Christmas Past

Christmas in Quarantine: Day 11. Today's installment is a playlist of new Christmas music from independent artists! Discover some new festive faves to set the mood!  Stay subscribed for a new episode every day for the foreseeable future!  Music in this episode "Losers on a Christmas Eve" — Greg Atkinson, via Free Music Archive "Believe in me this Christmas" — Will Heikoop, via Free Music Archive "Song for a Winter's Night" — The Nancies, via Free Music Archive "I'm not drinking for Christmas" — Derek Clegg, via Free Music Archive "Snow on Snow: In the Bleak Midwinter" — Rue Royale, via Free Music Archive "Buying Presents" — Borrtex, via Free Music Archive Rate the show on Apple Podcasts and I'll send you a sticker to show my thanks!

Christmas in Quarantine: Day 10. Today's installment is another classic Christmas story for the whole family. As requested by a member of the Facebook group, Brian is reading "Christmas Every Day," the 1892 short story by William Dean Howells.  Stay subscribed for a new episode every day for the foreseeable future!  Music in this episode “Turning” — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive “Relaxing Piano Music” — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech Rate the show on Apple Podcasts and I'll send you a sticker to show my thanks!

Christmas in Quarantine: Day 9. Today's installment is a trip back to when the crooners crooned and the eggnog was always spiked. Join me and my guests Todd Killian from Christmas Clatter and Jenna Knorr from Welcome to Tinsel Town as we discuss the 1968 variety special, The Dean Martin Christmas Show.  Stay subscribed, because there will be a new episode of Christmas Past every day until we're all in the clear!  Music in this Episode "The Holly and the Ivy" — Richard M S Irwin, via Hymns Without Words Rate the show on Apple Podcasts and I'll send you a sticker to show my thanks!

Christmas in Quarantine: Day 8. Today's installment is a challenging game of Christmas trivia! Join me along with Lee Cameron of The Christmas Stocking, Tim Babb from Can't Wait for Christmas, Thom Crowe from Tis the Podcast, and Joanna Wilson from Christmas TV history as we put your Christmas spirit to the test.  Stay subscribed, because there will be a new episode of Christmas Past every day until we're all in the clear!  Music in this Episode "Thannoid" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive Rate the show on Apple Podcasts and I'll send you a sticker to show my thanks!

Christmas in Quarantine: Day 7. Today's installment takes us back to the days when radio reigned supreme. It's a Christmassy adventure from the man with the action-packed expense account: Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. This story, The Carmen Kringle Matter, first aired on December 22, 1957.  Stay subscribed, because there will be a new episode of Christmas Past every day until we're all in the clear!  Music in this Episode “We Wish you a Merry Christmas” — Don Maue, shared directly by the artist Rate the show on Apple Podcasts and I'll send you a sticker to show my thanks!

Christmas in Quarantine: Day 6. Today's installment features the fifth and final of Washington Irving's pieces from his "Old Christmas" collection.  Stay subscribed, because there will be a new episode of Christmas Past every day until we're all in the clear!  Music in this Episode “The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan” — Chris Zabriskie, via Free Music Archive "Relaxing Piano Music" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech Rate the show on Apple Podcasts and I'll send you a sticker to show my thanks!

Christmas in Quarantine: Day 5. Today's installment features the fourth of Washington Irving's five pieces from his "Old Christmas" collection.  Stay subscribed, because there will be a new episode of Christmas Past every day until we're all in the clear!  Music in this Episode “Early Morning Snow”— Chuck Brown, via Feels Like Christmas "Relaxing Piano Music" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech Rate the show on Apple Podcasts and I'll send you a sticker to show my thanks!

Christmas in Quarantine: Day 4. Today's installment features the third of Washington Irving's five pieces from his "Old Christmas" collection.  Stay subscribed, because there will be a new episode of Christmas Past every day until we're all in the clear!  Music in this Episode “Night Light”— Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive "Relaxing Piano Music" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech Rate the show on Apple Podcasts and I'll send you a sticker to show my thanks!

Christmas in Quarantine: Day 3. Today's installment of picks up where yesterday's episode left off, with the second of Washington Irving's five pieces from his "Old Christmas" collection.  Stay subscribed, because there will be a new episode of Christmas Past every day until we're all in the clear!  Music in this Episode “Comfort and Joy”— Philip Wesley, via Feels Like Christmas "Relaxing Piano Music" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech Rate the show on Apple Podcasts and I'll send you a sticker to show my thanks!

Christmas in Quarantine: Day 2. Today's installment marks the first of a five part series where I read each of the five story/essays from Washington Irving's "Old Christmas from the Sketchbook of Washington Irving." The first piece, "Christmas" is a love letter to the season and the Christmas spirit. Mentioned in this Episode https://nypost.com/2020/03/18/people-are-putting-up-christmas-lights-during-coronavirus-pandemic/ https://www.etonline.com/hallmark-channel-schedules-christmas-movie-marathon-during-self-quarantine-exclusive-143313 Music in this Episode "Sal's Piano Solo" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive "Relaxing Piano Music" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech Rate the show on Apple Podcasts and I'll send you a sticker to show my thanks!

