Curio Cabinet

The rush is on! On this day in 1848, President James K. Polk confirmed the discovery of gold in California during a State of the Union address, setting off the California Gold Rush in earnest. Immediately after the U.S. acquired California following the end of the Mexican–American War in 1848, a carpenter named James Wilson Marshall discovered gold on the property of Swiss immigrant John Sutter while building a water-powered sawmill. The two men tried to keep the discovery a secret, but to no avail. Just months later, a storekeeper named Sam Brannan paraded around the streets of San Francisco with a vial of gold flakes, leading others to come to California. Around three quarters of all the men in San Francisco left to find their fortunes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, along with immigrants from Hawaii, Mexico, South America and China, who arrived by sea after word of the gold spread. Before 1848, California was relatively sparsely-populated for its size. Along with 150,000 Native Americans, there were less than 10,000 people of Spanish or Mexican descent and even fewer Americans, but by the end of 1849, there were over 100,000 non-natives scouring the landscape for gold. From the East Coast of the U.S. came the largest mass-migration in the country’s history, and it was during this time that San Francisco became a major metropolis, becoming a center for trade. By the peak of the gold rush, $2 billion worth of gold had been extracted from California, but in the following decades, the newly-minted state pivoted to agriculture as its main industry, as it remains today. Not all that glitters is gold, and by the time the vast majority of hopeful migrants arrived, nearly all the surface gold was gone. In addition, disease brought by the mass migration wiped out most of the Native Americans in the area, along with Anglo-Americans who violently enforced claims on gold-rich territories. Those who arrived too late for the easy pickings ended up working for large mining operations, and many people who were not prepared for the harsh demands of the mines or prospecting for gold in the wilderness died of disease or injuries. Like they say, when everyone else is digging for gold, it’s best to be the one selling shovels.
 
[Image description: A photo of prospectors standing around a stream in 1850-1852.] Credit & copyright: George H. Johnson, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Ho ho ho! Santa Claus is a Christmas mascot recognized the world over, but he wasn’t always the plump, red-suited figure he is today. In fact, Santa was born from the merging of several European cultures and religious traditions mixed with good, old-fashioned American advertising.
 
We’ve written before about Saint Nicholas, from whom Santa Claus takes his “Saint Nick” nickname. From the fourth century onward, this Catholic Saint was renowned for his kindness toward children, and in France it was even said that he had the power to resurrect them. Yet, the real Saint Nicholas, also known as Nikolaos of Myra, bore little physical resemblance to Santa Claus. His evolution into Santa began with the religious traditions that sprung up to honor him, especially Saint Nicholas Day, also known as the Feast of Saint Nicholas. Celebrated on December 6, this day not only involved feasting but was considered a lucky day on which to get married or make big purchases. Saint Nicholas Day, and by extension Saint Nicholas himself, was especially popular in Holland. In the 18th century, Dutch Catholics began fleeing religious persecution in Europe, bringing their love for Saint Nicholas with them. We have the Dutch to thank for Santa’s modern name, which evolved from “Sinter Klaas”, a Dutch nickname for Saint Nicholas. By the late 1700s, this name was anglicized into “Santa Claus.”
 
But Saint Nicholas and Dutch settlers aren’t the only ones who contributed to the Santa Claus story. From the 15th century onward, many Europeans told tales of Father Christmas, a figure whose appearance was loosely based on Saxon and Norse folklore. Although Father Christmas wasn’t known to give gifts, he did wear green or red fur-trimmed robes and ride through the winter woods on either a horse or a goat, encouraging people to celebrate Christmas with food and wine. Sometimes, he pulled a sleigh behind him loaded with food and drink. On his head, Father Christmas often wore a fur-trimmed hat or a holly wreath. In 1843’s A Christmas Carol, the Ghost of Christmas Present bears a striking resemblance to Father Christmas.
 
In Washington Irving’s 1809 satirical book History of New York, the writer melded Dutch ideas about Saint Nicholas with the appearance of Father Christmas to create a chubby figure who dressed in winter clothes normally worn by Dutch sailors. The book was meant to poke fun at Dutch culture in New York, but Irving unintentionally created an enduring image of Santa Claus. In 1821, Santa finally got his reindeer thanks to an anonymous poem published in the popular holiday children’s book The Children's Friend: A New-Year Present to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve. The poem was called Old Santeclaus with Much Delight, and it described Santa riding on a sleigh pulled by a single reindeer. The author likely chose a reindeer because of Santa’s associations with Europe, where reindeer are a native species. This version of Santa Claus also brought childrens’ gifts, in addition to food and wine, on his sleigh. This makes sense, since gift-giving was a popular Christmas tradition in both the U.S. and Europe by then. But Santa’s popularity really shot through the roof (or up the chimney) with the publication of another anonymous poem in 1823: A Visit from St. Nicholas, or The Night Before Christmas, as it is better known today. In it, Santa is described as a fat, jolly “elf” with a red suit, who comes down the chimney to leave gifts in childrens’ stockings. He rides a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer, each of whom has their own name, though two of them, Dunder and Blixem, were later changed to the more “German-sounding” Donner and Blitzen.
 
From there, Santa fell into the hands of American marketers, who had a field day with the idea of a magical figure who could help them sell Christmas gifts. By the 1840s, U.S. newspapers were adding images of Santa Claus to Christmas ads. Department stores began hiring actors to pose as Saint Nick, and the tradition of the “mall Santa” was born. In 1924, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade featured Santa Claus for the first time, and he remains an important figure in the parade to this day. As for Europe’s Father Christmas, Santa Claus became so popular that stateside stories of him spread across the pond and today Father Christmas and Santa Claus are practically synonymous. No more wintertime horseback rides for this guy!

