Much like our Halloween watching, our Christmas watching is such that it is getting its own zine at some point in the near (I hope) future. In lieu of a Holidays in the Movies post for Christmas, I just want to spotlight An American Christmas Carol.
Henry Winkler plays the stingiest man in town in this version of a Christmas Carol. His name is different; but the beats of his story are the same. Though, perhaps he modernizes the cruelty of Scrooge in a way that makes him seem an even worse person. Which makes his redemption even more effective. The acting in this TV movie is comfortable with a few shining moments. Unique is that, instead of being a specter of death, Dorian Harwood’s ghost of Christmas future walks into the scene with costume, music, and demeanor of someone decades ahead of the story line. This too, makes this interpretation very incisive.
Krampus and boy by j4p4n. https://openclipart.org/detail/320772/krampus-and-boy.
Though there is plenty of creepiness about a man who sneaks into our houses after spying on us all year to reward behavior that he deems good, Santa is far from the only holiday spirit to take on the job of keeping us all in line. Most of the witches and demons of Christmas time share this reward and punish vocation, but they haven’t all been painted as benevolent, harmless, and rosy cheeked as our dear old Claus.
Let’s begin with the Krampus. Krampus has been described as a half goat – half demon, and is one of the companions of St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas’ companions vary by region, share some similar characteristics, and seem to play the part of a shadow self or the evil side of the Saint. Where St. Nicholas rewards good girls and boys with gifts during Christmas time, the Krampus punishes naughty children by whipping them with bundled reeds, locking them in chains, and/or carrying them away in a woven basket he wears on his back. Krampus may be a vestige of pagan celebrations that pre-date Christianity; they have at times been forbidden by the Catholic Church. Lately, there has been a renewed interest in the Krampus that, because of modern humor and consumerism, some worry has been diluting the dark and violent truth of this Christmas creature.
Krampus is far from the only dark creature you might find during the winter holidays. Several cultures have tales of yuletide witches that both punish and reward as deserved. In Germany and Austria Perchta keeps an eye out for young women who do not abstain from their spinning on holidays, and those who have not yet finished their work on time. Individuals not observing the traditional fasting are also likely to be visited by Perchta’s wrath. This punishment, dear reader, is nothing to sneeze at. Far from simply whipping or chaining you, Perchta will disembowel you. After she has ripped your organs from your abdomen she will replace them with sticks, rocks, and garbage before sewing you back up again. Oddly, this punishment may have a silver lining. If you mend your ways, as much as you can with garbage inside you, then she may return with your safe and clean innards and undo her previous work. The lesson, in this case, is if you don’t take care of it you can’t have it anymore.
La Befana is a much more benevolent Christmastime witch. She travels around Italy during epiphany bringing gifts to good children. The story goes that the three wisemen stopped by her home looking for direction to the baby Jesus. La Befana did not know the way and neglected to join the 3 kings on their journey to Bethlehem. Not long after she regretted her decision and attempted to catch up to the 3 travelers. La Befana now travels in search of the Christ Child and leaving gifts as she goes. It has been hypothesized that La Befana is connected to the same ancient goddess as Perchta, Mother Holle, the Russian Baboushka, and Gryla.
Gryla, however, isn’t known for her kindnesses. She is an ogress, troll, or giantess, and the mother of the yule lads, seven (or thirteen) mischievous spirits who wreak havoc during Christmas time. Gryla may have multiple heads, and multiple tails, or she may simply have been an embroidered demonization of a ‘parasitic’ beggar woman. Whatever her appearance, her raison d’être is eating children who don’t obey their mother.
So, if you didn’t already think Christmas time was a time of darkness and a time to fear that which lurks in the shadows outside your door, you now have a whole host of new imagery. To me the ancient fears of demons and witches explain some of the more beautiful aspects of the holiday season, that of banding together with family and helping your neighbors. Krampus, Perchta, and Gryla may get you if you do not.
Raedisch, Linda (2019) The Old Magic of Christmas: Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year. Llewellyn Publications: Woodbury, Massechusets.
Ridenour, Al (2016) The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil. Feral House: Port Townsend, Washington.
I am not sure where I first learned the name Bami Ballen. When I searched for them by that name after having obtained my first store bought Bami Ballen, I could find precious little online. There are a few more people calling it by that name now, but mostly they are sold as surprise balls.
Surprise balls are comprised of a wound up ball of crepe paper ribbon surrounding trinkets and treats inside.
YOU WILL NEED
Crepe paper streamers
Trinkets
Ribbon
One crepe paper streamer of the type you can pick up in a craft store was all I needed for each of these. The resulting bami ballen are a little smaller than some store-bought versions, but not much. They are a pretty normal ornament size, and can be hung on a tree as decoration until it is time to unwind them.
To make them, you just wind the crepe paper round, adding a bunch of layers in between each trinket. I use the trinkets to help me build out the shape. Eventually, you will be able to compress it into a ball shape with your hands, if your ballen is a bit wonky shaped. I suggest keeping slender items like fortunes, jokes, and fortune fish to the outsides where they can easily wrap around the ball shape.
When you have wrapped up all your crepe paper, then secure the whole thing with a ribbon that can also serve as a hanger loop. I tend to gift mine with a little explanatory tag, just in case the recipient has never heard of them before.
We have been spreading our love of Christmas crackers to family and friends for a few years now. They used to be harder to find in the southern U.S., but are now made for just about every holiday and found in almost every home decor shop and catalog.
This year I wanted to make foisting crackers on family a little more special. I decided to make my own. This version does not actually ‘crack’ with the snap strip that gave crackers their name. I have been trying to make crafts to use up supplies in my closet. Since I didn’t have snap strips in the closet, I did without. I figured this was fine, because in my experience, thy only worked 10% of the time, anyway.
