THE GAY FESTOONS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 230, 17 December 1927, Page 27 (Supplement)

THE GAY FESTOONS

Perhaps you have often wondered what started the fashion lor festooning Christmas trees with the gold and silver tinsel that gives them such a festive air. There is an old story about it, but Fairy Goldenheart is the only one who knows the whole truth of the matter.

It all began in the house of Mr. and Mrs. Well-to-do, who had six children and twice as many servants. They were going to have a Christmas tree and all the spiders had come to hear about it from the gossips of the neigh - bourhood.

The spiders had never dared to build their homes in the big, airy rooms of the house of Mr. and Mrs. Well-to-do, for they greatly feared the sharp eyes of all the servants, but, when they heard about the Christmas tree, they determined to take up their quarters there.

In twos and threes and ten and hundreds they left their nooks and crannies and made their way to the room where the Christmas tree was already erected. All night they built their homes with little peep-holes left for watching what was going to happen to the Christmas tree, But in the morning the servants came with long brooms, destroyed their houses, killed many of the spiders and chased the rest away.

Again and again the spiders tried i c

storm the threshold, but always with the same result, until at length, on Christmas Eve, they sought Golden - heart to place their case before her.

“The tree is already decorated, said Goldenheart, “and if you will promise to be good I shall let you all see it before the Well-to-do children come down to receive their presents in the morning.”

True to her word, she let the spiderin just as dawn was breaking, and they ran hither and thither over the tree, gleefully examining everything on it. But in the midst of their excitement Goldenheart heard the children moving about in the room above. “Come quickly!” she said, and tinspiders dropped from the tree and scuttled out the door to safety.

Then Goldenheart found to her dismay that they had left their silken strands wherever they had been run ning over the tree. There was n»j time to clear them away, so as quid as thought, she touched each loor with her wand and turned it to silvex and gold.

When the Well-to-do children opened the door there was r.o sign of Golden heart or the spiders, but they cried out with delight at seeing the dazzling beauty of the Christmas tree. The next year they decided to have one just the same. People came to hear about it and that, according t*_* Goldenheart. is how the fashion began