 
[Image description: A vintage illustration of Santa Claus leaving toys at a fireplace with hanging stockings.] Credit & copyright: kodomo no tomo, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

We’ve come a long way, but there’s still a way to go. Today is World AIDS Day, first observed in 1988. It's a day to mourn those who have been lost to AIDS, spread awareness about how the disease actually works, and reduce the stigma against those living with it. Over the past few decades, much of the world has great social and scientific strides in how it perceives and treats those with HIV and AIDS. Not so long ago, an HIV diagnosis was considered a figurative and literal death sentence. In the 1980s, as AIDS became an enormous public health crisis, the illness was strongly associated with gay and bisexual men as well as intravenous drug users—populations that already faced widespread discrimination. AIDS was highly stigmatized, to the point that even those who were infected through blood transfusions or other medical treatments were sometimes shunned. That included Ryan White, a 13-year-old hemophiliac from Indiana who made national headlines after facing discrimination at school for his HIV positive status. As a young social activist, White helped change people’s prejudices about HIV and AIDS. Unfortunately, he only lived for five years after his diagnosis, and others with HIV didn’t usually fare much better, at the time. Today, though, around 38 million people are living with HIV, and their health outlooks are far different than they would have been in the 1980s. In fact, with proper medication, most people with HIV can live long, healthy lives with little risk of spreading the virus. There are even medications that help prevent disease in uninfected people who are at higher risk of infection. New drug therapies are so effective that a handful of HIV-positive people have even been declared free of HIV, although no official cure exists yet. That doesn’t change the fact that millions of people around the world still suffer due to lack of accessible treatments and from discrimination. About 1.8 million of those who have HIV worldwide are children under the age of 15, and only about 67 percent of those who are aware of their status are being treated. 1.7 million people are infected with HIV every year, although the number of people dying from AIDS has been falling steadily since 2004. There’s no doubt that World AIDS Day is still a day worth commemorating, as it continues to raise awareness about the nature of the virus and reduce the social stigma against those who have it. Just look how much has changed already!

 
[Image description: A 1988 protest organized by the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP) to protest for greater access to treatments for AIDS patients.] Credit & copyright: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Here’s a Christmassy curio! The UK’s only reindeer herd has welcomed three white calves this year, and now they’re going on tour. Spending most of the year in Cairngorms National Park in Scotland, the reindeer have been roaming around in the 10,000-acre park since 1952. Numbering just over 150, the Cairngorm Reindeer Herd lives a worry-free life and the deer are largely tame due to frequent interactions with their human caretakers and sightseers. In fact, some adult males are even trained to pull sleighs for exhibitions, and the herd is brought into a paddock during the winter where visitors can see and interact with the reindeer up close. The addition of three white calves will make for an extra special experience, but the herd is more than just a seasonal petting zoo. Although reindeer once lived in the British wilderness, they were driven to extinction on the island due to hunting and loss of habitat, and the last recorded sighting of a wild reindeer before 1952 occurred 800 years ago. The current herd is descended from reindeer brought over by Mikel Utsi and Dr. Ethel Lindgren, a Swedish couple who thought that the Cairngorms Mountains could be an ideal location for reintroducing reindeer when they first visited the area on their honeymoon. They went on to co-found the Reindeer Company, which continues watching over the herd, and even though reindeer hadn’t been in Britain in centuries, they didn’t have much trouble adapting. The Cairngorms Mountains provide an ideal habitat for the reindeer, who have little to worry about in the way of predators, and are hardy enough to withstand the bitter winters of northern Scotland while they munch away on the relatively sparse vegetation in the area. Best of all, the mountains are one of the few places in the UK where there is snow for most of the year—ideal for reindeer used to the cold climate of Lapland. If Santa’s reindeer tire themselves out this Christmas, maybe they should stop to catch their breath in Scotland.

 
[Image description: A white reindeer grazes in snow.] Credit & copyright: Michelle_Maria, Pixabay

California is literally fighting fire with fire. Native American tribes in The Golden State are starting traditional controlled burns again, bringing back a millennia-old tradition that once kept wildfires in check. California wildfires have been getting worse year after year, leaving millions of people at risk of losing their homes. Part of the problem is climate change, which results in hotter, drier summers that help the fire spread, but another major factor is that in the early 1900s, the state government banned Native American tribes from starting controlled burns. For at least a thousand years, the tribes set the land aflame in part to cultivate certain plants that benefit from fire, but also to clear the dead, dry vegetation that builds up on the ground. The ban on controlled burns wasn’t just about wildfire management. Because the burns were also considered a spiritual tradition, the state’s ban was a tool used to stifle Native American culture. Unfortunately, without the smaller, more predictable fires to keep the build-up of dry vegetation at bay, wildfires started to get worse as the landscape essentially filled up with fuel every year, waiting to be ignited by a lightning strike or a careless camper. Now, armed with drip torches and traditional knowledge, Native Americans are working with the Forest Service to manage wildfires. One of the people helping to reignite the tradition of controlled burns is Ron Goode of the North Fork Mono. Goode told NPR, "When I was a kid, I learned from my mother. But my mother got in trouble when she burned because the fire department didn't want her doing what we're doing today…We don't put fire on the ground and not know how it's going to turn out. That's what makes it cultural burning, because we cultivate." It’s the biggest “we told you so” in California history.

 
[Image description: A black-and-white photo of smoke rising from a burned section of forest.] Credit & copyright: ojkumena, Pixabay