious medal in Vienna in 1873. And this variety does exceptionally well in northeast Georgia.

Norton is the quintessential dry red wine and pairs with any foods that would comple-ment most dry reds. Its fantastic with rare and medium rare beef, venison, duck, as well as other game animals. It also pairs very nicely with aged cheeses such as grana and Asiago, but is also a natural alongside bleu, Gorgonzola, and Roquefort cheeses. Norton wines also work very well with sweets of a dark chocolate origin. Like the Lenoir, it is best served just a touch below room temperature.

Blanc du Bois

Created in 1968 and released in 1987, Jona-than Mortensen of the University of Florida

began crossing several varieties of white grapes with native Florida grapes to produce a cultivar that is both a strong wine producer, and highly resistant to the insects and diseases that have been known to wipe out entire vine-yards in the Southeast.

Upon its release, Blanc du Bois quickly became a favorite of wine growers across the South-east. It does well in several types of soil, and, where it doesnt do well, it can be grafted to roots of other varieties which do.

Although I was never a fan of dry white wines, this one got my attention. The first time I experienced Blanc du Bois was alongside ver-micelli with a crab and white wine sauce, and it fit perfectly. It also works very well with chicken that is roasted with aromatic season-ings and spices such as a garam masala roast-ed chicken (a spicy Indian dish.) Its seafood pairings are wide and varied, such as cream-based New Orleans style barbecue shrimp, or steamed crab done in the Baltimore style as well as being very present next to a savory fondue or a sweet, white chocolate fondue. Its versatility also makes it a nice aperitif with baked brie and fruit, and as a digestif when paired with crme brle. Blanc du Bois wines

are best when served chilled to around 50-55 degrees.

We are seeing farmers markets and all-natural food stores popping up all around our area. They are gaining popularity simply because they are produced by people who care about what goes on the table, and because chefs in our area are beginning to demand something better than the average food.

Chefs and home cooks alike are starting to present dishes that represent the area and its culinary heritage. Their meals, whether for special or ordinary occasions, harken back to our grandparents day, when some of the best cuisine that could be had was on their table, every day. The same is true for our local wine producers and the labels they offer.

Prohibition is long past. Not only are the ven-tures of our new vineyards great for our local economy, we owe it to ourselves and this region's culinary heritage to experience and enjoy local wines alongside the local foods we are serving. WGL


FOOD

To my way of thinking, there are some holiday traditions that should be preserved and there are those that need to be created. When it comes to Thanks-giving and Christmas, theres a good reason why.

Not long after I moved to Geor-gia, I met the woman who would become my wife and she decid-ed to take me home to meet her family in New Orleans.

This was just a few short months after Katrina had hit, and I arrived to find a city that was nearly destroyed, but whose inhabitants were just rolling with the punches. I also found foods that I had never heard of before.

Sure, I had a love of Cajun and Cre-ole cuisine long before I got there, but the dishes that I found in New Orleans were light years away from the green bean casserole that I was used to. It was at that moment that I decided that the holidays would never be the same again, and I was bound and determined to come up with new recipes that would make lasting, new tradi-tions.

Boudin Stuffing

Boudin isnt something youre going to come across very easily. In the Cajun tradition of not throwing anything away, this is a spiced pork sausage that usually uses pork liver and rice as fillers and as binders. Although its not for everyone, the flavor is something that should be tried at least once and, as an ingredient, can lend a truly unique flavor to many dishes.

1 pound Boudin sausage4 cups dried bread chunks1 cups diced yellow onion1 cups diced celery2 cloves garlic, very finely diced1 cup diced green pepper1 cup Italian bread crumbs very finely chopped tasso (spiced, smoked ham)

cup vegetable stock cup ham stock cup shredded Manchego cheese 2 eggsSea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, saut

onions, celery, green peppers over medium high heat until just lightly browned around the edges. Add garlic and saut for an additional minute. Remove the Boudin from its casings, add to aromatics and saut until the sausage begins to brown just a bit. Make sure to keep stirring this as it may stick. Add tasso and set aside to cool slightly.

