Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” by Peter Furler featuring David Ian from “Peter Furler Christmas featuring David Ian”
Buy from Amazon

Background music:

“Away in a Manger – Traditional Christmas Carol for Piano” by Mario Ajero (from Mevio.com)

“After Christmas” by Dexter Britain from “Dexter Britain: Creative Commons Vol. 2” (from the Free Music Archive)

“The Gloucestershire Wassail” by IKOS featuring Dave Clifton from “Christmas Carols and Songs” (Little Room) (from the Free Music Archive)
Buy at Amazon

“Silent Night” by Kevin Macleod (incompetech.com)

“We Wish You a Merry Christmas” by Paul and Brenda Neal from “Two Harps Christmas” (from Mevio.com)

“Snow Day” by Rosie Thomas from “A Very Rosie Christmas”
Buy on Amazon

“Of the Father’s Love Begotten”” by IKOS featuring Dave Clifton from “Christmas Carols and Songs” (Little Room) (from the Free Music Archive)
Buy at Amazon

“We Wish You A Merry Christmas” by the United States Marine Band from “Holiday Music Selections” (from the Free Music Archive)

More:

Read the story yourself thanks to AmericanLiterature.com.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Christmas Time Again” by Smalltown Poets from “Christmastime Again”
Buy from Smalltown Poets
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“Deck the Halls B” by Kevin McLeod (from Incompetech)

More information:

The Saratoga Candy Company’s website has some information on the peppermint pigs tradition, and of course you can order directly from them online.

The New York Daily News covered them in 2012.

Who was that who introduced the show? W.E.L.F.–An Elf Run Podcast

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Infant Lowly Infant Lowly” by Chris Rupp featuring the Hound + the Fox from “A Little Bit of Christmas”
Buy on Apple Music
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“Christmas Rap” by Kevin McLeod (from Incompetech)

“Winter White Forest” by Howard Eddy
Buy on Apple Music
Buy on Amazon

More information:

About the Rubik’s Cube from Wikipedia and The Telegraph.

About the Care Bears from Wikipedia.

About My Little Pony from Wikipedia.

Wikipedia will tell you about the Cabbage Patch Kids, the Transformers, the Koosh Ball, Pictionary, American Girl (and AmericanGirl.com), and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“A Star Shall Rise Up Out of Jacob” by BYU Combined Choirs and Orchestra from “There Is a Star: Celebration of Christmas (Live at BYU)” (BYU Records)
More On This Album

More Christmas albums available from BYU Music.

Background music:

“In Dulce Jubilo” by The Manor House String Quartet from “I Saw Three Ships and Other Carols”
The Manor House String Quartet also make their scores available.

“Ding Dong! Merrily on High” by Davyd Booth, Michael Stairs from “It’s Christmas Again At Longwood Gardens” (DTR) Buy at Amazon

More information:

Wikipedia has a lot to say about the markets.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Go Tell it on the Mountain” by Roger McGuinn (from the Free Music Archive)

Background music:

“Angels We Have Heard on High” by Michael Ryan from “A Classical Guitar Christmas”

“Carol of the Bells” by Gato (found on MacJams.com)

More information:

WhyChristmas.com boils it down.

Here’s Wikipedia’s article.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Wake Up, It’s Christmas!” by Peter Combe
Buy at AmazonMP3
 Get the songbook with this song and his whole Christmas album.

Background music:

“O Holy Night” by The London Fox Players from “Christmas – Guitar” (Classic Fox Records)
Buy at Amazon MP3

“Go Tell It on the Mountain” by Monika Herzig from “Peace on Earth” (Owl Studios)
Buy at Bandcamp

Buy a CD(!) at Acme Records

More On This Album

More information:

To get your Christmas Seals or just donate to the American Lung Association, go here. The ALA has a decent history of the Seals, though glossing over some details.

Wikipedia has a more comprehensive history.

Background music includes:

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies by Molly Pauken and Rob Brumfiel from the album “Six String Christmas”

Brooklyn Christmas by Peter S. Quinn (originally from GarageBand.com)

Featured song:

Christmas Hopes and Joy by Black Turtle

Featured music:
“Season of Joy” by Sounds Of Blackness from “The Night Before Christmas 2” (Atomic K Records)
Play on Apple Music
Play on Spotify

Background music:

“Christmas Morn (Stop! Stop! Stop!)” by Jeff Tincher from “Well… Where’s The Presents?” (NiteLife Music)

“I Saw Three Ships” by Brian Bunker Christmas (originally from GarageBand.com)

More information:

It may seem like I exhausted the parade list, but this is only the tip of the iceburg. Wikipedia has a list that isn’t exhaustive, either, but if you want to explore….

More on the Hollywood Christmas Parade.

