Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Atlanta’s Historic Snow



The snow flurries began in our county, Cobb County, in the morning of 25th December 2010. Within an hour it was snowing hard in Georgia and the ground was covered. Atlanta and the metro area had not experienced a White Christmas since 25 December 1882. This is not a typo, the year was 1882 – 128 years ago. There had been a very light snow in 1993 but it did not stick. When US President Chester Arthur watched the snow that Christmas 1882 he did not know that it would not snow again in Atlanta on Christmas day even in the next century. (It snows in Atlanta sometimes, but usually in January or February.) Chester Arthur (1829-1886) was the 21st President of the USA. He had been the vice-president of President James A. Garfield; when Garfield was assassinated, Chester Arthur succeeded him. President Arthur’s term was between September 19th 1881 and March 4th 1885. Arthur was tall and elegant. Below is his official White House portrait.


Official portrait of President Chester Arthur who was president during Atlanta’s last Christmas snow (before last Sat.)

Several things happened in the year 1882 - the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis was discovered by Robert Koch, outlaw Jesse James was shot and killed, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture premiered in Moscow, the first US Labor Day parade was held in New York City, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Virginia Woolf and James Joyce were born and Charles Darwin died. On 23 December 1882 German-born American cartoonist Thomas Nast published his print “Christmas Flirtation” in Harpers’ Weekly Magazine and on 25 December 1882 it snowed in Atlanta, Georgia.


Christmas Flirtation, print by Thomas Nast, Dec. 23, 1882

Thomas Nast is credited with creating the first image of our modern Santa. One of his most famous drawings is the one below published in Harpers’ Weekly in 1881.


A Merry Christmas” 1881 by Thomas Nast (1840-1902)

I did not witness the White Christmas in Atlanta last Saturday, but had one close to Nashville, Tennessee. It had also snowed slightly in 1993 there but the last snowfall on that day in Nashville was in 1969. I woke up early on the 25th and looked outside – this is what I saw




We had seen Papa Noël (Santa) at our little grandsons’ school on their last day of class. He was quite jolly.




Nice presents were received by all. This year I was spoiled with several books, CDs and good dark chocolate (covered orange sticks are my favorite.) I was also very grateful to receive some pretty greeting cards, eight of them.


Click on collage to enlarge, then click on picture to biggify

My husband was given several books as well – three of them were on men biographies – which I hope he will let me borrow.




On Sunday we had brunch at Mère Bulles, a restaurant housed in a former southern mansion named then Maryland Manor. Michèle Bouvier was born in Deauville, France, in 1840 and immigrated to the US. She opened a restaurant and she loved Champagne so much that she was nicknamed “Mother Bubbles” which translates as Mère Bulles in French. There were not many drivers on the road on that snowy Sunday morning.




It was warm and inviting inside Mère Bulles’ restaurant. The five buffet tables were outstanding with an array of delectable items, such as the crème brulée French toast with the raspberry glaze, the build your own egg Benedict, the made to order gourmet omelettes and waffles, the chocolate fountain for the fresh strawberries and so much more.



When we returned to the house it was no longer snowing. I was able to snap some pictures of the large decorated houses in the neighborhood.




In the afternoon we had fun playing in the backyard with the grandsons and the dogs.




After spending several days in Tennessee it was time to go back home to Georgia. When we left, it was below freezing with a lot of snow still on the ground so we decided to avoid the mountains around Chattanooga and drive south toward Birmingham, Alabama.




The roads were clear and the landscape pretty. There was more snow in Alabama than in southern Tennessee. We were pleased to see that snow had not yet melted in Georgia.




Turning a bend in the road into Georgia we could see the sun ahead and more color in the trees.



It was dark when we arrived home but the next morning I went out to catch some snow pictures in our yard. The tracks left from a jumping rabbit were still there.




I wished I had been home to see this White Christmas – the first one in 128 years. Will we have to wait another 128 years for the next one? Speaking of numbers – by reading this, you are reading my 100th post!




This finishes this year satisfactorily for me. I hope that the year 2010 has given you satisfaction also and hope that 2011 will be even better in every way. May all my friends in blogland be very happy in the coming year. Here are a couple of vintage postcards to wish you a great 2011!





Now I better start reading all these books…


A Place of Her Own by James Christensen, American, born in 1942


36 comments:

""°o.O Nancy O.o°"" said...

*** Bonjour Chère Vagabonde ! je vois que tu as passé un excellent Noël en famille ... c'est EXTRA ! :o)
Le temps des vœux pour le nouvel an est venu alors je te présente tous mes meilleurs vœux pour 2011 ! Bonheur, santé et confort ... c'est tout ce que je te souhaite ! GROS BISOUS !!!! ***

claude said...

