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Sleigh Bells Or Hells Bells

• Heather Jolley and Nicole Barr • Episode 62

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What happens when one of us is pure Christmas sparkle and the other wants to lock the door, draw the shades, and marathon movies on December 25? The sparks actually make the season make sense. We trace how a postcard-perfect Gen X holiday can coexist with a childhood shaped by hostile relatives, passive-aggressive gifts, and the relief of escape. That honesty opens the door to an unvarnished tour of our favorite winter myths, foods, and rituals—where joy and discomfort sit side by side.

We unpack how the American Santa took shape—from Dutch Sinterklaas to Thomas Nast to the Coca-Cola red suit—and why that icon feels so embedded in U.S. Christmas culture. Then we pivot to Krampus, the horned counterpart who reminds us winter once embraced fear and discipline as part of survival. From Alpine folktales and church plays to today’s Krampus runs and horror films, his comeback hits a Gen X nerve: pushing back against commercial gloss with a wink and a growl.

On the home front, we talk real trees versus fake, ornaments, and the logistics people rarely admit: sap, needles, and who actually takes the tree down. We explore the Great Depression roots of milk-and-cookies for Santa, the colonial evolution of eggnog, turkey’s American lineage, why goose disappointed us, and how pumpkin pie straddles Thanksgiving and Christmas with a spice debate that never ends. Pop culture threads it all together—Little Golden Books, Rudolph, and Frosty—reminding us why holiday stories endure even when adult life complicates them.

If you love Christmas, you’ll find fresh history and cozy nostalgia. If you side-eye it, you’ll hear solidarity, folklore with teeth, and permission to design a holiday that fits your life now. Subscribe, share with the friend who decorates on December 1, and leave a review telling us: are you Team Santa or Team Krampus?

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SPEAKER_01:

Two best friends, we're talking fast, we're mixing to our case, we're having a blast. Seeing these dreams, be on screens, it was all bad, but like you know, it's like whatever. Never never never laughing, sharing, our story, whatever. We'll take you back like whatever.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to Like Whatever, a podcast for, by, and about Gen X. I'm Nicole, and this is my BFFF Heather.

SPEAKER_06:

Hola.

SPEAKER_02:

So welcome to our um Christmas uh episode.

SPEAKER_05:

Stupid Christmas.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, we will not have any current event chat beforehand because pre-recorded this is because pre-recorded Christmas week is a lot. Yeah. As a postal employee, Heather is will be exhausted, and this is one less thing she needs on her plate. So we went ahead and recorded it early. So I know you're missing out on what we've been up to or what I've heard on NPR, but you know, you're not gonna get to hear it this week. You just have to learn how to live with it. So Heather and I have very polarized um opinions of Christmas. Literally the only thing we disagree on. It really is. It's funny because we wanted to do a joint episode um and we were trying to think of things we didn't agree on because we wanted to do some sort of back and forth thing, and we couldn't think of anything that we don't agree on. Then we found it. We did.

SPEAKER_06:

And you know it's funny because when I describe to people who we are, I really do say you are Christmas and I am Halloween.

SPEAKER_02:

And that pretty much sums up who we are. I know. I was telling my roommate what about this episode, and uh she's like, Oh, that's such a great idea. And uh she said something about your husband probably doesn't like Christmas. I said, Oh no, he does.

SPEAKER_06:

Everybody I know ever.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. I and I was like, How Halloween is Heather's Christmas. Yes. That is her biggest Halloween uh holiday of the year.

SPEAKER_06:

I decorate. Yes, I love all of it.

SPEAKER_02:

And I'm a big Christmas geek. I always have loved it. Um, and it's not quite as much fun now that my kids are grown. Um, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_06:

She used to force me to come over and rent presents with her. I hated it. Because I don't know why people, all of them people. I here's my idea of the most fantastic Christmas, which I did have last year, by the way. My most favorite fantastical idea of Christmas is that I spend the day by myself in my apartment with the shades drawn, locking the whole world out.

SPEAKER_02:

You used to go to the movies by yourself, right?

SPEAKER_06:

So yes. I did want to tell you why, because a lot of people are like, How can you hate Christmas? And it's not just because I'm a I'm contrary. Right. It did have origins. Um typically we would spend Thanksgiving with my mom's family, and then thusly and the whole sharing of family nonsense, we would spend Christmas with my dad's family. Correct. Who hated my mother a hundred million percent hated her because in the time the 50s my mom and dad have been together since they were in middle school, so like the mid-sixties. So at the time prior to that when their parents were growing up, the what are they, the silent generation? They should have stayed that way. Um there were doling immigrants, one of which being the Irish, one of which being the Italian. They did not like each other. No, especially in the Wilmington, Philadelphia area, which is where they are from. My father is Irish and English, and my mother is Italian, and they used to call my mother a greasy dago to her face. Whatever. Classy. Yeah. So they did not like my mother. I am the spitting image of my mother. There are photos of her younger, and you I sometimes I'm like, I don't even know if that's me or you. Yeah. So I have the same personality as my mother mostly. Well, my mother's nicer. And my dad's temper. And my mom's smart mouth. So anyway, they don't like me. They never liked me. Right.

SPEAKER_05:

They never liked me.

SPEAKER_06:

Um, so going to their house for Christmas was just the most passive-aggressive horror shit show of all time, and I dreaded it. One year for Christmas, they gave a child luggage. They gave me luggage. They also one time.

SPEAKER_02:

No doubt.

SPEAKER_06:

They one time gave me, you know, in the 80s, those boxes full of makeup. Oh, I had them.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

They gave me that. Caboodle. Yeah. Oh, the like the things that had things that came out, and it was like every shade of everything. I don't wear makeup. Never have. I did in my goth time, but it was white and black, and that was it. It was a hint. Yeah, it really was. One time she asked me if I wanted to be a boy, and she would pay for it, which is very progressive for her. Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. Although she probably didn't mean it that way.

SPEAKER_06:

She did not. She did it in a room full of people in like the early late 80s.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah. To embarrass you. She was a horrible human being. I hated going there. My mom finally got fed up with it and said, we're not going there anymore. So we had dinner with just the four of us, but then my dad would make us go after dinner. Because my mom, they were not allowed in my mom's house. Period. End of story. Uh so then we would go to their house after after we had dinner. Then I realized that if I had something to do because I was driving, I could get out faster. So I started a tradition where I would go to the movies because the movies is literally the only thing open on Christmas. So I would go watch whatever. I think I watched Halloween once. I think I went nightmare before Christmas. I saw I I mean I have I would go. That I didn't even give a shit what was playing. I just went and sat in a movie theater. Then uh we got older and we just then we well for a while we just decided we weren't going anymore. My sister and my dad would go, but my mom and I wouldn't. That was when I got more vocal about the my father and I have had many a fight over his family. Yeah. So that is absolutely why I hate it. I hate the fakeness. I hate how you hate each other for 11 months of the year. And then for three weeks, you have to pretend like you give a flying fuck about anyone else. Then you say, Oh, happy holiday. I don't mean happy holidays. I don't want you to have a happy holiday. I don't care about your life. So I also don't like it because everybody wants to put the Christmas tree up, but nobody wants to take the Christmas tree down. And then it becomes a giant hassle.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. So I grew up on the opposite side of that spectrum with the traditional looking uh Gen X kid Christmas where the house was all decorated, lights outside, beautiful tree. Remember Tinsel? Yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

My mom decorated December 1st.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh-huh. She ours was always Thanksgiving weekend.

