Author Archive for: Editor
Entries by Jeff Westover
Over the River and Through the Wood
“Over the River and through the wood” is a phrase endeared to many that evokes the memory of Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings. Many know it as a poem first, many more know it as a Christmas song. Christmas was never it’s original intention. It was always, from its title forward, meant to be a tribute […]
Pumpkin Pie Poetry
The Thanksgiving of old America included a serious reverence the people of the 18th and 19th centuries had for pumpkin pie. Said the editor of the Philadelphia Ledger in 1837 “that he should like to be thrown into a pumpkin pie as large as Lake Superior, only deeper, and obliged it eat his way out.” […]
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing has become for many an anthem of Thanksgiving — as close to a Thanksgiving carol as there can be. The song was written in the mid-18th century by a 22-year old theology student. His name was Robert Robinson. As a youth, Robinson was a bit of a wild child, […]
The Thanksgiving History You Never Hear
Modern media is flooded each Thanksgiving with tales of the myths and distortions of America’s most widely celebrated holiday. That is the most amazing thing about Thanksgiving. It is full of ironies and falsehoods and ignored facts. On one extreme you have those who cling to the Charlie Brown version of Thanksgiving. This is what […]
Josiah, His Turkeys and His Sweetheart
(Editor’s Note: This Thanksgiving story was published sometime in the early 19th century. Like A Visit from St. Nicholas it was published as a tradition year after year in many newspapers. We found it in the Boston Traveler from 1836, though we noted it dating back as far as 1824 in another newspaper. This is […]
A Christmas Story of 1887
Editor’s Note: This Christmas story originally appeared in a Columbus, Ohio newspaper on December 24th, 1887. It was subtitled ‘As Compared to the Ordinary Christmas Day’. It is shared here in its complete form, with punctuation, spelling and vocabulary exactly as it was printed in the original. Such humorous stories were very common in local […]
Loving Both Thanksgiving and Christmas
Thanksgiving and Christmas are seemingly at odds with each other these days. The politically correct thing seems to be “honoring Thanksgiving” by not doing Christmas too early. We must avoid the nefarious thing called “Christmas Creep“. Target made a splash in the news by announcing they were not going to “give in to Christmas Creep” […]
Calling Santa for Free
Can you imagine the kinds of messages Santa must get? Calling Santa is easy — and now free. In a new video released today by the North Pole Santa shares a few of the messages he receives on his toll free number. They are, to say the least, adorable: Most published phone numbers you see […]
The Perfect Halloween Mood Setter
Bach’s Toccata in D Minor might not be known by name for those who don’t follow classical music but it’s signature sound is recognizable by millions as being associated with suspense, terror and especially Halloween. Here it is in spooky splendor as presented by the great Richard Elliott, famed organist for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. […]
The Christmas Beat Goes on for Pentatonix
Every third week of October for the past several years Pentatonix has debuted a new Christmas single. This year is no different. But this Christmas single features just four singers — an odd thing for a group whose name is based on “five”. The song is a traditional Christmas carol — Away in a Manger […]