Bonjour Vagabonde, tiens, je suis la première !
J'espère que tu as bien eu mon mail.
Ici, en france, il y a eu beaucoup de neige dans certaines régions. Je ne me rappelle de ma vie avoir entendu qu'il y en eut autant avant.
Ici, dans le sud de la Sarthe, nous en avons eu deux fois 5 mm et 3cm. C'est pourtant beau la neige, mais il est vrai que pour aller au boulot en voiture, ce n'est pas ça ça.
J'aime beaucoup ta carte avec le calendrier et les roses dessus.
Félicitations pour ton 100th post. Perso, je ne sais plus à combien j'en suis, mais comme je poste pratiquement tous les jours depuis 4 ans? j'en suis rendue, je crois, à plus de 1000 -.
Je te souhaite une belle année 2011, à toi, à ton Chéri et à toute ta famille.
Bises et mille merci.

Diane said...

Congratulations on your 100th post, well done.

Interesting post. Everyone in the North seems to have had the worst winter for many years - it make one wonder about global warming!!! Diane

Jojo said...

Happy new year to you and congratulations on your 100th post. Hope we get to meet up sometime in the coming year.

Jenn Jilks said...

Great post. We have had a white Christmas, as always. I love your info, photos, and you had a good haul! I've been sick and we celebrate Christmas tomorrow with the kids.
Cheers from Cottage Country!

DJan said...

How wonderful! A white Christmas in Georgia, and also in Tennessee, it seems. I love the Christmas pictures, and the history lessons (as usual). That year, 1882, was very historic. Merry Christmas, VB, and I do look forward to your posts so much!

DJan said...

P.S. Congratulations on 100 posts!

Pondside said...

Happy New Year, Vagabonde! I know you'll enjoy Sisters in the Wilderness - I loved it. I, too, received How Easy is That? and have poured over it.
It sounds like your Christmas celebrations was a happy one - snow can be a delightful addition, as long as it doesn't impede movement for too long!

marciamayo said...

Another beautiful posting. I'm in Portland, OR, and, for once, the weather here has been better than the weather in Atlanta. I fly back home on the first and look forward to the jonquils in February.

Fennie said...

Happy Christmas, Vagabonde and a prosperous New Year to you. You have certainly placed Georgia on my mind.
Virginia Woolf was born in 1882 also, I believe and both she and James Joyce died in the same year, too, 1941.

Vagabonde said...

Nancy – Merci pour tes bon voeux et à mon tour je t’envoie les miens – pour que 2011 soit tout ce que tu souhaites.

Claude – j’ai bien reçu ton courier et t’en remercie. A toi aussi je t’envoie tous mes meilleurs souhaits pour que 2011 soit une excellente année pour toi et toute ta famille.

Vagabonde said...

Food, Fun and Life in the Charente, Jojo, Jenn Jilks, DJan, Pondside, Marciamayo - thank you for coming to my blog and for your kind words. I always look forward to reading you. Apart from a wonderful new year I also wish you many happy posts.

Vagabonde said...

Fennie – I am pleased that you are more interested in Georgia now – it is a beautiful and varied state. Thank you for letting me know that Virginia Woolf was also born in 1882, I went back and added her to my post. She is one of my favorite writers and I have many of her books. Have a lovely 2011 with everything you wish.

Margaret said...

It is fun seeing snow in a place that rarely gets it, and the people's reaction. Two years, two big snows in central NC. I think we brought a bit of Northern Mi down with us when we moved. Lovely post, love the vintage postcards. I just found some from my box I had some of my Grandmothers things. Old, old Yellowstone and others... Still in their original envelopes. Others seem to be issued from the railroad company... I will have to share them soon on my blog. Congrats on post 100. Happy New Year"

Elaine said...

Congrats on your 100th post!

Amazing that the last White Christmas in Atlanta was 128 years ago. Interestingly, the record here is just the opposite. The only green (or more accurately brown) Christmas in the 100 years of recorded weather in Fairbanks occurred in 1934. At the beginning of December there was five inches of snow on the ground, but December 3rd brought a Chinook wind (carrying warm air from the Pacific over the Alaska Range) that saw seven days of high temps above freezing, with five of those above 50 degrees, and three of those days the low did not go below freezing. It took the snowpack from five inches to a trace of snow.

Vicki Lane said...

Congratulations on the 100th post -- another one full of interesting material and wonderful pictures!

""°o.O Nancy O.o°"" said...

*** MERCI POUR TON GENTIL MESSAGE CHEZ MOI VAGABONDE !!! *** Je te souhaite un bon réveillon et UNE BELLE ET HEUREUSE ANNÉE 2011 !!! :o) BISOUS ! :o) ***

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on 100 posts! This is an amazing concept to me in the Northern US-we almost always have snow in December, although this year was a record-breaker.
What a beautiful buffet. Makes me hungry just to look at it.
Best wishes for 2011.

Ruth said...

