Clement Clark Moore – Merry Podcast

Merry Podcast of MyMerryChristmas.com

The Victorian Christmas, Part III

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The Victorian Christmas is defined by many diverse things over a 60-year period of the 19th century. In this episode of the Merry Little Podcast we explore the struggle the media had in defining the very face of Christmas during the Victorian Era – Santa Claus.

Moore’s poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas, made very clear who Santa was and what he looked like. But from the start of the century to the end, Santa evolved into two really different looking men — thanks to the media, to product producers and merchants who all laid claim to him.

This episode explains why and how that happened.

We also delve into Christmas for the American slave, the song O Little Town of Bethlehem, and we share the names of great Christmas influencers of the century that we don’t hear much about any more – namely the writers Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

This episode also touches on the emerging 19th century trend in recognizing Thanksgiving as an official holiday. Although Thanksgiving had enjoyed better than 200 years of celebration in the United States it really came together with Christmas in the mid-19th century as part of one very meaningful season for Victorian celebrants. Thanksgiving, too, brought its share of superstars to the 19th century Christmas table.

This episode happily features the brilliant work of Toms Mucenieks with his song titled Jingle Bells: Sad Christmas. See his links at:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc2HRnNnK8o
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toms.mucenieks/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toms.mucenieks2
Twitter: https://twitter.com/toms_mucenieks

Episode sponsor – Christmas Hall of Fame:

Merry Podcast of MyMerryChristmas.com

The Victorian Christmas, Part II

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The Victorian Christmas is a complex thing. In this merry episode we pull back the layers to expose great music, great events and great traditions of the time. Not surprisingly much of it has survived and it influences our Christmas today.

For example, one of the great traditions of the era was sleigh rides. This was another holdover tradition from the 18th century but one that seemed to gain steam and attention in the quickly evolving media in the 19th century. That tradition gave rise to music associated with sleigh rides, most notably the song Jingle Bells. We explore the history of Jingle Bells and dispel the myth that the song only became popular after the advent of sound recordings.

That’s just not true. The song was a hit out the gate and it quickly became a favorite of Christmas. We explain how that is true and why it matters in this episode.

Curious enough, so much of the music of the Victorian Christmas was centered at Church. Even the very secular song of Jingle Bells debuted in a church. Churches were central to the celebration of Christmas in the 19th century. We explore why that is true and why it is important.

Dovetailing with all these religious and cultural things of the 19th century was the overarching theme of the Magi. The Magi were a popular theme in song, in worship, in art, in stage plays and especially music. All of these is discussed in depth.

There is a lot to learn about this time in Christmas history. And we’re not done yet. Part three discusses the rockstars of the 19th century and how all of them had ties to Christmas.

We’re pleased to feature the music of the Gardiner Sisters in this episode and we’re grateful for their gracious contribution. Please visit them at this link to hear more of their music.

We are grateful as well for our sponsor of this episode, Magic Christmas Ornament.

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