SPEAKER_06:

My mom did wait till December. It was always the December 1st, you would go to school, and when you come home, it was like a whole new world.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, but when you were real little, didn't they wait and put the tree up Christmas Eve?

SPEAKER_06:

Christmas, we always put the even when I was well, when I got older, they it was they we would get a real tree.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_06:

And we would go buy it a couple days before Christmas Eve, and then it would sit in the garage and open, and then we would put it up Christmas Eve. Okay. Um my mom's growing up, Santa brought the tree. Okay. I think that's just because I don't know why. They just maybe didn't want it up all year. Who knows? Who knows where that came from.

SPEAKER_02:

But we lived in Delaware, so we would all hop in the car and take the Jersey Turnpike up to family's house, and all the cousins and aunts and uncles, and whoever didn't have a place to stay or celebrate, everybody was there, and all the cousins slept in one bedroom all over the floors, and all everybody was drunk, and everybody exchanged gifts. You bought b gifts for everybody. So I have a lot of very fond memories of Christmas. And then I also had children, which as a mom was a very magical, magical time to get to do all that stuff and have them keep on believing for a while. Yeah. But yeah, so yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

So we're we're gonna Well, also when I got older, um, and I found out there was no Santa, my mom was like, Literally, I will kill you if you tell your sister. And I was like, Cool, I'm not. And then then it became, well, now that you're old enough, you can help us wrap your sister's shit and put it together. So at like 11, I was putting my sister's shit together. You really didn't have any good stuff happen to you at Christmas. No. Um, but here's a funny Christmas story that is my one of my favorite Christmas stories. It didn't happen to me.

SPEAKER_04:

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_06:

Well, my sister had children. Um, she loves Christmas too. She's a Christmas. I don't, I am the odd one out. Um, they bought their new house, and they were so excited because they were gonna buy, they have this big foyer and it's really tall, and they were gonna get this really tall tree, and they were gonna get before they didn't have a real tree, this was gonna be their first real tree. Super excited. So they brought it into the house to let it open up. Well, apparently, my poor sister, if you have listened to any of these, the my sister's stories are great. Um, this is her luck. So the the tree opened, and apparently a praying mantis had laid eggs in the entirety of the tree. So when it got warm, they all hatched. And every time you moved the tree, puffs of praying mantis would fly out in every direction, and she is creeped out by bugs, and they were teeny tiny, they are tiny, wee beautiful, right? Like the size of your fingernail praying mantises. So as they're trying to get the tree outside, they are puffing praying mantises everywhere, and it literally, I think, sh I think this has probably been, oh my god, maybe I don't know how long they've lived in the house, but the boy is 21, so 18, 17 years. I think they still find praying mantises. It was a very long time, she was sucking up praying mantises, and you know, I don't know about where you people live, but we were always told it was illegal to kill praying mantises, which seems to be like the thing, Gen X, which how we all knew this, it's not true, right? Why all our parents decided they were gonna tell all of us? Well, so she was like upset because she was killing all these praying mantis. Ugh. Teeny, tiny, wee little praying mantises covering the wall. There were millions of them. She single-handedly had just quadrupled the population of praying mantises. Praying mantai. I don't know. Anyway, that's that's my favorite story. That is a great story.

SPEAKER_02:

And did she not realize why your parents opened it in the garage? So that is give a few days for those to get out. You've met her. I know. She's adorable though.

SPEAKER_06:

So that's that one is my favorite. My other thing is um, my mom or Santa would bring my sister and I the same, like one thing was exactly the same. Like one time we had these the you remember when you would talk to the flowers and they danced? We both got them. Mine worked, hers didn't. Every time my mom would get us, she got us a clock one year, mine worked, hers didn't. Always. Mine worked, hers didn't. So she won't she started to do the same thing with her kids. She would buy them the exact same thing, one in different colors, and her sons never worked. Daughters did, sons did not. And she was like, I know, I don't know, you're cursed just like me. What to tell you? And she was like, and I would buy one specifically. Like I would buy it saying, Well, this one will be for the girl, and this one will be for the boy. And she was like, and then Christmas Eve, I'd switch them every time. That's who we are as people. Superstitious. The jinx is always gonna find you. Yeah, anyway. That's the short and long version of why I dislike Christmas. And then uh working for the post office, and I worked at FedEx prior to that, and that really just drives it home how much yeah. Yeah, yeah. I hate Christmas music.

SPEAKER_02:

I listen to Christmas music on the way down here today.

SPEAKER_06:

It just it's too much, it takes over too much. No, it does. Why does it have to start in September?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I agree with that.

SPEAKER_06:

But get through holidays.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah. I don't like it. Yeah, I know. Well, you have good reason. So the way this is gonna go today is I have um went through some good holiday traditions, kind of seeing where they started, and I'm gonna get going first. And then Heather and I are going to take turns. I'm gonna talk about fun Christmas stuff, and she's gonna talk about spooky Christmas stuff.

SPEAKER_06:

So we should do the let's fuck around and find out about Christmas? December 25th. Yeah, fuck around and find out about the stupid.

SPEAKER_02:

I also think we should drop this one on Christmas Day. Is that possible?

SPEAKER_06:

Uh, what is it? It's a Thursday. Yeah, I can. Yeah. I'd like that.

SPEAKER_02:

Merry Christmas. Happy holidays. She doesn't mean it. No. She doesn't hope you have a happy holiday. I don't. I do. No, she does. I don't.

SPEAKER_06:

I don't care whether your holiday is happy or not.

SPEAKER_02:

All right, so really all my information for this one came from worldwildschooling.com. Um so Christmas traditions. The U.S. is full of unique Christmas traditions. From quirky stocking stuffers to fun holiday meals, there's plenty of exciting history behind them. The U.S. is a melting pot of cultures from around the world. This has created unique traditions found nowhere else on earth. The stories behind these traditions are as exciting as the traditions themselves. Uh all right, so the first tradition I'm going to start with is the American Santa Claus.

SPEAKER_06:

Santa Sandy Claus.

