Christmas

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• SOURCE: Virginian-Pilot
  12/19/2020
  

  The Real Story of George Washington’s Boozy Eggnog Recipe — and Martha’s Christmas Cake

  Mount Vernon historian Mary Thompson says the legend of George Washington's super-potent recipe for eggnog is bunk, but the estate does preserve a hand-written holiday cake recipe from Martha Washington.

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  12/21/2020
  

  Christmas Dies Hard

  The urban bourgeoisie of the 19th century pushed Christmas away from a drunken celebration of leisure and toward a holiday merging piety and consumerism. 

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• SOURCE: NY Times
  12/25/19
  

  The Forgotten Story of Christmas 1918

  by Mary Elisabeth Cox

  We remember the 1914 Christmas Truce as a moment of humanity amid war. Four years later, a darker tale unfolded.

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• 12/22/19
  

  An Abolitionist and the Christmas Tree

  by John Buehrens

  Christmas, in 1835 Boston, was not yet widely celebrated. New England’s Puritan heritage considered it “popish.”

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• 12/22/19
  

  The Real Santa Who Fed the Hungry

  by William Lambers

  St. Nicholas was passionate about helping the poor and hungry. 

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• SOURCE: History.com
  12/18/19
  

  How 25 Christmas Traditions Got Their Start

  Learn why we decorate trees, swap cookies and hide pickles and elves, among other traditions.

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  12/17/19
  

  Merry Christmas, you’re being impeached

  Trump isn’t the first president to face an impeachment vote just before the holidays. It happened two decades ago to Bill Clinton.

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  12/19/19
  

  Confederate Christmas ornaments are smaller than statues – but they send the same racist message

  by Nicole Maurantonio

  Take a good look at those old Christmas ornaments before hanging them on the tree – you may find it's time to retire some family keepsakes.

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• 12/12/19
  

  How the Nutcracker Ballet Went from a Flop to a Christmas Classic

  by Bruce Chadwick

  Today, about 40% of annual ticket revenue for all Americana ballet companies comes from productions of The Nutcracker.

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• 12/16/19
  

  Turns out, The Rockettes’ Annual Christmas Spectacular Hasn’t Always Been So Spectacular

  by Isabella DelPino

  The hidden history of the Radio City Rockettes.

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• 11/25/19
  

  A Marvelous Christmas Carol

  by Bruce Chadwick

  This new A Christmas Carol, based on Charles Dickens’ novel, has a different look to it, a different musical score, a different Scrooge and different ghosts. But it is the same heart-warming story. 

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• 11/10/19
  

  Slavery and Your Upcoming Christmas Tour

  by Robert E. May

  Despite their public claims that slaves were content with their situations, white southerners knew better. So should those going to southern historic mansions and plantations for Christmas.

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• SOURCE: The Washington Post
  12-24-2018
  

  A child calling Santa reached NORAD instead. Christmas Eve was never the same.

  The military’s famous Santa Tracker began with a wrong number.

• 
• 12/11/18
  

  Christmas: What's Being Said About the Holiday Across the Internet

  And Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, too.

• 
• 12-10-2018
  

  Crusty Old Ebenezer Scrooge Rides Again

  by Bruce Chadwick

  A great big warm chestnut of a production that is guaranteed to make you weep deeply and laugh heartily about London life in 1843.

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  11-28-18
  

  How Salvation Army’s red kettles became a Christmas tradition

  by Diane Winston

  In both Britain and the U.S., Salvationists saw their mission as twofold: converting sinners and assisting the needy.

• 
• SOURCE: Boston Globe
  12-12-17
  

  The racist origins of "Jingle Bells"

  It was written in the 19th century by a songwriter who was cashing in on minstrel shows.

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• SOURCE: History channel
  12-14-17
  

  The War of Words behind ‘Happy Holidays’

  Much like “Merry Christmas,” it turns out that “Happy Holidays” also has religious roots.

• 
• SOURCE: The Washington Post
  12-1-17
  

  The ‘War on Christmas’ predates Trump and Fox News by almost 400 years

  In 1647 the Puritans banned Christmas in Boston because it was seen as nothing more than an unholy pagan ritual.

• 
• SOURCE: Snopes
  11-29-17
  

  A History of the War on Christmas

  How wishing people "Happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" came to be regarded as an act of war.