Creating Christmas

Christmas is "The Holiday the World Needed". From the way it developed to how we imagined and reimagined it, we had to have Christmas.

Have you heard some rumors of Christmas' history that seemed...kinda off.  Cross-dressing? Free alcohol? A mysterious leap in births around October?

What if they're mostly true...does that change things.

And if that changes things...what about all the other questions?

Is Christmas part of who we are as people? Is there a way we could have avoided having a Christmas at all?

In part 1 of our 3 part 'History of Christmas'

This season we're tracing the entire history of Christmas - but is that thousands of years or just hundreds or maybe just our lifetime?

What are our roots, and why do we do the things we all take for granted?

New episodes every Tuesday from now until Christmas.

Find out more on CreatingChristmasPodcast.com

A look at how the Depression and US 1930's morals created an industry that Disney revolutionized and now terrifies millions of people each season. This is for the *Special* Holiday Season of the Creating Christmas podcast. I feature interviews with the foremost scholar on Halloween, the Godfather of Haunted Houses, and a haunt owner who created her haunt from scratch.

Thanks so much to all the featured interviewees ::

Lisa Morton (author) Trick or Treat : A History of Halloween

Jeff Baham (author) The Unauthorized Story of Walt Disneys Haunted Mansion

Leonard Pickel (owner) Hauntrepreneurs.com

Jan Knuth (auther) Not Afraid to Slay : Women of the Haunt Industry (owner) Grey House Haunts

....

Special Notes:: Take a look at the original spooky dark ride at Hollycomb Steam in the Country

People are building fireworks in their backyards right now. In fact, there’s a whole network of clubs, guilds, and international associations for people who build their own fireworks. Is this crazy?

How did we get here - to where we can all have things that go boom?

This episode we delve into the world of fireworks - professional, amateur and homemade.

Special Thanks to our Guests this week ::

Julie Heckman from the APA :: https://www.americanpyro.com/

Paul Smith from the PGI :: https://www.pgi.org/

*Find out more about their annual convention*

Tyler Vale - Who finally created his perfect Blue, watch it here :: YouTube - Pyrophoria 

Does celebrating Mothers or Fathers Day ever feel a little…off? And, which came first a day to honor Mom or a celebration of Dad?

Today on Creating Christmas, we go back to the ‘not so distant’ roots of our parent holiday and ask the question - Did Hallmark really invent these days or was there something else going on?

Special Guest today is Dr. Katharine Antolini.

To find out more about the history of these holidays and also the secret behind the complete disappearance of ‘Parents Day’ - check out her book “Memorializing Mothers Day”.

It's not our beating heart - not remotely. But, the double humped heart shape is one of the most recognizable symbols in the world. Why? How did this shape cross all countries and languages to mean one thing 'love'? Was is horny Greeks, or maybe French poets? 

Today we discover the History of the Valentine's Heart

Why did people start cutting 'Christ' out of Christmas, and is this something *anyone* should worry about? We delve into the long history of X.

This week we drink the 'nog'. I haven't trusted some holiday favorites since I was a little kid, but this year I decided to change that and give Egg Nog and chance....it's come a long way since the first person started adding egg to their wine.

We also talk with mixologist Spencer Spellman to get some holiday drink ideas.

Why would anyone walk door-to-door singing? And who decided a religious holiday needed happy songs anyway? This week we jump into holiday cheer and uncover the music & lyrics.