In a large mixing bowl, add remaining ingredients and combine, making sure the bread absorbs all of the liquid. Be patient, as this might take a minute or two. If there is too much liquid and the mixture is a little loose, add additional bread crumbs to tighten it up but not so much that the stuffing will be dry. When all of the liquid is absorbed, add the sauted sausage mlange and mix thoroughly. Place mixture in a slightly buttered, oven safe mixing bowl and top with Manchego cheese. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until stuffing is set and the cheese is lightly browned.

If you would like to make the stuffing a bit more Southern Traditional, replace 2 cups of breadcrumbs with 2 cups of crumbled cornbread.

Cranberry Crabapple Coulis

Coulis is a simple sauce that can be made with many fruits or vegetables, and is a very

'Tis the Season for Cajun seasonings

Rob Duv

Turkey with Boudin stuffing and cranberry cranapple coulis


easy add-on to many dishes. Its also a natu-ral replacement for traditional cranberry sauce.

1 cup dry white wine (such as Chardonnay or Blanc du Bois)1 cup natural cane sugar1 pint fresh cranberries2 cups diced crab apple teaspoon vanilla extractPinch of sea salt to taste

In a medium sauce pan, bring wine to a simmer over medium heat and reduce by one quarter, or just enough to boil away the wine flavor. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries and crab apple begins to break down. Remove from heat and let stand for just a minute. Using either an immersion blender or food processor, puree mixture until very fine and strain through a medium sieve. Serve either hot or chilled.

Looking at the above ingredients, its easy to see that this recipe can be made to suit the tastes of nearly anyone. Replace the cranberries and crab apple with blackberries and the white wine for red and you have a great topping for duck or goose, which was once a very popular holiday meat. This is a recipe that very much encourages you to play with your food and tinker with

whichever flavors you desire.

Scalloped Oysters

This is a classic Low Country holiday recipe that harkens back to the day when oysters were plentiful, easy to get, and found their way into nearly holiday dish.

1 quart shucked oysters, with their liquor (this is about 10 cans of pasteurized oysters)2 cups coarsely crushed, whole grain water crackers1 cup standard bread crumbs cups melted butter1 cup heavy cream cup parmesan cheese teaspoon nutmeg teaspoon celery saltPinch of fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix crackers, bread crumbs, and butter until thoroughly blended. Using about one third of the bread crumb mixture, make a layer in the bottom of a 13 X 9 baking dish. Place about half the oysters over this as their own layer. Season the cream with nutmeg, celery salt, and pepper, then pour half over the layer of oysters and top with half of the parmesan cheese. Create another layer of breadcrumbs, oysters and cream, then top with remaining breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese.

Im not sure how it goes at your house when the holidays come, but at mine, there is usu-ally a little stress trying to get things done and timed out just right so that everything comes together just when its needed. However, if at all possible, try to make sure that you have just a little bit of time to Play with Your Food. The recipes that Ive pre-sented here are meant to be tried and test-ed, and then broken down, changed, and altered to fit your tastes and to try to Wow the people you are serving.

When the holidays come, there is no better time to try to create new traditions to go alongside those that your family loves.

And, as always, Happy Holidays and

Enjoy!

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Heart AttackWhen heart attack symptoms start, call 911 its the fastest way to get to a hospital, like Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton or Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica that can relieve the symptoms and save heart tissue.

Tanner HealTH SySTem

Heart attacks occur when the flow of oxy-gen- rich blood to the heart is blocked, often by a build-up of a fatty substance in the arteries called plaque.

Warning Signs of a Heart AttackChest pain is a major symptom of a heart attack. However, some people may have little or no chest pain, especially the elderly and those with diabetes. This is called a silent heart attack.

The pain may be felt in only one part of the body, or move from your chest to your arms, shoulder, neck, teeth, jaw, stomach area or back.

