Soaring food costs will affect Christmas spending, according to the latest annual survey by My Merry Christmas.com of Christmas in America. With butter priced over $4 per pound in the United States and beef at record highs consumers are saying they won’t skimp on the foods this Christmas but that soaring food costs will pinch […]
Contributed by LoiS-sez Note: This is actually the first chapter in the book by the title of The Birds’ Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin in 1886, but it’s both an explanation of the book’s title and a wonderful Christmas story…especially for anyone born at Christmas time. It was very early Christmas morning, and in […]
Contributed by LoiS-sez This is actually a ballad with lyrics by Thomas Haynes Bayly. I’ve never been able to find the music by Sir Henry Bishop, but I use the refrain for my own re-telling as it’s said to be based on a traditional legend. The mistletoe hung in the castle hall, The holly branch […]
In an early announcement to retailers, Paramount is preparing ‘White Christmas: Diamond Anniversary Edition’ for Blu-ray on October 14: In honor of the 60th anniversaries of White Christmas and Danny Kaye’s appointment as UNICEF’s first Goodwill Ambassador, The Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Kaye Foundation and Paramount Pictures are proud to make a combined $100,000 […]
Today is Sunday, September 21, 2014 and there are just 95 days now until Christmas. Today is Virginia O’Hanlon Day. In 1897 eight year old Virginia O’Hanlon sent a letter to The Sun asking if Santa Claus really existed. The response Virginia received from her timeless query was written by one of the paper’s editors, […]
In a year soft on new Christmas music country superstar Alan Jackson will capitalize by re-releasing his Christmas album, Let It Be Christmas. Jackson is celebrating his 25th Anniversary and this album is just another part of that celebration. He’ll be spreading Christmas cheer for country fans a little early this year since the album […]
By Jeff Westover It is a sad story. As his wife lay terminally ill on the couch next to the family Christmas tree Robert May held his young daughter in his lap as they gazed upon a snowy December scene out the window of their Chicago apartment. Barbara, at four years old, knew all too […]
By Jeff Westover (Author Bias: None. Zippo. Zero. Zilch.) When we married we received all kinds of wonderful gifts. But the one that caught the most attention, the one that drew the biggest reaction and the only one remembered from those many years ago was the gift that was re-gifted to us. It was a […]
Contributed by Merry Carey Here is a fine old Christmas story from 1914 about Calliope Marsh, a woman determined to gather her entire neighborhood under one Christmas tree. A Great Tree From Neighborhood Stories by Zona Gale (1914) I never had felt so much like Christmas, said Calliope Marsh, as I did that year. “I […]
It is Thursday, September 11th, 2014 and there remains only 105 days until Christmas. Today is Crosby and Bowie Day, celebrating the unlikely pairing of two generations of iconic musicians for the purpose of Christmas. The story of their coming together is now legendary. Bing Crosby, in the final months of his life during which […]
Target. Home Depot. Michaels. Neiman Marcus. What do these big store brands have in common? Credit card data security breaches, the most famous killing Target’s Christmas last year. For consumers it happens silently. They go shopping and swipe their cards. It doesn’t matter if they use a PIN code or merely sign for their purchase. […]
