Five Ways to a Meaningful Christmas

Special to My Merry Christmas Christmas Memories, Christmas Opinion 0 Comment
Five Ways to a Meaningful Christmas

I lost my husband on September 11th, 2001 – that awful day etched in the memory of millions. He was there. Then he was gone. No goodbye. That first Christmas without him was as dark and empty as could be. There was no cheer, no celebration, no light to speak of for me. It was a dark, sad time. Christmas had always been special before. Each year we would fill our calendar and our home with the brightness of the season. We had music and food and decorations. We did everything that you probably do – except celebrate it right.Read more

Christmas Stamps to Feature Famous Carols

Jeff Westover Christmas News , , 0 Comment
Christmas Stamps to Feature Famous Carols

The United States Post Office will officially distribute new Christmas stamps for 2017 on October 5th. Christmas card exchange fans will be pleased with the festive theme celebrating famous Christmas carols in this year’s design. “Jingle Bells”, perhaps the mostly widely heard, sung and known Christmas carol is an all-American creation dating back to the 1850s. Lyrics featured on the stamp honoring this song are “One Horse Open Sleigh”. Interestingly enough, though commonly associated with Christmas the song never once mentions Christmas in its lyrics. It does set itself aside as an American classic by really being a song aboutRead more

Christmas in the 1970s

B. Francis Morlan Christmas Past, Retro Christmas 0 Comment
Christmas in the 1970s

Christmas in the 1970s was an era between eras. Music and television stars of the 1950s still produced major Christmas releases and the gifts, toys and fads of the time seemed caught sometimes between a time warp to the past and to the future. Take, for example, the wildly popular Star Wars action figures – the hottest toys of the late 1970s. Star Wars is just as wildly popular now as it was then. Video games got their start in the 1970s. Only they were not called “video games”. They didn’t know what to call them then. At the veryRead more

Dickens Preview Surprises Little

Jeff Westover Christmas Movies, Christmas News 0 Comment
Dickens Preview Surprises Little

Dickens might be sick. The long awaited first preview of the Charles Dickens biopic awkwardly titled The Man Who Invented Christmas is here and it is as horrid as we feared. The movie hits theaters on November 22nd and it is billed as the big Christmas movie release of 2017. The movie casts Christopher Plummer as Scrooge and features every computer animated/generated special effect to give you the feel of Victorian-era England. Dan Stevens stars as the great Charles Dickens, author of A Christmas Carol and a long time legend of Christmas. This movie purports to tell the story ofRead more

The One Secret to a More Organized Christmas

Penelope Barnhurst Christmas Features, Christmas Opinion, Christmas Shopping 0 Comment
The One Secret to a More Organized Christmas

If there is a common wish for Christmas that goes unanswered every year it would have to be celebrating an organized Christmas. From the food to the decorations to managing all the parties and events it seems that no matter what efforts are made there seems to be not enough time, too much to do and no way to fit it all in. On the Internet entire forums and websites are dedicated to the making the organized Christmas. There are planners and calendars galore. People share pictures, menus, recipes, patterns, and resources for everything Christmas. But for many the organizedRead more

The Real History of Christmas Ornaments

Jeff Westover Christmas Decorating, Christmas Features, Christmas History, Christmas Traditions 1 Comment
The Real History of Christmas Ornaments

The humble Christmas ornament rarely gets much thought for its significance and purpose. For many the Christmas ornament is merely decorative, a simple environmental adornment of the season. Most can look at an ornament and see it as nothing really special. Like nearly all things Christmas the history of Christmas ornaments is glossed over by historians and peddlers of merchandise. At Hallmark, who makes millions from sales of specialty ornaments annually, they can only say “For many people, decorating their home and Christmas trees with ornaments is one of the most enjoyable ways to capture the magic and excitement ofRead more

A Marshmallow World

B. Francis Morlan Christmas Music , , , 0 Comment
A Marshmallow World

It’s a Marshmallow World was introduced by Bing Crosby, of course, way back in 1950. It was a golden era for new Christmas music and Bing cranked them out better than anyone. It was a hit, but a minor one for Crosby, at least compared to his other Christmas tunes. The song was covered by several artists over the next several years but it never found its lasting identity until Dean Martin recorded it in 1966 as part of The Dean Martin Christmas Album. Funny thing is it wasn’t hit for Martin at the time. The album did well —Read more

Give Back Double and a Little Bit More

Jeff Westover Christmas News 0 Comment
Give Back Double and a Little Bit More

Santa’s Sleigh is an effort of nickels and dimes that we make every Christmas to help a few folks in need. Compared to most high profile charitable campaigns ours pales a little in comparison. But what it lacks in monetary impact it more than makes up for in spirit. Last year I shared the story of a grandmother in a nursing home who drew a very meager donation from Santa’s sleigh – only $41.78. All she wanted for Christmas was to send a little love and a few minor things to her faraway grandchildren and great-grandchildren. This Santa’s Sleigh wasRead more

Herb Alpert Releasing New Christmas Album

Jeff Westover Christmas Music, Christmas News , 0 Comment
Herb Alpert Releasing New Christmas Album

Fans of trumpeter Herb Alpert have waited 50 long years – okay, well, 49 long years – for the follow up to his 1968 LP, Christmas Album. On September 29th, Alpert releases the long-rumored holiday album titled The Christmas Wish. And it not Herb alone either – he’s got a host of friends in a 45-piece orchestra, a 10-piece rhythm section and a 32-member choir. That sounds suspiciously like the ingredients of his first Christmas album which dropped on the 16th of December 1968 – and rocketed to the top of Billboard’s Christmas chart. Here is what we get thisRead more

What You Do Not Know About Sweet Little Jesus Boy

Jeff Westover Christmas Music 0 Comment
What You Do Not Know About Sweet Little Jesus Boy

Few of the songs of Christmas so directly conveys the personal appeal of Jesus Christ like the song Sweet Little Jesus Boy. Mistaken by many to be an old American spiritual sung by slaves of the south in the 19th century the song was actually written in 1934 by white American composer Robert MacGimsey. Born in Louisiana, MacGimsey was a lawyer who had a passion for composing what many people of his generation called “black music”. MacGimsey may have been white but he was raised in the company of blacks who gave him a rich background in the gospel musicRead more