Fairies don’t show up too often in the average American life. They appear in books or movies, and fairies make excellent Halloween costumes, but that’s about it (other than as a slang term for something else…). I’ve come across fairies in a few unusual places this week here in NE England, though, the most puzzling found in yesterday’s paper. One of those "5 minute interview with a celebrity" type articles had questions obviously geared towards the holiday season:What has been your favorite Christmas present?
Where will you spend the holidays?
What is your favourite Christmas song?
Are you a star or a fairy person?
Where will you spend the holidays?
What is your favourite Christmas song?
Are you a star or a fairy person?
Wait, what? A star or a fairy? It took some further reading to realize that they were referring to Christmas tree decorations. Upon arrival at my office, I queried half a dozen coworkers about their Christmas tree topper habits and discovered that fairies are quite popular around here. They won 3 to 2 (with the 6th person claiming whatever creation the kids made that year trumped both star and fairy). Angels, a common star alternative where I come from, were still a viable option, and it took a few puzzled looks before someone could come up with the difference in their Christmastime manifestations. It’s the wings, apparently. Angels have larger, feathery wings; fairies have more translucent "wings of “gossamer,” said one workmate. Of course. I guess I knew that.
Other fairies? Someone here asked me if all Americans put up as many fairy lights as Chevy Chase did in the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I also made fairy cakes, not cupcakes, for Josh on his birthday as we didn’t have a cake-sized tin. And there’s Fairy Liquid in the office kitchen, which seems to be a popular brand of washing up liquid (commonly known as dish soap in the USA). So we’re surrounded by fairies here. How lovely!
(By the way, if you are interested in learning more about fairies, Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book is a charming, wonderfully illustrated introduction.)
3 comments:
I love faeries and I love calling little lights faerie lights. (I also love the alternate spelling.) My backyard growing up was filled with faeries (and gnomes and trolls). They are so magical as to be tangible to me.
Oh, and there's also the fantastic story of the two girls, Elsie and Francis, who fooled much of England into thinking that they had taken a photograph of proper faeries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottingley_Fairies
You are right about the "how lovely" part of being surrounded by fairies. What a delightful thing! I think the next time I need a new top for my Christmas tree I will hunt for a fairy. Think they make those for the US market?
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