Christmas Past is turning 10 this year! To celebrate a decade of Christmas storytelling, throughout the season, we’ll look back at episodes from previous years. Today, it’s the history behind writing letters to Santa. This episode first appeared in season one, on December 1, 2016.

May your days be merry and bright!

 

CONNECT WITH ME

Links to social media and more https://christmaspastpodcast.com/links

Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com

 

MY BOOKS
Of Christmases Long, Long Ago: Surprising Traditions from Christmas Past (2025, Lyons Press and Recorded Books) It’s Christmas as you’ve never seen it before, and it makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life.

 

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions (2022, Lyons Press and Recorded Books) 

Happy Halloween! 👻 And welcome to another season of Christmas Past.

We’re continuing our tradition of kicking things off with a ghost story from my friends at Biblioasis Books. Every season, they issue a set of three classic ghost stories for Christmas, designed and decorated by the acclaimed artists known only as Seth.

Today’s story is Edith Wharton’s “The Duchess at Prayer,” first published in Scribner’s Magazine in 1900. Neglected by her absent husband, the beautiful Duchess Violante turns to prayer and, seemingly, the company of the Duke’s cousin. Suspicious of his wife, the Duke returns unexpectedly one day and an argument breaks out which takes a dark turn—and leaves the memory of that day immportalized in the haunting face of a stone statue.

I’m so excited to kick off another season with you and celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Christmas Past! 😮

May your days be merry and bright!

MUSIC IN THIS EPISODE

• “Relaxing Music” — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
• “Halloween Lofi” —  Marek Zielinski, via Pixabay

CONNECT WITH ME

Links to social media and more https://christmaspastpodcast.com/links

Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com

 

MY BOOKS
Of Christmases Long, Long Ago: Surprising Traditions from Christmas Past (2025, Lyons Press and Recorded Books) It’s Christmas as you’ve never seen it before, and it makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life.

 

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions (2022, Lyons Press and Recorded Books) 

This episode arrives on Christmas Eve Eve. It’s our final family gathering of the season, where members of the Christmas Past family share some of their favorite Christmas memories.

Music in This Episode

• “Cozy Podcast Music with Christmas Bells” — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay
• “Podcast Jazz Waltz Cozy Relaxing Vibes” — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay

 

Order your copy today! Of Christmases Long, Long Ago

Connect with Me

• Links to all the things https://christmaspastpodcast.com/links
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com

Books

Of Christmases Long, Long Ago: Surprising Traditions from Christmas Past (2025, Lyons Press and Recorded Books) It’s Christmas as you’ve never seen it before, and it makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life.

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions (2022, Lyons Press and Recorded Books)

We’re at the end of the last full week of the Christmas season. Christmas 2025 is right around the corner. And today, we’re back with another family gathering to reminisce about Christmases past. It’s another visit dedicated to you and your Christmas memories!

Music in This Episode

• “Cozy Podcast Music with Christmas Bells” — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay
• “Podcast Jazz Waltz Cozy Relaxing Vibes” — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay

Order your copy today! Of Christmases Long, Long Ago

Connect with Me

• Links to all the things https://christmaspastpodcast.com/links
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com

Books

Of Christmases Long, Long Ago: Surprising Traditions from Christmas Past (2025, Lyons Press and Recorded Books) It’s Christmas as you’ve never seen it before, and it makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life.

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions (2022, Lyons Press and Recorded Books)

1968 was one of the most tumultuous years in modern history. But one bright spot occurred on Christmas Eve: an amazing feat that captivated the world.

Music in this Episode

• “Farewell” — Maarten Schellekens, via Free Music Archive
• “Endless Cosmos” — Serge Quadrado, via Free Music Archive
• “You’ll Never Come to Dorset” — C. Diab, from the album Immerro, courtesy of Tonal Union records
• “Dawn Summit” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• “Cozy Jazz Podcast Music with Christmas Bells” — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay

 

Order your copy today! Of Christmases Long, Long Ago

Connect with Me

• Links to all the things https://christmaspastpodcast.com/links
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com

Books

Of Christmases Long, Long Ago: Surprising Traditions from Christmas Past (2025, Lyons Press and Recorded Books) It’s Christmas as you’ve never seen it before, and it makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life.