A list of 2009 holiday events in Chicago.

See what Target has cooked up for Winterapolis in Minneapolis.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Good King Wenceslas and His Merry Band” by  US Air Force Airmen of Note from “Christmas Time Is Here” (Altissimo!)
Buy at Amazon Music

Background music:

“Breakin’ Up Christmas” by Al Petteway & Amy White from “Winter Tidings: An Appalachian Christmas” (Maggie’s Music)
Buy at Al and Amy’s website

Buy at Amazon Music

More information:

Snopes.com disabuses my impression of Boxing Day and gives some info.

Kaboose.com has a little Q&A on the topic.

And of course Wikipedia is full of knowledge.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Silent Night” by Sounds Of Blackness from “The Night Before Christmas 2” (Atomic K Records)
 Buy at Amazon Music

Background music:

“Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer” by Tema Digital Media from “Instrumental Christmas” (Tema Digital Media)

“Jolly Old St. Nicholas/Jingle Bells” by Bill Cunliffe, Clay Jenkins, Larry Koonse, Joe La Barbera, Tom Warrington from “Snowfall” (Jazz Compass)

“Joy to the World” by Bing Futch (I found it on MacJams.com)

Buy on Amazon Music

More information:

Snopes.com debunks a myth (that I don’t mention), and has lots of good info. And Wikipedia has even more.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Santa’s On His Way” by The Pipettes
from “Santa’s On His Way”
(Fortuna POP)
 Buy at Amazon Music

Background music:

“A Silent Night” by Bernd Rover (from MacJams.com) I could not find this recording on the internet in 2024.

“Christmastime” by illuminati (from MacJams.com)Again, I couldn’t find this recording on the internet in 2024.

“I Saw Three Ships” by The Manor House String Quartet from “I Saw Three Ships and Other Carols”

“We Wish You a Merry Christmas” by Joemy Wilson from “Gifts – Traditional Christmas Carols”
(Dargason Music)
 Buy at Amazon Music

“We Wish You a Merry Christmas” by TennesseeVic (from MacJams.com)Another recording lost to time in 2024

More info:

Several versions of the poem, including four published in the 19th century, are on Wikisource.org

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Sing Hallelujah (Christ Is Born of Mary)” by 1 Less Stone (from Soundclick.com)

Background music:

“The First Nowell” by David Shelley from “Christmas Sax – Seasonal Favorites With Smooth Jazz”
(Classic Fox Records)
Buy on Amazon Music

“O Come All Ye Faithful” by Michael Ryan from “A Classical Guitar Christmas”  
Buy on  Amazon Music

More information:

Infoplease.com, MentalFloss.com, Wikia.com and, of course, Wikipedia.com have some more about the production.

Amazon has many DVD versions, including this one and the Holiday Collection, some Blu-rays (this is the most basic version),  (oh–and this is the Holiday Collection Blu-ray).

I’m not positive this is completely accurate, but this claims to be the original ending of “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. The original link was taken down.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Away in a Manger” by Amy Caldwell and Tom Moore (from Soundclick.com)

Background music:

“All Poor Men And Humble” by The Eden Symphony Orchestra from “20 Classical Christmas Favorites”

(Classic Fox Records)

“Christmas Pathetique” by Michael Allen Harrison from “Enchanted Christmas Volume Three”
(MAH Records)
 Buy at Amazon Music

“Angels We Have Heard on High” by Tommy Harden (from “Peace On Earth”)
(IMI)

You can read the story yourself.

Wikipedia has a nice overview of other versions of the story.

If you want to find out more about O. Henry (including his real name) The Literature Network is a good resource.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Mrs. Fogarty’s Christmas Cake” by Darby O’Gill (I originally found it on Soundclick.com. It’s now on Archive.org)

“Children Go Where I Send Thee” by Darby O’Gill (also originally from Soundclick.com, now on Archive.org) An African-American spiritual they say is based on an ancient Irish patter song.

“Silent Irish Night” by Rebsie Fairholm (I originally found it on MacJams.com. I could not find it anymore.)

Background music:

“Christmas Day in the Morning” by Shira Kammen (from Magnatune)

“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” by Monika Herzig from “Peace on Earth” (Owl Studios, now Owl Music Group)
Buy at Bandcamp

More information:

Santa’s Net, Kaboose.com, and WhyChristmas.com all have cool tidbits.

