December seems like it is flying by. I can’t believe it’s already the 15th and the month is halfway over. Can you believe Christmas is in 10 days?
It doesn’t really feel much like Christmas to me. I’m not sure what it is but everything seems a little lackluster this year. Is it because as you get older you lose some of that Christmas magic? Is it because I’ve been working a lot? I remember when I was younger, going to the mail with all that Christmas energy and seeing all the decorations, and hearing all the Christmas music. Maybe it was just a different time.
Today, the building that my office is in, put on a holiday celebration. They transformed the lobby and atrium of our building into a winter wonderland with trees and snowflakes. There was a hot chocolate bar with all the fixings, lots of cookies, a raffle, and Santa even made an appearance. But the best part was that the building arranged for two reindeer to come and visit.
This was only my second time seeing reindeer and I’m sure I talked the reindeer handler’s ear off, asking her so many questions. But she was a good sport, even when I asked her if it was true that Santa’s reindeer were females because males lose their antlers during wintertime. She also told me that females grow antlers during the wintertime because that’s when they can become pregnant and then they use their antlers to keep other reindeer away from their food.
So then I had to do research on reindeer where I discovered that reindeer were not always associated with Christmas. The 1823 poem, A Visit From St. Nicholas (also known as ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas) by Clement C. Moore, is largely responsible for the idea of Santa’s sled being pulled by eight named reindeer. The poem is the first time the reindeer are mentioned by their names Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder, and Blixem (the last two modernized to Donner and Blitzen). But there’s another story about Santa’s reindeer-drawn sleigh that helped reindeer become an integral part of the American Christmas story.
The Lomen Reindeer Corporation was an American reindeer meatpacking industry, located in Alaska. It was founded by brothers Carl and Alfred Lomen. Carl wanted to invest in an alternative to beef and thought there was a market for reindeer meat and fur. In an effort to bring publicity to reindeer, in 1926 Carl convinced the Macy’s department store to put on a Christmas parade led by Santa and his reindeer. The parades were introduced in several U.S. cities, oftentimes becoming the main part of the city’s celebration. It’s said that the brothers even forged letters in newspapers, pretending to be children asking Santa to bring his reindeer to their town.
Unfortunately, reindeer meat never caught on in the U.S. and, after pressure from the cattle lobby, Congress passed the Reindeer Act in 1937 which prohibited the ownership of reindeer herds in Alaska by non-Native Americans. The reindeer herds owned by the Lomen Reindeer Corporation were acquired by the U.S. government.
So even though the Lomen brothers’ business failed, this idea of Santa Claus and his reindeer carried on and continues to this day. Maybe I just need some of that reindeer magic to get me in the holiday mood!
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