The big day is here, and so is our final episode of 2024. As we so do every year, we’ll take a look back at all the news, trends, sights, and sounds that made this Christmas what it was. We’ll also hear some Christmas memories from the Christmas Past family.

Thank you for another wonderful season. I’ll see you next year.

Merry Christmas!

Music in this episode

• “Jazz Podcast Night Relaxing Vibes” — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay
• “Wish Background” — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
• “Calm Piano Music” — Piotr Witowski, via Pixabay

Connect

• Facebook page
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• Instagram
• Bluesky
• Twitter / X
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

One by one, over a series of nights during Christmastime in Iceland, the Yule Lads come down from a mountain, making mischief, rewarding good behavior and punishing bad. These lovable scamps are unique melding of folkloric traditions, and a reminder that Christmas once was — and still can be — haunted and scary. Terry Gunnell, professor emeritus of folkloristics at the University of Iceland, joins Brian to tell the story. Thanks also to Baldur Gylfa for appearing in this episode!

Music in this episode

• “Momentary Ease” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• “Relaxing Piano” — Uncredited artists, via Pixabay
• “Tiled Chamber” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• “Ambient Christmas” — Denys Kyshchuk, via Pixabay
• “The First Noel” — Calvin Clavier, via Pixabay

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Bluesky
• Twitter / X
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Once again it’s time for one of my favorite traditions here on Christmas Past: dedicating an entire episode to you and your Christmas memories! I love these little glimpses into other people’s lives, families, memories, and all the different ways that Christmas can be celebrated and loved and made special and personal. So, get cozy. You’re invited to another Christmas Past family gathering, and trip down memory lane.

Music in this episode

• “Cozy Jazz Podcast Music with Christmas Bells” — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay
• “Relaxing Piano / Lofi Music” — John Tramp, via Pixabay

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Bluesky
• Twitter / X
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Forty years ago, audiences got into the Christmas spirit by watching a little green creature get killed in a blender. Gremlins was more than a movie that combined horror, comedy, gory violence, and Christmas. It was a massive a pop culture phenomenon, and one of the last movies of its kind to be rated PG. Alonso Duralde, film critic, podcaster, and author of Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas and Hollywood Pride joins Brian to discuss this iconic 80’s hit.

Music in this episode

• “Granite Faces” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• “Hope Piano” — Anastasia Kir, via Pixabay
• “Notche” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• “Wish Background” — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
• “Movie Theme 1” — Christian Bodhi, via Pixabay

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Bluesky
• Twitter / X
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Who doesn’t love a parade? The very idea of a procession, usually involving costumes and music, is at least 4,000 years old. But grand parades to kick off the Christmas season are much newer. The kind we’re most familiar with nowadays developed when large retail chains held parades to stimulate shopping and define a new, earlier start to the Christmas season. All that capitalism sounds very American, but — surprise! — Canada beat us to it!

In today’s episode, Clayton Charters, president and CEO of the Original Santa Claus Parade in Toronto, joins Brian.

Watch the playback of the 2024 Santa Claus Parade on Youtube!

Music in this Episode

• “Happy Christmas Day” — LudoSoundX, via Pixabay
• “I’m Not Feeling Well Today” — u_0tyyfec3hz, via Pixabay
• “O Little Town of Bethlehem” — Calvin Clavier, via Pixabay
• “Jazz Theme 5” — Erkki Marjasvaara, via Pixabay

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Bluesky
• Twitter / X
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The creative team of Rankin and Bass have produced some of the most enduring, nostalgia-producing Christmas specials in television history. Historian and biographer Rick Goldschmidt joins Brian to tell the story of how an art director and an ad jingle writer became “the kings of Christmas.”

Links

• More info about Rankin/Bass and Rick Goldschmidt
• Rick’s books about Rankin/Bass

Music in this episode

• “Kettled” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• “Soft Piano” — Anastasia Kir, via Pixabay
• “O Holy Night (Solo Piano)” — 23843807, via Pixabay
• “Wish Background” — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetec

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Bluesky
• Twitter / X
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

A lot of people complain that Christmas comes earlier every year. But, is that really true? Extended holiday shopping seasons have been the norm for well over a century. And besides, there’s one big (and spooooky) reason that Christmas can only come so early. Marketing professor Darrin Duber-Smith joins Brian to discuss the phenomenon of “Christmas creep.”

Music in this episode

• “Silent Movie (Old Record Version)” — Anastasia Kir, via Pixabay
• “Deck the Hall Jazz” — Anastasia Kir, via Pixabay
• “Ambient Piano” — BlackPy Beats, via Pixabay
• “Gentle Soft Piano – Christmas Vibes” — Alex Products, via Free Music Archive
• “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” — Dee Yan-Kee, via Free Music Archive

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Twitter / X
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Actor John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones) joins Brian to discuss Scrooge, A Christmas Carol. Rhys-Davies plays Dickens’s narrator in this four-part audio drama podcast, set for re-release on November 22.

Music in this episode

“O Holy Night” — Calvin Clavier, via Pixabay

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Twitter / X
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Happy Halloween, everybody! And more than that: welcome to another season of Christmas Past.

Yes, it’s still Halloween. But that’s the perfect time to kick things off, because it gives us a chance to honor the classic Christmas tradition of sharing a ghost story. Our Victorian forebears really loved their ghost stories — for all occasions, but perhaps especially for Christmas. Many magazines of the era published ghost stories specifically for the Christmas season. The stories didn’t necessarily involve Christmas; but they were meant to be enjoyed on Christmas Eve, adding a little extra chill to a cold winter’s night.

Though the tradition has faded, it’s not gone altogether. And that’s thanks in part to my friends at Biblioasis publishing. Every year, they publish a series of classic ghost stories beautifully illustrated by the acclaimed artist known only as Seth. It’s become a yearly tradition here on Christmas Past to start the season off with a story from their current series.

In today’s story, when a group of tourists visits the deserted island of Podolo, one wants to rescue a feral cat they find there, and the others reluctantly agree. Unfortunately, the rescue proves more difficult than they expect — and they soon discover they’re not alone on Podolo.

Music in this episode

• “Didion” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• “Frequency of Sleep Meditation” — Leigh Robinson, via Pixabay
• “Endless” — MildRelaxation, via Pixabay

Connect

• Facebook page
• Facebook group
• Instagram
• Twitter / X
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
• Website

Book

Christmas Past: The Fascinating Stories Behind Our Favorite Holiday’s Traditions makes a great gift for all the Christmas lovers in your life. Available in hardcover and audiobook. Find it wherever books are sold, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Storytime: “Podolo”