SPEAKER_02:

Santa Claus. Alright, countries around the world have their Santa-like character, but in the US he takes a whole new meaning. In the U.S., it's hard to find anything Christmas related that doesn't feature a Santa image. The American Santa originated in the 18th century when Dutch immigrants brought their Sinterklaas or Saint Nicholas traditions to New York City. The New York Historical Society commissioned the artist Alexander Anderson to depict Santa Claus for an event flyer. Although the event flopped, Anderson's image stayed in our popular imagination. Fast forward to the American Civil War, cartoonist Thomas Nass drew cartoons depicting Santa as a plump bearded man in a red suit handing out presents. The final representation of Saint Nick was Hadan Sonderbloom's drawings for the Coca-Cola Company. These 1930s characters depicted all of the qualities we know and expect from the American Santa Claus. Bowl fill of jelly. Yep, yep, yep. And Santa Claus Coming to Town is one of my favorite Christmas cartoons. And he comes in as Saint Nick and the um It's creepy. What's his name? The somethingmeister. Oh. But the mayor of the town won't let the kids have toys. And he falls in love with the school teacher, and she becomes Mrs. Claus. It's so cute. If you want to hear about our last year's Christmas, where she talks about all those shows. Yes. I'm gonna keep talking about them.

SPEAKER_06:

I don't remember what the name of that episode is. It was Oh, though I the podcast of Miss Fitz Toys. Yes, yes. And then I did one, Holy Gremlin's Batman, which is an anti-Christmas episode.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep. Yep. And this year we combined anti-Christmas and Christmas. See how we did that? See, look at us. Is it my turn? Yep.

SPEAKER_06:

Imagine the snowbound village of Austria and Bavaria centuries ago. Um winter nights stretched endlessly. Families gathered around flickering hearths, telling stories to keep the cold at bay. Among these tales was one of Krampus, a creature both feared and respected. He was no jolly figure. He was horned like a goat, covered in thick fur, with cloven hooves and a tongue that lolled grotesquely from his mouth. Chains clattered as he moved, sometimes dragging bells or carrying a blanket on his back. No, a basket. That's not blanket.

SPEAKER_02:

He didn't have a blanket.

SPEAKER_06:

He did not. He had a basket. His purpose was clear. While Saint Nicholas rewarded the virtuous Krampus pumblish publ Krampus punished the wicked. Naughty children must be whipped with birch rods, stuffed into his basket, or carried off into the snowy night. He was not simply a Christian invention. His roots stretched back into pre-Christian alpine traditions. Scholars connect him to the wild hunt, a spectral procession of deities and restless souls said to sweep through the mountains during the solstice. In this way, Krampus embodied the raw, untamed force of nature, chaos, fear, and the remainder that survival in reminder that survival in the winter requires discipline. Krampus originates from central and eastern alpine traditions, particularly Austria and Germany, and surrounding regions. He is depicted as the horned hairy creature with fangs, hooves, and a long tongue. Comes from the German Krampen, meaning claws, the hints at his primal bestial nature. Folklorists argue Krampus may descend from Alpine pagan rituals celebrating the Windsor solstice.

SPEAKER_02:

And to be honest, all Christmas traditions come from pagan.

SPEAKER_05:

I was gonna say that.

SPEAKER_06:

No, you're right. I don't know why I don't like Christmas. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Because you just it's funny though, because um here, you know, parents threaten their kids with the American Santa Claus. Santa's not gonna come see you if you don't behave. But over there, Santa's gonna come whip you ass, throw you in a basket, and go toss you in the woods somewhere. So that's that's a little more incentive to behave. I think so.

SPEAKER_06:

Um, when Christianity spread through Europe, the church didn't erase Krampus. Instead, he was absorbed into the Saint Nicholas tradition, becoming the saint's dark counterpart. Together, they represented the balance of reward and punishment, light and shadow, joy and fear. By the 16th century, Krampus was firmly woven into Christian traditions, symbolizing the darker counterpart to Saint Nicholas and embodying the tension between order and chaos.

SPEAKER_02:

Interesting.

unknown:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

I wonder when that ended. Be well, you might get to that, but I definitely didn't learn anything about Krampus growing up in the church. I no. I didn't know about him until I was an adult.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah. The next part I have is just about the new like what happens now. Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

So my turn? Yeah.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

Hit it. So the next thing I'm going to talk about is uh Christmas tree decorations. The most fun part about all of this is getting to annoy Heather. Um setting up a Christmas tree and covering it with lights and ornaments is an as American as apple pie. Although its origins are vague, German immigrants in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania may have been the first community to raise a Christmas tree in 1747. Soon tree lighting traditions swept through the country. In the 19th century, the first glass ornaments arrived from Germany, and Sears and Roebuck started making the first fake Christmas trees for people in tough cities in tight city spaces. After over harvesting the trees, no get out! Oh, that's what we humans do. Um, the nation entered a short supply of evergreens, which led to the first Christmas tree farms. Today, millions of people in the U.S. unpack their ornaments and lights, pick a tree from a farm, and set it up in their living room to enjoy. So I had growing up, we always had a live tree because we had a wood stove. So, and then my stepdad at the time had um the big fancy gas-powered log splitter, and we'd all go out into the woods, and I hated it because he would cut up all the wood and we'd have to pick it up and load up the thing. Uh, the trailer. Um we also had a wood stove.

SPEAKER_06:

And then we had wood we didn't have wood, so we had to have it delivered, and they would dump it in the yard. And then you had to stack it. We had to well, we had to split it too.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Well, he would just make the cut them into big logs. So we're picking up these big logs, loading them, and then we come home and he log split them, and then we had to stack them. Uh, I did love having a wood stove, and at a very young age I was taught how to get that bad boy going. If you were the first one up in the morning, you had to get it. Yeah, because it was cold as hell in that house. It was. But uh, we would just go out in the woods, you know, wherever we were cutting our wood and cut down a pine tree.

SPEAKER_06:

I had an incident with the um with the wood stove. I was stoking it and I guess an ember came out, and we had just moved into the house and it burnt a hole in the floor. So um I went to the closet and cut a hole in the closet under all the crap and glued it. Do you know they didn't find it until they moved? Really?

unknown:

Wow.

SPEAKER_06:

It popped up, and my dad was like, What the hell is this?

SPEAKER_02:

And I was like, I was 46 years old, and I was like, Yeah, but thanks to having live trees as a kid, I have no desire to have a live tree as an adult. They I also have they shed so bad. And when you have a wood stove, you have very dry air in your house. It's very dry. So those things die quick.

