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Articles about Holiday

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In 1955, downtown Bloomington 'dressed in holiday style'

 By Bill Kemp. Published on December 20, 2009.
Back in 1955, Bloomington was less than half its current size, toys were still made in America, stores offered free home delivery of ev...
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War’s end makes Christmas ’45 extra special

 By Bill Kemp. Published on December 28, 2014.
On Dec. 22, 1945, President Harry Truman switched on the twinkling lights of the nation’s Christmas tree. This White House ceremony, no...
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Great Fire couldn’t dampen Christmas spirit

 By Bill Kemp. Published on December 4, 2016.
The holiday season of 1900 brought more changes than usual for area shoppers flocking to downtown Bloomington. A little m...
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Homemade Christmas dinner once a McLean County jail tradition

 By Bill Kemp. Published on December 25, 2016.
“Unfortunate souls who spend Christmas Day in the county jail will at least have a tasty dinner to help them mull over their predicamen...
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Emancipation Day once Black community’s July 4th

 By Bill Kemp. Published on May 21, 2017.
In the years before the Civil War and for several decades afterward, Bloomington’s African-American community embraced alternatives to ...
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Intrepid Pantagrapher paid visit to Santa’s North Pole

 By Bill Kemp. Published on December 2, 2018.
In 1897, 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon famously wrote the New York Sun newspaper to ask if that “jolly old elf” was in fact real. One wo...
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Holidays bring turbulent year of ’68 to a close

 By Bill Kemp. Published on December 24, 2018.
Fifty years ago this week, December 1968, fast-approaching Christmas and New Year’s afforded many Americans an opportunity to reflect b...
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Halloween 1945 followed world war’s end

 By Bill Kemp. Published on October 20, 2019.
World War II still loomed large over American life during the Halloween season of 1945. The surrender of Japan marking the war’s end ha...
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Spirits high for Depression-era Christmas

 By Bill Kemp. Published on December 22, 2019.
During the 1936 Christmas season, Americans faced an Ebenezer Scrooge writ large — the hard times of the Great Depression. Even so, mos...
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New Year’s Eve 1919 meant hope for better times

 By Bill Kemp. Published on December 29, 2019.
One hundred years ago, New Year’s Eve 1919 brought hope for better days to come. After all, the nation had been deeply scarred by the t...
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Community Christmas ‘sing’ once annual event

 By Bill Kemp. Published on December 13, 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the cancellation of countless holiday gatherings, school pageants, office parties, concerts, dinner da...