“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It Goes On.”
Robert Frost

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

The Holly Boy . . .

With so much happening during the month of December, I didn't even come close to writing as many Christmas themed posts as I had wanted. Please indulge me in one more!

This has to be one of the strangest posts I have ever done.  While researching last year about a book I acquired called "The Holly Boy", I came up empty handed for my 1955 copy of this book, except for a very interesting comment on a blog post that you will see below (highlighted in green). The post was a quick review of a newer version of the book "The Legend of Holly Boy", the most interesting part came in the comment section.

Keep that in mind... but first let me introduce you to someone you have probably never heard of, The Holly Boy. Written by Frank Latino and illustrated by Beatrice Grover. Published by Helen Cole, Inc. 1955. This book seems to be the first edition.

Try as I might and even checking different search engines, I never found anything about The Holly Boy, it continually came up The Legend of the Holly Boy. I did not find one other image or mention of the book that I have in my possession. If any of you readers have information about this book or have ever heard or seen it, please share.  Let me tell you a bit about the story.






This is actually a very sweet Christmas book about a girl named Linda, who wonders about the happiness of a holly wreath hanging in her window.  She laments that the holly was alive, but now has been cut up and tied into a shape of a wreath and how could it possibly be happy? To her surprise the holly wreath comes alive and forms itself into the shape of a boy. He tells Linda not to feel sorry for him.






The Holly Boy continues to explain to Linda why he is the happiest he has ever been. After he feels he has convinced her that he is fine, the Holly Boy whirls himself back into the shape of a wreath and is back hanging on her window again. Below are the Holly Boy's last words to Linda.




It is a wonderful feel good message that we can all embrace during the holiday season. Of course we do not want to go down the path of where the Holly Boy ended up after the holidays, well not with Linda anyway.

We all know that he ended up in the fireplace, burn pile, or compost heap. So that is the basic story, but it didn't end there. Researching on the internet brings up all sorts of interesting tidbits.  As I mentioned earlier I came across this unusual post and comment.

************************************************************************


Below is the comment from a reader of the now idle blog Here We Are.

jpholly said...

    I Am The Holly Boy....!
 
  In the late 1950s, my family (our last name is Holly) lived across the street from a man named John Jones and his family in Hackensack, New Jersey. Mr. Jones owned a recording studio that was used mostly for recording commercial jingles. Mr. Jones had a group of musicians that he worked with, including a jingle writer, an arranger, singers, instrumentalists etc. Hoping to cash in on the tremendous commercial success of such 1950s holiday songs as "White Christmas," "Silver Bells," "Let It Snow," etc., Mr. Jones decided to produce a Christmas record. Since we lived across the street and I was often playing at their house with their two sons who were approximately my age, he got the idea of calling the song "The Holly Boy." The words and music to the song were written by Frank Latino, whom I believe was one of the jingle writers he worked with. Here's the amazing part - the arranger and conductor of the music was a 27-year old trumpet player and studio musician named Quincy Jones. He was no relation to John Jones, the studio owner, but he is the same Quincy Jones who has since won 27 Grammy Awards!

    The song was released as a 45-RPM record called "The Holly Boy." It was sung by a very good singer named Betty Cox, who was at the time the substitute "Chanpagne Lady" on the Lawrence Welk Show.

    Frank Latino also wrote a story to go with the song that was published as a children's book - the book that is the subject of this blog post. The song never became a hit, but the book somehow caught on and is still in print and can be purchased through Amazon, etc., almost 50 years after its initial publication. In 2002, the book was used as the basis of a holiday movie called "A Light In The Forest" starring Lindsay Wagner, Edward Albert and Carol Lynley, among others. Unfortunately, the movie was not much of a success either. Old copies of the record are occasionally available for sale on ebay. If anyone wants to hear the song, I'll post a link.

    Sorry to be so long-winded, but that's my story....!

    John Peter Holly
    October 22, 2008 4:37 PM
***********************************************************************

Wondering if any of this could be true, I did a bit of research.
jpholly did use the proper title of the original book, which is "The Holly Boy".

The book was published in 1955, so it would have been mid-50's that he lived next to the writer, not late 50's. Which would have made the book over 50 years old, not almost.  The rest of the story seems to check out. Sure enough, I was able to locate the song done by Betty Cox, listen to it by clicking here Last night it worked and I listened to the song, for some reason I keep getting an error message today. Aarggh! Try this home video on Youtube. It's an amateur, but pretty funny!