SPEAKER_06:

I am also allergic to pine. Oh. So they wreak havoc for like the first three days they're there. My mom also is allergic, so that's you know, fun.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I don't like my fingers being sticky, so decorating it was always annoying too, because you get saple and you that's gross.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah. I was gonna say something else about Christmas trees, but like them. Oh, I know what it was. Okay, our ex-mother-in-law. Oh I didn't want a Christmas tree. A real Christmas tree. And when I was with Nicole's brother-in-law, um, we had agreed, because he was a big Christmas fan, that he could get a tree because we were living together, but it could not be a real tree because they have stink and I am allergic to, and it will take me four days. And then his mother bought him a real tree.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, well, I never wanted a Jack Russell and she brought home a puppy for my son, so you know she didn't she had a knack for doing things to piss you off. Yeah, she did. Just because the fun of it. Oh, you never told us that you didn't.

SPEAKER_05:

Sure shit did.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. All right, I'm on to the next one, unless you want to go next. Go ahead. All right, so the next one is uh the tradition of milk and cookies for Santa, which was always so magical to me as a kid. Yeah. And it was really magical to do with my kids too. I loved it. I'd always eat the cookies, of course, and drink the milk. Make sure to leave extra crumbs on the plate and a little milk in the bottom of the cup. Um, anyway, the tradition of feeding Santa Claus goes back to the Dutch feast of Saint Nicholas celebrations. The original treats were likely fruits and candies, but the practice made it across the Atlantic by waves of Dutch immigrants in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the Great Depression, children were encouraged to leave a glass of milk and cookies out for Santa. What those kids got ate up milk and cookies in the depression. Uh, this wasn't meant to encourage the practice of giving to others even during troubled wait, this was meant to encourage the practice of giving to others even during troubling times. I always thought it was because Santa was hungry from doing all those deliveries. Um the milk but that's a lot of cookies and milk. Well, he has a lot of ground to cover.

SPEAKER_06:

I know, I'm just saying, like he had to eat a lot of cookies.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh the milk and cookies became symbols of being grateful for anything they received in return, especially presents. Their tradition took hold in the American psyche through popular films and TV shows. Today, serving milk and cookies to Santa is as common for children in the U.S. as playing baseball after school. Uh, if you haven't okay.

SPEAKER_06:

Well, see, the problem with Krampus is that the reason we didn't really hear about it that much is because it kind of died out because whipping children and putting them in baskets and taking them to the woods was kind of frowned upon for a while. So Krampus took a backseat until recently. Okay. Hit me. Um today Krampus is celebrated in Krampuslov, Krampus Runs, where costume participates parade through towns, scaring onlookers with elaborate masks and antics. Uh, greeting cards and pop culture since the 19th century, Krampus has appeared on Krampus Carton, cards, the holiday cards. Um, they often humorously depict him chasing children. And he in recent decades, he's featured in film, TV shows, and video games cementing his role as a pop culture figure. And I don't remember, it didn't say, but I remember like when Krampus kind of came back. And it was like, whoa, what was but I don't know, it didn't really say why.

SPEAKER_02:

I couldn't really find a definitive the horror movie industry. You started falling in love with scary Christmas movies.

SPEAKER_06:

That you're not wrong, and I think that that might be what happened. Like they were like, Where can we this is a gold mine right here? But it it was it's not difficult. Like basically, you find the origins of Krampus and then nothing else until we took it back. Of course, we took it out of it. Yeah, of course. Um once confined, at least they're not dead. Once confined to Alpine Europe, Krampus has become an international phenomenon, embraced in North America and beyond. Um cities like Los Angeles and New York now host Krampus parades. Uh Krampus represents more than just fear. He embodies the shadow side of Christmas, reminding us of winter traditions, historically balanced joy with danger, light with darkness. His resurgence reflects a fascination with folklore, eerie, chaotic elements. I also feel like that's maybe why because I feel like maybe we had been pushed so the Christian, Christian, Christian, or I mean, let's just face it, it's all Christian. I mean, it's all Christmas. The whole nobody, the poor Jewish people, they have a holiday too.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, well, it's supposed to be about Christianity, but really that just means going to church on Christmas.

SPEAKER_06:

Well, and that's just it. And I think that's just what's been pushed at us. And then maybe the the cramp of things started coming when probably Gen X was like, you know what, this is fucking this is not where this shit came from. This is stupid. This is the winter solstice.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep, yep, exactly.

SPEAKER_06:

And I learned from um HildaGrasse Tyson the other day that it was um the sun sets. It's the what 20th? Yes. 20th or 21st. 22nd. 21st is the shortest day of the year. Right. And it sets. And then the 25th is when it starts getting the days start getting longer. So that's when it's born a new year.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh that's it.

SPEAKER_06:

So on December 21st, the indigenous network, the indigenous peoples, or whoever uh anywhere, thought, oh shit, that's the fucking end. Yeah. And then no, here it is on the twenty-fifth. It's getting late earlier and longer, and that's that's why they stole it.

unknown:

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh probably has a lot to do with the um stress on um he's the son of God. I know we can spend days talking about this. I just it's just an inappropriation.

SPEAKER_06:

It really is. I mean, it was just to colonize, so they just picked a day in the middle of the winter solstice and then stole it and said, Oh, this is when our guy was born, huh? Yay. Three wise men and a donkey. And that's not even get started on how Mary got pregnant. I mean For real. Awesome. If her parents fell for that. How old was she? I'm sure it's it's statutory rape. Yes, she was either way. Probably just old enough to get her various, so it's problematic. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But what Joseph was like, hey, cool, no problem. Let's just go into this barn. And why is she having a baby in a fucking barn? Because the inn was full. For a pregnant woman, like they couldn't be like, well, I guess. And then she had to have a baby in the hay.

SPEAKER_02:

They were assholes back then, I guess.

SPEAKER_06:

Stupid. Sorry to all the Christians. Not sorry, but it's a weird thing.

SPEAKER_02:

It really is. It's all very folklorish and fairy talish, and it's hilarious that people take it as real.

SPEAKER_06:

See that that's what it is. Yeah, exactly. I mean, lighting candles and oh hello. Yeah. You're worshiping a giant tree. Yeah. Exactly. You decorated it and killed it. That's my other issue. Like this poor tree lived for how long? And then you just chopped it down and stuck it in your living room and then tossed it outside for goats to eat.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep, yep. Exactly.

SPEAKER_06:

I feel bad for the tree.

SPEAKER_02:

I know.

SPEAKER_06:

I have a issue with inanimate objects, though. So go ahead.

SPEAKER_02:

All right. So next I'm gonna talk next I'll talk about the turkey dinner. Turkey. We don't have turkey on Christmas. You have ham. Ew. We have there's no protein more American than turkey. Their tradition of roast turkey dinners during the holidays dates back to the European colonies on the East Coast. It became so popular that it spread to England, replacing the traditional and extremely delicious, well, maybe not so tasty, pickled boar's head.

SPEAKER_06:

Maybe that's why we eat hanging.

SPEAKER_02:

They were like, whoa, this turkey is way better than this.