This one is from Christmas 2008: A lot happened in the first half of the 20th century, and we look at how Christmas was affected. More at MyChristmasStocking.net. Email: TopElf at MyChristmasStocking.NET.   Follow me on Twitter.com/XmasStocking. And join us on Facebook. And talk to me be on MyChristmasStocking.net, click the Call Me button, and my voicemail will call you.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Jingle Bells” by Joe Williams from “Christmas Remixed 2”
(Rock River Music)
Buy on Amazon
Buy at Bandcamp

Background music:

“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by Jeffrey Scot Wills from “A Central Standard Christmas”
(IMI)
 Buy from Jeffrey

“Noel Nouvelet/Patapan Medley” by Sarah Whitely (I found it on MacJams.com). I’m unable to find any information on this song. If you have a location for it, I’d love to send folks there!

More information:

OldChristmasLights.com, formerly The Antique Christmas Lights Museum, has information.

History.com has details on the Christmas Truce of 1914.

Wikipedia has a list of Christmas hit singles.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Background music:

“Variations on a West Country Carol” by USAF Concert Band and Singing Sergeants (from “Make the Season Bright”)
(Altissimo!)
Buy on Amazon

“Away in a Manger” by Frank McConnell (from “Christmas Guitar – Warm And Intimate Christmas Favorites”)
(Classic Fox Records)
Buy on Amazon

Featured music:

“Snow” by The von Trapp Children (from “Snow – New Songs of the Season”)
(IMI)
Buy at Amazon

More information:

If you would like a copy for yourself, maybe to read to your child…

Click here to download the show to your device.

Background music:

“O Little Town Of Bethlehem” by The Columba Minstrels (from “Christmas On The Back Porch- 20 Treasured Songs of the Season performed in Simple Folk styles”)

(Classic Fox Records) 

Buy on Amazon 

“It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” by Eric Wyse (from “Christmas Angels- 20 Treasured Songs of the Season Performed In Peaceful Styles”)
(Classic Fox Records)
 Buy on Amazon

“We Three Kings Of Orient Are” by London Fox Players & Tim Mather (from “20 Christmas Party Favorites”)
(Classic Fox Records)
 Buy on Amazon

Featured music:
“I Saw Three Ships” by The Choir of St George’s Chapel, Windsor (from “Cathedral Christmas”)
(Classic Fox Records)
 Buy on Amazon

“Love Came Down At Christmas” by Chichester Cathedral Choir (from “20 Choral Christmas Favorites”)
(Classic Fox Records)
Buy on Amazon

More information:

From the original post, the official web site of the British monarchy had an excellent history, but unfortunately the webpage seems to no longer exist.

Also unfortunately, Stuart Buchanan MacWatt wrote about the personal side of Victoria and her family’s approach to Christmas, which is also gone.

A link to the holiday store windows of the past from Victoriana.com is no longer available.

Ah! But a nice overview of Christmas in Victorian times is still there for you to enjoy, and perhaps learn a bit more.

From Christmas ’06: The centerpiece of holiday decorating is the Christmas tree. Why do we bring a tree inside the house and put pretty baubles on it? Where did that tradition come from? We’ll answer those questions and more on the Christmas Stocking. Comment atMyChristmasStocking.net. Email: TopElf at MyChristmasStocking.NET.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Background music includes:

“Deck the Halls” by Technohazard (from GarageBand.com)

“O Christmas Tree,” one of Patricia’s Christmas Carols (formerly from Soundclick.com)

“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” by John Morgan, available on a CD of Christmas music. I found it at  feelslikechristmas.com

Featured song:

“Holy Night” by Sandra Mooy (available on Bandcamp.com

If you want to learn more about Christmas trees:

The National Christmas Tree Association has a lot of information, including tree maintenance.

Wikipedia has a decent history, too, although it has a lot of opinions sprinkled in the information.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured songs:

“O Come, All Ye Faithful” by Meagan Taylor and Jason Coleman from “A Tennessee Christmas” (from Noisetrade)
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” by Charleene Closshey
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

See the video on YouTube (she’s amazing)

“Joy Whispered” by Rändi Fay
Buy on iTunes

See the lyric video on YouTube

Background music:

“O Come, All Ye Faithful” by Mark Bodino from “My Favorite Christmas Guitar Songs All Year Round”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”  by Chris Friesen from “I Heard the Bells” (from Noisetrade)

“Adeste Fidelis” by Frank Carter from the album “Deck the Halls”
Get the album from Frank

More information:

Learn more about “O Come, All Ye Faithful” from Wikipedia.

Hear more carols and their origins at Carols.MyChristmasStocking.net

It’s the 200th anniversary of the first performance of “Silent Night” and I talk about it and play it here.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured song:

“Hark the Herald Angels Sing” by the Gothard Sisters from the album “Falling Snow”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“Goodbye Charles” by Over the Rhine from “Even The Snow Turns Blue: An Over the Rhine Christmas Compilation” (from Noisetrade) and “Snow Angels”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“The French Carol” by the Gothard Sisters from the album “Falling Snow”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

More information:

Learn more details from The Smithsonian Magazine.

