Silent Night is a simple song. It tells a simple story. It features a simple tune. It offers simple harmonies. That is why so many modern versions of Silent Night drive me crazy. It is just so often very over done (Look up Beyonce on YouTube — it’s an ear-bleeder). That is why I like […]
The story of Carol of the Bells is hardly as well known as the song itself. It has been re-interpreted over and over by a variety of artists — most recently by Lindsey Stirling: Stirling, who seems to command you watch as much as listen, captures the original spirit of Carol of the Bells simply […]
Editor’s Note: On December 1st, 2017 seven Christmas podcasters came together to share the 1912 short story The House of Seven Santas. MyMerryChristmas.com participated by providing the concluding segment of the story as can be heard via the player below. https://mmc-220a5.kxcdn.com/mlp/mlpepisode22.mp3 To start at the beginning, please visit the Christmas Past Podcast hosted by Brian […]
Imagine the scene — a man deep in the throes of despair weeps in prayer to God, asking for forgiveness of his many sins. But he is not a man one would think to be burdened down by the guilt of wrong doing. He was a monk. But life was not going well for Henrich […]
“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 […]
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 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, […]
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 […]
(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 […]