Beautiful. I just love how you weave in historical connections, it's fascinating. I am surprised it has been so long since Atlanta had a white Christmas.

I am interested to see Dick Cavett's autobiography there. I didn't know until last week that he still has a column, in the NY Times. I read his there about a Christmas memory and enjoyed his humor and writing very much. I expect that will be an interesting book.

I count you as one special reason I enjoy blogging. BIG congratulations on your 100th post! You excel at everything you do here. I wish you all the best of everything in 2011!

Lonicera said...

Happy new year Vagabonde, and congratulations on your 100th (interesting, good value, beautifully illustrated) post.
One of my grandmothers (the one who lived with us) was born in 1885, and lived till 1980, and I tend to see events in the 1880's decade as "the one when Granny was born...she was a tiny baby when...etc" as if I need to tell myself that it's almost in living memory...
Caroline

""°o.O Nancy O.o°"" said...

*** Meilleurs vœux pour cette nouvelle année Vagabonde :o) !

Que cette nouvelle année soit pour toi sensationnelle, encore plus sensationnelle que la précédente, et presque aussi sensationnelle que celle qui suivra derrière ! :o) ***

sablonneuse said...

Congratulations on your 100th post. May there be many more in 2011.
Wishing you a Happy and Healthy new Year. Bisous.

Lonicera said...

Since you told me about it I've been playing around with BlogPrint - at first glance it's accomodated everything much better than Blurb did - except that despite detailed study of FAQ's etc, I can't see that it allows me to edit the text - say to introduce a split in a long paragraph, or correct a spelling mistake, or centre something that has somehow transferred uncentred. Were you able to do this? (All I get is a non wysiwyg screen with everything running together, and where I can't edit).
If it can't be done, fair enough.
Thank you!
Caroline

Jeruen said...

Wow, that's a very interesting experience, to have a white Christmas after that many years! Weather here in Buffalo is bizarre too: it's been exceptionally warm these past 2 days, and warm enough to melt all our snow, around 9 degrees C.

Louis la Vache said...

«Louis» te souhaite tout le meilleur cette nouvelle année!

Kenza said...

Chère Vagabonde, je te souhaite une très belle et heureuse année!
Bisous, 2011 bisous

Jeanie said...

There is so much rich beauty in this post -- such love, joy, a bit of history, and wonderful photos. But first, happy 100th! It is indeed an accomplishment to come up with 100 posts, much less so many that are so well researched, beautifully told and illustrated.

It sounds as though your holiday was lovely and you did get a bit of White Christmas, even if it wasn't at home. I wonder if the snow will be in Nashville when I visit in a couple of weeks?

""°o.O Nancy O.o°"" said...

✿ ✿ ✿ En ce début de semaine je viens te faire un GROS BISOU ! Merci pour ton message chez moi ! :o) Passe un bon lundi Vagabonde !!! Ciao ! :o) :o) ✿ ✿ ✿

Ginnie Hart said...

First of all, VB, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Are we really off-n-running already?!

Secondly, to think after 25 years in Atlanta I missed the first White Christmas in so long amazes me. Who would have thought! But then, I have experienced some snow in Atlanta, so can at least be thankful for those memories. I agree with Ruth about how brilliantly you slip in the historical details of these events. You really are a delight. Thank you and CONGRATULATIONS on reaching 100. May you have many more posts to come.

Gosia said...

Congratulations on your 100th post, well done.

Very interesting blog.

Putz said...

100 blogs{posts}<><><><>i have 500(posts} blogs and decided that is when you should quit<><><><>so my very last was on dec 31st 2010><<>>one of these days you will go back to europe and then i will comment

Vagabonde said...

Margaret Bednar, Elaine, Vicki Lane, alwaysinthebackrow, Lonicera, Sablonneuse, Linguist-in-Waiting, Louis la Vache, Jeanie and Ginnie – Thank you so much for your good wishes. In return I wish you all a great 2011 and much inspiration for your blogs. Thanks for stopping by. I always look forward to reading your comments.

Vagabonde said...

Ruth – I saw Dick Cavett on the Jon Steward show and bought his book for my husband. I’ll read it too as I am sure there are many interesting stories in it. I always appreciate your kind comments.

Kenza et Nancy – merci mes amies pour vos gentils souhaits. Je vous envoie les miens, bien sincèrement.

Gosia – welcome to my blog and thank you for leaving a comment. Please come back again.

Putz – I’ll try to have a post on France in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the visit.

Team Mere Bulles #db said...

Thank you so much for making Mere Bulles part of your travels.

Please visit us again soon!

#db

Marguerite said...

How nice that you had a white Christmas! Something we've never had in the deep South. Your photos on this and the previous post are beautiful and I enjoyed the vintage post cards, too. Congrats on your 100th post Wishing you a very Happy New Year! Cheers, cher!

bowsprite said...

happy 100th! felicitations! and more, more, please!

much love to you!

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