The pain can be severe or mild. It can feel like:

Squeezing or heavy pressure A tight band around the chest Something heavy sitting on your chest Bad indigestion

Other symptoms of a heart attack include:

Shortness of breath Nausea or vomiting Anxiety Cough Fainting Lightheadedness or dizziness Palpitations (feeling like your heart is beating too fast) Sweating, which may be extreme

Several other conditions also cause chest pain that can feel like a heart attack:

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Referred to as chronic heartburn, GERD accounts for most non-heart-related chest pain. This burning chest pain tends to occur after meals and is often relieved with antacids.

Panic attacks. These usually last a few seconds to a few minutes. Besides chest pain, sufferers report shortness of breath, dizziness and a fear of dying. Extreme anxiety can trigger a panic attack, as can excessive caffeine.

Angina. The pain from this condition feels like pressure or squeezing. Angina chest pain can result from physical effort, stress, temperature extremes or a heavy meal.

What Affects Your SymptomsStudies show that certain groups are less likely to experience chest pain with a heart attack. These include women, non-Caucasians of either gender, or people who have had a stroke. Patients who are age 75 or older, or who have nerve damage caused by diabetes, may not be able to sense pain well and may not be aware of any chest dis-comfort during a heart attack. In addition, people who experienced chest pain with a previous heart attack may not have it the next time.

Unfortunately, many people are not as familiar with other heart attack warning signs, so they may delay getting to a hospital or dont go at all because they think that their symp-toms arent serious.

Newer medications and procedures such as angioplasty and stenting are highly effective in treating a heart attack, but they must be administered soon after symptoms begin.

Know What to DoThe most important response to the symptoms of a heart attack is to seek help right away. The longer you wait, the more damage is done to the tissue that comprises the heart.

The first step is to call for help. Dial 911 and tell the dispatcher that you think you, or someone near you is having a heart attack. The paramed-ics on the responding ambulance will be able to provide possibly lifesaving care en route to the hospital.

The 24-hour emergency departments at Tan-ner Medical Center/Carrollton and Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica are equipped with technology that allows them to receive the results of an electrocardiogram (ECG) taken aboard the ambulance while its on its way to the hospital. A board-certified emergen-cy physician can interpret the ECG and call a heart alert, having a heart care team on standby and expediting care when the patient arrives.

Learn more about cardiac care at Tanner at TannerHeartCare.org.

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F or women and men alike, one of the hardest parts of the holiday season is avoiding putting on any extra weight. Thats easier said than done, because the added stress from parties and events can actually cause weight gain.

The last thing weight-conscious people want to do is throw the rest of the year out the window with one holiday season. Health Magazine thinks everyone should weigh themselves twice a week but nobody enjoys hopping on a scale. So, how does someone protect their weight when theres a delicious meal or dessert at every turn, and when stress levels are so high?

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have noted that most holiday weight gain is never lost. So the best strat-egy is simply to never be hungry when you arrive at an event. Its better to have a hearty snack, like mixed nuts, before you arrive at the office party (or grandmas house) so that you are less likely to binge on the pecan pie or honey ham. If its your event, try your hardest not to cook while hungry, because youre more likely to taste and snack before the guests even show up.

While at the party, though, be sure to drink lots of water between cocktails. Water helps you feel full and might help

prevent overeating. Womens Day maga-zine also recommends trying a smaller serving of eggnog, champagne, or other drink of choice so that you take in less calories through drinking. This works well if you have good willpower.

Chew slowly. This way, you can try to trick your brain as your stomach catches up. On WebMD, dietician Susan Finn notes that you should put your fork down between every bite, because it puts you in con-trol. She also recommends using distrac-tions, like conversations with friends and family or even dancing to help divert your attention away from the food. With this strategy, you can enjoy the sole pur-pose of the holidays: spending time with loved ones.

