The White Falcon - 03.12.1976, Qupperneq 1

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Volume XXXII Number 48
Falcon
Kellavik. Iceland
December 3. 1976
The custom of sending
Christmas cards began in
England back in 1843
when it was possible to
send them to friends
near and far for a pen-
ny.
Designed by John Cal-
cott Horsely of the Roy-
al Academy, the first
card featured a friendly
family party raising
wine glasses in
a toast, with
simple greeting
still used to-
day: "A Merry
Christmas and a
Happy New Year
to You."
by Phillip R. Smith. Jr.
The Yule Custom that
Grew into a 4-Billion Card
Business Still Offers Simple
CHRISTMAS
GREETINGS
Color Cards
In U.S.
The custom
was introduced
to the United
States in the
1870s by Louis
Prang of Boston, MA, an immigrant
from Germany. Known as the "Father
of the American Christmas Card,"
Prang perfected the lithographic pro-
cess of multicolor printing, often
using as many as 20 colors on one
card. The reproduction of oil paint-
ings, including many religious scenes
was so perfect that at times only ex-
perts could tell print from paint.
By 1881 Prang was printing five mil-
lion cards a year, most of them
Christmas cards.
Near the turn of the 20th century,
a flood of plenty postcards made in
Germany flooded the U.S. greeting
card market, and from that time until
the First World War, Germany monopo-
lized the market. By 1920, however,
American greeting card manufacturers
were bringing out greeting cards of
better quality and design.
Patriotic Santas
During World War II, Christmas
cards featured Santas carrying flags.
Special cards came out for Servicemen
with such sentiments as "Across the
Miles" and "Missing You". The Cold
War years sharpened a demand for more
humor in cards. This sparked the
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The first Christmas Card, circa 1843
guished artists
studio card with its hu-
morous Santas and ludi-
crous reindeer.
Since that time the
industry has grown phe-
nomenally. In 1954,
Americans exchanged more
than two billion Christ-
mas cards. This year,
industry spokesmen esti-
mate that about four
billion cards will be
.... ... exchanged.
The custom
is also follow-
ed by royalty
and heads of
state. Not long
after Christmas
cards were in-
troduced in
Great Britain,
the King and
Queen and the
Prince of Wales
adopted the
custom and em-
ployed distin-
to paint an appropri-
ate picture for each card. For a
number of years the President and
First Lady of the United States have
also drawn upon the talents of dis-
tinguished artists to design special
Christmas cards.
Intricate Process
One might expect that the cards
sent by such famous persons would in-
volve far greater production effort
than for those sent by the general
public. Not so. Production experts
at one large greeting card company
say that as many as 3,000 people car-
rying out some 300 separate steps
pool their talents in conceiving and
producing a single greeting card.
Treated to look like leather, suede,
wood, satin, cloth and metal, a
greeting card may pass more than 30
individual tests before final approv-
al, and it may take as many as 95
working days to turn out a single
card.
That’s something to think about
when you affix your John Hancock,
Mrs. Hancock and junior Hancocks to
this year's batch of Christmas cards.
And, as John Horsely said back in
1843, "A Merry Christmas and a Happy
New Year to You."
0 PW officer advises TV viewers
to check first before calling 4601
The American Forces Television, Chan-
nel 4 closed-circuit broadcast signed on
Thanksgiving Day. Before signing on,
viewers were advised how to "hook up"
their TV sets to cable outlets and the
necessary parts needed to receive the
broadcast.
But what does one do when the recep-
tion is bad?
According to Commander Delmont J.
Monarch Jr., Naval Station Public Works
officer, viewers should be aware that
all problems with television sets do not
necessarily stem from the TV cable. He
said viewers should be aware that merely
tuning to Channel 4 will not ensure a
clear picture. The television trans-
former must be hooked up to the VHF ter-
minals on the back of the set and the
Pet must be finely tuned.
With the system now activated, color
is available on all color sets but the
viewer must adjust the color hues on his
own set.
The following are Cdr. Monarch's sug-
gestions of probable troubles a viewer
might encounter:
Stemming from TV cable malfunctions:
* Herring bone effect (uniform zig-
zag lines covering screen);
* Ghosts after fine tuning;
* Aurora (halo around figures);
* Cochannel (one-half vertical line
moving constantly from left to right of
TV screen); and
* No picture on screen but screen
lights up (indicates cut cable).
Stemming from viewer's TV set:
* No picture and screen does not
light up (indicates faulty power tube,
faulty on/off switch, unplugged set,
circuit breaker tripped on back of set,
circuit breaker tripped for that circuit
at power panel);
* Fine tuner has little or no effect
on reception (faulty fine tuner, prob-
ably needs cleaning;
* Channel selector will not hold pic-
ture on screen, but must be moved to an
off-normal position to hold picture
(faulty channel selector, cam or con-
tacts shifted);
* Volume control has little effect on
lowered end of volume control knob
(faulty volume potentiometer); and
* Picture on screen shrinks on either
horizontal or vertical scale (faulty
horizontal tube or vertical tube).
The commander also added that when
the viewer is positive that the cable
and not the set is causing the problem,
he should call 4601 (TV cable trouble
desk) not 4100 (Public Works trouble
desk) as reported two weeks ago.
Base wives to get 'first hand’
view of NavSta tennant commands
To explain the missions of NATO Base
tenant commands, a special Naval Station
wives' orientation will be hosted by the
Human Relations Center Tuesday, begin-
ning at 9 a.m. at the Top of the Rock.
Captain Jack T. Weir, Naval Station
Commanding Officer/Commander Naval
Forces Iceland, is scheduled to greet
the Navy wives at the morning assembly.
Reservations for the orientation tour
and luncheon should be made by 1:30 p.m.