SPEAKER_06:

Do we only have turkeys? Do there's not turkeys over there? Is turkeys just here? I don't know. I had one run in front of the car the other day on my way to work. I was like, God damn it, turkey, get out of the way. Yeah, they're all over the place. And and remember at the restaurant, we had the whole group of them that lived out back.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep, yep. Um, along with turkey, many new dishes were introduced. Favorites like tamales from Mexico, roast goose, and mashed potatoes became synonymous with Christmas dinner in many places in the U.S. So one year my first husband and I decided that we were gonna get a goose, a Christmas goose. Because he thought that we lived back in the Middle Ages. Um, so we went to the local butcher and ordered it way ahead of time, and we got it. And I'm I I'm a pretty good cook. I cooked it up all nice, it was really pretty, and it was gross. It was the biggest waste, and it was like 75 bucks or something. Like it was really greasy, right? Yeah, it's not as greasy as duck, but it it just and there wasn't like a whole lot of meat, and I was like, well. Um turkey dinners evolved into a hodgepodge of recipes as diverse as the US today.

SPEAKER_06:

Turkeys are only native to the Americas. Are they really? They actually were in Central America and they were brought up.

unknown:

Yep.

SPEAKER_06:

Oh, that see, thanks for looking that up.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, today you can find Christmas turkey dinner at households and restaurants throughout the season from special turkey sandwiches. I love a cold turkey sandwich on white bread with mayonnaise. I do like a cold, I like it with ketchup. Oh, okay. You like ketchup on everything. I like ketchup.

unknown:

Yep.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh to turkey flavored chips. As soon as Christmas comes, you'll find the big bird in almost everything. And piggybacking off of that, I'm gonna talk about something I know you like. Okay. Pumpkin pie. I do like pumpkin pie. Like turkey pumpkin. Pumpkins are native to the Americas. Uh, the colonizing Europeans learned about them from the indigenous Americans uh who already had several delicious uses. Delicious uses. Uh it wasn't long before the Europeans decided to sweeten them up a bit. Pumpkin pie likely or originated in the colonies. The first mention of the dish is in the 1996 Classic American Cookery by Amelia Simmons. The recipe is closely related to the modern one we use today. Although the pie became synonymous with Thanksgiving, it was hugely popular on Christmas and even spiced up more by some home cooks. Today, pumpkin pie is enjoyed at Christmas celebrations and holiday menus across the country from Thanksgiving to Christmas. And it's funny because I just had a um conversation about the spiciness of pumpkin pies with my stepmom while I was down in Florida. Uh-huh. And we both agree we don't like it too spicy.

SPEAKER_05:

I like it spicy.

SPEAKER_02:

Do you? Uh-huh. Yeah, we both like it. We want to taste the pumpkin.

SPEAKER_06:

I do not.

SPEAKER_02:

With just a hint of flavor. But yeah. I like it spicy. I think I'm gonna make a homemade pumpkin pie soon. I haven't made one in years. I like pumpkin pie.

SPEAKER_06:

I like the food that's with Christmas, except cranberries. I don't like cranberries.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm not a big fan of cranberries, they're too tart.

SPEAKER_06:

In growing up, though, the Italian tradition is the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve. Are you talking about that?

SPEAKER_02:

No.

SPEAKER_06:

Okay, that is um the Feast of Seven Fishes. Seven different fish. And you serve throughout the evening. I would enjoy that. Uh my cousin does it. We don't, because obviously me. Um I can't eat them. So there is no seven fishes. But that is traditional um Christmas Eve in the Italian household. But we always did lasagna.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. I think that's what uh me and my kids talked about doing this year is lasagna. Lasagna is just so much easier.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

Right now we should probably take a moment to listen to what's going on in the Cole's universe.

SPEAKER_05:

Let's hear that song.

SPEAKER_02:

All right, so today we are at April 9th, 1984, which was a Monday. Monday. All right. Today we had to go back to crummy old school again.

SPEAKER_05:

Son of a bitch.

SPEAKER_02:

And crummy old Miss Foxes. Oh. Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this day. Miss Bailey was finally there.

unknown:

Wow.

SPEAKER_02:

Great. So she lived a while. We find out now she lives. She lives.

SPEAKER_04:

She's alive.

SPEAKER_02:

Today we had band. In science, we made our ocean folders. In math, we told jokes, and it was me, Tony, and Tanya. Uh today when mom picked me up, we went to the grocery store. When we got home, we went out and planted our plants in the front yard. For dinner, we had a picnic at the kitchen table.

SPEAKER_06:

Oh, that's fun.

SPEAKER_02:

Isn't that just dinner? Yeah, I guess. Uh, and before we went to bed, we had some lifesavers. Oh, yeah. Nice. Yeah, yeah. Exciting day on April 9th.

SPEAKER_06:

Here's the funniest part. Because we're recording this early, she had to go through and count out how many. So we don't actually know what has happened. What's let yeah. You know.

SPEAKER_02:

The suspense is killing us. But we don't know what happened prior to April 9th. Yeah. Hopefully something crazy in there happened.

SPEAKER_06:

What we just know the last time we looked at her book, her teacher was still out and we didn't know if she was alive or not. Right, right. Yeah. So yeah. The suspense is now over. Yeah. Thank goodness. Live.

SPEAKER_02:

So that's it for this week's edition of

SPEAKER_06:

Nicole's diehard. I loved going to the grocery store. It's my favorite.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah, me too. Because you got to pick what cereal.

SPEAKER_02:

I don't know if you did, but I did. Well, you got name brand cereals. I got the cheap knockoffs.

SPEAKER_06:

And I still won't eat the goddamn cheap knockoff. They're gross. I don't thank you. Thank you for saying it. Because the cheap frosted flakes do not have enough sugar on them. The cheap fruit loops just taste fucking weird. Gross. Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, super gross.

SPEAKER_06:

The tricks? No. No. Just no.

