Noëls Vocabulary, Traditions and Decorations

Noà «ls Vocabulary, Traditions and Decorations Whether you are religious or not, Christmas, Noà «l (pronounced â€Å"no el†) is an important holiday in France. Since the French don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, Noà «l is really the traditional family gathering. Now, many things have been said about Christmas in France, and its particular traditions such as the thirteen desserts, but many of these traditions are regional, and unfortunately tend to disappear with time.   Right now, across France, here are seven traditions you could be expecting: 1. Le Sapin de Noà «l - The Christmas Tree For Christmas, traditions asks that you go get a Christmas Tree â€Å"un sapin de Noà «l†, decorate it and set it in your house. Some people would plant theirs back in their yard. Most will just get a cut tree and throw it away when it is dry. Nowadays, many people prefer to have a synthetic tree you can fold and reuse every year. â€Å"Les dà ©corations (f), les ornements (m)† are more or less precious but it is mostly in the US that I’ve heard the traditions of passing on ornements through generations. It is not a very common thing in France. Its not really clear when to set up the sapin de Noà «l. Some set it on Saint Nicks day (December 6th) and remove it on the 3 King Day (lEpiphanie, January 6th). Le sapin de Noà «l - Christmas treeLes aiguilles de pin - pine needlesUne branche - a brancheUne dà ©coration - a decorationUn ornement - an ornamentUne boule - a ball / an ornamentUne guirlande - a garlandUne guirlande à ©lectrique - an electrical garlandL’à ©toile - the star 2. La Couronne de Noà «l - Christmas Wreath Another Christmas Tradition is to use wreaths on your doors, or sometimes as a table centrepiece. This wreath may be done of twigs, or of a fir branch, may have glitter, feature fir cones and if placed on a table, often surrounds a candle. Un centre de table - a centrepieceUne couronne - a wreathUne brindille - a twigUne branche de sapin - a fir branchUne pomme de pin - a fir coneUne bougie - a candleUne paillette - a glitterDe la neige artificielle - artificial snow 3. Le Calendrier de l’Avent - Advent Calendar This is a special calendar for kids, to help them count the days before Christmas. Behind each number is a door, which reveals a drawing, or a nook with a treat or a little toy. This calendar is usually hung in a communal room as to remind everybody of the countdown before Christmas (and keep an eye on the â€Å"door† openings so that the kids won’t just eat all the chocolate before Christmas...) Un calendrier - a calendarL’Avent - AdventUne porte - a doorUne cachette - a hiding spotUne surprise - a surpriseUn bonbon - a candyUn chocolat - a chocolate 4. La Crà ¨che de Noà «l - The Christmas Manger Nativity Another important Christmas tradition in France is the nativity: a little house with Mary and Joseph, an ox and a donkey, the star and an angel, and eventually baby Jesus. The nativity set can be larger, with the 3 kings, many shepherds and sheep and other animals and village people. Some are very old and in the South of France, the little figurines are called â€Å"santons† and can be worth quite a lot of money. Some family make a paper crà ¨che as a project for Christmas, others have a tiny little one somewhere in their house, and some churches would have a live nativity scene during the Christmas mass. Traditionally, baby Jesus is added on December 25th in the morning, often by the youngest child of the household. La crà ¨che - the manger/ nativityLe petit Jà ©sus - baby JesusMarie - MaryJoseph - JosephUn ange - an angelUn boeuf - an oxUn à ¢ne - a donkeyUne mangeoire - a mangerLes rois mages - the 3 kings, the 3 wise menL’à ©toile du berger - the star of BethlehemUn mouton - a sheepUn berger - a shepherdUn santon - manger figurines made in the South of France 5. About Santa, Shoes, Stockings, Cookies and Milk In the old days, children would place their shoes next to the fireplace and hope to get a little present from Santa, such as an orange, a wooden toy, a little doll. Stockings are used instead in the Anglo-saxon countries.   In France, most new houses do not have a fireplace, and the tradition of placing your shoes by it has totally disappeared. Although he does bring the presents on his sleigh, in France what Santa does is not that clear: some think he comes down the chimney himself, some believe he sends a helper or just magically places the gifts on the shoes (if he is an old-fashioned Santa) or under the Christmas tree. In any case, there is no clear tradition of leaving cookies and milk for him†¦ Maybe a bottle of Bordeaux and a toast of foie gras? Just kidding†¦ Le Pà ¨re Noà «l - Santa (or Saint Nicolas in the North-East of France)Le traineau - the sleighLes rennes - reindeersLes elfes - elvesLe Pà ´le Nord - North Pole 6. Christmas Cards and Greetings It’s customary in France to send out Christmas/ Happy New Year cards to your friends and family, although this tradition is disappearing over time. If its better to send them before Christmas, you have until January 31st to do it. Popular Christmas greetings are: Joyeux Noà «l - Merry ChristmasJoyeuses fà ªtes de Noà «l - Merry ChristmasJoyeuses fà ªtes - Happy Holidays (more Politically Correct since not Religious) 7. Les Marchà ©s de Noà «l - Christmas Markets in France Christmas Markets are little villages made up of wooden stalls (called chà ¢lets) which pop up in the center of towns in December. They typically sell decorations, local products and vin chaud (mulled wine), cakes, biscuits and gingerbreads as well as many handcrafted items. Originally common in the North-East of France, they are now popular throughout France - there is a huge one on les Champs Elysà ©es in Paris.

