Holiday This 'N That #4

Thanks to all who have commented on the Holiday This 'N That posts in recent weeks. I've enjoyed researching, learning new things about Christmas and sharing with all of you. 

Regretfully, the holiday season comes early and goes away too soon especially as stores set up displays before Thanksgiving, then dismantle them before Christmas. We hope that the spirit of the holiday season stays with you all year long.

This (almost) final holiday post includes some of our favorite holiday movies and music, a bit more holiday trivia and photos of some holiday decos inside and outside our apartment.

Our Christmas tree, stockings hung with care, favorite ornaments

Favorite Classic Movie(s): The Bishops Wife, Holiday Affair, Beyond Tomorrow, Miracle on 34th Street, The Great Rupert, The Holly and the Ivy

Favorite Newer Movie(s): Love Actually, The Holiday, Mixed Nuts, Home Alone, A Christmas Story, Scrooged, The Grinch, The Santa Clause trio, Charlie Brown Christmas

Favorite Tunes: I'll Be Home for Christmas, The Christmas Song, Last Christmas, Santa Baby, Merry Christmas, Darling, Silent Night, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Snowmen and the Grinch reside on a window ledge in the Living Room

A colony of penguins, snowmen and Santa on a bookcase shelf

Last Christmas was recorded in 1984 and potentially could have reached #1 during the holiday season, but was eclipsed by Do They Know It's Christmas? a song written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 Ethiopian famine. Geldof and Ure assembled Band Aid, a supergroup of 40 popular British and Irish performers, and recorded the song at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London, in a single day, November 1984. George Michael was also in the group and later donated all the royalties from Last Christmas to the cause.

The Nativity belonged to my late mother, the music box sled was a gift from a friend who's since passed and the penguins are because we like them

In 2023, 39 years after its release, Last Christmas was the No. 1 holiday song in the UK. This year, it again reached No. 1 on Friday, December 13. The tune fended off competition for the top spot from All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey. Ironically, George Michael died on Christmas Day 2016, age 53. Another one of my favorite singers, Eartha Kitt, also died on Christmas in 2008, age 81.

This holiday decked penguin sat on the front porch of our VA home for years and is now indoors outside our apartment entry with friends 

These were not the only performers who passed on Christmas, others have included: William Claude Dukenfield (W.C. Fields) died in 1946 at age 66, Charlie Chaplin died in 1977 at age 88, Joan Blondell died in 1978 at age 73, Dean Martin died in 1995 at age 87; James Brown died  in 2006 at age 73. (My mother passed away 10 years ago, 3 days before Christmas.)

This "rescue" Santa and reindeer face painted 40 years ago are outside our apartment

A number of the rich and famous, who were born on Christmas Day, include: Sir Isaac Newton (1642), Pius VI (1717), Conrad Hilton (1887), Robert Ripley (1893), Humphrey Bogart (1899), Tony Martin (1914), Anwar el-Sadat (1918), Rod Serling (1924), Jimmy Buffet (1946), Barbara Mandrell (1948), Sissy Spacek (1949), Annie Lennox (1954), Justin Trudeau (1971).

Vintage Hallmark teddy bears plus a new-this-year bear inside our apartment

However, wherever and with whom, you will be celebrating Christmas 

and Hanukkah , we wish you the merriest of times and everything good for 2025

The view outside our apartment window a few minutes ago . . . the snow is falling

Unfortunately, it's not expected to last beyond intermittent snow showers the rest of today. 

Nevertheless, it's a wonderful sight on Christmas Eve, even if for a short time.

Holiday This 'N That #3

Santa Claus may employ male and female elves in his workshop, but did you know that the team pulling the sleigh on Christmas Eve was female?

 

Out of some 40 species of deer, reindeer are the only deer species where both male and female have antlers. 

Males lose the antlers in winter usually after the rutting (mating) season in November and December. Male reindeer not only use antlers to impress other male reindeer, but to fight during mating season. So, when Christmas comes around, males are without antlers. 

In contrast, female reindeer retain antlers throughout winter until giving birth in the spring, when they drop them. Females can use antlers for protection when pregnant and to protect their newborn, usually against wolves, their primary predator. Their antlers re also used to brush away snow when foraging for food in winter.

If reindeer did fly from the North Pole around the world at Christmas, only female reindeer would be prepared for the trip.

Because in preparation for winter, female reindeer build up to nearly 50 percent body fat giving them extra inches of thick fat on their hindquarters. This helps keep them warm in temperatures as low as -45 degrees Fahrenheit. Male reindeer typically deplete most of their energy reserves during the previous mating season and weigh in at around 5 percent body fat.

Santa has been around for centuries. Reindeer that fly and pull Santa didn’t show up until the 1800s. The first known written account of reindeer and Santa Claus was in 1821. That’s when a New York printer published a booklet, A New Year's Present that mentioned reindeer leading Santa’s sleigh through night in the an illustrated children's poem Old Santeclaus with Much Delight.