Christmas in Quarantine: Day 1. Everyone is housebound amid the COVID-19 crisis, and lots of us are putting up our Christmas decorations again to cope! Today I'm introducing "Christmas in Quarantine," an impromptu miniseries of indeterminate length. I'll release one new episode every day until the crisis subsides.  Today, I bring you Frank L. Baum's 1904 classic, "A Kidnapped Santa Claus." Mentioned in this Episode https://nypost.com/2020/03/18/people-are-putting-up-christmas-lights-during-coronavirus-pandemic/ Music in this Episode "Turning" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive "Relaxing Piano Music" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech Rate the show on Apple Podcasts and I'll send you a sticker to show my thanks!

Happy Valentine's Day, sugarplums! There's nothing like a love story to keep the Christmas spirit alive. For this installment of Story Time, I've chosen "As the Automobile Ran Down," a 1901 short story by Charles Loomis.  Link from this episode Survey: American's genuinely more excited about Valentine's Day than Christmas Music in this Episode "Gaena" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive "Relaxing Piano Music" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech Rate the show on Apple Podcasts and I'll send you a sticker to show my thanks!  

Pack an umbrella and a jumper, because the next stop for Christmas Around the World is the UK. This month, Chantelle and her guest Nadine give us the history and traditions that make a British Christmas...British!  Stay subscribed to Christmas Past, for episodes all throughout the year. And if you leave a review on Apple Podcasts, I'll send you a sticker to say thanks. Contact me for details at christmaspast.media/contact.  Links from this episode November 1st: The Start of the Christmas Season. Proven with Science! Victorian Christmas Dinner is Served, Mrs. Beeton Style! All Things Christmas Music in this episode "Rule Brittania!" — United States Army Strings, via Wikimedia Commons "Sal's Piano Solo" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive "Glinka Nocturne" — Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, via Museopen "Shift of Currents" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive "Ink" — Chad Crouch, via Free Music Archive

It's time to bundle up, practice our French, and watch out for moose! We're learning all about having a joyeux Noel in Canada with Chantelle Joy from All Things Christmas. This is the first official episode of the new monthly Christmas Around the World series.  

Another Christmas in the books! By the time you see this, Christmas of 2019 belongs to Christmas Past. We close out the "official" Christmas season as we've done for four years in a row. It's our annual look back at the news and trends that made Christmas of 2019 what it was. We also do a little year-in-review for the podcast, and take a look ahead to what 202 has in store. Thank you all for making the 2019 season the biggest and best yet for Christmas Past! From the bottom of my heart, I'm wishing each of you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Links Study conducted on Christmas spirit by state All Things Christmas — Chantelle Joy Otto's Christmas blog. Chantelle is the host of the new spinoff series, Christmas Past Presents: Christmas Around the World. Look for new episodes starting in January of 2020, right here at Christmas Past Music in this episode "Deck the Halls A" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech

It's my favorite episode of the year: the one that's all about YOU! For the third year in a row, I've received more memories from you than I had episodes to put them in. So that means I once again have the special privilege of brining you an episodes filled with your Christmas memories. Thanks to everyone who shared a Christmas memory in this episode and throughout the season. These little glimpses into your Christmas past are what makes the show special...and makes Christmas itself special too. Links Weird Christmas — podcast from Craig, who shares a memory in this episode Advent Calendar House — podcast from Mike, who shares a memory in this episode Music in this episode All of the tracks in this episode are from Don Maue's album, Smokey Mountain Christmas. The artist shared all of the tracks directly with Christmas Past. If you're interested in getting a copy, check it out here on CD Baby.

No Christmas story starts out as a classic. And the road to classic status is often a long one filled with unexpected turns. It's a Wonderful Life wasn't a big success when it debuted in 1947. It wasn't until a quirk of American copyright law gave it a second life on television in the 1970s that it earned its place as a cornerstone of Christmas cinema. Movie critic and author Alonso Duralde joins in this episode.  Links Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas, by Alonso Duralde Music "Bipolar Christmas" — pftq, via SoundCloud "Wonder Cycle" — Chris Zabriskie, via Free Music Archive "Continue Life" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech "Luminous Rain" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech "Wish Background" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" — Don Maue, shared directly by the artist

Yes, it's the most famous newspaper editorial of all. It's also the untold story of two skeptics addressing disillusionment, and the iconic statement on the magic of childhood, and belief, and Christmas that resulted. Links The Marvelous and the Mundane Anthony Barthel Jack Billings Presents: Me and my Neighbor, Michael The Newseum Music in this episode "Fig Leaf Rag" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech "Golden Hour" — Podington Bear, via Free Music Archive "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" — Don Maue, shared directly by the artist "The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan" — Chris Zabriskie, via Free Music Archive “Wish Background” — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech

We've treated mistletoe specially for thousands of  years. But how did it go from being an ancient medicine and superstitious talisman to a festive—and smoochy—Christmas custom? Links Kiss Me Mistletoe Farm Music in this episode "Nostalgic Resonance" — Scott Holmes, via Free Music Archive "The Little Drummer Boy" — Don Maue, shared directly by the artist "Careless Morning" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive “Wish Background” — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech

We're back for the fourth and final part of this special four part miniseries. Rikki Meece from the Sleigh Bells & Mistletoe Christmas Podcast narrates the classic story, When the Yule Log Burns, by Leona Dalrymple. Episodes arrive on four consecutive days starting December 12.