
The History of Santa’s List Day
The legend of Santa Claus has many elements, one of the oldest being a letter or a wish list sent to Santa to share what one wants for Christmas. The idea has ancient roots in the origin story of Saint Nicholas, the benevolent 4th century…

A Glimpse of Christmas 100 Years Ago
The best part of looking back at Christmas 100 years ago is that we see both change and lasting tradition. As with many things, only Christmas gives this unique perspective. In 1924 Calvin Coolidge was president, the average income was about…

How Christmas Cards Have Evolved
The tradition of Christmas cards is a story of constant change and stubborn longevity. For generations experts and the media have predicted Christmas cards would slowly die as a tradition. Instead Christmas cards have persisted as a tradition…

Light and Christmas
Light as a theme of Christmas dates back to the very beginnings of recorded history. As with many elements of Christmas it is a mixture of reverent worship, pagan tradition and spiritual symbolism that give light its lasting impact on Christmas. In…

Not a Happy Christmas
In 1944, Christmas was celebrated for the sixth time since the Second World War had broken out on September 1, 1939. Men who often shared the same religious background fought each other to the death in sharp contrast with the old Christmas…

The Story of A Visit from St. Nicholas
A Visit from St. Nicholas is both a story and a poem that has survived nearly two centuries of Christmas celebration. It is arguably the only published work that can even come close to rivaling Dicken's A Christmas Carol in both fame and annual…

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…

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…

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…

Christmas Anniversaries 2020
Every year for Christmas in July we recount the anniversaries of Christmas – literally a history of Christmas history. The amount of Christmas to recount in 2020 is amazing. ~ Christmas 25 Years Ago (1995) ~ One of the amazing things…

Thank Christmas for Your 4th of July Fireworks
Fireworks at Christmas are not a thing many people think about. For many folks, Christmas is long associated with snow, stockings and jingle bells. None of that seems to fit with the colorful summer traditions of fireworks. But the truth is…

A Christmas Social Media Post from 1818
Social media Christmas is a thing. From Twitter to Reddit to Facebook, today’s youth do comment about Christmas. The social media of today is building a wonderful record of their thoughts about Christmas and that record will be available for…

Introducing The Christmas Hall of Fame
Over the years we have openly mused in dicussion on the Merry Forums -- who would we put in a Christmas Hall of Fame? We no longer need to wonder about that question. We can now do something about it. We can approach all the great debates…

The Christ Child
A new minimalist short film has been released depicting the birth of Christ in a more Biblical way. The Nativity story has been so romanticized in film, song and the written word for so long it is refreshing to see the story set back in a more…

Christmas 1945: The Biggest Celebration of Christmas Ever
As peace broke out in 1945 a literal race began to get the world at war back home for Christmas. Historians have called the Christmas of 1945 the biggest celebration of Christmas ever. In the below edition of the Merry Little Podcast we discuss…