As we begin our journey into the New Year, I don’t know if these exactly qualify as “Resolutions” per se, so let’s just call them “Things To Do.” Regardless of what we label the top of the page, they are a nice way to go about one’s life with family and the world in general.
“This year, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again.” ~ Howard W. Hunter
Wishing everyone the very best Peace, Love, Health and Happiness in the New Year! — Jim ( and Red!)
If you spend the coming year as if it were the very First Year in your life – opening your Mind to be Grateful, Aware and Alert to all of life’s Awe, Beauty, Wonders and Miracles;
and as if it were to be the very Last Year in your life – opening your Heart to all of life’s Kindness, Love, Compassion and Blessings;
and then letting them flow thru you to everyone that you meet and to everything around you — to be blessed by your Smile, by your Touch, and by your Presence;
then you will have spent the coming year quite well — and it will truly be a very good year.
This was adapted for the new year from my “Wishing You A Very Good Day” entry in the ‘About the Blog’ section, inspired by a message from Brother David Steindl-Rast.
Wishing you and your loved ones all the very best of health, happiness and prosperity in the coming year! — Jim (and Red!)
If you were to pause for a moment, close your eyes, and then conjure up the vision of Santa Claus in your mind — what would he look like?
Chances are he would be rather large, plump and portly in shape, dressed in a red outfit with white fur trim and a wide black belt, wearing boots, have a long white beard and of jolly disposition. Am I close?
If so, thank the artist and illustrator Haddon Sundblom (‘Sund-bloom’). Haddon Sundblom is regarded as the Father of Modern Christmas by many, and was instrumental in defining the mental image of Santa Claus for my generation and for generations to come.
Haddon “Sunny” Sundblom (1899 – 1976) was a Michigan-born American illustrator and artist of Finnish and Swedish descent, best known for the images of Santa Claus which he created for The Coca-Cola Company. Previously, Santa Claus had been portrayed in sundry ways, from a spooky-looking little elf to a tall thin man, and wearing anything from Bishop’s robes to animal skins. Coca-Cola sought a more realistic and symbolic image for Santa Claus.
Beginning to place advertisements in popular magazines, in 1931 Coca-Cola commissioned Sundblom to develop advertising images using Santa Claus — showing Santa himself, not a man dressed as Santa.
For inspiration, Sundblom turned to Clement Clark Moore’s 1822 poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas”, or as more commonly known — “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”. Moore’s descriptions led Sundblom to create an image of a more warm, friendly, pleasantly plump and human Santa Claus, using neighbor friend Lou Prentiss, a retired salesman, as his model. Children in the paintings were two little girls who were neighbors as well, although he decided to paint one as a boy to appeal to both girls and boys.
The first Coca-Cola advertisement with the new Sundblom Santa appeared in “The Saturday Evening Post” in 1931, along with “Ladies Home Journal”, “The New Yorker”, “National Geographic”, and others.
From 1931 to 1964, Sundblom’s creations for Coca-Cola had Santa Claus pictured as doing everything from delivering toys (and playing with them!), pausing to read letters, visiting with children who had waited up to meet him on Christmas Eve, raiding the refrigerators of several homes, warming his feet by the fire, and other activities — always with a bottle of Coke in hand or nearby. The Sundblom Santa became so popular that the images spread from print ads on to billboards, posters, calendars, plush dolls and more.
Haddon Sundblom created his final Santa image for Coca-Cola in 1964, incorporating the neighborhood florist’s grey poodle, painted black to stand out more in the image. The company continued to use the popular Santa image for several more decades. Various items bearing the Sundblom Santa image are popular collectibles to this day.
In 2001, Haddon Sundblom’s Santa Claus was creatively brought to life in a Coca-Cola ad video tribute, animated by the Academy Award-winning animator Alexandre Petrov.
So the next time you envision Santa Claus and maybe even have a simultaneous unexplained craving for a Coca-Cola, please give a wink and nod to the artist Haddon Sundblom. He was instrumental in defining the image of Santa Claus for us all.
Wishing the very best of the holiday season to everyone!
If you have not yet checked out our Christmas Holiday Story featuring Little Red Bear, Cinnamon Charlie and their friends, “Pine Holler Christmas” is available now on Amazon!
Wonder how Haddon Sundblom might have drawn Little Red Bear? Thanks as always for visiting. — Jim (and Red!)
Only One Week To Go Before Someone Wins a $500 Amazon Gift Card!
The Special Kid Lit Community $500 Giveaway is still open if you have not had the opportunity to register and participate yet. The giveaway is sponsored by a wonderful group of talented kid lit authors working hard to promote children’s literacy.