In 1823, the Troy Sentinel published Clement Clarke Moore's famous poem, A Visit From St. Nicholas, also known as The Night Before Christmas, which introduced eight flying reindeer pulling a sleigh and identified them by name: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blixen. It never stated whether they were male or female reindeer.

In 1939, Robert L. May created Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for Chicago department store Montgomery Ward. In 1949, Johnny Marks penned a song Rudolph the Red-Nosed
Reindeer.

While the reindeer names in Moore’s poem could apply to females, Rudolph not so much. 

The first line of the last stanza refers to Rudolph as male: Then how the reindeer loved him…

And, the song mentions something common today, bullying. Check out these lyrics: All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names, they never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games.

Seems no matter what sex, Rudolph had a tough time.

Despite scientific evidence that the team pulling Santa’s sleigh would have been female reindeers, they are not usually featured in popular culture. Take these examples:

The Santa Clause movies (1994, 2002, 2006) feature reindeers identified as male. Comet is featured in the 1994 film movies and is Santa's primary way to travel to and from the North Pole. Chet, a baby reindeer, appears in The Santa Clause 2 (The Mrs Clause) and The Santa Clause 3 (The Escape Clause) films and is identified as a young male reindeer.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) an animated special and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie (1998) are about the reindeer who first appeared in a 1939 story by Robert L. May.

Sven, a fictional reindeer in the Frozen (2013) movie, is owned by Kristoff, an ice delivery man. The filmmakers created him as male.

Prancer is the central character in two films: Prancer: A Christmas Tale (1989) and Prancer Returns (2001). Prancer is referred to as "he" in the film, ironically, the reindeer that played the lead was Boo, a pregnant female.

So, the next time you hear a holiday song or see a film which mentions or includes reindeer, know that ladies have the upper hand over males for helping Santa at Christmas.

It’s a proven scientific fact.

Are you dreaming of a White Christmas?

If so, you're not alone

In the U.S., we’re obsessed not only with the thought of a wintery holiday, but with everything that goes with it — sleigh rides, fireplaces, cocoa and cookies, Santa, the North Pole, warm mittens and scarves, walks in the snow. 

Christmas is when those images seem to become fixed in our minds.

Only about 40% of the 48 states are typically snow-covered by Christmas, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

This means that many live where it never snows at Christmas.

If a white Christmas will never be a reality for many, why do we obsess about it?

Blame it on nostalgia, books and music, all of which have presented what Christmas should look like in a perfect world. Many featured winter time activities amid snow.

A writer to blame is English novelist Charles Dickens, author of the seasonally popular A Christmas Carol, first published in 1843. The story details an English Christmas that includes cold and snow at Christmas. A Christmas Carol became a best seller in America aided by Dickens’ 1867 reading tour in the U.S. around Christmas time. 

According to historical records, it’s possible that London had snow in 1843 as described in the novel. Snowfall in London was more common in winter then. It aligns with what’s called the Little Ice Age, a period of unusually cold temperatures from about 1300 to 1850. It was still occurring in the mid-19th century in Dickens time.

While you can't always count on a white Christmas in the UK, there's an exception. In London's Covent Garden, artificially produced snow has ushered in the season hourly for over five years.

An American writer popularized the idea of a white Christmas as well. In 1868, Louisa May Alcott’s novel Little Women was first published. It begins on a snowy day just before Christmas in New England.

The connection between Christmas and snow grew thanks to major popular illustrated magazines, most produced in the Northeast, published stories of snow at Christmas — the Victorian version of today’s Hallmark holiday movies.

Snowy images were popularized by New York printmakers Currier and Ives (Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives) from 1835 to 1907. The company designed and sold hand-painted lithographic works, many of these depicted idyllic winter scenes.

You may recall that the firm was featured in the populars song Sleigh Ride in the line, It’ll nearly be like a picture-print by Currier and Ives.

Ironically, composer Leroy Anderson, later said he formed the idea for the piece during a July 1946 heat wave, finishing it in February 1948. (Anderson also composed the Typewriter Song and the Syncopated clock.)

Why must Christmas be white?

Blame it on Irving Berlin and Bing Crosby, the composer and crooner responsible for the popular holiday song. According to Guinness World Records, White Christmas is the best-selling single ever with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide. Who hasn’t heard the opening lines reminding us of childhood Christmases?

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

Just like the ones I used to know

Where the tree tops glisten 

And children listen

To hear sleigh bells in the snow

Like the Sleigh Ride song, this one was also penned in a warm weather month in sunny Beverly Hills, CA by Irving Berlin in 1938. The song's original first verse, later cut, was specific:

The sun is shining, the grass is green

The orange and palm trees sway

There’s never been such a day

In Beverly Hills, L. A.

But it’s December the 24th

And I am longing to be up north

Just mentioning snow in a song makes people think of Christmas, take these songs for example: Let it Snow, Baby, It's Cold Outside, Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells, I’ve Got my Love to Keep Me Warm, Winter Wonderland, Snow. Most of these songs are about cold, not  Christmas, just about cold, many don't even mention the holiday.

