Merry Christmas 200 Times

It must be close to Christmas, because we've reach the 1950s and television has begun to brainwash us all. Today's feature short is "Howdy Doody's Christmas." You have to be rather long in the tooth to remember this show. Only four of the regular characters show up here (and Santa too, of course), but already nefarious forces are at work to stop Santa's special visit.

But first, in the spirit of 1950s TV Christmas and while the kids are all watching, a word from our sponsor:



And now, back to our special program for today from 1957:



Today was rainy-drizzling, with constant but not overwhelming precipitation. We went grocery shopping, then Steve went out for a haircut while I wrapped presents. When he got home, I went up and napped while he wrapped presents. Now it's not looking too shabby under the tree, but nothing like some of the trees from my family's past (one coarse snapshot shown here, with presents reaching wall to wall).

When we were very little kids, opening presents happened on Christmas mornings, and it was a free-for-all: paper and ribbon flew and it was over in about 15 minutes. As we got older, we started opening presents on Christmas Eve, 7:30 p.m. to be precise.

Someone was designated and he or she picked a present from under the tree (when picking, the rule was it could not be to you or from you) and handed it to the recipient. He or she opened the present, oohs and aahs ensued and everyone got to see it. The recipient then got up and picked a present and presented it to the next person and so on.

This procedure could last for hours with a family of seven (and even longer when those siblings spawned offspring). The extended period, however, gave us all more time to enjoy the holiday.

Traditions are funny things, sort of like taking a shower: everyone does it a little differently and without ever thinking about it. Yet they have a very precise and time-honored course they follow. And, over the years, it changes ever so subtly that almost no one notices.

Merry Christmas: pass the shampoo when you're done with it.