Hear more episodes about Christmas trees of all types at Trees.MyChristmasStocking.net

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured song:

“A Pirate’s 12 Days of Christmas” by Gastronomical Unit (from GarageBand.com)
Buy it on iTunes

Background music includes:

“What Child is This” by Stephen Bashaw. I found it at feelslikechristmas.com

“Jingle Bells” by The R&R Project (it was on GarageBand.com)

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured song:

The Santa Claus Rock by Howard Pearlman (originally from feelslikechristmas.com)

Background music:

1) Deck the Halls by John Morgan, available on a CD of holiday music. I found it at feelslikechristmas.com

2) Birth to the Savior by Rejoice (from the old GarageBand.com–not the Apple digital audio app)

More information:

Learn more about the parade from Macy’s. And I talked about them streaming it later, and I think you may be able to stream it later on the NBC app or NBC.com. Oh–and the Verizon 360 view.

I briefly mentioned the Boscov Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia, which is now the abc6 Dunkin’ Donuts Parade, and in-between was the IKEA Thanksgiving Day Parade. Also America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Detroit, the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Chicago (now Uncle Dan’s Thanksgiving Day Parade), the H-E-B Thanksgiving Day Parade in Houston, and the Best Buy Thanksgiving Day Parade in Baltimore, which doesn’t seem to be a thing anymore.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Christmas Valentine (With You)” by Kimly
Music and lyrics by Kimly Hoang
Arranged by Jerry Andrews and Kimly Hoang
Produced by Jerry Andrews
Originally titled “Mine This Christmas.” On YouTube.
Find more Kimly on SoundCloud and Facebook.

“It’s Christmas” by Cleveland DERUE Cathnott (from GarageBand.com)

“O Christmas Tree” by 21 AD from “Christmas…A Winter’s Love” (Lifestyles)
 Buy at iTunes Music Store
 Buy at Amazon MP3

“The Christmas Song Song” by Rocky and Balls from the album “We Like Cake And Beards And Stuff”

“Children Go Where I Send Thee” by Darby O’Gill (from Soundclick.com) An African-American spiritual they say is based on an ancient Irish patter song.

“Doesn’t Seem Like Christmas” by Dennis Hensley

“Wake Up, It’s Christmas!” by Peter Combe
 Buy at AmazonMP3
 Buy at CD Baby

Background music:

“Dance to da Beat” by 5 is Even (I found it on Mevio.com)

“Joy Kinda Holiday-ish” by Charlie Crowe  (I found it on Mevio.com)

“Nutcracker” by Dat Boi Trill

“Angels We Have Heard on High” by Rhesa Siregar (Songs of Praise)

“God Rest You Merry Gentlemen” by Kevin Zerbe from “The Christmas Wish List”

“Veni, Veni, Emmanuel” by Frank Carter from the album “Deck the Halls”
Get the album from Frank

More information:

Upcoming Christmas albums: “Shatner Claus” by William Shatner (preorder the CD); “Happy Xmas” by Eric Clapton (preorder the CD and vinyl!); Brett Eldredge’s new Christmas album, still a mystery at release time; “It’s the Holiday Season” by Martina McBride (plus a tour!)–okay, okay, I said she hadn’t released a Christmas album in 20 years, giving Brett Eldredge a hard time. EXCEPT YOU DIDN’T HEAR THAT! Due to an editing mistake by my editor (aka me), I cut out info on Brett Eldredge’s Christmas album, which will come out this year. He last had a Christmas album two years ago, and he’s the one I was referring to when I talked about that. Not Eric Clapton, who’s never released a Christmas album (although he has performed a few recorded songs for compilations). I apologize to you, Brett Eldredge and Eric Clapton. And Martina McBride released “The Classic Christmas Album” in 2017. Oops.

The complete Good Housekeeping list of Hot Toys for Christmas 2018. Including Fingerlings Untamed Raptors which I saw available on Amazon, in spite of the fact that the website link previous says “Be the First to Know;” Num Noms Snackable Cereal; Hasbro’s Don’t Step in It game (oh, man, I hadn’t seen Don’t Step in It Unicorn Edition when I talked about it!); Pomsies Grumblies; Melissa and Doug Examine and Treat Pet Vet Set; Little Live Scruff-a-Luvs pets (man, I didn’t realize how expensive they are!).

More about the Capitol Christmas Tree is here.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“We Three Kings” by Found Wandering from the album “Christmas in Country Village”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Found Wandering’s Christmas videos are also available.