Don't get fooled by recent blasts of cold and snow in much of the U.S. This year’s record warm fall (September to November) indicates that 2024 could be one of the nation’s warmest, possibly the warmest, year on record. Global warming is having an impact, fueling an overall decline in snow and extreme cold events not only in the U.S., but worldwide. The impacts of are expected to intensify annually.

While the forecast a White Christmas in 2024 is still uncertain for most people, those in search of this ultimate holiday weather may want to begin the trek west, or north.

If you're looking for an almost guaranteed white Christmas, you could go to Fairbanks, AK.  According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) there's been snow on the ground nearly every Christmas since weather record keeping began.

This year is no exception. According to the National Weather Service, the city had over 2 feet of snow on the ground as mid-December.

Alaska too far from home for you?

There’s other destinations, perhaps closer. Typically, you could find a white Christmas in MN, ME, upstate and western NY, the Allegheny Mountains of PA and WV, anywhere in ID and, of course, the Rockies or the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

We won't experience a white Christmas here in Nashua, NH, according to the forecast.

Update: Today, a light dusting of snow covered the ground in late afternoon, hardly enough to last until Christmas next Wednesday.

But, we'll be at home watching White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life and listening to holiday tunes where snow is always a sure thing at Christmas.

May your days be sunny and bright and may all your Christmases be white

Holiday This 'N That #2

This week's Friday post is a continuation of Holiday Trivia posts that are replacing the (more or less) unusual Friday Funnies, which is on holiday hiatus. It's being replaced by holiday trivia posts, as I need some holiday distraction, maybe you do too? 

This post is about (some) holiday music in non-holiday movies and plays. I'm sure this list is not a comprehensive one. Feel free to add any you know of in the Comments.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas was written in 1943 by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis which documents the life of a St. Louis family over the course of the year, leading up to the 1904 World’s Fair. This Judy Garland movie is not a holiday movie, but it produced one of the most popular holiday songs. In a Christmas Eve scene, Garland’s character sings the tune to her young sister in hopes of cheering her up because the family is slated to relocate.

Silver Bells was sung by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell in The Lemon Drop Kid (1951). The song was originally titled Tinkle Bell. Paramount asked songwriters Jay Livingston and Ray Evans to come up with a holiday tune for this Bob Hope con-artist comedy. One version about the song's inspiration is was from the bells rung by Salvation Army workers on NYC street corners.

Jingle Bell Rock was performed by Brenda Lee in the 1983 film Trading Places. In the film, upper-crust executive Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) and down-and-out hustler Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) are the subjects of a bet by successful millionaires Mortimer (Don Ameche) and Randolph Duke (Ralph Bellamy). When Winthorpe and Valentine uncover the scheme, they set out to turn the tables on the Dukes.

Winter Wonderland, Let it Snow!, Christmas in Hollis, and Ode to Joy make appearances in one form or another in the 1988 action/thriller movie Die Hard. A NYC police officer (Bruce Willis) tries to save his estranged wife and others taken hostage by terrorists during a holiday party at the headquarters of the Japanese-owned business she works for in LA. (There's much debate as to whether or not this is a Christmas film.)

White Christmas, as mentioned in last week's post, was originally written for a Broadway revue, but became popular on Armed Forces Radio during WW II. It became a big hit before being included in the 1942 film Holiday Inn, which did not include a Christmas theme but all holidays. Then, 12 years later, the song was featured in a 1954 film of the same name. 

Merry Christmas, Baby, Sleigh Ride are in the 1998 film, Jack Frost in which Michael Keaton plays a father and musician named Jack Frost, who was killed in a car accident, only to be brought back to life in the form of a snowman via a magical harmonica. The film received negative critical reviews and became a box-office flop. 

Holiday songs have also been included in theatrical productions which didn't feature a holiday theme. Here's a few examples:

Twelve Days to Christmas in the 1964 Broadway production of She Loves Me. The plot revolves around Budapest shop employees Georg and Amalia, who, despite being consistently at odds with each other at work, are unaware that each is the other's secret pen pal met through lonely-hearts ads. This theme was repeated in two films, The Shop Around the Corner (1940) and You've Got Mail (1998).

We Need a Little Christmas is a popular Christmas song originating from Jerry Herman's Broadway musical Mame, and first performed by Angela Lansbury in that 1966 production. In the musical, the song is performed after Mame has lost her fortune in the 1929 Wall Street Crash and decides that she, her young nephew Patrick, and her two household servants "need a little Christmas now" to cheer them up.

Other non-holiday Broadway productions that included a holiday tune: A New Deal for Christmas from the 1977 musical, Annie, Christmas Bells from the 1996 Rent and Christmas is My Favorite Time of Year from the 2011Catch Me If You Can.

Here's more Christmas song trivia . . .

