Christmas 2011 - Frosty the Snowman

The 1969 animated special Frosty the Snowman, which I haven't seen in years, was on network t.v. tonight. As a kid I remember looking forward to this being on and I loved the sappy but cute story. Back in the day, before home video, one had to watch something whenever it was on and if you missed it, you missed it because the recording of television didn't exist either. This was also my first introduction to the great Jimmy Durante.

Christmas 2011 - Saint Nicholas Day

I have fond memories of waking up on December 6th, Saint Nicholas Day, and finding an ornament in my shoe left by good St. Nick. Growing up I was told that this was a German tradition.

From Wikipedia:

"In Germany, Nikolaus is usually celebrated on a small scale. Many children put a boot called Nikolaus-Stiefel (Nikolaus boot) outside the front door on the night of 5 December. St. Nicholas fills the boot with gifts and sweets overnight, and at the same time checks up on the children to see if they were good, polite and helpful the last year. If they were not, they will have a tree branch (Rute) in their boots instead. Sometimes a disguised Nikolaus also visits the children at school or in their homes and asks them if they have been good (sometimes ostensibly checking his golden book for their record), handing out presents on the basis of their behavior. this has become more lenient in recent decades."

Having never received a tree branch in my shoe, I can only surmise that I must have been mostly well behaved during the year.

Christmas 2011 - Holiday Greenery with Snow

We got a little snow Saturday night. This photo was taken yesterday.

Advent 2011 - Second Sunday

Today is the second Sunday of Advent. This is an Advent wreath mom gave me a few years back.

Christmas 2011 - Holiday Greenery

The garden in winter.

Christmas 2011 - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Part 2

From Wikipedia:

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a Christmas television special produced in stop motion animation by Rankin/Bass. It first aired Sunday, December 6,1964, on the NBC television network in the USA, and was sponsored by General Electric under the the umbrella title of The General Electric Fantasy Hour."

"The special was based on the Johnny Marks song by the same name; the song taken from the 1939 poem of the same title written by Marks' brother-in-law, Robert L. May. Since 1972, the special has aired on CBS affilliate television stations with the network unveiling a high-definition, digitally remastered version of the program in 2005. As with A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph no longer airs just once annually, but several times during the Christmas and holiday season. It has been telecast every year since 1964, making it the longest running Christmas TV special, and one of only four 1960s Christmas specials still being telecast - the others being A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Frosty the Snowman."

Christmas 2011 - Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town was on television tonight and Dale and I caught a good chunk of it. Sam, Pete and I watched this almost yearly while growing up. I loved the song as a kid and particularly liked Fred Astaire's version of it. The following is from Wikipedia:

"Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town is a 1970 stop motion television special, made by Rankin-Bass with models carved from wood (as with most Rankin-Bass specials). The film stars actor Fred Astaire as S.D. Kluger, the narrator, and Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle/Santa Claus (a role which he would frequently play later on). The film tells the story of how Santa Claus and several Claus-related Christmas traditions came to be. It is based on the hit Christmas song of the same name, which was introduced on radio by Eddie Cantor in 1934."

I didn't see this special too often during my high school and college years but rediscovered it again in my mid-20's when it was released on home video; something that didn't exist when I was a kid. I catch it now every few years and it does bring back some wonderful childhood Christmas memories.