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Popcorn Wagon There's a Christmas story seldom told around the fireplace and one that I'm sure most people have never heard of. It's the story of the fourth Magi. That's right, there were four of them instead of the three we always hear about. His gift was thought to be of less value than the others so they tried excluding him at the last minute. However, he stayed with them and on this night proved to be the most significant gift of all. As the story goes, the four wisemen followed the star through the desert to Bethlehem just in time to arrive for the birth of a very special baby. The fact that it happened in a manger alerted the young family to their particular needs and gifts were carefully selected. One king brought gold with which to purchase items of need. Another king brought frankincense while a third brought mir. I've never been partial to either scent, but knowing where all this was taking place it seemed like a probable solution to the aroma of the manger. The fourth king was probably the wisest for he brought his gift of grain. It was food! With his gift of corn the young family could eat and nourish themselves, as well as fuel their means of transportation. As they approached the young family in the manger, the fourth king with the corn stumbled and spilled some of the contents of his gift package into the small fire that had been built for warmth within the manger. The family saw this and said "Thou art wiseth of all kings for thou hast seen to our nourishment." They blessed this king and bade him to make more "popping grain" for all to enjoy. This was done as the family requested. Meanwhile, the other kings ran back to the inn to get something to drink with the new taste treat. This tradition is carried on by millions of people who gather in celebration of various events and occasions from celebrating new movies, holidays, cold snowy nights in front of the fireplace, or toasting friends in public houses. The name "popping grain" was eventually changed during the twelfth century to "popcorn" by a Franciscan monk while he was experimenting with his newly discovered sparkling wine. In an effort to get his corks to fit into the bottles he knocked some corn into the fireplace. The resulting "pop" surprised him into releasing his grasp on the cork which gave way with a loud "bang." The sound was immediately associated with the popcorn. Today, popcorn is rarely served with champagne, but cold beer works just as well. Chicagoans love popcorn as much as anyone else and that's why you see lines out the door on weekends for the local purveyors of this heavenly delight. Small wonder that the Chicago Board of Trade should be started here for the expressed purpose of buying and selling grain. We commemorate the first popcorn by stringing it around our Christmas trees in December and giving it as gifts to one another in remembrance of the Holy Family's first Christmas dinner. If it weren't for the fourth Magi's gift we would probably be eating salted in the shell peanuts at the movies. Print size: 10.5" x 15" Original Watercolor Painting is Available FRAME STYLES* Style A is a gold-toned aluminum frame with a single white mat over the print. Style B a gold-leaf wooden frame with a gorgeous linen mat, inner fillet of gold-leaf wood over another white mat.

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