The Oldest Christmas Song is Jesus Refulsit Omnium (Jesus, Light of All the Nations) is reportedly, one of the first known Christmas hymns written by St. Hilary of Poitier in the 4th century. The second is Corde natus ex Parentis (Of the Father's Love Begotten) which was composed by Roman Christian poet Prudentius also in the 4th century.

The Most Popular Christmas song is White Christmas by Bing Crosby has been named by The Guinness Book of Records as not only the best-selling Christmas song of all time, but also the best-selling single with an estimated 50 million copies sold. A list compiled by Newsweek, also named it the most popular Christmas song ever made. Officially released in 1942, it quickly became a favorite of the United States Armed Forces. Crosby once said he attempted to cut the song from his radio show as he thought it would make troops stationed overseas sad; ironically, the oppoite happened and they couldn't get enough of it.

The Least Popular Christmas Song(s) Take your pick because depending on which survey you believe, there's quite a list including: Santa Baby, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, Dominick the Donkey, A Holly Jolly Christmas, That’s Christmas to Me Wonderful Christmastime, All I Want for Christmas is You.

The Most Recorded Christmas Song isSilent Night holds the Guinness World Record for being the most recorded Christmas song in history. The numbers show over 733 different versions recorded and counting. The song's enduring appeal has inspired countless artists, spanning various genres and generations, to put their unique spin on it. Silent Night, White Christmas and Jingle Bells have the most renditions songs in the holiday canon.

The Most-Played Christmas Song is All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey. The hit tune was released in 1994 and has since become the most (over) played Christmas song.

The Song That Appears Most Often in Films is Jingle Bells written by James Lord Pierpont is the most common Christmas song to appear in movies. It's been featured in 373 films. The 1857 festive tune has had 373 appearances in total on soundtracks. Jingle Bells was originally written as a Thanksgiving song. It was published under the title The One Horse Open Sleigh.  It was also the first song played in space on December 16, 1965 during NASA's Gemini 6A space flight. It was played on a harmonica and bells by astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas P. Stafford.  Auld Lang Syne is in second place in movie soundtracks and Silent Night is third.

The Christmas Movie with the Best Music is Home Alone, this Christmas movie is widely considered to be No. 1 due to its score composed by John Williams, which perfectly captures the festive spirit and suspenseful moments of the 1990 film. 

The Most Famous Classical Christmas is The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is considered the most renowned classical Christmas music because of the enduring familiarity of pieces including the Waltz of the Flowers, the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the March.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

We're going to a swing band concert at the Nashua Arts Center

59-Year Old Special

59th Anniversary this year

We watched A Charlie Brown Christmas last evening as part of our holiday viewing tradition. 

Did You Know?

December 9 was the 59th anniversary of the animation which debuted in 1965 on the CBS network. The animated special was watched by more than 15 million households, more than half of all TV sets at the time. 

In the special, Charlie Brown is depressed despite the onset of the holidays. He then becomes upset at the commercialization he sees all around. After Lucy van Pelt suggests he direct a neighborhood Christmas play, his best efforts are ignored. Then, he's laughed at by his friends after he chooses a sad-looking little Christmas tree that he believes will be perfect, once it's decorated. When Charlie Brown asks if anyone knows what Christmas is all about. Linus walks to center stage, asks for a spotlight, drops his blanket and recites Luke 2: 8-14 annunciation to the shepherds then says, That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." His friends reconsider their meanness towards Charlie Brown and decorate the tree. The programs ends with everyone singing Hark, the Herald Angels Sing during the closing credits.

A Charlie Brown Christmas was the first TV special based on characters from the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz. It was written by Schulz and produced by Lee Mendelson and directed by Bill Melendez. 

What you may not know is that it almost never aired and, even when it did, CBS network executives had little faith that it would be a success. 

Here's What Happened

The 30-minute Christmas special was commissioned by a commercial sponsor looking to turn the nation's most beloved newspaper cartoon into an animated TV special. In 1965, Coca Cola wanted to sponsor a family-friendly Christmas special and contacted producer Lee Mendelson asking if he and Schulz had ever considered doing a Charlie Brown holiday program. When Mendelson lied that they were thinking about it, he was asked for an outline of the show. He went to Schulz telling him that he sold A Charlie Brown Christmas and they had to write it in 3 days as Coca Cola wanted an outline by then. 

When Coca Cola had its ad agency McCann Erickson pitch the idea to CBS. It was rejected outright. 

The Peanuts characters that Charles Schulz created were popular personalities, just not the kind that fronted prime time some thought. According to the network, the public would have specific expectations. A Charlie Brown Christmas included unexpected elements: children’s voices instead of trained adults, jazz music, a Bible passage and no laugh track.

Then CBS president James Aubrey didn’t believe in specials. He saw them as programming interruptions that distracted viewers from their viewing routines. To Aubrey, children fell into this category expecting cartoons only on a weekend morning and, to Aubrey, Charles Schulz and Peanuts fit that category.

