2nd Inning.
My Top 5 Christmas Songs...You can't have Christmas movies without Christmas music so check out my top 5 Christmas songs (with videos) below. Enjoy!
Elvis: 'Merry Christmas, Baby'. I didn't know about this song till I bought an Elvis Christmas cd after getting married. Bluesy sound!
Burl Ives: 'Holly Jolly Christmas'. I remember this one playing on the Rudolph movie growing up. Gotta love it!
Elvis: 'Santa Claus is Back in Town'. Another one I discovered on that Elvis Christmas cd. Up till that point I recall Blue Christmas as the only Christmas Elvis song I knew.
Bobby Helms: 'Jingle Bell Rock'. In Christmas movies all the time. Can't help but sing along!
Robert Earl Keene: 'Merry Christmas from the Family'. This song could be about my family...literally...not kidding...I'm serious!
3rd Inning.
Christmas Memories...We all have certain memories of Christmas from years past. As I close in on year #39 here are a few of mine...
- The gathering of grandchildren in my Grandpa Arnold's home on 133rd Circle in Grandview, Missouri. Try packing 35 kids into a room with one couch, two chairs, and a recliner and half are hopped up on soda and candy. This is where zombie mobs are formed.
- Visiting Santa in his little shed at the Truman Corners shopping center, right between the old Skaggs Drug Store and Topsy's.
- The Christmas before my oldest was born...I was sent off to western Pennsylvania for job training while my wife (who was due January 10) was left alone in Memphis where we lived. We had no family nearby to help out and as I am 800 miles away she calls me to tell me she is having contractions. A panic attack set in while I was at the training facility and while I was in a bathroom stall. Almost never came out of that stall. Funny thing about it...in conversations with other trainees I mentioned my wife and our soon to be first child...a year or so later and another training session a couple of my old fellow trainees remembered me and my predicament and asked about my daughter.
- Waiting for my Great Uncle Alton dressed up as Santa to show up at our home for Christmas. We knew it was him but it was always a special moment.
- The annual trips down to my Papa and Granny Brewer's house. There was usually snow and you could count on the wood burning stove to be putting out some heat in the back room where we gathered. My Papa would always bring some baby animals in that backroom to show us...the goats were always fun to play with.
- Once I could drive, after the festivities at my Grandpa Arnold's house were ending, I would load up my car with cousins and we would go see a movie at the Ward Parkway theaters. It was always fun how we all got along and had that tradition. Thanks, David, Michelle, Merle, Karissa, Shelley, Julie, Stephanie, and Denny!
4th Inning.
Christmas History in the U.S.A...Per History.com, "Christmas is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. December 25–Christmas Day–has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870." Okay, now that you have a basic understanding of Christmas, what about its introduction and evolution in the United States? Our society, which is sometimes described as a melting pot, has customs and traditions from all over the world as immigrants came to our shores.
When the pilgrims came to America in 1620, they were very orthodox in their Puritan beliefs and as a result, Christmas was not a holiday celebrated in early America. During the late 1600s, Christmas was actually outlawed in cities such as Boston. Although areas in the northeast did not celebrate the holiday there were areas in the southern colonies that did. After the American Revolution, Christmas was considered an English custom and therefore fell out of favor with many in the new nation.
"In 1819, Washington Irving wrote a series of stories about
the celebration of Christmas in an English manor house. The sketches feature a
squire who invited the peasants into his home for the holiday. In contrast to
the problems faced in American society, the two groups mingled effortlessly. In
Irving's mind, Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday bringing
groups together across lines of wealth or social status. Irving's book,
however, was not based on any holiday celebration he had attended - in fact,
many historians say that Irving's account actually "invented"
tradition by implying that it described the true customs of the season...Christmas provided the family with the opportunity to pay
more attention to their children and give them gifts without
"spoiling" them. As Americans began to embrace Christmas as a
holiday, old traditions were unearthed; decorating evergreen trees, kissing
under the mistletoe, and giving gifts. Families quickly bought into the idea
that they were celebrating Christmas as it had been done for centuries, but
Americans actually re-invented the holiday to fulfill the social needs of a
growing nation." (Shane Hampton, http://voices.yahoo.com/the-history-christmas-america-720375.html?cat=34)
The big man in Red, Santa Claus, came to be identified with Christmas in the 1800s thanks to Washington Irving.
He earns the credit for naming St. Nicholas the patron
saint of New York in his book "The History of New York". But let's not forget Clement Clarke Moore and his
poem, "An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" (What we now know as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas') for the modern image
of Santa. His poem created the
long standing imagery that we link to Santa Claus clear to this day, such as Santa
arriving late at night on Christmas eve after the children have gone to bed, Santa's magical ability to come down a chimney, and the names of the eight reindeer that pull his sleigh around the world. With Irving and Moore capturing Santa's image with words, it was cartoonist Thomas
Nast, in latter half of the 19th Century, that drew a scene from Moore's poem that ended up being published in the Harper's
Weekly magazine. The scene revealed Santa as a large, jolly man with a big, white
beard, and holding a bag full of toys. His drawings lead to images and pieces of Santa's world that we continue to see on tv, movies, and every other form of media and decoration. These include his red
suit, his workshop at the North Pole, his elves making toys, the naughty and nice list, and his wife, Mrs.
Claus. But it was Coca-Cola's advertising images in the 1930s that cemented the look he has today.