SPEAKER_02:

Even like the race krispies and stuff. It's all weird. Yeah, it's not good. It's not good. Yep, I'm with you.

unknown:

Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_06:

Tell us a little more about Krampus Flow. Um on December 5th, Alpine Town still erupt in Crown Krampusflow. A wild, wild parade where costume revelers stomp through the streets in elaborate masks and shaggy suits. That sounds super fun. They chase onlookers, clang cowbells, and keep alive the thrill of fear. But now with laughter mixed in. And I think that if also if we get famous, then we absolutely have to go and have a Krampus parade. Yes, that sounds amazing. Um, in the 19th century, Krampus appeared on Krampus Carton. Mm-hmm. Oh, that's what Oh, Cheeky Holiday postcards that often depicted him dragging children or playfully flirting with women. Ooh, perf. They these cards softened his image, turning him into a mischievous character rather than a purely terrifying one. With hooves and and horns and a long tongue. Well, if you I did look at some of the stuff, and yes, back in the way back, he was horrific. Like it was like, whoa. Um, there's a grate on Amazon has a grate, and I hope at this point, if you're hearing this, I have already bought it because I need to have it. It is Krampus and Santa Claus standing like portrait style together with the Christmas tree in the back. And I need it and need to own it. Because you can't say, no, you can't put that up because there's fucking Santa Claus in it. So there you go. I love it. Hopefully, I have that. Um in the recent decades, he has starred in horror films, TV episodes, comic books, and even video games. He's become a symbol for those who prefer their holidays with a dash of darkness, a counterbalance to the sugary sweetness of Santa Claus. Um, winter festivals have always been about more than joy. They're about survival, community, and facing the darkness together. Krampus embodies the idea that even in times of celebration, we must acknowledge the shadow side of life. Um for Gen Xers, Krampus resonates because he represents the counterculture of Christmas. He's the punk rock to Santa's pop ballad. And that's why I love him. Um he can be both comforting and unsettling. Um his horns and chains echo the rebellious streak that thrives in every generation, especially when holidays risk becoming too commercial or sanitized. But so he is now globally celebrated. And I guess that's why he like I said, there is not a lot between the 16th century because Christians came in and took it all.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

So it wasn't. And then, like I said before, Gen X decided that hey, we fucking hate this nonsense. Well, let's bring him back. So I think that's that's he is risen. It is very difficult to find anything in between. Poor Krampus. I know. I'm bringing him back. Fuck that. Bringing Krampus back. There was some great shirts. Christmas I I if I have more money, I would be buying some Krampus shit and wearing it to fucking work. I mean my whole December wardrobe. I did put some shit in my cart though. There was a um an ornament. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's going on the tree I have to have in my house.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_06:

It's gonna sneak in there. That drew in little touch.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. All right, so next we're gonna talk about eggnog. I know you don't like eggnog. I do not like eggnog. I knew that. And I actually don't care for it either. It has nothing to do with the taste, it has to do with that. It feels like you're swallowing logies while you're thick. Too thick. Um, it smells good. Um, a version of eggnog originated in medieval England during banquets and festivities. Um then in the 18th century, ships set sail for the American colonies, bringing their strange recipes with them. I thought they were gonna say bringing um eggnog with them. I was like, oh, I bet that tasted good by the time they got there. Probably. Yeah. If you make it like from screw wheels.

SPEAKER_06:

Ah, you know what I made the other day? I made butter. I did. You're so cool. I know I'm did it taste good. It was really fucking good. I know. I was actually very impressed with it. It took me four fucking ever, but that was because I did not realize I did not make the bowl as cold as the bowl needed to be. So it didn't emulsify. Anyway, yes, it was very good.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I'm not a patient cook. Like I've tried to make candies, but you have to get it to just the right temp and at the right time, and I'm not patient enough.

SPEAKER_06:

I do think though, next time I'm not gonna take it to the solid butter because that did take, and now what am I gonna do with the buttermilk? Um so I think I'm gonna stop at the whipped butter stage. Because A, it makes a lot more, and B, it spreads easier. Whipped butter's delicious. Man, we had mashed potatoes with it the other day. Oh my god, it was really good. So it's stupid easy to make. You just keep whipping the cream forever. Yeah. Until it's a little spies. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_02:

You didn't use a churn. I did not.

SPEAKER_06:

Oh, okay. All right. I started using a hand mixer. The the one with the one emulsion. Right. But I have a beater on it. Uh-huh. Um, because I don't know why my stand mixer doesn't work. Um, you know, I know why. Because the I can't find the beat. I had the beater. No, I didn't have the beater, and I try to find a beater, but because my stand mixer is like 30 years old, they don't make that beater anymore. I need to just get rid of it. I don't know why it's still sitting there. But anyway, okay. I used then I had to use a regular. It takes a really long time.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Uh almost every community had a dairy farm, and rum was easy to come by. Uh, the English colonizers could mix cream, egg yolks, and rum to create a warming cocktail that had to help the brutal New England winners. My face was like cringing as I was reading that.

SPEAKER_06:

I just I I I don't I guess I shouldn't back that up because I was gonna say I find it gross to have cream with any alcohol, but then I remember that I like Bailey's and I like espresso teen.

SPEAKER_02:

You like white Russians too, don't you?

SPEAKER_06:

I do not like white Russians. What is in it? Is it vodka?

SPEAKER_02:

It's vodka. Yeah, I don't like that. Um what's the black stuff?

SPEAKER_06:

Espresso uh Kahlua Kahlua and cream. So I my mom drinks Klua and cream. Um I like an espresso tini with some baileys, and I like the um the Godiva chocolate liqueur. I like chocolatinis. Chocolatinis. And then you throw a little espresso martini, a little um espresso vodka in there, and you can't.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, my daughter loves espresso martinis. Um, anyway, as spices became easier to find, people started adding nutmeg and cinnamon to the mixture. Ooh, before that was just the cream, egg, and rum. Disgusting. Um eggnog recipes became household traditions, and stores started carrying their own pasteurized versions. Today it's hard to find an aunt or uncle at a U.S. holiday gathering who hasn't had a too few many cups of the creamy beverage. My favorite thing I think of when I think of eggnog is um the movie Christmas Vacation. And uh when uh Cliff not Cliff. What was his name? Anyway, he's over there with the moose thing just scooping up eggnog and sucking it down.

SPEAKER_06:

My I don't come from a family of well, my mom and dad don't drink. Um Right. My my uncle and my aunt a little, but I don't think they ever had they're never here for Christmas anyway, so they go away for Christmas.

SPEAKER_05:

They usually cruise. Since my uncle died, they went cruising.

SPEAKER_06:

Nice. But we don't have we don't have drinkers, so they never had I never had eggnog in the house.

SPEAKER_02:

Even non-alco they have non-alcoholic, they sell it in the grocery store now, so well I I grew up around a bunch of alcoholics, so I'm pretty sure there was probably eggnog around. But yeah, I've never been a fan. It just looks gross, it smells gross. All right, give us some more Krampus. I don't have any more Krampus. Oh, okay. That was it. All right, well, I had to tell you. Well, good, that worked literally.

SPEAKER_06:

Then and now nothing in return.

SPEAKER_02:

All right, I have one more thing, I one more memory I want to share because I love it. All right, so did you ever have the little um little golden books? Yeah. Christmas books under your did you keep them under the Christmas tree? No. Okay. So we had the Christmas ones, and they always got packed up every Christmas, and I was just giddy to read them all when Christmas came, and they always stayed under the tree, and I did the same thing with my kids, and I still have them. Um, but long before these Christmas time favorites starred on television, Rudolph and Frosty each told their story in little golden books. Since 1942, little golden books have been a staple on a childhood bookshelf. First priced at 25 cents, the series also introduced longtime favorites: the Pokey Little Puppy, Scuffy the Tugboat, Toodle, and The Saggy Baggy Elephant. Uh, written as a 32-page poem by Robert L. May and illustrated by Denver Gillen, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was first published in 1939 as a promotional giveaway to children visiting Santa at Montgomery Ward's department stores.