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions (2022, Lyons Press and Recorded Books)

Boy, are we right in the thick of this Christmas season. Thanksgiving was just a little over two weeks ago. Christmas Day is just a little under two weeks from today. I suppose that makes it peak Christmas season.

So, what better time to come together again for a Christmas Past family gathering? Today, it’s another special episode dedicated to you and your Christmas memories.

 

Music in This Episode

• “Cozy Podcast Music with Christmas Bells” — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay
• “Podcast Jazz Waltz Cozy Relaxing Vibes” — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay

Order your copy today! Of Christmases Long, Long Ago

Connect with Me

• Links to all the things https://christmaspastpodcast.com/links
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com

Books

Of Christmases Long, Long Ago: Surprising Traditions from Christmas Past (2025, Lyons Press and Recorded Books) It’s Christmas as you’ve never seen it before, and it makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life.

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions (2022, Lyons Press and Recorded Books)

In 1953, a Christmas Eve train bound for New Zealand’s capital city met a tragic fate.

Music in this Episode

• “Ourselves at Least” — C. Diab, from the album Imerro on Tonal Union Records
• “Bucharest” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• “Cozy Winter” — Oleksii Kalyna, via Pixabay
• “Velejo” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• “Below the River” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• “Sad Sorrowful Documentary Music” — Ievgen Poltavskyi, via Pixabay
• “Venus Aire” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive

 

Order your copy today! Of Christmases Long, Long Ago

Connect with Me

• Links to all the things https://christmaspastpodcast.com/links
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com

Books

Of Christmases Long, Long Ago: Surprising Traditions from Christmas Past (2025, Lyons Press and Recorded Books) It’s Christmas as you’ve never seen it before, and it makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life.

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions (2022, Lyons Press and Recorded Books)

The Christmas season is in full swing. The tree is up. The carols are playing. The shopping and baking merrymaking of all sorts is here once again. We’re all doing a lot of the stuff that Christmas memories are made of.

And Christmas memories are what bring us together here today. This season on Christmas Past, I’m sharing your Christmas memories in special episodes dedicated just to them…like this one.

I want to share one of your memories in one of the several other episodes like that will arrive in the coming weeks. Listen to the episode for details on how to be on the show!

Music in This Episode

• “Cozy Podcast Music with Christmas Bells” — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay
• “Podcast Jazz Waltz Cozy Relaxing Vibes” — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay

Order your copy today! Of Christmases Long, Long Ago

Connect with Me

• Links to all the things https://christmaspastpodcast.com/links
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com

Books

Of Christmases Long, Long Ago: Surprising Traditions from Christmas Past (2025, Lyons Press and Recorded Books) It’s Christmas as you’ve never seen it before, and it makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life.

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions (2022, Lyons Press and Recorded Books)

Inventor Reginald Aubrey Fessenden received hundreds of patents in his career. And one invention that debuted in 1906 changed Christmas as we know it.

Music in This Episode

• “Agony and Ivory” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• “The Cresting” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• “Tranquility” — Kevin MacLeod, via Free Music Archive
• “Peaceful Acoustic Guitar Instrumental for Relaxation” — Nicholas Panek, via Pixabay
• “Wholesome Original Lullaby” — Viktor Baikovskyi, via Pixabay

Order your copy today! Of Christmases Long, Long Ago

Connect with Me

• Links to all the things https://christmaspastpodcast.com/links
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com

Books

Of Christmases Long, Long Ago: Surprising Traditions from Christmas Past (2025, Lyons Press and Recorded Books) It’s Christmas as you’ve never seen it before, and it makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life.

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions (2022, Lyons Press and Recorded Books)