Thanksgiving 2020
Thanksgiving 2020
Christmas NewsThanksgiving

Families Carefully Planning Thanksgiving 2020

Thanksgiving 2020 is going to happen. The annual holidays survey commissioned by MyMerryChristmas.com shows that Thanksgiving has been on the mind of a lot of people nearly all year – and they are not going to skip it. 77 percent of people are expecting a slightly bigger family gathering and a whopping 84% say Covid will not be a factor in celebrating Thanksgiving. ~ Careful with Covid ~ However, that …

Read more…

Christmas News

Halloween at Home: Just 1 in 10 Plan to Trick or Treat

Halloween will see only 1 in 10 braving the elements to trick or treat this year. Survey respondents of MyMerryChristmas.com’s annual survey of holidays said that long before the CDC recommended folks forego the door-to-door tradition this year. It is just one many holiday trends shifting in 2020. World events such as the pandemic, election year politics and civil unrest have changed everything about holiday celebration, as we shared previously …

Read more…

Christmas Trends 2020
Christmas Trends 2020
Christmas NewsChristmas Trends

Christmas Trends Shift for 2020

Christmas trends are shifting significantly for 2020 — to the surprise of almost no one. While nobody saw this coming last Christmas the cold realities of 2020 have spelled for a different Christmas thanks to a variety of factors: a pandemic, widespread unemployment, retail closures and election year politics. For more than two decades MyMerryChristmas.com has conducted an annual survey of Christmas trends. The survey is always conducted offline and …

Read more…

Queen Charlotte
Queen Charlotte
Christmas History

Heroes of the 18th Century Christmas

The 18th century Christmas is kind of the ugly step-sister to Christmas of the 19th century. The Victorian Era of Queen Victoria, Charles Dickens and other Christmas superstars seems to hog the holiday limelight. Yet we could not have had the 19th century Christmas without some key movers-and-shakers in the 18th century. It was a critical time in world history. The British Empire had so expanded to nearly every corner …

Read more…

Pocketful of Miracles
Pocketful of Miracles
Christmas Movies

Capra’s Other Christmas Movie: Pocketful of Miracles

Pocketful of Miracles is a 1961 Frank Capra movie that is full of Christmas. Like Capra’s other Christmas movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, Pocketful of Miracles is not exactly a Christmas movie but one that enjoys cult status at Christmas time. The movie, after all, has Christmas music, Christmas trees and plenty of Christmas sentiment – just like It’s a Wonderful Life. The movie is actually a remake – Capra …

Read more…

New Christmas Stamps 2020
New Christmas Stamps 2020
Christmas News

New Stamps for Christmas 2020

The United States Postal Service as announced new designs for stamps to be released for the 2020 holiday season. They likewise have announced an increase in overall postal pricing for the 2020 holiday season. There will be five new Forever stamp designs similar to this one featuring the 18th century painting of Our Lady of Guápulo, where a crowned Virgin Mary looks down at baby Christ in her arms: There …

Read more…

Puritan Christmas
Puritan Christmas
Christmas History

Christmas that Came on the Mayflower

The Mayflower came to America 400 years ago. The Mayflower brought pilgrims of a different kind – about 100 people who were committed to living lives of industry and independent thinking. They were mostly Puritans. That made them very different than the rugged pilgrims of Jamestown, a group that had come to the shores of the New World many years before and had settled in the American south. The Puritans …

Read more…

Reaching Out to Christmas
Reaching Out to Christmas
Christmas OnlineChristmas Opinion

Reaching Out to Christmas

We all know that 2020 has become a mess of unpredictable events disrupting both our global and our personal worlds. A virus called COVID-19 has upended our lives, shut us up indoors, robbed us of income, separated us from loved ones, and restricted our lives outside our homes. Our collective frustration with hatred and intolerance in our communities has run the gamut from peaceful protests to violence in the streets. …

Read more…

Christmas NewsChristmas OnlineChristmas Shopping

New Realities of Christmas Shopping

Covid-19 is rewriting the rules of Christmas shopping. With each passing day the usual reminder of “only X shopping days until Christmas” is more relevant than ever. Let’s face it: there are some new realities of Christmas shopping we need to deal with. Nothing with COVID-19 has been predictable. In early June the common thinking was that most areas of the country were emerging from their quarantine. Restaurants and stores …

Read more…

Christmas MemoriesChristmas Online

Chasing Christmas

I can still remember exactly how it felt on Christmas Eve as a child, when I would go down to my Grandparents’ house on Christmas Eve, along with my Mom and Dad. We would begin the evening by all going to church for the special candlelight Christmas Eve service, and conclude it by all spending the night together at my Grandparents’ house. It seemed absolutely magical as a child, seeing …

Read more…

Influencers of Christmas
Influencers of Christmas
Christmas HistoryChristmas Past

The Influencers of Christmas in the 20th Century

Who are the influencers of Christmas? Influencers are people who create a lasting impact. In 21st century terms, influencers are people with a long reach via media that everyone follows what they do. As we go back in history we can see influencers in just about every kind of topic. George Washington was an influencer in liberty. Elvis was an influencer in Rock ‘n Roll. Babe Ruth remains the ultimate …

Read more…

Christmas Swap
Christmas Swap
Christmas NewsChristmas Online

Be Careful Joining an Online Christmas Swap

Online Christmas swaps have become a new tradition in the ever-evolving celebration of Christmas. Folks online swap Christmas cards, ornaments, cookies, gifts and other themed elements of the season as a way of extending traditions of old. But there are perils in the practice. ~ A Cautionary Tale ~ Last year Ken Childs of Jackson, Michigan joined a Facebook Christmas group that offered a Christmas card swap. He says they …

Read more…