SPEAKER_06:

Remember Montgomery Wards.

SPEAKER_02:

I do too. Um May worked as a copyright in Ward's catalog division in Chicago. He had a four-year-old daughter and a wife ill with cancer when he created Rudolph. The book was an instant hit with nearly 2.5 million distributed nationwide the first year. The book was distributed again the following year before Montgomery Wards moved on to a new campaign, leaving May with the sole rights to the character. Lucky him. A decade later, Rudolph regained its popularity when May's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, composed the same titled song that was recorded by singing cowboy Gene Autry. The song topped the charts in 1949, selling 25 million copies. Heather looks so bored right now.

SPEAKER_06:

I just think I can sing it in French.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, okay. The following year, Autry was looking for another holiday song when songwriters Walter Jack Rollins and Steve Nelson approached him with their new tune, Frosty the Snowman. Joined by Autry's Cass County Boys, the song was a hit with Autry's version outselling additional versions by Jimmy Durante. It's Durant, isn't it? No, it's Durante. Oh, okay. I usually get them wrong. Natkin Cole and Guy Lombardo. Little Golden Books published Frosty the Snowman in 1951, written by Anne Bedford with illustrations by Corinne Malvern. The story expands on the song as Billy, Sally, Tommy, and Joe build Frosty, then take him around town after he comes to life. Frosty's story was expanded again in 1969 in a 30-minute cartoon special produced by Rankin Bass Productions. They all mess together.

SPEAKER_06:

Snowman or Snowman or Snowman.

SPEAKER_02:

And I like the Frosty the Snowman cartoon, but I think Frosty is super annoying in that one. Like I don't know why they made him like that. But anyway. Published in 1958, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Little Golden Books version, was written by Barbara Shook Hazen and illustrated by Richard Scary, who would go on to illustrate numerous book titles for children. In 1964, Rudolph appeared in Videocraft International's stop motion Christmas television special featuring new characters, Herm the Elf and Yukon Cornelius.

SPEAKER_05:

The Island of Misfit Toys. Yep. Or you can listen to the podcast of Misfit Toys from one year ago.

SPEAKER_02:

I was just talking about Hermie with my dad because we saw somebody and he's like, he looks like Hermy the Elf. My dad thinks everybody looks like somebody funny looking. Um Little Golden Books still publishes both Frosty and Rudolph titled books using the more familiar character versions introduced in the television programs.

SPEAKER_06:

I did I did skip over some Krampus. Oh, yay, more Krampus. Because here's my excuse, guys. Because half of this, for some reason, is in white, and the other half is in green. And I got distracted by the green. Um Krampus is in Norse mythology. Uh Krampus is said to be the son of hell, the North Norse got Norse goddess of the underworld, which ties him to death and punishment. Nice. Uh, medieval times, church plays and mass devils. By the Middle Ages, mass devils were common in church plays across Germany. They combined comic antics with frightening imagery, paving the way for Krampus's role as a folklore punisher. He's a companion of Saint Nicholas on uh Krampus Night, December 5th. Uh Krampus accompanies Saint Nicholas. While Nicholas rewards good children with gifts, Krampus punishes the naughty. We talked about that with Birchrods and being carried away. Um around the 11th century, Saint Nicholas became popular in Germany. By the 16th century, Krampus was firmly attached to Nicholas's feast day, appearing on Krampus night, December 5th, to punish misbehaving children. Uh blending trad Australians and Bavarians recognized heathen elements in Krampus, acknowledging that pagan spirits had been assimilated into Christian costumes.

SPEAKER_02:

So what other? I'm trying to think of what other you have train sets. What's that about?

SPEAKER_06:

We had a train. My dad loves a fucking train.

SPEAKER_02:

My dad loves trains too.

SPEAKER_06:

It's like a but it was a boomer thing, I think.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and he had just the best train. I still remember the big white board it was on my little track, and my dad would lay right there on the floor, and he And the thing always went off the rails.

SPEAKER_06:

Always.

SPEAKER_02:

Always if you got it going too fast.

SPEAKER_06:

Anytime. Yeah. Just went off the rails. We had the little one. Because there's different sizes. Uh-huh. I don't know. I don't know. I don't even know where their trains are. They're probably worth a whole fuck ton of money. Oh yeah. Because they're old. They were like his trains as a kid.

SPEAKER_02:

And people take train collecting very seriously. Very seriously. I don't get it, but I don't know. Yeah, if you have a certain caboose or engine, I'll bet. I know. They don't even do cabooses anymore. Like in real life. Really? No. Huh. Those trains you see going by, there's never a caboose on them.

SPEAKER_06:

It's always an engine, right? Because they go a lot of times. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I don't really see trains that much.

SPEAKER_02:

I when I growing up, my dad's house was literally there were railroad tracks, a little ditch, a one-lane road, and then our front yard. So I mean the whole house shook when the train went by. But I used to love to run out and wave to the guy. He was always hanging off the back of the caboose and just waving. It's just like a movie.

SPEAKER_06:

We don't have trains. Oh, we do, but they're inland and they're all chicken trains. So they just load it with grains. We didn't have any real trains. Mm-hmm. Yep. You missed out. Trying to think of what else Christmas crap. We did. I know December 1st was the beginning of the end for me.

SPEAKER_02:

Tinsel got everywhere. And the cats ate it and then pooped it out. I didn't have cats. Had a dog. We had cats. Did your dog eat it? No. Okay.

unknown:

No.

SPEAKER_02:

What did you do after like opening presents in the morning? Um, mom and dad would go back to sleep.

SPEAKER_06:

And and my sister and I would just sit up and play with whatever because you usually we had to go we had a rule. What was what was your time? Because we had we were not allowed to wake anybody up before 6 a.m.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. And I was always the first one awake. And then my parents would wake up and my sister would still be asleep. And my mom would be like, We can't do anything until she wakes up. And I'd be in there like, wake up.

SPEAKER_06:

Well, my dad back then did not like if you could you there was no sneaking out of my house. My dad can hear literally anything. And one year he got my mom a piano for Christmas. How they got the thing in the house, up the front step. I have no idea. Without the dog barking, I do not know. Wow. But he did. And my sister and I came around the corner and it had a big bow on it. And I was just like, I didn't even get like out of my mouth. And he appears at the top of the steps and said, do not touch it.

SPEAKER_03:

It was like, I wasn't going.