Ironically, in February 1965, Aubrey was replaced as network president by Fred Stanton, not only a friend of Charles Schulz, but a big fan of the comic. It helped to have friends in high positions as in no time, CBS executives agreed to the special. That gave the team of Schulz, Mendelson and animator-director Bill Melendez barely six months to craft a half-hour animated special, a first for all. The team had to create a script, then record it, add-in a soundtrack and create 30,000 animation cells. Consider that in the 1960s, this was before computer-animated design and AI.

Producer Lee Mendelson, Charles Schulz, Director Bill Mendelez (Internet Source)

Three weeks before screening the special, things didn’t look good at all. CBS executives thought the pace was slow, music didn’t quite fit every scene, the dialogue sounded stiff, plus there was no laugh track. This was in the 1960s, when every TV comedy had one. It wasn't included since Schulz thought more highly of viewers. He didn't think they should be cued to laugh at certain times. While some of these issues would be improved, one was thankfully left out — there's no laugh track. 

Realizing that the Vince Guaraldi instrumental for the opening sequence with children skating on the frozen pond, seemed too slow, producer Mendelson jotted the lyrics to Christmastime is Here on an envelope. Guaraldi enlisted a CA children’s choir to sing the lyrics. Since, the actor's cadences were harder to edit, music accompanies some of the dialogue.

What Else Didn't Executives Like?

Linus recites gospel (Internet source)

Everything it seems. Lyrics or not, CBS executives considered the music too sophisticated for a children's program and didn’t think jazz belonged in a cartoon.They also balked at Schulz’s decision to use untrained children instead of professional adult voice actors. Schulz disagreed and argued that using children made the characters more believable. Executives also couldn’t understand why children would use such big words despite the fact that for 15 years, “Peanuts” characters had used adult vocabularies in the comic strip. 

To top it off, CBS executives objected to Linus reciting the story of the birth of Christ from the Gospel of Luke. The network big-wigs assumed that viewers wouldn't want to listen to something religious or that it wouldn’t be interesting to sit through. Schulz insisted the scripture reading remain and wouldn't back down. He was a long-time Sunday school teacher, and knew the reading would be the show's centerpiece of the show. (As it turned out, he was right according to viewers' later feedback.)

The Network Conceded — It Became a Big Hit

It was a tight production schedule. Coca-Cola had already bankrolled the program and it had been promoted and listed in TV guides. CBS had no choice but to air it, so the executives reluctantly gave in. They remained steadfast in the conviction that it would flop, never to be aired again.

The half-hour special aired Thursday, December 9, 1965, pre-empting The Munsters and following Gilligan’s Island. To everyone's surprise, especially CBS, it was a commercial success; 50 percent of the U.S. televisions tuned into the broadcast. Afterwards, Coca-Cola was inundated with letters from fans.

In 1966,  A Charlie Brown Christmas won a Peabody and Emmy for outstanding children’s programming. Its success changed the network’s prime-time philosophy. The following year, CBS telecast a second prime-time animated holiday special, an adaptation of How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. In 1969, it aired Frosty the Snowman.

CBS ran A Charlie Brown Christmas annually for 35 years until ABC acquired the rights in 2001, a year after Charles Schulz died. ABC contracted to air the special through 2015.It was the first of more than 51 animated Peanuts TV specials. Many of the specials were directed by Bill Melendez and scored by Vince Guaraldi. 

The soundtrack to the 1965 animated special is one of the most popular holiday albums. Featuring music by Guaraldi, it's sold over 5 million copies, across all formats, including 469,000 vinyl LPs, and has been certified Quintuple Plantinum. Guaraldi died February 6, 1976, aged 47, of a heart attack after ending a nightclub performance in Menlo Park.

Who Owns A Charlie Brown Christmas Now?

In 2020, Apple TV+ acquired the rights to the three most popular Peanuts holiday animations: A Charlie Brown Christmas, also It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. This means that they're only available to view on that streaming service. This year, A Charlie Brown Christmas streams free on Apple TV+ only on Saturday and Sunday, December 14 and 15. The free viewing window only lasts for two days. A subscription to Apple TV+ is not required, which is little comfort to those without internet streaming capability.

While this unfortunately means that there's no longer free showings on network TV. There is an easier, and overall, less costly alternative which would let you watch it free every year when it's convenient (not just on certain days). These Peanuts holiday specials are available in DVD and Blu-Ray format, which means buy once, watch many times. 

Quite often, you can buy them at a library sale too. Our local library sells books, movies and music CDs at its annual March sale and it's where we bought the 3 DVD set shown above. Yes, we watched and enjoyed all the specials this year.

Our Charlie Brown Tree & Peanuts members

We have our own Charlie Brown tree and Peanuts friends. These were bought many years ago at an after-Christmas sale for a fraction of what they're being sold for today. They bring a smile every time we see them on our living room window shelf.

