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  • Writer's pictureJH

Episode #57: (Definitely Not) A Lucky Strike Christmas




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Sometimes you just have to admit you got it wrong.


In life and in Christmas carols you sometimes come across new information that pokes Jeep-sized holes in your opinions and if you’re a mature person, you have to admit fault and make the change.


And so on this episode I’m admitting I was wrong about a line in The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year that has always driven me nuts. It’s a trivial matter in the grand scheme of things (in a hundred years, who’s going to care?), but it points to a much bigger bit of wisdom about beliefs and opinions and how when you form those without real inquiry, you risk eggnog on your face.


Over the past few weeks I’ve realized just how much of an old-timey person I am. I like the old time Christmas music and the big band era and the days when you could kick back with a Lucky Strike cigarette and enjoy the season. There’s a certain charm in those days for me (though I’m not advocating smoking as a positive lifestyle choice). I’m sure those days weren’t as great in reality as they are in my imagination (atomic weapons and all), but I do feel a certain wistfulness when I hear those old Christmas tunes or listen to radio broadcasts from the 1940s or 1950s on YouTube (see below).


Having said that, I talked on the episode about some slightly more modern Christmas music that I like before giving you, gentle listener, a list of the top-selling Christmas albums of all time. The segment includes a fun celebrity encounter I had while seeing Titanic at a movie theatre. Yes, somehow it all ties together.


The episode ends with some recommendations about historical programming to check out, with special reference to the movie Joyeux Noël and Peter Jackson’s incredible WW1 documentary They Shall Not Grow Old.


Oh, and for those who wanted photographic evidence of the Santa horror story I talked about in Episode #56, here it is:



And here's a little Christmas radio from 1943 if you're looking for a train back in time:



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