History of Papermaking From Papyrus to Dixie Cups

History of Papermaking From Papyrus to Dixie Cups The word paper is derived from the name of the reedy plant papyrus, which grows abundantly along the Nile River in Egypt. However, true paper is made of pulped cellulose fibers like wood, cotton or flax. First There Was Papyrus Papyrus is made from the sliced sections of the flower stem of the papyrus plant, pressed together and dried, and then used from writing or drawing. Papyrus appeared in Egypt around 2400 B.C. Then There Was Paper A courtier named Tsai-Lun, from Lei-yang in China, was the first recorded inventor of paper circa 105 A.D. Tsai-Lun presented paper and a papermaking process to the Chinese Emperor and that was noted in the imperial court records. There may have been papermaking in China earlier than the above date, but inventor Tsai-Lun did much for the spread of papermaking technology in China. Chinese Papermaking The ancient Chinese first made paper in the following fashion. Plant fibers such as hemp were soaked and beaten into a sludgeThe sludge was strained through a cloth sieve attached to a frame that also served as a drying platform for the resulting paper Newsprint Charles Fenerty of Halifax made the first paper from wood pulp (newsprint) in 1838. Charles Fenerty was helping a local paper mill maintain an adequate supply of rags to make paper when he succeeded in making paper from wood pulp. He neglected to patent his invention and others did patent papermaking processes based on wood fiber. Corrugated Papermaking - Cardboard In 1856, Englishmen, Healey and Allen, received a patent for the first corrugated or pleated paper. The paper was used to line mens tall hats. American, Robert Gair promptly invented the corrugated cardboard box in 1870. These were pre-cut flat pieces manufactured in bulk that opened up and folded into boxes. On December 20, 1871, Albert Jones of New York NY, patented a stronger corrugated paper (cardboard) used as a shipping material for bottles and glass lanterns. In 1874, G. Smyth built the first single sided corrugated board making machine. Also in 1874, Oliver Long improved upon the Jones patent and invented a lined corrugated cardboard. Paper Bags The first recorded historical reference to grocery paper bags was made in 1630. The use of paper sacks only really started to take off during the Industrial Revolution: between 1700 and 1800. Margaret Knight (1838-1914) was an employee in a paper bag factory when she invented a new machine part to make square bottoms for paper bags. Paper bags had been more like envelopes before. Knight can be considered the mother of the grocery bag, she founded the Eastern Paper Bag Company in 1870. On February 20, 1872, Luther Crowell also patented a machine that manufactured paper bags. Paper Plates Paper foodservice disposables products were first made at the beginning of the 20th century. The paper plate was the first single-use foodservice product invented in 1904. Dixie Cups Hugh Moore was an inventor who owned a paper cup factory, located next door to the Dixie Doll Company. The word Dixie was printed on the doll companys front door. Moore saw the word every day, which reminded him of dixies, the ten-dollar bank notes from a New Orleans bank that had the French word dix printed on the face of the bill. The bank had a great reputation in the early 1800s. Moore decided that dixies was a great name. After getting permission from his neighbor to use the name, he renamed his paper cups Dixie Cups. It should be mentioned that Moores paper cups first invented in 1908 were originally called health cups and replaced the single repeat-use metal cup that had been used with water fountains.