Holiday This 'N That

The (more or less) unusual Friday Funnies posted here is on holiday hiatus. It's being replaced by holiday trivia posts, as I need some holiday distraction, maybe you do as well? Spoiler Alert, this first one is quite long and others could be too.

Did you know that . . .

The Christmas Song, often subtitled Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire was first titled, Merry Christmas to You. The now classic holiday song was written by Robert Wells and Mel Tormé in July 1945 during a hot summer in CA.

The words were an effort to stay cool by thinking of cold weather activities. Check out the first four lines of the song:

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Jack Frost nipping at your nose

Yuletide carols being sung by a choir

And folks dressed up like Eskimos

After Tormé saw that Wells had written these lines, they co-wrote the song in 40 minutes. Not only was the song written in warm weather but recorded then too. In June 1946, The Nat King Cole Trio recorded it at WMCA Radio Studios, NYC. Two months later over the objections of the label, Capitol Records, Cole re-recorded the tune adding a small string section. This version became a massive hit on both the pop and R&B charts. 

The 1940s song White Christmas led to two films . . .

Written by Irving Berlin, accounts differ as to when and where the tune was penned, the west coast or east coast. One source claims that Berlin wrote it in 1940, in sunny CA, while staying at the La Quinta Hotel, a frequent Hollywood retreat. Consider the opening lines:

The sun is shining, the grass is green

The orange and palm trees sway

There's never been such a day

In Beverly Hills, L.A

But it's December the twenty-fourth

And I am longing to be up North

Other song experts claim that while it may have been drafted in CA, it was most likely completed in NYC. Oddly, according to Berlin, White Christmas was written as a satire. While that sounds hard to believe, he saw it as part of a musical revue and performed by sophisticates with drinks in hand and milling about a Hollywood pool surrounded by palm trees.

Thankfully, that changed in the spring of 1940, when Berlin signed on to do a musical for Paramount. The plot featured a vaudeville performer who retired to run a country inn as a “holiday inn” open only to overnight guests on you-guessed-it, holidays. Berlin was to pen a holiday-themed score through the year of holidays.

The song did not debut in the 1942 Holiday Inn film. Berlin knew that White Christmas was one of his best songs and made a deal with Paramount was that the tune would be included only if Paramount could sign Bing Crosby, a major star at the time, to star in the film. Casting was set and early rehearsals began in the autumn of 1941. 

The unexpected happened in the midst of planning to film when America was rocked by the December 7, 1941 surprise attack at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. A day later, on December 8, President Franklin Roosevelt delivered the Day of Infamy Speech. Congress declared war, and the U.S. entered WW II.

Two weeks later on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1941, Crosby introduced White Christmas on the Kraft Music Hall, his highly popular radio show. America mobilized for war; men enlisted in record numbers. The song's lyrics took on a new meaning for soldiers headed overseas.

The film Holiday Inn premiered in NYC in August 1942 and radio requests for White Christmas started in early fall. Crosby's October 1942 recording of White Christmas received heavy airplay not only on Armed Forces Radio but on commercial radio during its first Christmas season and became a No. 1 hit. 

The success of the song, White Christmas, then led to a 1954 film based on that title. It again starred Crosby with Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. The plot once again included an inn and the film was viewed as another version of the earlier Holiday Inn.

The 1946 film, It's a Wonderful Life . .

Started as 1 1939 short story, The Greatest Gift, written by Philip Van Doren Stern who after having no luck publishing it opted to print the story as a 21-page Christmas card and sent it to friends in 1943. An RKO Pictures producer, who saw the card, convinced the studio to buy the  story rights, eventually sold to Frank Capra's production company, Liberty Films. Stern's story was published as a book in 1944. It also was published in the January 1945 issue of Good Housekeeping titled, The Man Who Was Never Born.

Actor James Stewart was not the first choice for the lead role as Cary Grant was selected to play George Bailey. However, after RKO Pictures sold the movie rights to Capra's company, Capra replaced Cary Grant with James Stewart in the lead. Stewart had recently home from serving as a flight leader in WW II, the 1946 film was his first movie since then. According to his biographer, Stewart was hesitant to do the film, his only offer aside from a film featuring his war service.

Foamite "snow" on film set

The movie was shot in the summer of 1946 during a 90-degree heat wave. Before this film, most movie productions used cornflakes painted white for snow. Capra found this special effect was noisy for dialogue and had the special effects department mix foamite (a fire-fighting chemical) with sugar and water. Some 6,000 gallons of chemical snow and the set was transformed into a winter wonderland, that was filmed in CA.

Bedford Falls was one of the most elaborate sets ever built at the time. It's a Wonderful Life had a big budget for its time ($3.7 million). The crew put a lot of effort into constructing the town of Bedford Falls. The set took 2 months to build with 75 buildings stretched out over 4 acres in Encino, CA, one of the longest sets ever made for an American movie.

The swim-gym floor that opens to reveal a pool in the film is real. This one-of-a-kind facility was built in 1939-1940 and is located in Beverly Hills High School and still in use.