Background music:

“Wish Background” by Kevin McLeod (from Incompetech)

“We Three Kings” by Mark Bodino from “My Favorite Christmas Guitar Songs All Year Round”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Auld Lang Syne” by Dexter Britain from “Xmas 2012” (from the Free Music Archive)

More information:

Actually, Wikipedia has a lot of good information about the Magi.

The Washington Post article by Diana Butler Bass headlined, “Why Jesus’ first Christmas gifts were truly shocking.”

The Christmas Stocking talked about the traditions of Three Kings Day at Epiphany.MyChristmasStocking.net

Find all of the post-Christmas episodes, some or all of which you may have missed, at PostChristmas.MyChristmasStocking.net

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Glory in the Heights” by Ryan Flanigan from the album “Merry Christmas, Good Night Vol. 5” (from Noisetrade)
Buy on Bandcamp

Background music:

“We Wish You a Merry Christmas” by Mark Bodino from “My Favorite Christmas Guitar Songs All Year Round”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” by Kevin MacLeod (from Incompetech)

“Ding Dong Merrily on High” by The Manor House String Quartet from “I Saw Three Ships and Other Carols”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Read along with me and read the rest of _The Spirit of Christmas” on Project Gutenberg.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Away in a Manger” by Matt diVenti from the EP “Christmas Songs Vol. 1” (from Noisetrade)
Find Matt on YouTube

Background music:

“Jingle Bells” by the California Guitar Trio
Buy their music here

“The Wassail Song” by Chris Friesen from “I Heard the Bells” (from Noisetrade)

“Christmas Medley by Gina and Kev” by Gina Kellenberger and by Kevin Zerbe

“Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”by the California Guitar Trio from the album “A Christmas Album”
Buy their music here

More information:

Learn all about “Home Alone” from Wikipedia.

IMDb has a lot of info, including trivia.

Learn about the making of the gangster movie in “Home Alone” (it’s totally part of the movie) from Vanity Fair, of all places.

See the connection between Kevin McCallister and Monica and Chandler.

An analysis of Marv and Harry’s injuries suffered at the hands of Kevin.

Hear about more Christmas movies in the Christmas Stocking at Movies.MyChristmasStocking.net

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Star of Hope” by Katey Laurel from the double album “This is Christmas”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“Joy to the World” by Mark Bodino from “My Favorite Christmas Guitar Songs All Year Round”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Star of Hope Instrumental” by Katey Laurel

More information:

Wikipedia has a lot about the history of the Tree of Jesse.

Why Christmas has a bit about how you can incorporate a Jesse Tree into your holiday.

Jesuit ministry the Loyola Press has more ideas about working the Jesse Tree into your Advent.

While we’re at it, I talked about Advent in 2009, and played a great rendition of “People Look East.” It’s at Advent.MyChristmasStocking.net

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“An Elf Named Moe” by Carl Stuck
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Find out more about the art contest at AnElfNamedMoe.com

Background music:

“Decking the Halls in 1966” by Juan Oskar from “Christmas is for Grownups Too” (I found it on Mevio.com)
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“El Noche De Silencio” byBrian Bunker Christmas

“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” by Mark Bodino from “My Favorite Christmas Guitar Songs All Year Round”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Deck the Halls” by Frank Carter from the album “Deck the Halls”
Get the album from Frank

More information:

Learn more about the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers from GrnRngr.com.

Wikipedia will tell you about Beanie Babies, Tickle Me Elmo, Tamagotchi, Furby, and Yu-Gi-Oh!

Learn more about Pokémon from Bulbapedia on Bulbagarden.

Hear episodes about toys from all of the other decades of the 20th century, and find other episodes where I talk about toys, at Toys.MyChristmasStocking.net.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“The First Noel” by Sleeping at Last from the album “Christmas Collection, Volume One”
Get it on Noisetrade and support Love Does
Buy on Vinyl or CD

Background music:

“The First Noel”  by Mark Bodino from “My Favorite Christmas Guitar Songs All Year Round”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Peace Christmas” by Lobo Loco from the album “Memories” (from the Free Music Archive)

More information:

Learn more about “The First Noel” from CBN and Wikipedia.

Learn about the origins of many other carols, caroling and more from The Christmas Stocking at Carols.MyChristmasStocking.net

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“The Virgin Mary” by Lara Landon from the EP “Christmas“(from Noisetrade)
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“Ipanema Holiday” by Juan Oskar from “Christmas is for Grownups Too” 
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Little Peace at Christmas” by Philip (Squire Tuck) Rougier  (from the Free Music Archive)

“A Ukulele for Christmas (instrumental)” by Lee Rosevere (from the Free Music Archive)

More information:

Believe it or not, CheapCaribbean.com has a lot of information.