The Giveaway closes on December 15th and we all know how time seems to speed up as we get closer and closer to the holidays. Don’t put it off, register today. Someone is going to win $500 to help with Christmas bills and goodies. Why not you?
Find a list of actions that earn giveaway pointsto increase your chance of winning the final grand-prize of $500.00. Actions include visiting an author Facebook page (we hope you’ll ‘LIKE’ it too!) or following an author on Twitter.
You can decide which actions to take and how many. Enter just one or complete all of them at one sitting if you like. You can even enter a few actions daily, and then return at another future time to add more. It’s all up to you.
Rafflecopter keeps track of your entries and tallies them. Be sure to use the same log-in each time to access the giveaway action list.
Rafflecopter randomly selects and notifies the winner at the end of the event.
Enter HERE to get started! Remember, the more actions completed the better your chances of winning. Little Red Bear and I strongly encourage you to enter and support this dedicated group of kid lit authors working so hard to promote children’s literacy and learning.
“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.”
— Emilie Buchwald
Thanks as always for visiting and wishing everyone the very best of luck! The special Christmas Story for Little Red Bear — “Pine Holler Christmas” — is available NOW on Amazon for Kindle and eReaders. Check below or to the side for a link and free preview. — Jim (and Red!)
❊ Family Times — Together Times — The Best Times ❊
As we all gather together with families and take time to reflect on our blessings and everything we are grateful and thankful for, Little Red Bear and I would like to take just a moment to extend our very best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
“Thanksgiving” by Norman Rockwell
We are thankful for so much, including each and every one who supports and encourages us thru following, reading, liking, sharing and commenting as we go along. Wishing everyone a wonderful day together with family and loved ones.
“Cousin Reginald Catches the Thanksgiving Turkey” by Norman Rockwell, cover of ‘Country Gentleman’ Magazine, 1917
“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is Thank You, it will be enough.” ~ Meister Eckhart
“Freedom From Want” by Norman Rockwell, 1942
Thanks as always for visiting and Happy Thanksgiving! — Jim (and Red!)
Sometimes we try to do something simple, and then the tech folks toss a spanner in the works and before you know it things start bouncing off the walls and we’re running for the aspirin bottle and holy water.
I purchased an online image yesterday morning for the upcoming Christmas Story featuring Little Red Bear. Now, I am just an old guy writing down stories being told to him by a bear, and not into all of the tech stuff. I still have the old Post slide rule I used in college. So that should tell you something. I merely teach myself what I need as I go along, trying to get by and overcome each new tech hurdle and challenge as I come to it. As usual, I downloaded what was indicated to be a simple ‘jpeg’ image. No big deal. It arrived, however, all wrapped up nice and neat in an ‘eps’ file.
Of course, my little computer had no idea what to do with it and refused to open the image file, approaching it with the same caution as a robot disarming a bomb. Next step, research what is an ‘eps’ file, short for Encapsulated PostScript file, which can contain text as well as graphics. Who knew? Neat, but I didn’t need or want any text, anyway. So then, how to open it? More research to find a free opening app tool, get it to download, and then teach myself how to use it in order to convert the image to the jpeg format I originally wanted in order to include it in the Christmas Story. One simple step turning into six.
But, it’s all taken care of. The sparkling new, converted ‘jpeg’ image is ready to go, and the aspirins kicked in after a while, blood pressure returned to normal and Little Red Bear and I eventually got back to work. Just please know that when you see the wonderful opening image in Little Red Bear’s upcoming Christmas story, there was a whole lot more involved in it than just a simple copy/paste.
We just try to tell stories here and not get involved in all the computer and tech stuff. I try to leave that to the much more skilled and accomplished six-year-olds in the neighborhood. But they were all in school so Red and I had to figure it out by ourselves. Anyway, the situation has been handled, and now we both know what an ‘eps’ file is and how to handle it the next time we come across one.
Remember, if you have not done so yet, be sure to enter the Special Kid Lit Community Holiday Giveaway to have a chance at winning the $500.00 Amazon Gift Card. The event closes on December 15, and your participation will go a long way to help support fellow Kid Lit authors and child literacy efforts.
Thanks as always for visiting! Best of luck in the Giveaway Contest, and please stay tuned for more updates on Little Red Bear’s upcoming Christmas Story — we’re almost there. And it will have a really cool, hard-fought and won image in it, you know. — Jim (and Red!)
“It’s Unbearable” — Image by cdudak. (Available for purchase at redbubble.com. Just tap on image.)
James Milson - The Writing Pages 