Category: Holidays

Christmas Eve

Winter in Northern Ohio

A ha! Christmas! By T. H. London, 1647.

Any man or woman . . . that can give any knowledge, or tell any tidings, of an old, old, very old gray-bearded gentleman, called Christmas, who was wont to be a verie familiar ghest, and visite all sorts of people both pore and rich, and used to appeare in glittering gold, silk, and silver, in the Court, and in all shapes in the Theater in Whitehall, and had ringing, feasts, and jollitie in all places, both in the citie and countrie, for his comming: . . . whosoever can tel what is become of him, or where he may be found, let them bring him back againe into England.

[Original image found here. Text from here.]

Christmas Arachnids

Christmas Spider

“An old European Christmas legend tells of a poor woman unable to provide the traditional decorations for the special holiday. A spider made his home in her tree and began to spin beautiful webs. On Christmas morning, the first light of sun struck the cobwebs, turning them to silver. When the woman awoke, she found the tree was covered with silver treasure. The spider had brought good fortune!”
[via]

Other versions claim it’s a German or Ukrainian tradition, and that either the Christ Child or Santa transformed the webs. Although I grew up in an area with a large German population, I never heard the story and can’t find an original source.

Yet, there IS such a creature called a Christmas Spider.

[Image found here.]

Christmas Saturday Matinee – Fran Martin, Bradlee & Golder-Novick, The Bug Tussel Bluegrass Band, The Dukes of Dixieland & The Magic Piano

It’s not quite rockabilly, nor is it The Frankies (it’s apparently by someone named Fran Martin) but it’s awesome.

Scott Bradlee & Ben Golder-Novick.

The Bug Tussel Bluegrass Band‘s version is pretty good.

“Jingle Bells” […] was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and published under the title “One Horse Open Sleigh” in the autumn of 1857. Even though it is now associated with the Christmas and holiday season, it was actually originally written to be sung for American Thanksgiving.b[Via Wiki]

Bells on horses were a wintertime safety measure to prevent collisions at crossroads – snow muffled the sound of horses’ hooves, and sleighs made little noise. The subsequent title is not about jingle bells, but is a command for the bells to jingle.

“Christmas Time In New Orleans” performed by The Dukes of Dixieland.

Now THAT is brilliant [via].

Have a great weekend, folks, and we’ll be back tomorrow for more festivities, frivolities y ¡Felicidades!

The .Gif Friday Post No. 311 – 16mm Christmas, Coordinated Company Jump, THE House & Stuff

Christmas Tree BW
A Company Christmas
Christmas Lights

Raccoon Christmas

[Found here, here, here and *ahem* here.]

Another Great Christmas Gift Idea

Thor

[Found here. More gift ideas here.]

Happy Thanksgiving

Retro Thanksgiving

It amazes me to think that in September 1620, 102 people were so fed up with the English monarchy that they were willing to risk a dangerous late-season voyage across the Atlantic (that lasted over two months at sea) to a new land to establish a free colony.

Disease, scurvy, starvation and weather exposure took their toll, and half of them died before the following spring. In March of 1621, the survivors sought to establish Plymouth Rock, ventured ashore, and met an escaped British slave named Squanto who spoke English.

His first words to William Bradford were:
“Dude. This is a swamp. You f’d up. Y’all gonna die an’ stuff.”
Bradford replied, “Bro, WTF?”
“Here. Plant some of this, but put a fish under it.”
“Dude, no way.”
“Way. Just do it.”
“K.  By the way, we got a plow.”
“Get out. You got a what? What you need a plow on a boat for?”
“We got one. You got an ox?”
“Ordered one on Amazon, but he ain’t showed up yet. They walk slow.”
“Cool. We’re gonna pop some pheasant for supper. Y’all wanna come?”
“Hell yeah. We’ll bag some Bambi and see you about 4.”

And the rest is history.

Have a great holiday, folks, and never forget the Reason for Thanksgiving.

[Image from here.]

Armistice Day: The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month of 1918

Walter Myers

The letter below was penned by my grand-uncle Walter (1899-1978) to his parents (my great-grandparents). He had just turned 19, and was serving in the US Army Signal Corps. In WWI that meant he was stationed at the German Front, providing reconnaissance from balloons and wiring reports via telegraph. Very dangerous place to be.

21 August 1918 – France

Dearest Mom and Dad,

Was under fire for the first time recently. No casualties. Believe me you never heard such an unearthly noise. Everything quiet then all of a sudden “Boom” s-h-h-h sh-sh-sh. The boom is when the shell bursts and the “sh” sounds like the wind whistling through a crack. The “sh” is caused by flying splinters. The damned Deutsch can’t hit a barn so we should worry. We have dugouts.

Sorry I can’t tell more. This may be cut out. I don’t think it will though because there is no information. I guess the Deutsch remember shooting at us. So this letter wouldn’t give them any “info”.

You say that you will meet me when I get off the returning transport. I think the day when I arrive will be about 10 years hence, at the present rate. However, though, the unexpected might happen and I might get home inside of 9 years instead of ten. So you get my impression from the above paragraph. However though, I am absolutely not homesick.

Of course I would like to get home, which is only natural. But I don’t want to get home ’till the “Guerre” is finished and finished to a frizzle and finished in our favor, and the damned deutsch exterminated.

We are now sleeping on the ground and in pup tents. Great sport, too. Just like a big camp.

Well, I guess we will call things off for the present. So, “Au revoire cher Pere et Mere.” I will see you “Apres La Guerre.”

With love,
Soldier Bill

Unfortunately, The Armistice lasted barely twenty years, allowed the creation of the WehrMacht, and WWII ensued. The Korean “Conflict” was stalled the same way, and now North Korea is a dangerous rogue nation. Do I need to mention Iran? Fini La Guerre.

God Bless all Veterans who fight selflessly for what’s right.

[Related posts here.]

Koalahead WIN/FAIL

Creepy Koala

If this guy shows up at the Halloween party, I’m outta there.

[Found here.]

Just Do It. Eat A Live Duckling. Raw.

Eat A Duck

Yeah, and do it while sitting next to a box of high explosives and a witness.

Okay, There are no explosives in that box. It’s a collector’s item with connections to the American Revolution, and Pierre Samuel DuPont in particular. If you’re ever near Wilmington Delaware, the tour of the DuPont gunpowder factory is awesome, It’s 18th century water-powered technology, and yeah, it’s the origin of the company of the same name.

[Found here.]

Atari Meets Foghat

Atari + Foghat

This is creepy as hell. What did they do with Mom?

[Found here. Related post here.]