#dreidl

1956 patent application "Design for an Electric Hanukkah Lamp," NARA GIF online

HAG HANUKKAH SAMEACH!

ICYMI: our 1st-ever Hanukkah Tumblr series! By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

1st Night: Cowboy-themed menorah w/ perhaps mistletoe? 2nd Night: 1926 Sefer Sipur Nes Hanukkah from Baghdad. 3rd Night: White House Hanukkah invite with a Xmas tree! 4th Night: mention of Hanukkah at Rosenberg trial. 5th Night: 1st Pandemic Hanukkah, 1918 6th Night: Hanukkah speech tips for Pres. Clinton, 1998! 7th Night: Candy Cane Menorah? 8th Night: You’re invited… Hanukkah at the White House!

I just spent some royalty money on an incredibly meaningful, gorgeous piece of art.

Tiny sparkly Judaica from http://seekaonline.com/shop-online , who came to the Gainesville fall art fair.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the electric menorah, or “electric Hanukkah lamp,” is here to stay. And many Hanukkah observers, when pressed, may admit to having a relative who proudly displays one (or more) in a window...

LED Rope Light Menorah Motif Kit from AQ lighting, online here. 

From Shutterstock via Tablet Magazine.

Given the interest in our cowboy-themed menorah post, today we share two electric menorah patents.  

Sixth in our first-ever 8 days of Hanukkah Tumblr series of surprising Hanukkah-related National Archives records. By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs.  

Design Patent Case File No. D185,199 - Design for an Electric Hanukkah Lamp, submitted by Ernest Goldberg, NARA ID 167821649. filed 8/13/1958, patented 5/19/1959. 

“Electric Hanukkah Lamp” - rejected, then approved

Ernest Goldberg’s menorah featured the Magen David, Star of David, as the key design feature, to be viewed from front or back, and illuminated “by a new method of wiring, that of distributing the wires through the side arms and then connecting it with the nine individual sockets."

Goldberg’s initial patent application was rejected. He was instructed to:

Remove the words “utilizing the Jewish Star of David” 

Change the description to “electric Hanukkah lamp” 

Redo his messy drawings. 

The “Chief Draftsman” criticized the drawing’s “pale, blurred and indistinct” lines, and demanded a better drawing:

Goldberg resubmitted his design and it was approved. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Records (RG 241), nearly 5 million files, are held at the National Archives at Kansas City. Explore highlights from his incredible collection in the National Archives Catalog online.  

CANDY CANE MENORAH?

Candy cane menorah US20060044790A1. “The illumination members include a translucent fixture having the shape and appearance of a candy cane.” Application submitted by John Crawley, 2004. 

Happy 7th Night of Hanukkah!

Please note: the National Archives does not endorse or recommend any particular Menorah, electric or otherwise. 

ICYMI:

1st Night: 1956 patent application for an unusual menorah with cowboys, horses, tassels, and perhaps mistletoe.

2nd Night: 1926 Sefer Sipur Nes Hanukkah from Baghdad.

3rd Night: the White House Hanukkah party invite with a Xmas tree!

4th Night: mention of Hanukkah in Rosenberg Trial Grand Jury testimony.

5th Night: 1st Pandemic Hanukkah, 1918.

6th Night:  Hanukkah speech tips to NSC staffer Blinken 1998!

From Israeli gov’t speechwriter to Clinton NSC staffer Blinken, 1998

Middle East Trip - Menorah Lighting 12/98, from Anthony Blinken's Files, ca. 1994-1998, Records of the National Security Council Speechwriting Office (Clinton Admin.), ca.1993 -2001.Clinton Presidential Library. NARA ID 23903818. 

--Sixth in our first-ever 8 days of Hanukkah Tumblr series of surprising Hanukkah-related National Archives records. By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs--

Suggested Hanukkah joke, part of guidance from an Israeli gov’t speechwriter to Anthony Blinken, for President Clinton’s December 1998 visit to Israel:

President Clinton visited Israel four times during his two terms, and his 1998 visit overlapped with Hanukkah. Clinton Presidential Library records include this fascinating memo from Israeli gov’t speechwriter Jacob Maor to Clinton NSC staffer Anthony Blinken (12/3/1998).