SPEAKER_06:

But I had my greasy little hands like right over top of it, like I'm about to hit that thing. Um, I don't know how we got it in the house. It's heavy it took it took like five of us to get it out of the house when they moved. And she never plays it anymore. She used to play it, it was nice because she used to play it. Um, of course, my parents are weird. So instead of regular sheet music, she has like the eagles, um, she plays like actual stuff. So anyway, I like because it was so warm with the wood stove, she would play and I would just fall asleep on the every time she would start playing, it would just like boom, knock me out. I would come over to visit, and I'd be like, Hey mom, why don't you play the piano? I'm tired. Yeah, I need I could use it. That house, I don't know if it was like carbon monoxide fumes or what. It was impossible to get out of there without taking a nap. It's like the greatest nap, please.

SPEAKER_02:

I know I'm not a napper, but when I was down with my folks this week, well, for one thing, they keep their thermostat on 77. I'm not joking. It's 77. On the last night, my stepmom was kind enough to turn it down to 76 for me before I went to bed. But yeah, me, Janet has pictures of me and my dad just passed out. We'd come home in the middle of the day and take a little snooze on the couch. What would you do after you unwrap presents? Do you have to go to church? We went to church at midnight mass for the candlelight, candlelight service. Um I don't really remember. I think we just I don't nothing like sticks out specific in my mind. I would guess we probably have breakfast, but I mean we didn't.

SPEAKER_06:

Well they went to they just went back to sleep. Um my dad is an early riser, my mom is an

SPEAKER_02:

I always went to see my dad on Christmas Eve. So I wouldn't have been going there.

SPEAKER_06:

We were allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve, also. But not a big one. Or the stocking. Like we could open our stocking garbage.

SPEAKER_02:

That's what I did with my kids when they'd get up while I was like brushing my teeth and making coffee. They were allowed to get into their stockings.

SPEAKER_06:

So well, that was one thing also we were allowed to do. Like when we got up. And if it was before six, because it was always before six. Because uh I always get up before six, period. Yeah. So I in order to because you'd have to watch that clock, like I cannot go up there until but so they would leave like a couple things unwrapped, and you could you could mess with that. Okay. Yeah, we were allowed to touch the things that were not wrapped. And of course, my dad would make like the biggest, hugest spectacle out of you had to go get a trash bag, and you had to get this and you had to do that.

SPEAKER_02:

I know, and you had to pick out like give every piece of wrapping paper as you ripped it off. I always just let my kids go nuts, and then I went around and cleaned it up afterward.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah. Yeah. And then when we got older, um, after I moved out, my sister would call. We lived two minutes away, and she would call and she'd be like, Are you are you up? And I'd be like, Yeah, yeah. Well, why aren't you here? I was like, Why are you up? Because she did not, she was not a morning person. She'd be like, 'cause it's Christmas. Or she'd call and she'd just be like, It's Christmas. And my roommate, Christine, would just be like, your fucking sister called. She'd be like, it's Christmas. She was all Christine was also a big fan of Christmas. Yeah. I'm surrounded. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, that's what we did. We'd he would buy um when we got older, like teenage and up, um, obviously you weren't getting as many gifts, but it would be uh we got gifts until she had kids and then that stopped. Um he would buy like something that you needed. Like one year he wrapped a toilet seat for her for the bathroom. I got a jack for my car. So it was like shit you actually needed. And then it would just be wrapped on the tree. Or he'd already given it to you, and he just wrapped wrapped it. I've been using this already, though. He'd be like, Yeah, I bought it for you. It's your Christmas present. And then we would spend New Year's, we would go to Pennsylvania and go to like my aunt and uncle's, and then we would do the rounds up there for New Year's.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah. Yep. They went to we would go after my mom's parents died. We would travel for Thanksgiving. We went to Florida every year. Um, my aunt, uncle, and cousin would meet us down there. Cause they flew. They didn't have a cool van like we did. Anyway. I'm trying to think of what else. Did you have what how did you decorate your tree? Did you have like a specific like we had to eat we had specific ornaments that were only ours? Like I had like I'm sure it was not this was when I was older too. Nightmare before Christmas or Winnie the Pooh. I'm a big Winnie the Pooh fan. So those were my ornaments to put up. And after I stopped giving a shit about Christmas, which was like 10, 11, I would just put my ornaments up and then be done with the whole situation. Or it was like shit we had made when we were kids that she still had.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Yeah. I don't I don't remember having any special ones. But I did when my kids were little, I would let them decorate the tree, and then once they went to bed, I'd fix it.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

Because there would be like 10 ornaments on one branch.

SPEAKER_06:

Zero on the back.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06:

Because you get tired of it after a while and you're like, you know what? There's 15 more in here.

SPEAKER_02:

I know. I I do get like that. And you start running, like your eyes can't see spaces anymore. You're backing up and looking, like, where can I even put this thing? And you go to put it and you realize there's a ball right there, and you're like, damn it. That's not the spot.

SPEAKER_06:

I I've been trying to get a white tree to do white and black, but I keep getting outvoted.

SPEAKER_02:

Do you remember um in our past life, the tree wrapped in cotton?

SPEAKER_05:

Yes, I do.

SPEAKER_02:

I wonder where that tradition came from. I don't know. It was pretty. Yeah. They spent a lot of time wrapping. I can't even imagine. And it was really beautiful. It was always like about, I would say a five foot, six foot, maybe five feet tree. It wasn't real tall, but it was really branchy. Yeah. And then they would take just long lengths of cotton and just wrap, literally wrap every single branch and then decorate it. It was really pretty.

SPEAKER_06:

It was pretty. I like the white trees that they have now with like if I could do it white and black, I would, but that would be pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02:

Get a white tree and put black lights on it.

SPEAKER_04:

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02:

You're not allowed.

SPEAKER_06:

No. Okay. I'm gonna buy one and then now what? Yeah. Um now what? So maybe when you're hearing this, I already have a white and black Christmas tree. I don't know. Who knows what's gonna happen. We'll let you know after the new year. Um, so that's Christmas Krampus.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that was really fun. I'm glad we did that. Just a little lighthearted.

SPEAKER_06:

I just wish there was more on Krampus in between, but there's just not. So whatever.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, well, that's part of the story, I guess.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah. So thank you for listening. Happy holidays. She doesn't mean it. I do. Happy holidays. Thank you for listening. Find us on all the socials at Like Whatever Pod. Mm-hmm. Please. Uh, like, share, rate, review while you're there. Please, please, please. Uh find us where you are looking for a podcast. You can find us on that. Um, the website www.likewhateverpod.com. Or you can send us a message about what your favorite Christmas tradition is. Oh, yes. At Like Whatever Pod.

unknown:

No.

SPEAKER_06:

Likewhateverpod at gmail.com or don't like whatever.

SPEAKER_02:

Whatever. Bye. Happy holidays. Happy holidays, grandpas.

Contributor

Heather Jolley

Host
Contributor

Nicole Barr

Host