You’ll find more traditions at News Americas.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“This Great Old Christmas Night” by Sofia Talvik from the album “When Winter Comes, A Christmas Album”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Still, Still, Still” by the Gothard Sisters from the album “Falling Snow”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“The Happy Elf” by the Gothard Sisters from the album “Falling Snow”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Sussex Carol” by The Manor House String Quartet from “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear and Other Carols”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon.com

More information:

Learn more about the Yule Cat from Wikipedia, I iz Cat, Nerdist, and I Reykjavik.

Hear Björk perform “Jólakötturinn – Hvít Er Borg Og Bær (Icelandic Christmas Cat).”

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“O Little Town of Bethlehem” by David and Deidre Casey from the album “Imagine It’s Christmas”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“O Tannenbaum” by Dan Lerch from the album “Badgerland: A Very Badgerland Christmas” (from the Free Music Archive)

“O Holy Night” by Mark Bodino from “My Favorite Christmas Guitar Songs All Year Round”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“O Little Town of Bethlehem” by Mark Bodino from “My Favorite Christmas Guitar Songs All Year Round”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“O Christmas Tree” by Mark Bodino from “My Favorite Christmas Guitar Songs All Year Round”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Carol of the Bells” by the California Guitar Trio from the album “A Christmas Album”
Buy their music here

More information:

The Today Show, of course, has some of the story.

CBS New York has the story from 1010 WINS, including an interview with the tree donor.

Newsday’s AM New York has some secrets of the Rockefeller Christmas tree.

To hear all of the episodes that mention the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree (I think), go to RockCenter.MyChristmasStocking.net

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Home for Christmas” by Robbie Nova from “Mistletoe–the Christmas EP”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“God Rest You Merry Gentlemen” by Frank Carter from the album “Deck the Halls”
Get the album from Frank

“Snowmen” by Frank Carter from the album “Deck the Halls”
Get the album from Frank

“Angels We Have Heard on High” by Rhesa Siregar (Songs of Praise)

More information:

All the ID Shield Tips.

A look at Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay from Tom’s Guide.

From Apple: All about Apple Pay. where you can use Apple Pay.

From Android: All about Android Pay, where you can use Android Pay.

From Samsung: All about Samsung Pay.

A look at Samsung Pay from Android Central (with some comparison of that and Android Pay).

Listen to all of the Black Friday episodes of the Christmas Stocking at BlackFriday.MyChristmasStocking.net.

For folks with the holiday blues spend some time with Blues.MyChristmasStocking.net.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Evergreen” by Rändi Fay from the EP “Evergreen”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“Meatball Parade” by Kevin MacLeod (from Incompetech)

“Carpe Diem” by Kevin MacLeod (from Incompetech)

Music byKevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

More information:

NYCVP, am New York, History Channel, and Wikipedia have more on the history of Macy’s parade.

Macy’s and Thrillist will tell you more about the current parade.

Find past parade and Thanksgiving episodes of the Christmas Stocking at Thanksgiving.MyChristmasStocking.net

Hear all about “Miracle on 34th Street” in this episode from 2007: Miracle.MyChristmasStocking.net

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Snow” by Sleeping at Last from the album “Yearbook – Collection”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“O Come O Come Emmanuel” by NiTasha Jackson from the collection “Transcending Christmas: A Beautiful Journey from Heaven to Earth” (from Noisetrade)
Click here to get the album

“Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming” by Found Wandering from the album “On a Christmas Night”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Where Angels Don’t Belong” by David and Deidre Casey from the album “Imagine It’s Christmas”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“O Holy Night” by Philip Calder from the collection “Transcending Christmas: A Beautiful Journey from Heaven to Earth” (from Noisetrade)
Click here to get the album

“Angels We Have Heard on High (Glory to God Most High)” by Stephen Miller from the EP “Light Has Broken Through” (from Noisetrade)
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Two Birds” by Katey Laurel from the double album “This is Christmas”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“To Absent Friends This Christmas” by Philip (Squire Tuck) Rougier from the EP “A Festive Felicitations” (from the Free Music Archive)

“Bringing Joy at Christmas” by Philip (Squire Tuck) Rougier from the EP “A Festive Felicitations” (from the Free Music Archive)

“Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”by the California Guitar Trio from the album “A Christmas Album”
Buy their music here

“Christmas Card” junior85 from the album “It’s Christmas II” (from the Free Music Archive)

“Christmas Bells” by Philip Gardner (from MacJams.com)

More information:

Top toys for 2017 and more top toys for 2017.