What you will need
Craft paper of some kind
ribbon
trinkets and jokes to put inside
cardboard tubes (I used tp cores)
a glue stick
scissors
ruler
I did this project over a couple of sittings but you could totally do it all in one go if you were so inclined. First, I gathered up all my inside bits. I didn’t make up any tissue paper crowns as would normally be found in a cracker, but I did write up some terrible jokes and gathered a couple of trinkets for each. You will need to make sure the trinkets conform to the shape of the tube. I used little jewelry baggies to hold small parts together and rubber bands to secure floppy, oddly shaped items into more compact packages.
Second, I grabbed my cardboard tubes and used them to measure my craft paper. If you use stiffer paper you will want to cut diamonds into the paper to help you cinch the ends together. My tubes were 4 inches long and 1.5 inches in diameter. My diamonds would need to be 1.5 inches long and start on either side of the 4 inch strip in the middle where the tube would go.
If you are using more flimsy paper, like wrapping paper, I would not suggest cutting the diamonds. A couple of the sheets I used were more printer paper weight and they were a little delicate around the cuts. Wrapping paper can also be easily cinched without cuts, though, if you use it, you will need card stock to help the ends hold their shape.
A few tips I have picked up while making these that made the process go so much smoother: 1) use extra tubes to help you keep your ends shaped. You will only be gluing a tube in the middle, but you will want to retain the cylindrical shape from end to end. Sliding an extra tube in each end is super helpful with this. 2) pre-roll your paper, especially if it is heavier weight, and 3) apply glue to the tube, not to the paper. Applying glue to the tube helped it adhere better and minimized the chance of wrinkles.
When the glue holds without you holding it, remove the extra tubes from either end. Tie your ribbon around one end of the cylinder over your diamond cut-outs (if you have them). You will not be able to completely close the ends (pictured above) so make sure your trinkets are not too small.
Of course the holes on either end of my cinched crackers would have been smaller if I had left less room between the middle points of each diamond. This space is what will determine how tightly closed the opening can get. You will have to figure out a good balance between a tight closure and enough remaining paper not to tear before it is meant to.
Once you have one end tied up, you can drop your jokes and trinkets inside and tie up the other end et voilà, you have made a cracker.
I will be giving all of mine away. It is a little hard to feel surprised and curious when I know what is in all of them.
We don’t celebrate Christmas in July because we have an all encompassing love of Christmas and we just have to have it more than once a year. Our mini holiday is more because we need a little imagined cooler weather; would never turn down the opportunity for another present and some some mulled cider; and could use a reminder that the yuletide feeling of love and hope for humanity doesn’t need to only happen once a year. However, while we spend weeks immersing ourselves in media for Christmas, Christmas in July gets a couple days at most. We make a selection of absolute favorites, White Christmas, and select a smattering of other features. This year that list includes:
Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July (1979) – I have probably talked about Rankin and Bass before. Theirs are the holiday specials of my childhood, along with Charlie Brown. And, the title says it: Christmas in July.
Silent Night Bloody Night (1972) – I now believe that all mansions were once used as asylums or clinics of some kind.
White Christmas (1954) – This may be my favorite Christmas movie of all time, so of course, we watch it in July.
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) – Yes, Charlie Brown again.
While making my yearly Rock ‘n Rye infusion, I got the idea that a similar process would work to make J&B more enjoyable in my house (we find it very difficult). I cut out the horehound, but kept most everything else the same as I would for Rock ‘n Rye. The effect is much more cinnamon forward, and definitely improves the J&B flavor. I gave rough measurements, but you can put in as many or as few infusing agents as you like.
Ingredients:
J&B (one 750 ml bottle)
1 string Rock candy or about a 1/4 cup loose rock candy
1/2 to 1 full orange peel (dried)
2-3 dried apricots, sliced
3-4 dried cherries
3-4 dried mandarin slices
1 whole clove
1 cinnamon stick
Instructions:
In an empty wide mouth glass container (could be anything, jar, pitcher, etc with a lid) add J&B, dried fruit, dried peel, and cinnamon stick
Allow mixture to infuse in a cool dry place for 3 or 4 days
Add rock candy and clove
Allow mixture to infuse one or two more days based on taste
According to Wikipedia, Christmas in July can trace its roots back to 1892 in the release of a translation of the French opera, Werther. A later journal article for the National Recreation Association makes it clear that a type of Christmas in July celebration was a girl’s summer camp activity in 1935 and by 1940 the movie, Christmas in July, had a theatrical release.
The first year we put out the Charlie Brown Christmas tree to albums of holiday tunes had been filled with unemployment, home stresses, job hunting, and cancer. I had known that the Hallmark and ABC Family channels would sometimes roll out some Christmas specials in July, but when my household first embraced the pseudo holiday it felt new and unique and utterly necessary. The years since haven’t all been so eventful, thank heavens, but July still seems like a good time for a reminder to love each other, practice charitable acts, and embrace a spirit of giving that doesn’t really need to happen only once a year.
Santa’s Workshop, reindeer detail, Whiteface Mountain, North Pole, New York Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/mrg.00263
I collect little things all year, clipping from websites in my Evernote, saving or favoriting posts in my rss feedreader. These are things I don’t want to forget, but I do, until when things seem to slow down at the end of the year, I clean out all my files. I ‘liked’ the Boing Boing post “Library of Congress releases 11,700 freely usable photos of “roadside America,” taken by John Margolies” back in September, because I love the type of old road-side attractions that used to make up the bulk of Florida’s tourist activities back in the day. Of course, Florida doesn’t have a monopoly on these and John Margolies photograph collection at the Library of Congress beautifully captures a whole country’s worth of strange and lovely (gallery).
Santa’s Workshop, Cascade, Colorado Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/mrg.06793