This is the 45 record ....
                                                                          source




But wait, there's more.  Is there a John Peter Holly?  Well, yes there is. There is a music conductor by the same name who lived in the New Jersey area for many years. It looks as though he may have relocated to MA. He may or may not be the same person.

Maybe he will show up and add a comment to my blog someday.


I would love to hear if any of you avid readers, vintage and Christmas 
collectors have ever heard of this book!




Update!!!
Below you will find an image of the Holly Boy provided by Seven Crows (Kari)!
She posted this on Pinterest and I have provided the link to her pin. Read her comment below.

Thank you Kari! I loved hearing more about the elusive Holly Boy!






Update 2015 !!!

I just received this email with more information about the Holly Boy! 


"Good morning cravecute, I found your article about THE HOLLY BOY by FRANK LATINO.

Here is the real history of the creation of The Holly Boy.

My mother Aimee Marino worked for American Home owned by Frank and Charlie Latino.
This Holly Boy was designed by my mother Aimee Marino and created both by Aimee Marino and Charlie Latino.

At the time of The Holly Boy creation I was a mere seven years old and cherished this Holly Boy.  I would play the song created for The Holly Boy and still to this day have one of the original books from1955. Although years have passed I still find it entertaining to read it every year at Christmas time.

I am pleased to have been able to share with you and your readers the true story of The Holly Boy.

Have a Merry Christmas,
Genevieve Marino Wilson"



Thank you Genevieve for sharing your story with us! 






.... And there's More!


Below is another Holly Leaf Man I found on Etsy.  It is slightly different than the one above and the seller is unsure of the maker. Click on the link below the picture for more information. 

 Rare Mid Century dancing smiling holly leaf man. Fake, bendable leaves sprinkled with mica on wire stand with card board base. Whimsical,:





I also came across some Christmas Tree Ornaments. They seem very similar in design to the drawings in the book.




 Christmas Holiday Decorations Ornaments Holly Leaf Men: 

Holly Leaf Men 



UPDATE!! 

Just received more information on the Holly Boy! Mary from the blog, My House is Cuter than Yours did a post back in 2018 that featured a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens 1958 and low and behold there was a Holly Boy in the illustration. Mary being the do it yourself type gal, replicated a darling Holly Boy figure of her very own! Read her post here! Mary also included a link to the Sears Christmas Wish Book that included a Holly Boy figure that was sold at that time. I cropped the image for you, but you can find the entire Wish Book page here. As you see there's also a Holly Deer!

 


Thanks Mary for adding to the never ending mystery
 of the Holly Boy!

And so the Holly Boy story continues....



Monday, January 7, 2013

Ice Castles . . .

We are still having fun with the snow here in Minnesota. I am not sick of it yet, but just wait until the end of February! Here are a couple more fun things people do here for entertainment. The first is the castle at the Mall.


"This winter, Mall of America® will bring a one-of-a-kind experience to visitors from around the world. Ice Castles, will build its largest structure ever, a castle that will stand more than 40 feet tall at its peak and span two acres." source




Ice Princesses just hanging out in front of the castle.

source
LED lights inside the structure, help with the glow.






The picture below is one I found this week on Pinterest, I couldn't resist after my post on the Polar Plunge last week. This Finnish swimmer looks quite glamorous, notice her hair is not wet. I wonder how far down the ladder she actually went?

                     A Winter Swim in Finland.


The second fun thing to do is go to an ice bar. To top it off, how about a night cap at the BLU Ice Bar Lounge.

 Yes thanks, I would like a triple-hot chocolate 
with cinnamon schnapps please!

Source                  
BLU Ice Bar and Lounge - Grand Superior Lodge - Minnesota




source
 No, I have not been there, yet!
Now that you are freezing, how about that hot chocolate!?

  
                                                                       source



Blazing Hot Chocolate

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 pinch salt
1/3 cup boiling water
3 1/2 cups milk
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup half-and-half

Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Blend in the boiling water. Bring this mixture to a medium boil while you stir it. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't scorch. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk and the half-and-half, heat until very hot, but do not boil!

Remove from the heat and add the vanilla. Divide between four mugs.
Add some schnapps at your own risk!

Garnish as you wish. Drink, enjoy, aahhh!