Christmas Past

It's our annual look back at the news and trends that made Christmas of 2019 what it was. We also do a little year-in-review for the podcast, and take a look ahead to what 2020 has in store. Thank you all for making the 2019 season the biggest and best yet for Christmas Past! From the bottom of my heart, I'm wishing each of you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.

It's my favorite episode of the year: the one that's all about YOU! For the third year in a row, I've received more memories from you than I had episodes to put them in. So that means I once again have the special privilege of brining you an episodes filled with your Christmas memories. Thanks to everyone who shared a Christmas memory in this episode and throughout the season. These little glimpses into your Christmas past are what makes the show special...and makes Christmas itself special too.

No Christmas story starts out as a classic. And the road to classic status is often a long one filled with unexpected turns. It's a Wonderful Life wasn't a big success when it debuted in 1947. It wasn't until a quirk of American copyright law gave it a second life on television in the 1970s that it earned its place as a cornerstone of Christmas cinema. Movie critic and author Alonso Duralde joins in this episode. 

Yes, it's the most famous newspaper editorial of all. It's also the untold story of two skeptics addressing disillusionment, and the iconic statement on the magic of childhood, and belief, and Christmas that resulted.

We've treated mistletoe specially for thousands of  years. But how did it go from being an ancient medicine and superstitious talisman to a festive—and smoochy—Christmas custom?

We're back for the fourth and final part of this special four part miniseries. Rikki Meece from the Sleigh Bells & Mistletoe Christmas Podcast narrates the classic story, When the Yule Log Burns, by Leona Dalrymple. Episodes arrive on four consecutive days starting December 12. 

We're back for part three of this special four part miniseries. Rikki Meece from the Sleigh Bells & Mistletoe Christmas Podcast narrates the classic story, When the Yule Log Burns, by Leona Dalrymple. Episodes arrive on four consecutive days starting December 12. 

We're back for part two of this special four part miniseries. Rikki Meece from the Sleigh Bells & Mistletoe Christmas Podcast narrates the classic story, When the Yule Log Burns, by Leona Dalrymple. Episodes arrive on four consecutive days starting December 12. 

In this special bonus miniseries, Rikki Meece from the Sleigh Bells & Mistletoe Christmas Podcast narrates the classic story, When the Yule Log Burns, by Leona Dalrymple. This is a four-part miniseries, with episodes arriving on four consecutive days starting December 12. 

It's the best known Christmas song in the world, but the story behind it less well known. Maybe that's because so many myths, legends, and half truths have been added to the origin story over the years. With the help of Wayne Bronner of Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, we'll go back to 1818 for the birth of an accidental Christmas hymn and its unlikely ascent to history's most recorded song in any genre.

In the 80s it was only possible, but likely, that any popular toy would have its own line of spinoff merchandise, a breakfast cereal, and a Saturday morning cartoon. And if it was popular enough…it got a Christmas special. 1985 gave us The Glo Friends Save Christmas. I recently caught up with some of my Christmas podcasting colleagues to discuss the good, the bad, and the head-scratchingly absurd about this largely forgotten cartoon special.

The traditional Christmas dinner of a turkey, potatoes, green beans, and fruit pie has been around for nearly two hundred years. But why? The story of how we got here is one of ancient winter feasting, agricultural societies, socio-economics, religion, a pig that’s technically a fish, and turkeys on stagecoaches. In this episode, Brian and historian Judith Flanders explore why the standard Christmas dinner is stuck in a nineteenth century time warp. 

What happens when you can’t verify that the Christmas tradition you’re researching even is a Christmas tradition? That’s what happened when I started looking into the Christmas Pickle. Luckily someone else already did the heavy lifting. Join me, Tim Babb from Can't Wait for Christmas, and Craig Kringle from Weird Christmas as we explore, theorize, and generally goof around discussing the strange and mysterious phenomenon of the Christmas Pickle with Richard Parks III from Richard's Famous Food Podcast

Nowadays our Christmas stories are mainly warm and cozy. They’re about reunions and homecomings. Romances and magical journeys and visits from St. Nicholas. But not so very long ago, and especially for the Victorians, Christmas stories could also send chills down your spine and make you think twice about things that go bump in the night.  In this episode, professor Tara Moore tells Brian about this creepy part of Christmas history. Plus, Brian reads the ghost story, The Strange Christmas Game.

Barbara Hinske is an attorney turned full-time novelist. Her 2016 novella, The Christmas Club is the basis for the 2019 Hallmark Channel movie of the same name. In this Ber Months Bonus episode, Brian and Barbara discuss writing, Christmas stories, Hallmark movies, and much more.