Also try eating what is deemed healthy

first and then going back for other stuff if youre still hungry. Food opportunities are endless at social gatherings, especial-ly when it comes to buffets. But as Chris Freytag writes in Prevention magazine, keeping nourished with healthy food helps avoid those excess sugar highs and energy lows that can make you tired and depressed.

Only eat what you know youll like. That sounds easy enough, but it can be hard to accomplish at family dinners, where you may feel an obligation to have Aunt Junes greasy (and just awful) holiday casserole. Put some on your plate if she insists, but discretely throw it away afterwards. The holidays should not be spent on eating food you dont like.

Some specialists would advise you to limit your plate to one layer of food and avoid the temptation to stack our dishes high during the holidays. This is one other way to allow yourself to be picky about what youre about to put in your body.

Preparing for parties and then worrying about what your weight is no way to have fun. This season is all about enjoying your-self and the time you spend with family and friends. Keep these tips in mind and then feel free to celebrate! WGL


(And More Importantly . . . How to Avoid It)

TAYLOR BOLTZ

WEBSITE HELP:For more information, search for articles on

these websites:Health.com

Prevention.comWomansday.comWebMD.com

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Weight Gain

The Dreaded Holiday

hether for girls, or for boys or for both toys have changed with each genera-tion of children.

In the 1950s and early 60s, boys dressed up as cowboys and carried around cap

pistols and rifles. When is the last time youve ever seen that happen? And while girls have always carried around baby dolls, most do so now while dreaming of being both a mother and a career woman. The 1960s, inspired by James Bond and the Batman TV series, introduced toys that were all about escapism. The 1970s brought us electronic toys although primitive by todays standard of gizmos.

Changing times, changing culture, changing technology; all are factors in how toy fads come and go. Each February, at the American International Toy Fair, hundreds of manufac-

turers display what their market research tells them will be the hottest toys of the coming year. Each of those companies are fighting for the $23 billion that will be spent on toys by parents, grandparents, uncles and older siblings.

Yet all of that effort depends on what kids decide they want to play with. All that marketing and all those resources all come down to whether the kid would rather play with the toy or with the box that it came in.

Some toys, however, defy the transitory fads. There are some toys that were made 50, 40 or even 30 years ago that still are in demand today. They may have changed with the times updated looks, different packaging but at their core, some of the toys your children play with today are pretty much the same as those that you had when you were a child.

STORY BY KEN DENNEYPHOTOS BY RICKY STILLEY

Right, Colorforms playsets from across the decades. In front is the Batman Car-toon Kit, produced in 1966 as a tie-in to the then current Batman TV series. Also shown is the Lone Ranger set (1966), Bozo the Clown (1963), Superman (1964) and Mary Poppins (1965).


Toys That Stand

In the early 1950s, two married art stu-dents named Harry and Patricia Kislevitz discovered that thin strips of vinyl would stick loosely to the semi-gloss paint of the bathroom of their Manhattan apartment. They found the vinyl could be removed and repositioned with no damage to either the material or the surface. The Kislev-itzes and their friends had fun cutting out different shapes and sticking them to the wall and it turned out that kids liked it even better than adults.

This happy discovery became Colorforms, which appeared on toy store shelves in 1951. With no electronic, flashing lights and no complex instructions, this simple toy has been entertaining children for 64 years.

At first, the toy con-sisted of a series of multicolor, geometric shapes, much like what the Kislevitzes and their friends had played with and where the name of the product comes from. But in 1957, the company began using licensed

characters familiar to children.

Starting with Popeye and moving on to other childhood favorites like Superman, Bozo the Clown and the 1966 version of Batman a whole new dimension was added to the toy. Now, kids could place the bodies of their favorite comic charac-ters against a no-stick backdrop, then add differently posed arms and legs to act out stories of their own imagination.

More than 1 billion Colorforms playsets have been sold since its introduction and the company shows no sign of slowing down. They currently have more than 70 different products in distribution.

COLORFORMS

All toys courtesy of Full Circle Toys, Newnan, Ga.

