Christmas Past
History Podcasts
Behind every Christmas tradition is a story, often a forgotten one. Every year as we put up a tree and pour the eggnog, we’re continuing generations-old narratives, while being mostly unaware of their starting chapters.
Join Brian Earl to explore the fascinating stories behind the most wonderful time of the year. It's equal parts nerdy deep dive and warmhearted celebration. Think: NPR meets Clement Clarke Moore!
Christmas Past is one of the longest running Christmas podcasts, soon entering its ninth season. Vanity Fair says: "With excellent production, engaging narration, and short, digestible running times, Christmas Past is perfect to put on while decorating your tree or preparing Christmas dinner."
Brian's new book is out now from Lyons Press and Recorded books! Get your copy today, wherever books are sold. And remember...it makes a great gift!
Location:
United States
Genres:
History Podcasts
Description:
Behind every Christmas tradition is a story, often a forgotten one. Every year as we put up a tree and pour the eggnog, we’re continuing generations-old narratives, while being mostly unaware of their starting chapters. Join Brian Earl to explore the fascinating stories behind the most wonderful time of the year. It's equal parts nerdy deep dive and warmhearted celebration. Think: NPR meets Clement Clarke Moore! Christmas Past is one of the longest running Christmas podcasts, soon entering its ninth season. Vanity Fair says: "With excellent production, engaging narration, and short, digestible running times, Christmas Past is perfect to put on while decorating your tree or preparing Christmas dinner." Brian's new book is out now from Lyons Press and Recorded books! Get your copy today, wherever books are sold. And remember...it makes a great gift!
Twitter:
@XmasPastPodcast
Language:
English
Contact:
617 759-6479
Episodes
Christmas 2023
12/25/2023
It's our eighth consecutive Christmas together. As we close out the 2023 season, we're taking a look back at the news and trends that made this Christmas what it was.
Thank you all for another wonderful Christmas season together.
Merry Christmas! And until we meet again, may your days be merry and bright.
Music in this Episode
"Deck the Halls A" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
Duration:00:09:18
Backstory — Boxing Day
12/22/2023
Here in America, the day after Christmas is simply that: the day after. The party's over. But in England, it's an official holiday. December 26 — Boxing Day — is the Christmas afterparty you've been missing out on. What's the story? And what does it have to do with boxing? Paul Kerensa joins Christmas Past to...unpack the box.
Mentioned in this Episode
Paul KerensaHark! The Biography of Christmas Music in this Episode
Good King WenceslasOh Come All Ye FaithfulIn the Bleak MidwinterEmotional Piano ImprovisationHoliday Gift Section from A Christmas Carol read by Peter John Keeble, courtesy of Librivox
Duration:00:12:08
Your Christmas Memories: 2023, vol 2
12/20/2023
Christmas Day is less than a week from now. In this final stretch of the 2023 season, let's have another gathering of the Christmas Past family. Yes, it’s time once again for an episode dedicated just to you and your Christmas memories. Cozy up by the fire with us for a little Christmas reminiscing.
Music in this Episode
A Very Brady Special
Duration:00:10:15
Backstory — A Meatless Christmas Eve Meal
12/18/2023
For many families, the Christmas Eve feast is a so-called "meatless meal." It's a tradition of European Christian roots that has gone on to take many forms.
Mentioned in this episode
Plating Grace
Music in this Episode
Italian TripFirst SnowSilent NightMortality
Duration:00:13:19
A Visit to Old Fezziwig's Christmas Eve Ball
12/17/2023
Old Fezziwig sure knew how to throw an office Christmas party. Dickens's description of Christmas Eve in Fezziwig's counting house included vigorous fiddling and elaborate dancing. That style of dance may belong to a bygone time, but it lives on in the annual Great Dickens Christmas Fair. In this special episode, Cathleen Myers joins Christmas Past to explain how Victorians danced their way to Christmas.
