Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: Story Time — The Christmas Sing In Our Village
Category Added in a WPeMatico Campaign
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman was a prolific author in the 19th century. Her Christmas stories showed up every year in newspapers and magazines. Professor Thomas Ruys Smith recently published a new collection of Freeman’s Christmas stories. Professor Smith joins me today to discuss Freeman, and then Brian narrates “Harriet Anne’s Christmas” from the collection.
Mentioned in this Episode
The Last Gift: The Christmas Stories of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
Music in this Episode
- “Family Holiday” — Aleksey Chistilin, via Pixabay
- “Piano Music No. 1” — Relaxing Time, via Pixabay
- “Relaxing Piano Music” — Kevin Macleod, via Incompetech
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title:
Interview & Story Time — The Christmas Stories of Mary Wilkins Freeman
As we ease our way into another Christmas season, we’re practicing thta somewhat forgotten tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas time! In 1883, Temple Bar magazine published a story by a writer and physician named Arthur Conan Doyle. Nowadays, we refer to him as sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and we know him best as the creator of that most famous of detectives: Sherlock Holmes. But this 1883 story isn’t about Sherlock. It’s about a ship trapped in arctic ice and the strange things the captain and crew experience. Join Brian for a reading of The Captain of the Polestar.
Mentioned in this Episode
Music in this Episode
- “Dewbound” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
- “Ethereal Relaxation” — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: Story Time — The Captain of the Polestar
Join Christmas Past one last time in the 2022 season. It’s our annual look back at the sights, sounds, news, and trends that made Christmas of 2022 what it was.
Merry Christmas to all, and many thanks for being part of the 2022 season of Christmas Past.
Music in This Episode
- “This Christmas” — Hot Music, via Pixabay
- “Deck the Halls A” — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
- “Silent Night” — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
- “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
Buy the Christmas Past Book!
Order your copy today. And remember…it makes a great gift!
Share a Christmas memory
Be on the podcast! Just record a voice memo into your phone and send it to christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com. Keep it reasonably short, clean and family friendly, and be sure to say your name and where you’re from.
Keep in touch
christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: Christmas 2022
They’re the spiced cookie with the funny sounding (to American ears) name. Pfeffernusse — or, “pepper nuts” in English — contain neither pepper nor nuts. And for centuries, the original recipe has been a closely guarded secret. Baker and podcaster Glen Warren joins me in this episode.
Mentioned in This Episode
Music in This Episode
- “The Poplar Grove” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
- “Midvinter” — Scott Buckley, via scottbuckley.com.au
- “Felix Mendelssohn: Songs Without Words” Vassily Primakov, via Free Music Archive
- “The First Noel – Silent Night” — Ralph Rousseau Meulenbroeks, via Magnatune Compilation
- “Piano Moment” — Zakhar Valaha Music, via Pixabay
- “Jingle Bells” — Scott Holmes Music, via Free Music Archive
Buy the Christmas Past Book!
Order your copy today. And remember…it makes a great gift!
Share a Christmas memory
Be on the podcast! Just record a voice memo into your phone and send it to christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com. Keep it reasonably short, clean and family friendly, and be sure to say your name and where you’re from.
Keep in touch
christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: Backstory — Pfeffernusse
Those decorative tins filled with three kinds of popcorn have been a Christmas staple for decades. But…why? In this episode, we find out — by asking the guy responsible for the whole thing!
Music in This Episode
- “Blue Latex” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
- “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” — Ahmadmusic, via Pixabay
- “Sticktop” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
- “Jul” — Scott Buckley, via scottbuckley.com.au
- “Tiled Chamber” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
- “Jingle Bells” — Scott Holmes Music, via Free Music Archive
Buy the Christmas Past Book!
Order your copy today. And remember…it makes a great gift!
Share a Christmas memory
Be on the podcast! Just record a voice memo into your phone and send it to christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com. Keep it reasonably short, clean and family friendly, and be sure to say your name and where you’re from.