W

People have been viewing stereoscopic images since the time of the Civil War, when mili-tary engineers first began using what we today call 3-D photography to study enemy mili-tary fortifications. After the war, and well into the 20th Century, people used to enjoy sit-ting in their parlors, peering through stereoscopes at photos from exotic places all over the world; the 3-D effect made it seem as if they were actually there.

Just after World War I, there was a pharmacist in Portland, Ore., named Edwin Eugene Mayer. Drug stores at the time often offered a photo-finishing service, and in 1919 Mayer bought an interest in the Sawyer Photo Finishing Service. As the business grew, he began taking on partners, one of whom was a major producer of scenic postcards.

But when the companys leaders met William Gruber, an avid photographer, they came up with a brainstorm. Gruber had been working on an update of the old stereoscopes of the 19th Century, making use of a new, cheap color film called Kodachrome. By placing color slides into a small, binocular viewer and aiming it at a light source, viewers could enjoy their grandparents experience of seeing the worlds wonders right where they lived.

Since 1939, the View-Master system now owned by Mattel has allowed people to click through tours of many distant places at seven views per circular reel. Over the decades, the company has provided not only images of natural wonders and cities, but also fictional worlds, and even cartoon characters, into three-dimensional life.

Although most current View-Master reels are meant for children, the company continues to be innovative in immersive experiences. Earlier this year, Mattel announced a deal with Google to create a system that will allow people to view 3-D images using their smart-phones and an inexpensive cardboard viewer.

LITTLE PEOPLEIn 1930, Herman Fisher and his business partner Irving Price began a toy company that made pull toys from wood covered with lithographed paper. Their Fisher-Price com-pany of East Aurora, NY, was dedicated to making toys for preschool kids that met a five-point creed: intrinsic play value, inge-nuity, strong construction, good value and action.

In the early 1950s, the company introduced a toy firetruck that children could pull along behind them. On top of the firetruck was three round-headed firefighters, perma-nently mounted in place.

Nine years later, the company made the Safety School Bus. The vehicle had a smil-ing human face and contained the same kind of stumpy, round-headed characters but this time the figures were removable; shaped like pegs, children could move them around inside the toy vehicle. That was the birth of the Play Family line now known simply as Little People.

The Safety Bus, with its removable figures

and eyes at the front that rolled back and forth as it was pulled, proved a suc-cess. As it turned out, the remov-able fig-ures were the most popular part of the toy, and soon similar figures began to appear on a whole fleet of vehicles. The trend continues to this day, although the shape and size of the Little People have changed, due to the risk that the toys might spend more time inside a kids mouth than in his or her hands.

Today, there is a wide variety of Little People, representing all ethnicities. Yet the seven main figures who made up the origi-nal Play Family line remain: Mom, Dad, Pee Wee, Butch, Patty, Penny and a little dog everyone calls Lucky. Many modern sets are quite elaborate, and the figures still have the same peglike body.

From left, a Model E View-Master dating from 1956, a slide projector and two different Model G viewers, introduced in 1959. At cen-ter is a Tru-Vue viewing device, produced by a rival manufacturer that was purchased by View-Masters parent company. Also shown are four packages of reels, including one for the original series of Star Trek.

The world of Little People. First introduced in 1959, the Fisher-Price line of Little People have always been round-headed, peglike figures that kids could move around and use to act out stories. Still manufactured today, they appear in numer-ous playsets, including this jet airplane that features everyones favorite, Lucky the Dog.

the Test of Time

November/December2015 West Georgia Living 35

VIEW-MASTER

STAR WARS TOYSWhen the very first Star Wars film was released in May 1977, its spectacular box office success took almost everyone by surprise most particularly the one toy company that had grudgingly agreed to a merchandizing deal.