Mentioned in this Episode
The Great Dickens Christmas FairPeriod Events and Entertainments Re-Creation Society Music in this Episode
Toe TapperAmbient Grand Piano for Meditation or Background
Duration:00:07:28
Backstory — Christmas Postage Stamps
12/15/2023
In the late nineteenth century modern postal systems were still coming into their own. Around the turn of the century, many countries, including England, began issuing Christmas themed postage stamps. You might think that America would have been among them, but boy would you be wrong.
In fact, America was one of the last countries to get on board. American Christmas stamps are only a few decades old. And the story there has to do with simple economics and America’s system of government.
Mentioned in this Episode
Christmas Philatelic Club
Music in this Episode
Christmas JazzDreamlandWish Background
Duration:00:14:53
The Brady Bunch: The Voice of Christmas (with Christopher Knight!)
12/13/2023
The Brady Bunch is an iconic American sitcom that ran for five seasons. But it produced only one Christmas episode during its original run. "The Voice of Christmas" from season 1 finds Carol with laryngitis days before she's scheduled to sing a solo for her church's Christmas service. The one and only Christopher Knight joins Brian to break this episode down.
Mentioned in this Episode
The Real Brady Bros
Music in this Episode
A Very Brady SpecialBrady Bunch Image Sound-Alike MusicIt Came Upon the Midnight ClearWorking Time - Soft Acoustic GuitarInvisible Beauty
Duration:00:17:06
Backstory — Shortbread
12/11/2023
For a bread that’s short, its history is long. Exactly how long, and the particulars of how it all came about, though, are unclear. But one this is clear: shortbread is an essential — and delicious — part of the festive season.
Mentioned in this Episode
Tasting HistoryTasting History Music in this Episode
Hush Ye, My BairnieDrops of Melting Snow (after Holst, Abroad as I was walking)Soft PianoAuld Lang Syne
Duration:00:12:28
Your Christmas Memories: 2023, vol 1
12/10/2023
One of my favorite parts of creating Christmas Past is sharing your Christmas memories. I love the warm connections I’ve had with so many of you over the years, and the glimpses you provide into your Christmases Past. So, today, I’m excited to take a break from the normal action and bring to you an episode dedicated just to you and your Christmas memories.
Music in this Episode
Piano Music No. 5 — RelaxingTime, via Pixabay
Duration:00:13:26
Backstory — Wishbooks
12/8/2023
Colorful, glossy, enticing. For generations of children, the annual department store Christmas catalog was a field guide, a treasure map, and the fuel for hearts desires and letters to Santa. And then, one day, they were gone.
Mentioned in this Episode
Wish Book Web
Music in this Episode
Jingle Bells Relax PianoMerry Christmas Everyone PianoChristmas is for KidsWish Background
Duration:00:12:50
Backstory — Stollen
12/6/2023
Stollen is a Christmas staple in German homes. This cake/bread hybrid is packed with flavor and shaped to resemble a swaddled baby. Food writer Luisa Weiss joins Christmas Past to explain stollen's special connection to German Christmas and German baking culture.
Mentioned in this Episode
Luisa WeissClassic German Baking Music in this Episode
Winter Fairy Dance - Orchestral with Bells and ChoirWonderful Christmas Time [Classic Version]Snow Falls Softly at NightPiano Ballad 2Magic of Christmas
Duration:00:11:57
Backstory — The Mari Lwyd
12/4/2023
The mostly warm, fuzzy, cozy, sanitized Christmas is mainly a product of 19th and 20th century American influence. In earlier times, Christmas had a spooky side — one example of which is the Welsh tradition of the ghostly gray mare: the Mari Lwyd.
Mentioned in this Episode
Jeff BelangerThe Fright Before Christmas Music in this Episode
John BarleycornDread LakeMile Marker 323Relaxing Acoustic - NoelDramatic Uplifting Cinematic Piano
Duration:00:11:46
Backstory — Christmas Seals
12/1/2023
By the turn of the 20th century, tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in America by far. In 1907, when a tuberculosis treatment clinic was in financial straits, Emily Bissell created Christmas Seals as a fundraiser. It was as novel as it was effective. More than a century later, Christmas Seals are still one of the prominent sights of the season.