The Capitol Christmas Tree 2017 website

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“A Child’s Christmas in Wales” by Al Lewis
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Emmanuel” by Melody and Truth from the album “Merry Christmas”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“O Come All Ye Faithful” by Howard Eddy
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Angels We Have Heard on High” by Frank Carter from the album “Christmas Cheer”
Get the album from Frank
Buy on iTunes

Read along and find other stories in The Night Before Christmas and Other Popular Stories for Children.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“The Lights on the Trees” by Matt diVenti from the EP “Christmas Songs Vol. 1” (from Noisetrade)
Find Matt on YouTube

“This is Christmas” by Katey Laurel from the double album “This is Christmas”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“The First Noel” and “Good King Wenceslas” by Chris Friesen from “I Heard the Bells” (from Noisetrade)

“Unto Us a Child is Born”by the California Guitar Trio from the album “A Christmas Album”
Buy their music here

“This is Christmas Instrumental” by Katey Laurel
This version isn’t available to buy.

More information:

Wikipedia has more on the legend itself, tinsel, and the Christmas spider of Australia.

Kraftmstr.com has a version of the legend.

The Pet Poison Helpline has more information on the dangers of tinsel.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Silent Night” by Shuree from the EP “Christmas Soul Unplugged” (from Noisetrade)

Background music:

“Silent Night” by Kevin Macleod (incompetech.com)

“Silent Night” by The Manor House String Quartet from “I Saw Three Ships and Other Carols”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Silent Night No Percussion Instrumental” by Katey Laurel from the album “This is Christmas”
This version isn’t available to buy, but you can buy her beautiful vocal on iTunes. The whole album is great.

More information:

Find more information about the hymn from the BBC, In Mozart’s Footsteps and Stille Nacht Gesellschaft.

Find many English translations, including the one you probably know, on the Silent Night Web.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Infant Lowly Infant Lowly” by Chris Rupp featuring the Hound + the Fox from “A Little Bit of Christmas”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“Christmas Rap” by Kevin McLeod (from Incompetech)

“Winter White Forest” by Howard Eddy
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

More information:

About the Rubik’s Cube from Wikipedia and The Telegraph.

About the Care Bears from Wikipedia and AG Kids Zone.

About My Little Pony from Wikipedia and Hasbro.

Wikipedia will tell you about the Cabbage Patch Kids, the Transformers, the Koosh Ball, Pictionary, American Girl (and AmericanGirl.com), and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Key to Christmas” by William McKechnie from “Key to Christmas Fluffy Snow”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“Hark the Herald Angels Sing” by Dave Jones (from MacJams.com)

“Jingle Bells” by Kevin Macleod (incompetech.com)

“The Holly and the Ivy” by Chris Friesen from “I Heard the Bells” (from Noisetrade)

“Joy to the World” by The Manor House String Quartet from “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear and Other Carols”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon.com

More information:

Wikipedia has lots of information.

IMDb will tell you a lot.

Mental Floss will tell you some things you might not know about the movie.

Jon Favreau talked about “Elf” with Rolling Stone.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Sing We Noel” by Found Wandering from the album “On a Christmas Night”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“We Wish You A Merry Christmas” by the United States Marine Band from “Holiday Music Selections” (from the Free Music Archive)

“We Wish You a Merry Christmas” by Jason Shaw (from Audionautix.com)

“We Wish You a Merry Christmas” by The Manor House String Quartet from “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear and Other Carols”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon.com

“Sing We (Merrily on High & Now of Christmas)” by Frank Carter from the album “Christmas Cheer”
Get the album from Frank
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

More information:

Patheos delves into the Happy vs. Merry conundrum. Hello Giggles’ take on the same thing. And so does Wonderopolis.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“December Daze” by Janet Devlin from the EP “December Daze”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“Winter Whimsy” by Shay MacKay (from MacJams.com)

“Christmastime” by illuminati (from MacJams.com)

More information:

The National Christmas Center website has pretty much everything you need to know.

The Reading, PA, Eagle talked to the founder and owner of the National Christmas Center, Jim Morrison in 2015.

Travel sites Discover Lancaster, Visit PA, and Roadside America have more info if you want to visit.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Ave Maria” by Bunny Sigler from the album “When You’re in Love at Christmastime”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“Oh Christmas Tree” by Frank Carter from the album “Christmas Cheer”
Get the album from Frank
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Oh Christmas Tree” by the California Guitar Trio from the album “A Christmas Album”
Buy their music here

“Star on the Tree” by Howard Eddy
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

More information:

The Pioneer Tree Farm in McHenry, IL, provided most of the tips I gave.

The National Christmas Tree Association tells you how to care for your farm-grown Christmas tree.

The U.S. Forest Service has information for the Rocky Mountain Region tree cutting program and guidelines for getting your tree in the national forests where available.