Producer George Lucas had been turned down by Mego Corporation, whose licensed dolls of DC superheroes and Star Trek characters had made them a giant in the field. Other toy-makers also turned down the concept, appar-ently convinced that Star Wars would be a flop. Kenner toys finally agreed, thinking it would be a good way to enter what was then a new toy market: a 3.75-inch figurine, instead of the standard 12-inch figure.

But Kenner had no toys ready when the movie premiered, leaving it totally unprepared for the massive, sudden demand for merchandise. So that they could catch the fleeting Christmas sales period, Kenner sold customers what, in essence, was an empty box. All it contained was a cardboard display of Star Wars char-acters and a certificate that kids could mail so that they could receive, in 1978, a set of four figures.

But that was a long, long time ago. Star Wars

toys have been a consistent top seller since they were first introduced 38 years ago. Each release of each new movie has been accompa-nied by a host of new droids, Jedi knights, Sith lords and all manner of alien life forms.

In December, a seventh Star Wars movie is

set to premier, and this time the merchan-dizers will be certainly be ready. In fact, the toys will act as a sort of prelude to the eagerly anticipated film, allowing kids and legions of adult followers to get their first glimpse of all the new characters before they hit the silver screen.

In 1964, an era of firmly defined gender roles, Hasbro of Pawtucket, R.I., decided that it wanted to make a doll for boys that was every bit as

popular as Barbie was with girls. To do so, however, they had to tackle the controversial idea of boys playing with dolls and did so by inventing the term action figure.

Their 12-inch G.I. Joe action figure (the name came from the 1945 war movie The Story of G.I. Joe) was a rugged, powerful fighting man with a scar on his face who car-ried a variety of weapons precise in every detail. In fact, designers for the company had borrowed actual weapons to create perfect, miniature reproductions. Joe was an imme-diate hit among boys, largely because many of their fathers had fought in World War II and Korea, and playing war was, for them, a common activity. Also, the Vietnam War was raging in their living rooms.

But it was that war that indirectly led to a decline in Joes popularity. As the war became more controversial, Hasbro retired him from the military and he became an adven-turer, whose equipment was meant more for exploring

than fighting. As the decline continued, Hasbro introduced in 1982 a new line of much smaller, 3.75-inch figures and

accompanied the rebranding with a cartoon TV series.

Today, Joe isnt quite as popular as he was in the 1960s, but he and his adven-turous pals are still on the job, fighting evil in its various forms, with lots of awesome firepower and cool battle machines.

Go Joe! A reproduction of the original 12-inch G.I. Joe (left) with a variety of other Joe-related items from the toys 51-year his-tory.


The Force is strong with Star Wars toys. An incredibly rare R5-D4 droid figure from the original line of Star Wars toys (left, front) is joined by other figures and play sets from across the decades, including a 12-inch Boba Fett from 1979 and a Lego mini-fig Imperial Stormtrooper astride a Tatooine dewback.

GI JOE

BARBIEIn the late 1950s, young girls played with paper dolls, on which the children could hang cutouts that represented the latest fashion trends. One day, Ruth Handler, wife of one of the co-founders of Mattel, was watching her daughter, Barbara, struggling with one of her paper dolls. The figure was flimsy and didnt stand upright; the cutout dress wouldnt stay put.

Why not, Handler thought, create a three-dimensional doll figure, and put real clothing on it? The clothes and other accessories could be exact miniatures of couture fashion and with that thought (and her daugh-ters name for inspiration) Barbie was born. Introduced in 1959 at the American Toy Fair, Barbie was the first teenage doll ever produced for children, and she caused a sensation.

In 1961, Barbie got herself a boyfriend Ken and over the years she has acquired a sister and a host of friends of all ethnicities, not to men-tion any number of dream houses, dream cars and every kind of playset a young girl could possibly want.

Barbies popularity and high visibility in the toy world has, over the years, made her the target of criticism. Her hourglass figure has espe-cially been censured. In a culture that causes young girls to be con-scious of their body image, Barbies figure has been thought to present girls with a highly idealized and impossible to attain body shape. Also, Barbies apparent fascination with style and glamor has been thought to deter girls from ambition into fields of business and the sci-ences.

