Celebrating Our Past

The newest thing is old.

Keywords:

Celebrating Our Past

Article Body:

The newest thing is old. From classic TV to retro fashions, nostalgia is in. As we grow older, decades past can seem better and better in our memories, and we look for reminders-in art, in entertainment and in cultural artifacts-that hearken back to the Good Old Days as we remember them.

Vintage advertising imagery is particularly popular. For example, many restaurants display vintage posters and memorabilia on their walls to lend a whimsically decorative touch. More and more Americans are replicating this in their own homes, with ads-as-art growing in popularity every year.

In fact, some ads are art. Over the years, some of America's best-loved artists, such as Norman Rockwell, Alfred Buell, J.C. Leyendecker and Andrew Loomis, have contributed significantly to companies' visual legacies and brand identities.

For example, Kellogg Company's archives department is like a walk through history, documenting a century of American history and social change, including a significant shift in eating habits and family lifestyles. It is a time capsule of nostalgic imagery, evoking emotion, humor, warmth and fond memories. To get a virtual glimpse inside, visit www.kellogg100.com.

Now the company is cracking open the vault and tapping into its archive of original artwork, design and packaging. For its 100th anniversary, Kellogg is celebrating the beauty and historical staying power of iconic images such as Cornelius the Rooster and Snap! Crackle! Pop! by partnering with licensees to create nostalgic, vintage merchandise. It will be available through a broad range of retail outlets, allowing consumers of all ages to enjoy and celebrate a century of cereal. Modern-day icons will be reunited with such old friends as Smaxey the Seal and Sugar Pops Pete from the 1940s and Milton "Milty" the Toaster from the 1970s, sure to delight audiences of all ages.

These product lines will combine the nostalgic imagery of the past with the sophisticated design and quality product that you have come to expect.

Celebrating Administrative Professionals: A Quick Memo

There are currently about 4 million secretaries working in the U.S. and nearly 9 million people working in other types of administrative positions according to the U.S. Deaprtment of Labor. But how much do you really know about this valued and demanding position?

Keywords:

Celebrating Administrative Professionals: A Quick Memo

Article Body:

When you think of Roman times, chances are you don't think of secretaries. Yet that's exactly when experts believe the first secretaries (called "scribes" back then) went to work. Since then, secretaries and administrative assistants have become integral parts of business.

In fact, there are currently about 4 million secretaries working in the U.S. and nearly 9 million people working in other types of administrative positions according to the U.S. Department of Labor. But how much do you really know about this valued and demanding position? Try this quiz to find out. It comes from Quill Corporation, a group that has worked with office professionals for 50 years.

QUESTIONS

1) T or F: The majority of secretaries were men until the 1930s.

2) During the middle of the 20th century, workers who became secretaries were most often:

a) Promoted from steno pools

b) Selected from secretarial schools

c) Retrained from factory jobs

3) In what era did xerographic duplication start?

a) 1930s

b) 1940s

c) 1950s

4) What was the average salary of administrative assistants in 2005?

a) $24,000

b) $26,000

c) $28,000

5) National Secretaries Week started in 1952. In what year was it changed to Administrative Professionals Week?

a) 1999

b) 2000

c) 2001

ANSWERS

1) TRUE. In the 15th and 16th centuries, secretaries were considered esteemed advisors-posts held exclusively by men.

2) (b) Secretarial jobs required advanced training and schools sprang up to teach highly regarded, in-demand skills.

3) (c) During that same era, data typewriters, data processing compu-typewriters and telewriters came in to use, spurring the growth of office supply companies such as Quill.

4) (c) According to the U.S. Department of Labor, salaries are expected to grow by more than 9 percent in 2006.

5) (b) The name was changed in 2000 to keep pace with changing job titles and responsibilities.

The idea of celebrating Jesus' birth was done to counteract pagan holidays

such as Midnight Mass and primarily in the many forms of the Nativity, or

Christmas Story, presented wherever people celebrate Christmas.

That story started in Nazareth in Galilee about two thousand years ago.

Mary, a young woman, was engaged to a carpenter named Joseph. An angel appeared

to her one day and told her she was with child. She couldn't understand how that

could happen because due to her circumspect nature, she had not laid in bed with

Joseph. The angel explained however, that the child would be special as he would

be the Son of God and his name was to be Jesus. Mary and Joseph then got married

soon after the angel's appearance.. But about the time when Mary was to have the

baby, the couple had to travel far away to Bethlehem, Joseph's birthplace, to

pay a special tax.

It was difficult for them to find a place to stay because many other

people were in Bethlehem to pay their taxes. After many rejections, one

innkeeper offered a room in his stable where they could spend the night. That's

where Jesus, the Holy Child and Son of God was born and then wrapped in bundles

of cloth and placed in a manger for a cradle.

In the same hours that Mary was giving birth, shepherds who were in a

field that overlooked Bethlehem saw an extremely bright star over the sky in

Bethlehem. They had never seen anything like it and had feelings of curiosity

and scariness. An angel appeared and told them the 'good news' that the Son of

God had been born in Bethlehem.

The shepherds left their flocks to go to Bethlehem to find the baby. When

they reached the stable, they were filled with immense joy at seeing Jesus. They

fell to their knees and worshipped Him. They also told Mary and Joseph about the

bright star and the angel appearing to say Jesus would be the Savior of the

world.

The bright star was also seen by Wise Men in the east. The Wise Men, who

studied the stars, learned that a new and great ruler would appear whenever an

extraordinarily bright star appeared in the sky. Three of them therefore set out

to find the new ruler. They first visited King Herod in Jerusalem because they

thought the child would be born in the palace. But when they asked to see the

child who would be the new ruler, King Herod was very worried as he thought he

would be removed from the throne. King Herod told the Wise Men that when they

found the baby, they should return and tell him so that he could also worship

the baby.

The Wise Men used the star as a guide to go to Bethlehem where they found Mary,

Joseph and Baby Jesus who they worshipped and offered gifts of gold,

frankincense and myrrh. The Wise Men are celebrated in some Christmas

celebrations on Jan. 6, known as the Epiphany to mark the date when they found

Jesus. Later in the night the three Wise Men had a dream in which an angel told

them that King Herod wanted to kill Baby Jesus. They left Bethlehem to return to

the East but didn't return to Jerusalem to tell King Herod where they had found

the child. Joseph also had a dream soon after the Wise Men left in which an

angel appeared and told him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt because Herod had

ordered that Jesus be killed. In an effort to kill Jesus after the Wise Men did

not return to inform him of the baby's whereabouts, Herod later ordered that all

baby boys in Bethlehem should be killed. But by then Mary and Joseph had left