#70 Candy Canes & Silver Lanes
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Do you recognize these lyrics?
I borrowed a few words for AmperArt #70 Candy Canes & Silver Lanes from this song that was popular when I was growing up:
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
by Meredith Willson
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev’rywhere you go;
Take a look in the five & ten glistening once again
With candy canes & silver lanes aglow.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Toys in ev’ry store
But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be
On your own front door.
A pair of hopalong boots & a pistol that shoots
Is the wish of Barney & Ben;
Dolls that will talk & will go for a walk
Is the hope of Janice & Jen;
& Mom & Dad can hardly wait for school to start again.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev’rywhere you go;
There’s a tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well,
The sturdy kind that doesn’t mind the snow.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas;
Soon the bells will start,
& the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart.
Song from 1951
“It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” was written in 1951 (the year this AmperArtist was born) by Meredith Willson. The song was originally titled “It’s Beginning to Look Like Christmas”. It has been recorded by many artists, but was a hit for Perry Como & The Fontane Sisters with Mitchell Ayres & His Orchestra on September 10, 1951, & released on RCA Victor as a 45 & a 78 (kids, you know what that means? —no, it’s not pixels per inch). Bing Crosby recorded a version on October 1, 1951, which was also widely played. —from Wikipedia
Although I’m glad I found a song with the lyrics Candy Canes & Silver Lanes in the first stanza, I like the middle part best where the melody changes, playfully & humorously describing how the holiday affects the kids & parents.
Origin of the Candy Cane
According to folklore, in 1670, in Cologne, Germany, the choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral, wishing to remedy the noise caused by children in his church on Christmas Eve, asked a local candy maker for some sweet sticks for them. He asked the candy maker to add a crook to the top of each stick, which would help children remember the shepherds who paid visit to infant Jesus. —adapted from Wikipedia; full story here
“It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” vividly describes the Christmases I remember as a kid: the candy canes & silver lanes (I think that’s describing the silver garland decorating store aisles), the five-&-ten (we called it a dime store & they actually had lots of stuff for a dime, a nickel, even penny candy. Duncan’s was very conveniently located on our path to and from school.)
Christmas to me used to shimmer with lots of silver: the tinsel which my mother so carefully placed on the tree; the shiny little round nonpareils on the Christmas cookies that she baked (a decoration that was always special to me, but they’ve been discontinued due to the ingredients — funny, no one’s dead that I know of from eating them); and of course, the aluminum Christmas trees popular in the 1960s, with their magical color wheels. Yes, we had one, as well as white flocked, pink sprayed, & then plain ol’ artificial green throughout the years. The year we went back to a real tree somehow felt more like Christmas again.
Merry Christmas to you, my AmperArt Subscriber.
Please comment & critique in the big blue box below.
Production notes for #70 Candy Canes & Silver Lanes:
Original size: 14.6 x 22 inches
Programs: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop
Font: Varicka
Ampersand: Illustration by Chaz DeSimone
Credits for #70 Candy Canes & Silver Lanes:
Background: psdgraphics.com, modified
Cookie: amazon.com (sure wish I had one of Mom’s to photograph, then eat)
For professional graphic design, please visit Desimone Design.
Merry Xmas, Chaz!
Oh Chaz, this is a WONDERFUL piece and a beautiful post! I especially enjoyed the memories of the cookies your Mom baked, which is one of my favorite Christmas memories, too!
I really appreciated seeing the lyrics to this song, also. I always sang along to the beginning few lines but never knew the remaining lyrics so this was a treat! And, of course, I enjoyed reading about the origin of the Candy Cane…really nice! Thank you, my friend, for all you do to bless us with your talent in art, design and writing!