Some information about the 2016 Rockefeller Christmas Tree and how to be there (maybe next year?) from RockCenter itself. More about the tree itself from Curbed NY.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Someone to Love This Christmas” by Michelle Hylan
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“Jingle Bells” by the California Guitar Trio
Buy their music here

“Holiday Glory” by Howard Eddy
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Up on the Housetop” by Frank Carter from the album “Christmas Cheer”
Get the album from Frank
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“The Holly and the Ivy” by Chris Friesen from “I Heard the Bells” (from Noisetrade)

More information:

DealNews has what they say are the 12 biggest Black Friday myths.

Digital Strategy Consulting reveals more research on Black Friday post-Brexit in the UK.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Ringing Bells (feat. Matty Ride)” “Christmastime” by Hill & Hale and Their Merry Friends from “Christmastime”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“Wish Background” by Kevin McLeod (from Incompetech)

“The Holly and the Ivy” by Chris Friesen from “I Heard the Bells” (from Noisetrade)

More information:

As you might expect, Wikipedia has a large article about Thanksgiving dinner.

Foodtimeline.org goes through the history of Thanksgiving meals in North America, all the way back to Native American traditions.

The University of Southern California’s Annenberg Media Center has a history of the Thanksgiving feast of their own.

Sports and political data site FiveThirtyEight had an unscientific look at what different regions of America eat at Thanksgiving.

Lonely Planet has a similar take on regional Thanksgiving foods in the U.S.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Christmastime” by Hill & Hale and Their Merry Friends from “Christmastime”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” by DJ 8-8008 feat. April Forrest
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Man! It’s Christmas” by the Rev. Jimmie Bratcher from “Man! It’s Christmas”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“I Saw Three Ships” by Found Wandering from the album “On a Christmas Night”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Christmas of Love” by Tresa Street
Buy on Tresa’s website

“Good King Wenceslas” by Takenobu from “Christmas Songs”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“A Voice is Sounding” by Sojourn from “A Child is Born”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“Carol of the Bells (Remix)” Spade from “CEDM Christmas 2014” (from Noisetrade)

“What Child is This, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” by the Jazz Council from “Christmas Sampler”(from Noisetrade)

(Hear more Jazz Council on their album “Dawn” on iTunes)

“The Wassail Song” by Chris Friesen from “I Heard the Bells” (from Noisetrade)

“The First Noel (Remix) by pKal from “CEDM Christmas 2014” (from Noisetrade)

“A Good King (Wenceslas)” by Kevin Zerbe from “Zerbinator’s ‘Under the Tree’”

More information:

More about Dial-A-Carol

Projected top toys for 2016

The Capitol Christmas Tree 2016 website

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks (w/ Hallelujah)” by Kurt Scobie from “A Merry Mixtape” (from Noisetrade)

Background music:

“Iuguetes en Navidad” by junior85 (from the Free Music Archive)

“Memory Box” by junior85 (from the Free Music Archive)

“Joy to the World” by Jason Shaw (from Audionautix.com)

Read the story yourself and find other stories in The Night Before Christmas and Other Popular Stories for Children.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Everywhere I Go” by Joshua and Heather from “Merry Christmas – EP” (from Noisetrade)
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

Background music:

“Shakespeare’s Carol” by The Manor House String Quartet from “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear and Other Carols”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Sans Day Carol” by The Manor House String Quartet from “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear and Other Carols”
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Angels We Have Heard on High” by Moat Jumper from “Christmas at the Renaissance Fair”
Buy on iTunes 
Buy on Amazon

More information:

Why’d You Eat That has a pretty good history.

Dave’s Garden has some theories.

Smithsonian.com will tell you about the orange and the stocking.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” by Alva Leigh

Background music:

“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” by Chris Friesen from “I Heard the Bells”

“I Heard the Bells – Carol of the Bells Medley” by Kevin Zerbe from “The Ghost of Christmas Past”

“The Wassail Song” by Chris Friesen from “I Heard the Bells” (from Noisetrade)

More information:

Wikipedia has a bit about the origin of the song, and more about different popular versions.

The website of The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States has an article with more military details about Longfellow’s son Charles.

Click here to download the show to your device.

Featured music:

“Dance of the Reed Pipes” by William Arnold from “Expedition: Nutcracker Suite” (from Noisetrade)
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon
Check out William’s podcast, the Music Instigator

Background music:

“Waltz of the Flowers” by William Arnold from “Expedition: Nutcracker Suite” (from Noisetrade)
Buy on iTunes
Buy on Amazon

“Trepak (Russian Dance from the Nutcracker)” by Glenn Crytzer’s Savoy Seven from “A Little Love This Christmas”
Buy from CDBaby
Buy from Bandcamp

More information:

Slate has more in their Brief History of Nutcrackers.

Wikipedia will brief you in a more expansive history.

And of course the Nutcracker Museum has more, with lots of pictures.