Send a funny Groundhog's Day Ecard from Rubber Chicken Cards
The Pennsylvanian German pronunciation of Groundhog Day is "Grundsaudaag, Murmeltiertag". What a beautiful language, huh?! Okay, Groundhog Day is the dopiest of holidays, but it's a perfect excuse to send someone you care about something silly to make them smile (we're talking about you sending them one of our eCards , not another crocheted Angry Birds necktie, you hipster, you!). We're curious as to why so many people every year wait until the last possible minute before they email or send our eCards on Facebook to their family and friends. So this year, send your's out early (now's a good time to beat the rush) and avoid all that un-necessary Groundhog Day eCard holiday stress!
And how do they chose the groundhog? Do they take after the Tibetan monks and try to find the groundhog that has been given the proper "soul" so that it's shadow can guarantee a proper reading? Do they go through a whole breeding process to hone in on the "shadow casting" gene? Can someone please throw us a bone here!!
At any rate, the fact we still celebrate this is kind of fun. In Pennsylvania --were they really go hard-- the festivals consists of social events in which food is served, speeches are made, and one or more g'spiel (plays or skits) are performed for the community.
One rule during this Groundhog Day gala, is that you can only speak the Pennsylvanian German dialect. If one utters a word of English there is a jar in the middle of every table in which they have to put a nickel, dime or quarter for each English word spoken. Sounds expensive for the tourists.
In conclusion, we thought that you might like a little history of this day to sweeten your ecard Groundhog Day sending. Our story opens in 1723. The Delaware Indians settle Punxsutawney, PA, at a campsite, where they roasted venison wieners and did their version of a s'more.
Today the town is about 100 miles from Pittsburgh between Allegheny and the Susquehanna Rivers. The Delaware Indians considered groundhogs honorable ancestors. The name Punxsutawney comes from the Indian name for the location, which means "the town of the sand flies." What a great place to settle. But then the word Miami means "real hot place of huge flying roaches."
Squeeze forward a few years to the settling of the German immigrants and their celebration of Candlemas, a pagan celebration of the middle of two equinoxeau (the French plural for equinox, ain't we swanky?!). For the ancestors of the Candelmas crowd, if there was sun on Feb 2nd there would be 6 more weeks of winter. If you were Swedish you'd get 96 more weeks of winter, whether there was sun or not. And that is the Rubber Chicken Card history of Groundhog Day. Come celebrate this delicious event by sending a Rubber Chicken Groundhog Day ecard!
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