val.

During colonial times there was a law in Massachusetts forbidding any
one to celebrate Christmas; and if anybody was so rash in those days as
to go about tooting a horn and shouting a "Merry Christmas!" he was
promptly brought to his senses by being arrested and punished.

[Illustration: CHRISTMAS SPORTS IN NEW ENGLAND]

Of course things are very different in New England now, but in many
country towns the people still make more of Thanksgiving than they do of
Christmas; and there are hundreds of New England men and women still
living who knew nothing of Christmas as children--who never hung up
their stockings; who never waited for Santa Claus; who never had a
tree; who never even had a Christmas present!

Nowadays, however, Christmas in New England is like Christmas anywhere
else; but here and there, even now, the effects of the early Puritan
ideas may still be seen. In some of the smaller and out-of-the-way towns
and villages you will find Christmas trees and evergreens in only a very
few of the houses, and in some places--particularly in New
Hampshire--one big Christmas tree does for the whole town. This tree is
set up in the town hall, and there the children go to get their gifts,
which have been hung on the branches by the parents. Sometimes the tree
has no decorations--no candles, no popcorn strings, no shiny balls.
After the presents are taken off and given to the children, the tree
remains perfectly bare. There is usually a short entertainment of
recitations and songs, and a speech or two perhaps, and then the little
folks, carrying their presents with them, go back to their homes.

=IN NEW MEXICO=

In certain parts of New Mexico, among the old Spanish settlements, the
celebration of Christmas begins more than a week before the day. In the
evenings, a party of men and women go together to the house of some
friend--a different house being visited each evening. When they arrive,
they knock on the door and begin to sing, and when those in the house
ask, "Who is there?" they reply, "The Virgin Mary and St. Joseph seek
lodgings in your house." At first the inmates of the house refuse to let
them in. This is done to carry out the Bible story of Joseph and Mary
being unable to find lodgings in Bethlehem. But in a little while the
door is opened and the visitors are heartily welcomed. As soon as they
enter, they kneel and repeat a short prayer; and when the devotional
exercises ar