Keep in touch
christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: Backstory — Christmas Popcorn Tins
It’s fluffy, sweet, and studded with raisins and candied fruit peel. It’s the Italian Christmas cake known as Panettone. Get ready to talk with your hands, along with me and Max Miller of Tasting History as we dig in.
Mentioned in This Episode
Music in This Episode
- “Bushwick Tarantella” — Kevin MacLeod, via Youtube Audio Library
- “Saloon Piano – Ragtime Retro Vintage Jazz Comedy Music” — FreeGroove, via Pixabay
- “We Three Kings” — James Edwards, via Magnatune Compilation
- “PianoCello” — Reverie Now, via Pixabay
- “Pop Vibration” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
- “Good King Wenceslas” — Richard Irwin, via Hymns Without Words
- “Jingle Bells” — Scott Holmes Music, via Free Music Archive
Buy the Christmas Past Book!
Order your copy today. And remember…it makes a great gift!
Share a Christmas memory
Be on the podcast! Just record a voice memo into your phone and send it to christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com. Keep it reasonably short, clean and family friendly, and be sure to say your name and where you’re from.
Keep in touch
christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: Backstory — Panettone
Cozy up with the Christmas Past family for some reminiscing! It’s one of our favorite annual traditions…where I turn things over to you and let you guide my sleigh tonight on a trip down memory lane!
Music in this episode
- “Instrument 12092021” — orangiromusik, via Pixabay
- “This Christmas” — Hot Music, via Pixabay
Buy the Christmas Past Book!
Order your copy today. And remember…it makes a great gift!
Share a Christmas memory
Be on the podcast! Just record a voice memo into your phone and send it to christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com. Keep it reasonably short, clean and family friendly, and be sure to say your name and where you’re from.
Keep in touch
christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: Your Christmas Memories, 2022
Most of the classic American Christmas songs come from the 1940s. What was it about that decade that accounts for an explosion of Christmas music that’s stood the test of time? What is it about those songs that sounds so Christmassy? And why are Christmas classics so few and far between in recent generations? Join me and Berklee College of Music professor Chris North to dive in!
Music in This Episode
- “Sleigh Ride” — Marcus Staab, via Musopen
- “Home for the Holidays” — Track Tribe, via Youtube Audio Library
- “Christmas Jazz” — Audio Coffee, via Pixabay
- “171221 – jazz style piano / day / happy / love / life” — WELC0MEИ0, via Pixabay
- “Christmas Magic Night” — Lesfm, via Pixabay
- “Night Jazz” — Music for Videos, via Pixabay
Buy the Christmas Past Book!
Order your copy today. And remember…it makes a great gift!
Share a Christmas memory
Be on the podcast! Just record a voice memo into your phone and send it to christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com. Keep it reasonably short, clean and family friendly, and be sure to say your name and where you’re from.
Keep in touch
christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: Backstory — Classic American Christmas Music
Strictly speaking, a Christmas carol is a song that tells the Nativity story. That’s what made Edmund Sears’s song, “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” so unusual when he wrote it. It didn’t tell the story of Jesus’s birth; it told the story of how people reacted to the news. This “humanist carol” arrived at a time when music itself was in the midst of some major changes.
Music in This Episode
- “Nocturne in E flat major, Op. 9 no. 2” — Aya Higuchi, via Musopen
- “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” — Kevin MacLeod, via Youtube Audio Library
- “Lullaby for a King” — Cathy Oakes, via Feels Like Christmas
- “Endless by PrabajithK“—Mild Relaxation, via Pixabay
- “Night Jazz” — Music for Videos, via Pixabay
- Piano samples from “Carol” and “Noel” generously played by Carrie from the Christmas Past family!
Buy the Christmas Past Book!
Order your copy today. And remember…it makes a great gift!
Share a Christmas memory
Be on the podcast! Just record a voice memo into your phone and send it to christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com. Keep it reasonably short, clean and family friendly, and be sure to say your name and where you’re from.
Keep in touch
christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: Backstory — It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
They’re the festive party favors containing a paper crown, a trinket, and a joke — and wrapped in a package that goes “bang” when you open it! Christmas Crackers are an invention of the Victorian age. And more specifically, one confectioner named Tom Smith. Smith single handedly created a tradition that has endured for generations.