Maor noted that the tremendous Israeli support for the President (after his “Shalom Haver” eulogy for Rabin) had dropped. Maor assured Blinken that these “anecdotes and humor” will help “recreate the warm loving attitude for your boss” and “will be highly appreciated by the Jewish people.”

SUGGESTED  Hanukkah “Ideas and humor”

For President Clinton’s 1998 Israel trip. From Jacob Maor to Anthony Blinken, 12/3/1998. Emphases added. 

* Make a joke about Hanukkah gelt! Suggestion: “Uncle Sam came to visit you [on] Hanukah, and is bringing you some Hanukah Money.”

* Use traditional Hanukkah greeting - “might have an effect like... ‘Shalom Haver.’ Great impact.”

* Relate the Middle East peace process to Hanukah symbolism!

Hanukkah is 8 days, Wye River Accord negotiations were 8 days!

The Wye Accord, like Hanukkah candles, brightens our world!

The peace process is like a dreidl - when it stops moving, it falls!

President Clinton is like the Shamash candle, the worker, “the servant of the Menorah.”

Israelis may need a broader perspective. Suggested wording: “sometimes it seems to me that you revolve around yourselves” like a  dreidl. 

EXTRA CREDIT!!!

* Note the Hebrew letters on the dreidl and cite David Ben Gurion: “In Israel, in order to be realistic, you have to believe in miracles.

Extra, extra credit: “You’ll surprise them even more, if you’ll note that he passed away exactly 25 years ago last week.”

*** Use the oil/falafel joke (top of post) at tonight’s candle lighting! Hag Hanukkah Sameach!  

FYI - in contrast to the tone of these suggestions, here’s President Clinton’s 1998 Hanukkah greeting:

ICYMI:

1st Night: 1956 patent application for an unusual menorah with cowboys, horses, tassels, and perhaps mistletoe.

2nd Night: 1926 Sefer Sipur Nes Hanukkah from Baghdad.

3rd Night: the White House Hanukkah party invite with a Xmas tree!

4th Night: mention of Hanukkah in the Rosenberg Trial Grand Jury testimony.

Happy 8th Night of Hanukkah!

For the last night of this pandemic Hanukkah, we share a selection of White House Hanukkah party invites.  Note first the menorah and then Xmas tree motifs.  

Last in our first-ever 8 days of Hanukkah Tumblr series of Hanukkah-related National Archives records. By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs.

Hanukkah 2001

Hanukkah Reception - Invitations, George W. Bush Library, NARA ID 148028551

Hanukkah 2002

12/04/2002 - Hanukkah Reception - Invitations, George W. Bush Library, NARA ID 148028703.

Hanukkah 2003

12/22/2003 - Hanukkah Reception - Invitations, George W. Bush Library,  NARA ID 148028931

Hanukkah 2004

12/09/2004 - Hanukkah Reception - Invitations, George W. Bush Library, NARA ID 148029061.

Hanukkah 2005

12/06/2005- Hanukkah Reception - Invitations, George W. Bush Library, NARA ID 148029197.

Hanukkah 2007 - see:  White House Hanukkah invite with a Xmas tree!

Hanukkah 2008

12/15/2008, Hanukkah Reception - Invitations, George W. Bush Library, NARA ID 148029657.

ICYMI:

1st Night: 1956 patent application for an unusual menorah with cowboys, horses, tassels, and perhaps mistletoe.

2nd Night: 1926 Sefer Sipur Nes Hanukkah from Baghdad.

3rd Night: the White House Hanukkah party invite with a Xmas tree!

4th Night: mention of Hanukkah in Rosenberg Trial Grand Jury testimony.

5th Night: 1st Pandemic Hanukkah, 1918.

6th Night:  Hanukkah speech tips to NSC staffer Blinken 1998!

7th Night: Candy Cane Menorah?

What is a dreidl, exactly?

Hanukkah doesn't have terribly many visual symbols. There's the hanukkiyah, obviously, and various food items, and there's the dreidl (also known by its Hebrew name, s'vivon — both words mean "to turn around").

The best explanation of all this, to my mild surprise, is in Wikipedia. The article includes some coverage of the dreidl's recent political significance. That significance goes back further than that however, as can be seen in this cartoon, a syndicated feature that was printed in the December 19th, 1946, issue of The Sentinel (Chicago):