But she has proved immune to all the criticism. Over the past 56 years, over a billion Barbies have been sold, and collectors avidly seek older models and older fashions. They also seek out special edition Barbies, especially those created every year for the holiday season.

Her face and body has altered over time, and she aspires to as many different career options as are open to any woman. As such, Barbie has become much more than a mannequin for children to play with, she has become a role model for young girls approaching adulthood. WGL

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKEThis cute, lovable figure and her many dessert-themed friends were the brainchild of Muriel Fahrion, a greeting card illustrator for American Greetings. Fahrion worked in the companys juvenile and humorous department, and in 1977 designed Strawberry Shortcake and her dog Custard. The character proved so popular, that Fahrion designed 32 other characters, all with a fruit or dessert-inspired name.

In 1979, Kenner Products purchased the license and began producing a line of dolls based on the characters. Girls across the country ate them up (sorry.) Each of the dolls had scents to match their name, and they all played in a magical world known as Strawberryland. As the fad spread throughout the 1980s, there were many related products introduced as well as TV specials.

But by 1985, the fad had faded. In 1991, a new company called Toy Headquarters (THQ) purchased the license and produced an updated line, featuring a revamped Straw-berry Shortcake and five of her classic friends, each with new clothes, hair and eyes.

In 2002, the franchise got another reboot, with new designs by a new designer. This time, the dolls were accompanied by a TV series and several new DVDs. When Bandai and Kel-lyToy received manufacturing rights for the line, the dolls and recordings were joined by a line of new videogames. Subsequent branding efforts went south, however, and now American Greetings has relaunched the line again, this time with Hasbro as the manufacturer.

The many changes in Strawberry and her pals over the years have left a bad taste in the mouths of many of her fans, but she is still a popular toy and still around after 38 years.

Barbie can do anything. An original Barbie from 1959 (far right) joins a 35th anniversary replica, both dressed in a zebra-striped swimsuit, as well as two other special edition Barbies. At far left is an original case for Barbie dolls and accessories.Welcome to the world of Strawberry Shortcake. An original

(1979) Strawberry Shortcake doll (front) is shown with her friends, Huckleberry Pie (left) and Apple Dumplin (right), along with accessories.


38 West Georgia Living November/December2015

[email protected]

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July/August 2015 West Georgia Living 39

West Georgia

V Li ing2015

Holiday Gift GuideThe merchants of Carroll, Douglas and Haralson counties have everything you need for a memorable Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday. So why fight the crowds in metro Atlanta? Stay home, shop

local, and make the people in your life happy with these terrific gift ideas.

40 West Georgia Living November/December 20155 West Georgia Living September/October 2014

Sailor knot earrings

Made exclusively by Kate Spade of New York

Smith's Jewelry Store$36

Cashere long-sleeved tee

Elegant warmth in many colors

Smith's Department Store$138

HOBO Venice bag

Part of our exclusive selec-tion.


Marc Jacobs watch

Smart, elegant and a classic design


Inspirational coffee mug

Start the day off right with a positive thought

Smith's Department Store$17.95

Tom Ford lipstick

Sophisticated colors for business or casual events


Gifts for

2015 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

WOMEN

108 MONTGOMERY STVILLA RICA, GA 30180

770-456-7190

Sassy Ladies

RY STNTGOMER30180RICA, GAA 300-456-71990

diessy Lad

108 MOONVILLA R

7770

Sass

420 Rockmart Rd. Villa Rica, GA 30180

770-459-4625

Joyces Florist

Willis Jewelry Co203 Adamson Sq Carrollton

678-664-0307

Diamonds Stud Earrings On Sale NOW!

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Carrollton770-832-8268

Villa Rica770-459-3060

Bowdon770-258-0198

EMPIRE JEWELERS3/4 ct. center stone over 1 ct. total wt.