Mentioned in This Episode
- Peter Kimpton’s Website
- Tom Smith’s Christmas Crackers — Book by Peter Kimpton
Music in This Episode
- “The Kishner Method” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
- “Forget” — Lesfm, via Pixabay
- “God Rest You Merry Gentlemen Christmas Piano Background Music” — Lesfm, via Pixabay
- “Sedative” — Lesfm, via Pixabay
- “Stress Relief Piano” — PianoAmor, via Pixabay
- “Night Jazz” — Music for Videos, via Pixabay
Buy the Christmas Past Book!
Order your copy today. And remember…it makes a great gift!
Share a Christmas memory
Be on the podcast! Just record a voice memo into your phone and send it to christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com. Keep it reasonably short, clean and family friendly, and be sure to say your name and where you’re from.
Keep in touch
christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: Backstory — Christmas Crackers
“Father Christmas”…that’s what they call Santa Claus in England, right? Well, sort of, but there’s more to it than that. Join me and guest professor Gerry Bowler to look into the origins of this often misunderstood Christmas character.
Music in This Episode
- “A Peaceful Winter” — Scott Holmes, via Free Music Archive
- “Sentimental Light Hopeful Tender Piano” — Ashot-Danielyan-Composer, via Pixabay
- “Classical Piano And Cello” — Ashot-Danielyan-Composer, via Pixabay
- “Romanesca” — Cheryl Ann Fulton, via Magnatune Compilation
- “I Saw Three Ships” — James Edwards, via Magnatune Compilation
- “Modern Christmas Full no Santa” —Muzaproduction, via Pixabay
Buy the Christmas Past Book!
Order your copy today. And remember…it makes a great gift!
Share a Christmas memory
Be on the podcast! Just record a voice memo into your phone and send it to christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com. Keep it reasonably short, clean and family friendly, and be sure to say your name and where you’re from.
Keep in touch
christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: Backstory — Father Christmas
It’s the theater experience that’s as rollicking and raucous as it is festive! And it’s also mostly unknown to American audiences. Join Brian in this episode to hear all about the British tradition of Pantomime.
Mentioned in This Episode
Music in This Episode
- “Vaquero Perdido” — The Mini Vandals, via Youtube Audio Library
- “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies” — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
- “Dona Norem” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
- “Twinkle Like a Star” — Monday Hopes, via Pixabay
- “Ding Dong Merrily on High” — Steve’s Bedroom Band, via Musopen
- “Snowflakes – Winter & Christmas Swing Music” — Julius H, via Pixabay
Buy the Christmas Past Book!
Order your copy today. And remember…it makes a great gift!
Share a Christmas memory
Be on the podcast! Just record a voice memo into your phone and send it to christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com. Keep it reasonably short, clean and family friendly, and be sure to say your name and where you’re from.
Keep in touch
christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: Backstory — Pantomime
Since the early 1930s, Rockefeller Center has been home to an enormous Christmas tree, elaborately decorated and introduced each season with great fanfare and spectacle. The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree has become America’s Christmas tree. Christine Roussel, the official Archivist of Rockefeller Center, joins Brian to tell the tale of this iconic institution.
Music in This Episode
- “The Broker” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
- “Angels We Have Heard on High – Hark The Herald Angels Sing” — James Edwards, via Magnatune Compilation
- “Glow“— Scott Buckley, via scottbuckley.com.au
- “A Jazz Piano” — Music for Videos, via Pixabay
- “Owl’s Christmas” — Owl Glance, via Pixabay
- “Jingle Bells Violin (Main)” — Daddy’s Music, via Pixabay
Buy the Christmas Past Book!
Order your copy today. And remember…it makes a great gift!
Share a Christmas memory
Be on the podcast! Just record a voice memo into your phone and send it to christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com. Keep it reasonably short, clean and family friendly, and be sure to say your name and where you’re from.