Let's not forget the original reason why Christmas is celebrated and that is the birth of Jesus. Yes, no one knows his exact birth date and the date of December 25th was settled upon due to it coinciding with a couple of Roman and pagan holidays. It was his birth on that silent but Holy night that we should recall. So, it is his holiday and as you are gathered with your loved ones or sitting in the pew at church or stuck in that check out line at Wal-Mart with 50 other people, remember his message and try to spread some love because there are many that need it this time of year.An overview of the holiday in the United States from www.thehistoryofchristmas.com:
17th century: Dutch immigrants brought with them the legend of Sinter Klaas.
1773: Santa first appeared in the media as St. A Claus.
1804: The New York Historical Society was founded with St. Nicolas as its patron saint. Its members engaged in the Dutch practice of gift-giving at Christmas.
1809: Washington Irving, writing under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, included Saint Nicolas in his book "A History of New York." Nicolas is described as riding into town on a horse.
1812: Irving, revised his book to include Nicolas riding over the trees in a wagon.
1821: William Gilley printed a poem about "Santeclaus" who was dressed in fur and drove a sleigh drawn by a single reindeer.
1822: Dentist Clement Clarke Moore is believed by many to have written a poem "An Account of a Visit from Saint Nicolas," which became better known as "The Night before Christmas." Santa is portrayed as an elf with a miniature sleigh equipped with eight reindeer which are named in the poem as Blitzem, Comet, Cupid, Dancer, Dasher, Donder, Prancer, and Vixen. Others attribute the poem to a contemporary, Henry Livingston, Jr. Two have since been renamed Donner and Blitzen.
1841: J.W. Parkinson, a Philadelphia merchant, hired a man to dress up in a "Criscringle" outfit and climb the chimney of his store.
1863: Illustrator Thomas Nast created images of Santa for the Christmas editions of Harper's Magazine. These continued through the 1890's.
1860s: President Abraham Lincoln asked Nast to create a drawing of Santa with some Union soldiers. This image of Santa supporting the enemy had a demoralizing influence on the Confederate army -- an early example of psychological warfare.
1897: Francis P Church, Editor of the New York Sun, wrote an editorial in response to a letter from an eight year-old girl, Virginia O'Hanlon. She had written the paper asking whether there really was a Santa Claus. It has become known as the "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" letter.
1920's: The image of Santa had been standardized to portray a bearded, over-weight, jolly man dressed in a red suit with white trim.
1931: Haddon Sundblom, illustrator for The Coca-Cola ™ company drew a series of Santa images in their Christmas advertisements until 1964. The company holds the trademark for the Coca-Cola Santa design. Christmas ads including Santa continue to the present day.
1939 Copywriter Robert L. May of the Montgomery Ward Company created a poem about Rudolph, the ninth reindeer. May had been "often taunted as a child for being shy, small and slight." He created an ostracized reindeer with a shiny red nose who became a hero one foggy Christmas eve. Santa was part-way through deliveries when the visibility started to degenerate. Santa added Rudolph to his team of reindeer to help illuminate the path. A copy of the poem was given free to Montgomery Ward customers.
1949: Johnny Marks wrote the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Rudolph was relocated to the North Pole where he was initially rejected by the other reindeer who wouldn't let him play in their reindeer games because of his strange looking nose. The song was recorded by Gene Autry and became his all-time best seller. Next to "White Christmas" it is the most popular song of all time.
1993: An urban folk tale began to circulate about a Japanese department store displaying a life-sized Santa Claus being crucified on a cross. It never happened.
1997: Artist Robert Cenedella drew a painting of a crucified Santa Claus. It was displayed in the window of the New York's Art Students League and received intense criticism from some religious groups. His drawing was a protest. He attempted to show how Santa Claus had replaced Jesus Christ as the most important personality at Christmas time.
For a variety of history videos on Christmas and Christmas related topics check out this page over on History.com.
5th Inning.
Funny Christmas Pictures...We see them surface on the Internet every year at this time so here is my contribution to the effort and to keep them circulating. A few samples are below. Enjoy!
6th Inning.
Random Facts about me at Christmas...I will pull out the dancing Elvis that sings 'Blue Christmas'...I will get out and hang blue and white icicles lights we have owned since 2000...My family has never used a real tree...I will end up during Christmas morning cussing at a minimum of two toy boxes as I try to untwist those tiny tie downs...I remember one Christmas getting a Bon Jovi 'Bad Medicine' t-shirt...I never had a chimney for Santa to come down until my current home...There was one benefit to being a child of divorce and having parents remarry--more presents from additional grandparents and other new relatives...
I still have a keychain medallion with my initials on it that I received as a present from a former employer in 1993... An annual tradition prior to having kids and going back to our college days was for me and the wife to put together a 1,000-2,000 piece puzzle (we have a nice Coca-Cola one framed and in our kitchen)...If given free reign I would spend an entire paycheck on my kids for Christmas (and almost did for my oldest daughter for her 2nd Christmas!)...
7th Inning.
Elf on the Shelf...If you are not participating in the 'Elf on the Shelf' fun then you are missing out on a great opportunity at some fun. My family has had an elf, Harold, for a few years now and last year he kicked it into overdrive with the fun. You can check out his hijinks here.
8th Inning.
9th Inning.
Christmas video...You can't have a Christmas post without a visit from