It's a Wonderful Life was not a box office hit and put Capra into debt. Receiving mixed reviews, the film only made back $3.3 of its $3.7 million budget at first. It struggled at the Academy Awards and didn't win any of the five major Oscars it was nominated for. It placed 26th in box office sales for all films released in 1947, ahead of Miracle on 34th Street.

The FBI flagged the film "communist" in 1947 issuing the following statement: With regard to the picture 'It's a Wonderful Life,' [redacted] stated in substance that the film represented rather obvious attempts to discredit bankers by casting Lionel Barrymore as a 'scrooge-type' so that he would be the most hated man in the picture. This, according to these sources, is a common trick used by Communists.

Thankfully, the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) opted not to call in the film's writers and director. The film continued to be shown unimpeded. (The HUAC was a congressional committee that investigated alleged disloyalty and subversive activities in the U.S. from 1938 to 1975.)

In the late 1970s, it rose to popularity because of a clerical error. When its copyright elapsed in 1974, copyright holder, Republic Pictures, failed to file a renewal application with the U.S. Copyright Office. This caused the film to enter the public domain and it could be broadcast by any station that wanted to air it, royalty-free without paying licensing fees.

In 1990, the film was added to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry. 

Santa Baby Has Two Versions . . .

It was originally recorded by American singer Eartha Kitt with Henri René and his orchestra at a NYC recording studio in 1953 and again in 1954. Kitt said that it was one of her favorite songs to record.

In August 1953, songwriters Joan Javits and Philip Springer were commissioned to write a
holiday song for Kitt. The result was a tongue-in-cheek look at a list sent to Santa Claus by a woman who wants extravagant gifts because "she has been good all year." Here's what was on that 1953 Santa Baby wish list: 

• Sable under the tree
• '54 convertible, light blue
• Yacht 
• Deed to a platinum mine
• Duplex and checks
• Decorations bought at Tiffany's
• Ring (not on the phone)

The song was released by RCA Victor in the U.S. and Canada. To promote the single, the record label purchased page advertisements in Billboard billing it as "1953's Big Christmas Record" It was pressed as a 7-inch single for wide release; a promotional 10-inch single was created for airplay.

Music critics gave mixed reviews to the single, some labelled it suggestive for a holiday song. It's been included on lists of both the best and worst Christmas songs ever written.

Critics aside, Santa Baby became the best-selling Christmas song of 1953 in the U.S. mainly due to the controversy around it. On the US Billboard Best Selling Singles chart, it debuted at No. 16 before rising to No. 10 the next week and peaking at No. 4. In November 1953, Billboard reported that the single had sold 200,000 copies.

Following the mixed reception for Santa Baby, the original songwriters, Springer and Javits, redid the song a year later in 1954 and updated the wish list. In 1954, Kitt recorded This Year's Santa Baby, featuring these new Christmas wish list wants with the preface: Santa baby, I must admit that you were a dear last year, but December is here, so hurry down the chimney tonight:

• Private plane 
• Queen Elizabeth (the ship)
• White mink (replaces sable)
• Most of the FL coast
• Pet charity - naturally that's "me"
• Big box filled with plain ordinary common stock
• Trim tree with large pear-shaped swimming pool

The tune concluded: There's only 365 days til Christmas

Sadly, on Christmas Day 2008, Kitt, 81, died at her home in Weston, CT, of colon cancer. 

This was a long-ish post, if you made it to here, Thank You. 

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

We're going to RI for grandson's 18th 🎂

Wizard of Menlo Park

While in our home state of NJ for the recent holiday, we went to a site we'd never visited during all years of living there. Considering that it's dedicated to one of the state's most famous residents, this was definitely a much-belated road stop.

Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park, NJ, museum and tower

The Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park, which includes the Edison Memorial Tower and Menlo Park Museum, is located in the Menlo Park area of Edison, Middlesex County, NJ. Edison has been credited with inventing for so many technologies of modern life, not just the phonograph. 

By the time of his 1931 death, Edison held 1,093 patents covering the creation or refinements of devices in telegraphy, telephony, electric power generation, lighting, sound recording, motion pictures, storage batteries and cement technology. He was also a successful manufacturer and businessman who marketed his inventions to the public. Today, there are inventors who have surpassed Edison's number of patents.

Thomas A Edison Memorial Tower

The 131-foot tall Thomas A. Edison Memorial Tower marks the location of Edison's laboratory (nothing remains today). The tower, designed in 1937 by Gabriel Francois Massena and Alfred F. duPont of Wilmington, DE, was dedicated February 11, 1938. This was seven years after Edison's death on what would have been his 91st birthday. The Art Deco style of the tower shaft tapers upward to a 13-foot, 8-inch high replica of Edison’s first practical incandescent bulb which was made of Pyrex segments by the Corning Corporation. Since this design focuses attention to the light at the top, it also enhances the tower's sense of monumental height. 