Keep in touch
christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: Backstory — The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree
They were a symbol of the Space Age and then, quickly, they were a relic of the past. Aluminum Christmas trees burst onto the Christmas scene in the late 1950s and reached peak popularity during the 60s. And then…they were gone. But a new generation is discovering the kitschy, retro charm of this uniquely American invention.
Mentioned in This Episode
The Wonderful World of Evergleam by Theron Georges
Theron Georges’s Aluminum Christmas Tree displays
Music in This Episode
- “Dunder” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
- “Acoustic Motivation” — Coma Media, via Pixabay
- “O Christmas Tree – O Tannenbaum – Piano Christmas Carol” — JuliusH, via Pixabay
- “Silent Night” — Zakhar Valaha Music, via Pixabay
- “Shades of Spring” — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
- “This Christmas” — Hot Music, via Pixabay
Buy the Christmas Past Book!
Order your copy today. And remember…it makes a great gift!
Share a Christmas memory
Be on the podcast! Just record a voice memo into your phone and send it to christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com. Keep it reasonably short, clean and family friendly, and be sure to say your name and where you’re from.
Keep in touch
christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: Backstory — Aluminum Christmas Trees
It’s the universal symbol of the Christmas season: a tree (typically a fir) adorned with ornaments and lights. But…what does any of that have to do with Christmas? The Christmas tree has a long history. But only fairly recently has it become especially common in homes at Christmas time.
Music in this episode
- “Eternal Hope” — Kevin MacLeod, via Youtube Audio Library
- “O Christmas Tree – Ernst Anshutz Christmas Piano Music” — Lesfm, via Pixabay
- “March” — Kai Engel, via Free Music Archive
- “Ambient Piano” — Balance Bay, via Pixabay
- “Greensleeves” — Lesfm, via Lesfm.net
- “Christmas Atmosphere” — Lesfm, via Pixabay
Buy the Christmas Past Book!
Order your copy today. And remember…it makes a great gift!
Share a Christmas memory
Be on the podcast! Just record a voice memo into your phone and send it to christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com. Keep it reasonably short, clean and family friendly, and be sure to say your name and where you’re from.
Keep in touch
christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: Backstory — Christmas Trees
We’re officially kicking off the 2022 season of Christmas Past with a Thanksgiving family gathering, a return to a beloved Bay Area tradition, and a visit to the Cratchit family in London. Cozy up by the fire and welcome the festive season with the entire Christmas Past family.
Many thanks to Denise Lamott, Therese Porter, Kevin Patterson, and everyone at The Great Dickens Christmas Fair for making this episode possible.
Music in this episode
“The Winter Fall by PrabajithK” — Mild Relaxation, via Pixabay
“Relaxing Piano Music” — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
“Peace and Comfort” — Dee Yan-Key, via Free Music Archive
“This Christmas” — Hot Music, via Pixabay
Buy the Christmas Past Book!
Order your copy today. And remember…it makes a great gift!
Share a Christmas memory
Be on the podcast! Just record a voice memo into your phone and send it to christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com. Keep it reasonably short, clean and family friendly, and be sure to say your name and where you’re from.
Keep in touch
christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: 2022 Season Kickoff from the Great Dickens Christmas Fair
Yes, we return to our traditional favorite songs each year. But there’s nothing like discovering a new favorite! If you believe that too, then you’re in for a treat! Here are seven Christmas songs from independent musicians to make your days a little merrier and brighter sounding.
Music in this Episode
- “Dreaming ‘Bout Christmas” — Frank and Friends
- “Lonely December” — Lunar Spirit
- “Ugly Sweater Time” — The Sweaterettes
- “Christmas Lights Through Car Windows” — Amanda Fagan
- “Christmas Carols” — The Predicates
- “Joy to the World” — Amanda Opelt
- “Silent Night” — Sounds and Scapes
- “Deck the Halls B” — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
- “This Christmas” — Hot Music, via Pixabay
The post 2022 Indie Christmas Music Playlist appeared first on Christmas Past.
Listen to this episode of the Christmas Past
Author: Brian Earl
Title: 2022 Indie Christmas Music Playlist