Category: Holidays

Batrachophobic Hot Links

Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town, The Harmony Grits (1959) When The Drifters were fired by their manager after an incident at the Apollo Theater, they were immediately replaced by members of The 5 Crowns. Clyde McPhatter had begun a solo career, so the others, Gerhard and Andrew Thrasher with Bill Pinkney and Little David Baughan(?) formed The Harmony Grits, as their former manager owned rights to The Drifters name.  They recorded two songs before renaming themselves The Original Drifters. [More on the story here.]

Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town was first recorded by Harry Reser and His Orchestra, with vocal by Tom Stacks (1934).

Abby?

Wanted.

The Warning.

Hours of Fun!

A gift for Farley.

Happy campers.

Goldblum loses it.

the babe with legs.

Definitely a dad move.

Pa-RUMpa-pum-pum.

Ghostbusters in reverse.

Feltic Christmas decorations.

Tardigrade egg [via Bunkerville].

Raised in captivity, born to be free.

The Santa Sessions [via Mme. Jujujive}.

Brunch in a Jar Sippin’ Cream [h/t Gord S.].

Beware die Schlupfkappe [via Memo Of The Air].

Dan Koft calls Boogie Woogie Santa Claus square dance.

[Top image via Deep Dream Generator and the text prompt “Tardigrade with Christmas lights”.]

From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago. 15 years ago.

Vukovar, Yugoslavia 1992

Santa Claus with the children during the Croatian War of Independence. Vukovar, 1992.

Vukovar, Yugoslavia in 1992 during the Croatian War of Independence.

The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of Vukovar in eastern Croatia by the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), supported by various paramilitary forces from Serbia, between August and November 1991.
[…]
During the battle, shells and rockets were fired into the town at a rate of up to 12,000 a day. At the time, it was the fiercest and most protracted battle seen in Europe since 1945, and Vukovar was the first major European town to be entirely destroyed since the Second World War.

A 2013 discussion on Reddit includes analyses of this and other photos found in this collection, and suggests that the Santa photo may have been Yugoslav staged propaganda.

[Image found here indicates a date of 1991.]

The First A.I. Thanksgiving

According to Deep Dream Generator, no European colonists were present at The First Thanksgiving  but the locals had plenty of pumpkins and raw quail to eat.

Marney’s Thanksgiving Letter

I became aware of “The Letter” late last night and initially dismissed it as  satire. I was stunned to find that it is indeed legit, and was posted on Awkward Family Photos on 24 November 2009. If that isn’t enough verification, AFP conducted an interview with Marney (posted below).
Enjoy!

THE INTERVIEW

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving With The Carvers

The crosscut saw is a pain to clean, so when the missus pulls the bird out of the oven and asks me to do the honors, this year I’m grabbing the bow saw.

[Photo source unknown, h/t Pam M.]

Veterans Day 2023

[Previous Armistice Day / Remembrance Day / Veterans Day posts here.]

¡Feliz Día de Los Muertos!

Día de Los Muertos, Merengue Urbano (2021)

[Skulls found in our living room and on the front door stoop.
Día de los Muertos archive here. ]

Halloween – Best Of Show

[Images found scattered across the internest.]

Halloween in the UK 1930s

“An early reference to wearing costumes at Halloween comes from Scotland in 1585, but they may pre-date this. […] By the 1930s costumes based on characters in mass media such as film, literature, and radio were popular.”

[Images are from the UK Mirror, October 2017.]

Habilatory Hot Links

Do The Zombie, M.R. Baseman & The Symbols (1963) This song was the B-side of a 45rpm recorded on the Graphic Arts label, the A-side being a cover of the Devotions’ Rip Van Winkel, recorded by “Marty & The Symbols.” Very little is known about this group except they may have been from Astoria, Queens, NY. No relation to the 1960s UK pop band The Symbols.

Blorp.

Meow.

Retroman.

Honest Jaws.

Camper World.

Erasing US History.

Yabba Dabba Duplex?

Dancing with Michael.

Hating the Monstermash.

The original version is the best.

Izuna Fair [via Memo Of The Air].

Mr. Bone’s Pizza [via Mme. Jujujive].

The Earth is leaking [via Bunkerville].

The Book of Hallowe’en Ruth Edna Kelley (1919)
[also via Memo Of The Air].

Frankencamper [via The View From Lady Lake].

Cool but impractical shelter [via Feral Irishman].

Tired of the lies? Here’s The True Story of Hushpuppies.

[Top image: Detail from The Reward of Cruelty, William Hogarth (1751) found here.]

From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago. 15 years ago.