Monday by calling 7334 or 7908 at the
Human Relations Center.
According to Ensign Tim Greer, pro-
ject coordinator, a similar wives'
orientation tour was held in June. The
wives' indoctrination is part of the
command action plan embodied in NAVSTA-
KEFINST 5350.8A.
The wives' tour agenda is as follows:
8:45-9 a.m.—assemble at Top of the Rock
9:15—Captain Jack T. Weir will greet
and the film "Days of Destruction" will
be shown during this orientation segment
10:15—Patrol Squadron FORTY-NINE will
hold a hangar and aircraft brief/tour
11:00—Commander Fleet Air Keflavik will
summarize their operational functions
11:30—Luncheon—Top of the Rock Club
1 p.m.—Air Force Detachment 14 will
give a rescue operations demonstration
1:45—57th Fighter Interceptor Squadron
will deliver an aircraft familiarization
and show a movie for the Navy wives
2:30—Keflavik Airport Fire Station will
demonstrate an actual arrested landing
3:15—The program will conclude at the
Top of the Rock Club.
About 40 Navy wives are expected to
attend.
CHAMPUS
Deadline for 1975 claims nears
The Department of Defense reminds
beneficiaries that Dec. 31, 1976 is the
deadline for submitting 1975 claims
under the Civilian Health and Medical
Program of the Uniformed Services
(CHAMPUS). Any claim for care received
between Jan. 1, 1975 and Dec. 31, 1975
that is not submitted by the deadline
cannot be paid.
A CHAMPUS beneficiary with a 1975
claim that has not been submitted should
get it in the mail as soon as possible.
Also, if a civilian provider of medical
care who agreed to submit a 1975 claim
directly to CHAMPUS has not done so, the
beneficiary should remind the provider
about the deadline.
According to DOD policy in effect
since Jan. 1, 1974, the deadline for
submitting a CHAMPUS claim is the last
day of the calendar year following the
calendar year in which a service or
supply was provided.
New contractors
Beginning Jan. 1, 1977, new contrac-
tors will process all claims for inpa-
tient and outpatient care received in
Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky
and Missouri CHAMPUS beneficiaries.
On that same date, a new contractor
will begin processing CHAMPUS claims for
inpatient care received in Pennsylvania.
The new contractors and the addresses
to which claims should be sent after
Dec. 31 are:
Connecticut—Blue Shield of Massa-
chusetts, Inc., P.0. Box 2194, Boston,
MA 02111.
Delaware—Medical Service Association
of Pennsylvania, Blue Shield Building,
Box 65, Camp Hill, PA 17011.
Indiana—Planning Research Corpora-
tion, 7600 Old Springhouse Road, McLean,
CFK Note spells out
travel uniform regulation
Navy and Marine Corps personnel on
permanent change of station travel or
temporary duty and leave travel on gov-
ernment owned or operated aircraft will
be required to wear appropriate uniform,
according to COMFAIRKEF Note 4630 of
Nov. 16, 1976.
The appropriate uniform for Navy
personnel is service dress blue with
ribbons or winter blue with ribbons.
Outer wear for winter blue is peacoat,
reefer, overcoat or raincoat. Blue
working jacket or foul weather jacket is
not authorized. Personnel not complying
with the regulation will be refused
boarding on aircraft. The regulation is
effective immediately.
For destinations where the Foreign
Clearance Guide prescribes civilian
clothing, and when specifically request-
ed by personnel utilizing the Environ-
mental and Morale Leave Program, travel
in appropriate civilian attire will be
authorized.
VA 22101.
Kentucky—Planning Research Corpora-
tion, 7600 Old Springhouse Road, McLean,
VA 22101.
Missouri—The Dikewood Corporation,
1009 Bradbury Drive, S.E., Albuquerque,
New Mexico 87106.
Pennsylvania—Medical Service Asso-
ciation of Pennsylvania, Blue Shield
Building, Box 65, Camp Hill, PA 17011.
Medical Service Association of Penn-
sylvania currently processes all CHAMPUS
outpatient claims from Pennsylvania.
The new contractors were selected on
the basis of competitive bidding. Each
submitted the best overall proposal for
administering payments of CHAMPUS claims
from the state for which its contract
was awarded, according to Defense De*-
partment officals.
DOD officials have asked CHAMPUS
beneficiaries to begin submitting claims
to the new contractors after Dec. 31,
1976, even if the care was received
before that date. Until then, claims
should be sent to the current contra-
tor.
New overseas medical rates
New reimbursement rates for overseas
medical care provided by military treat-
ment facilities to civilian employees of
the United States and their dependents
have been announced by the Department of
Defense.
The new rates will go into effect on
April 1, 1977, except where a local
union contract or an agreement with a
foreign government that calls for the
current rate is in effect. These con-
tracts and agreements will be honored
until their expiration.
Non-U.S. citizens and their depen-
dents will pay $168 per day for in-
patient care, the same rate now paid by
U.S. citizens and their dependents. The
present rate for non-U.S. citizens is $5
per day.
Each outpatient treatment, examina-
tion, or consultation for either a U.S.
citizen or non-U.S. citizen will cost
$20. Currently, the cost for both citi-
zens and non-citizens is $1 per visit
overseas and $20 per visit in the U.S.
The decision to increase overseas
reimbursement rates was based on Con-
gressional requirements for full cost
recovery, increases in the cost of pro-
viding medical care, changes in inter-
national economic conditions and im-
provement in the Federal Employee Bene-
fits program. The rates are based on
worldwide average costs.
School performance set
The A. T. Mahan School will present a
Christmas music program Dec. 14 at the
Andrews Theater at 7 p.m.
The Elementary School chorus and the
High School band will perform.
The entire community is invited to
attend.