901 S. Carroll Rd. #B Villa Rica, Ga. 30180678-391-8800

Starting at $1,499

995 Maple St. Carrollton, GA(770) 832-9673

Westover Square Shopping Center

www.shopsquireshop.com

November/December 2015 West Georgia Living 414 West Georgia Living September/October 2014

Gifts for


MEN

995 Maple Street Carrollton, GA(770) 832-9673

Westover Square Shopping Centerwww.shopsquireshop.com

FULL LINE OF

NEW & USED BIKES

ADAM ALVORD

415 B BRADLEY ST. CARROLLTON , GA 30117(678)476-4974

7500 Monticello Drive Villa Rica, Georgia 30180

Phone 770.836.1112 Ext. 6 Pro Offi ce Ext. 1 - Tee Time

Fax 770.832.3513Email 3mooney@fairfi eldpoa.org

Free Basket of balls with paid round of Golf.

Offer Expires 10/31/15

Lake CarrollLawn Equipment

1111 Bankhead HwyCarrollton, GA 30117Phone: 770-832-7705

Chainsaws Blowers

Trimmers Edgers

Chainsaws starting at $17900

1, 2, 3, and 4 Car Garages Available

Starting at $9,995.00Superior Structures3982 Carrollton Villa Rica Hwy,

Carrollton, GA 30116

(770) 832-9939

2 West Georgia Living September/October 2014

Diamond Engagement Ring in 14k White Gold

3/4 carat t.w.

Smith's Jewelry Store$1,299

Belle de Mer Akoya cultured pearl strand

Basic pearls for everyday fancy occasions

Jones Jewelry Store$250

Men's Diamond Ring

1/2 carat t.w. ring in 10k gold

Williams Jewelry Store$17.95

Nevermore Perfume

An intoxicating fragrance imported from France

Smith's Jewelry Store$115

Ruby Royale ring by EFFY

Elegant rubies amid dia-monds set in 14k gold.

Jones Jewelry Store$1,845.99

Wrapped in Love diamond set

Sterling silver diamond ear-ring

Williams Jewelry Store$250.00

Gifts for


ROMANCE


Introducing the

Starting at

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Downtown TallapoosaSince 1947

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Shimmering center Diamond moves to the beat of her heart.

McGees BakeryA Sweet Experience

310 Longview StreetCarrollton, GA 30117

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1670 Hwy. 27 South, Suite 700Carrollton, GA 30117

www.endlesssummertanningstudio.netPhone: 770-834-7702

GIFT CARDS AVAILABLEOwner, Diane Rogers

211 MAIN ST. VILLA RICA , GA(678) 941-3699

CUSTOM GIFT BASKETS AVAILABLE STARTING AT $25

Gold Nuggett Pawn Shop

G201 Newnan RoadCarrollton Ga. 30117

770-834-8868

Come see us for all your jewelry needs!!

3876 US Hwy 27 Bremen, Ga. 30110770-824-5992

C & G Jewelry& Engraving

INSPIRE MEMORIES

8 West Georgia Living September/October 2014

Happy Socks

A fashion statement for your feet


Card and Coin Wallet

Just what you need where you can find it


Clear-Sky Umbrella

When it's raining you can look up to a clear blue sky


Watersense Chrome Showerhead

Five different settings for the best shower ever


Connoisseur Wine Opener

A compact way to open your finest wines


iBoost backup battery

Never again fear running low on phone power


Gifts for


UNDER $50


Beautiful Gift Baskets

Andersons Florist Inc.

502 Dixie StreetCarrolton GA. 30117770-834-7673 (ROSE)

andersonsfl [email protected]

Since 1947

Each week we offer this great special. One dozen wrapped roses for $15

or one dozen roses arranged in a vase for $29.99

Let us make anyones day with beautiful roses in a variety of colors.

COUNTRY GARDENS & GIFTS

3118 BUSINESS 27BUCHANAN, GA770-646-3131

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west georgia living nov-dec 2015

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