Mentioned in this Episode
American Lung Association
Music in this Episode
Autumn LeavesPiano Reflection 2Angels We Have HeardReawakeningDing Dong Merrily on High
Duration:00:12:39
Backstory — The Twelve Days of Christmas
11/29/2023
These days, the Christmas season is the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Way back when, it was the period beginning on Christmas Day, and included 12 days of merrymaking and mischief. The Twelve Days of Christmas aren't really part of our modern Christmas celebration — except for the song lyrics and the odd reference here and there.
What are the twelve days of Christmas? And what happened to them? Are we missing out on anything by forgetting them? Well, if feasting, cross dressing, upending social hierarchy, and having a raucous good time sound at all interesting to you, then...yes. Yes we are!
Mentioned in this Episode
Why We Kiss Under the Mistletoe: Christmas Traditions Explained, by Michael Foley
Music in this Episode
MiraclesContemplationCareless MorningAlways With Me, Always With You
Duration:00:11:46
Backstory — Elves
11/27/2023
The earliest myths involving elves portrayed them as mischievous or even malicious creatures that posed dangers to humans and animals. So, how do we get from there to jolly little Christmas elves? It’s a story that takes us from ancient Ancient Europe to the current day — one that involves mythology, modern American influence, the power of poetry and literature, possibly the rise of industrialization, and definitely...sticking it to the Nazis.
Mentioned in this Episode
Christmas in the CrosshairsSanta Claus: A BiographyThe World Encyclopedia of Christmas Music in this Episode
Ivory PillowAmbient PianoRoad in the ForestChristmas Music BoxGentle Soft Piano | Christmas Vibes
Duration:00:13:43
Backstory — Nutcrackers
11/23/2023
Decorative nutcrackers — most often resembling a toy soldier, but available in countless other characters — are synonymous with the Christmas season. Why? It’s a story whose origins predate Christmas itself. And whose history involves a mining town, Napoleon, dance theater, and World War two. So...let’s get crackin’!
Mentioned in this Episode
http://www.nutcrackermuseum.com/
Music in this Episode
Dance of the Sugarplum FairiesMarch from the NutcrackerChinese Dance from the NutcrackerArabian Dance from the NutcrackerWish Background
Duration:00:11:17
Story Time — The Christmas Sing In Our Village
11/16/2023
Duration:00:13:51
Interview & Story Time — The Christmas Stories of Mary Wilkins Freeman
11/9/2023
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman was a prolific author in the 19th century. Her Christmas stories showed up every year in newspapers and magazines. Professor Thomas Ruys Smith recently published a new collection of Freeman's Christmas stories. Professor Smith joins me today to discuss Freeman, and then Brian narrates "Harriet Anne's Christmas" from the collection.
Mentioned in this Episode
The Last Gift: The Christmas Stories of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
Music in this Episode
Family HolidayPiano Music No. 1Relaxing Piano Music
Duration:00:37:10
Story Time — The Captain of the Polestar
10/31/2023
As we ease our way into another Christmas season, we're practicing thta somewhat forgotten tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas time! In 1883, Temple Bar magazine published a story by a writer and physician named Arthur Conan Doyle. Nowadays, we refer to him as sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and we know him best as the creator of that most famous of detectives: Sherlock Holmes. But this 1883 story isn’t about Sherlock. It’s about a ship trapped in arctic ice and the strange things the captain and crew experience. Join Brian for a reading of The Captain of the Polestar.
Mentioned in this Episode
Biblioasis
Music in this Episode
DewboundEthereal Relaxation
Duration:00:56:23
Christmas 2022
12/25/2022
Join Christmas Past one last time in the 2022 season. It's our annual look back at the sights, sounds, news, and trends that made Christmas of 2022 what it was.
Merry Christmas to all, and many thanks for being part of the 2022 season of Christmas Past.
Music in This Episode
This ChristmasDeck the Halls ASilent NightIt Came Upon the Midnight Clear Buy the Christmas Past Book!
Order your copy today. And remember...it makes a great gift!
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Duration:00:09:27