The tower possesses architectural significance for its stylistic expression, construction techniques and use of architectural concrete. In November 1979, it was listed on the NJ State and National Registers of Historic Places as a significant commemorative landmark. It was closed in 1992 after slabs of concrete began falling from the 54-year-old structure and was put on the list of the state's most endangered historic sites. In 1997, the Edison Township Memorial Corporation started a $3.87 million renovation which ran from 2011-2015. Completion was marked by a re-dedication ceremony which included re-lighting the tower. 

Edison Center Museum, NJ

The small, two-room Edison museum houses a collection of memorabilia including historic light bulbs and portions of Edison's electric train track. In the 1880s, Edison created an experimental electric locomotive and test track at Menlo Park. Powered by electricity sent through the rails, the locomotive operated over a 3-mile track.

The museum highlights many of Edison's inventions including not only the phonograph but many of his light bulbs, as well as photographs of Edison's Menlo Park property and family. The museum is staffed by volunteers with limited hours and unfortunately, it wasn't open the day of our visit. While tours are free, the Edison Tower Memorial Corp. recommends a $5 per person donation. Hopefully, on a future NJ trip we can visit during opening times.

Menlo Park, NJ, was named after the town of Menlo Park, CA, which was the site of an unsuccessful real estate development. In 1954, the township of Menlo Park was renamed Edison Township in 1954 to honor its former resident. Over the next few years, the existing train station was renamed Edison, a post office was established, and all the fire companies in the various neighborhoods were consolidated into the Edison Fire Company.

An inventor and businessman, Edison resided in NJ for over 50 years, not only in Menlo Park, but also in Newark and West Orange. Menlo Park was his home from 1876 to 1882 and it's where he set up his research laboratory and later created what became known as the Invention Factory, the first research and development facility in the world. 

In the early 1870s, Menlo Park was a sparsely populated rural area. Edison purchased two parcels of land, about 34 acres in late 1875. He built the main laboratory building on the block south of Christie Street and built other ancillary buildings including the glass house, a carpenters’ shop, a carbon shed, and a blacksmith shop. By the Spring of 1876, Edison’s Menlo Park laboratory was the world’s first such research and development facility. 

Menlo Park Laboratory Site, Winter 1880-1881

Edison's extensive lab facilities and large staff gave Edison a major advantage over other inventors. He could work on different parts of a system or different inventions at the same time. He's credited with over 600 inventions including the phonograph, which led to Menlo Park being called the "Birthplace of Recorded Sound." The first words that Edison successfully recorded on the phonograph were “Mary had a Little Lamb.” By 1878, this invention was known all around the world and Edison became known as “The Wizard of Menlo Park.” 

Christie St became world's first street lit by lightbulbs in 1879

After the success of the photograph, Edison's next big invention was a successful incandescent lightbulb. Others  had been working on making light bulbs before. None of these earlier bulbs worked for more than a few minutes. On October 21, 1879, Edison’s bulb burned for a continuous 13-1/2 half hours. The next bulbs lasted 40 hours. By Christmas, Edison and his team worked to light the laboratory and his home with several of the new light bulbs, and on New Year’s Eve, Christie Street became the world’s first street to be lit by incandescent light bulbs with the aid of a power system designed by Edison. There's always a NJ connection; this was a very good one.

By the summer of 1880, Edison had perfected the incandescent bulb enough to be able to produce and sell it in large quantities. He remodeled a wooden building to serve as a Lamp Factory, established the Edison Electric Light Company and began working on using electricity for other purposes.

In 1887, Edison moved his laboratory out of Menlo Park into a new and much larger laboratory in West Orange, NJ. He spent the remaining 44 years of his life there, continuing to improve his earlier inventions and creating new ones including the motion picture camera. He died on October 18, 1931 at the age of 84. U.S. President Herbert Hoover on learning of Edison's death broadcast a nationwide radio address on Edison's great achievements and contributions to the progress of mankind.

Foundation outline of Edison's Office and Library, 1879-1884 

After Edison left Menlo Park, the property was abandoned; many buildings were occupied by squatters. The laboratory building was used as a theater, a dance hall, and a barn. Edison’s office, library building and home were used as private residences. The carbon shed was used as a chicken shed. Buildings continued to deteriorate and  completely fall apart. Edison’s home was destroyed in fire in 1914; his office and library building met the same fate in 1919. The laboratory, machine shop and other buildings were scavenged for building materials. By 1926, most of the buildings had either collapsed or burned.

The only two buildings left were moved to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI, where industrialist Henry Ford, a close friend of Edison, constructed a replica of the Menlo Park complex. Ford hired experts to locate surviving material belonging to the original Menlo Park laboratory and a reconstructed model of the building is now located there.

Greenfield Village is a collection of nearly 100 historic buildings on a 200-acre site. It was established in 1933 by Ford, who relocated or reconstructed buildings there from throughout the U.S. On a future road trip, it's definitely on our list of must-see places.

How about you — are there places in your area that you have never visited?