“ CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS NEAR AND FAR “ 1950s CHILDREN’S EDUCATIONAL FILM SANTA CLAUS XD75794

Join this channel to get access to perks: Want to learn more about Periscope Film and get access to exclusive swag? Join us on Patreon. Visit View our Amazon store here: In this 1955 children’s religious and cultural educational film, viewers are introduced to the origins of contemporary American Christmas celebrations and to other common Christmas traditions around the world. The film starts with American children preparing a carol for a pageant. Their teacher informs them that the pageant will also feature children from different cultures demonstrating their own Christmas traditions. Many of these traditions are also the origin of American Christmas customs that the children know and celebrate themselves. (00:07) A Coronet film. Christmas Customs Near and Far. Copyright 1955. (00:27) Children sing the Christmas hymn “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.“ (02:11) German children decorate a Christmas tree. Christmas trees were originally decorated with apples and paper but now a variety of ornaments are used. (03:30) The Star of Bethlehem atop a Swedish Christmas tree. (03:52) A Swedish family celebrates St. Lucia’s day on December 13. A girl dressed as St. Lucia wears a crown of evergreen and candles. (04:51) American children place presents under a Christmas tree and hang stockings up on the mantle. (05:12) Santa Claus arrives with a bag full of toys. (06:22) Homes in the U.S. are decorated with lights and nativity scenes. (07:02) Children draw Christmas cards, a custom that started in 19th century England. (07:28) People use the time before Christmas to focus on serving those in their community and abroad. (08:32) Mexican children hit a piñata on Christmas Eve. They run to catch the gifts that fall from the piñata. (09:29) The nativity manger scene is a custom that originated in Italy, where it is called a presepe. (09:52) Members of the family place figurines. (09:54) At the center is the bambino, baby Jesus. (10:02) The children pray around the nativity scene. (10:14) The nativity scene was invented by St. Francis of Assisi in the 13th century. He set up a re-enactment and ceremony in a nearby cave. (10:23) Groups visit homes in the neighborhood and perform Italian dances. (11:15) Chinese children re-enact the nativity scene. Children each play a particular role such as the shepherds, Mary, and the Magi. (12:56) Chinese children carry lanterns in a procession. Motion picture films don’t last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. For almost two decades, we’ve worked to collect, scan and preserve the world as it was captured on 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies -- including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have endangered films you’d like to have scanned, or wish to donate celluloid to Periscope Film so that we can share them with the world, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us via the weblink below. This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit