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.
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12/11/18
Christmas: What's Being Said About the Holiday Across the Internet
And Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, too.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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