WEBVTT - The 2024 SYSK Christmas Extravaganza!

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's

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<v Speaker 2>Chuck and Jerry's trying to come, but she's had car trouble.

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<v Speaker 2>I guess either way, she's here in spirit, the Christmas spirit,

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<v Speaker 2>and this is the stuff you should know.

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<v Speaker 3>That's right, the Holiday spectacular and a couple of traditions

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<v Speaker 3>here is that this episode has brought to you ad

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<v Speaker 3>free and also no one exactly by us. And then

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<v Speaker 3>also we have managed to work it out. I don't

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<v Speaker 3>know about every year, but it seems like every year

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<v Speaker 3>where this is the last episode that we record of

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<v Speaker 3>our recording year, and it's so great and so fun

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<v Speaker 3>wind it down this way.

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<v Speaker 2>It's such a special tradition. And Chuck, I'm really excited

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<v Speaker 2>about this particular one because this is a good a

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<v Speaker 2>good combination, a good assemblage of stuff. I guess you

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<v Speaker 2>could say, but like add some hally to that.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, And I also realize when you sent your stuff over,

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<v Speaker 3>I was like, hey, we kind of have a theme

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<v Speaker 3>for one of yours and one of mine, yeah, which

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<v Speaker 3>is you know, like sugary confections from different parts of

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<v Speaker 3>the world, right, so those are kind of fun. Maybe

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<v Speaker 3>we should do those back to back.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, yeah, I think that's a good idea. And then

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<v Speaker 2>also we have another theme movies, oh yeah, or Christmas specials.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't know however you want to put it.

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<v Speaker 3>That's right. Where should we start this year?

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<v Speaker 2>Do you want to start with the cocktail so you

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<v Speaker 2>can get cracked while we do this?

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<v Speaker 3>Uh? Sure?

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, well I think you should announce what's going on

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<v Speaker 2>to everybody.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, So what's happening is we usually try and source

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<v Speaker 3>some sort of a holiday cocktail and tell you how

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<v Speaker 3>to make it. Sometimes we make it and have it

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<v Speaker 3>on our own. And this year we had someone send

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<v Speaker 3>in a holiday cocktail. A few months ago, we got

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<v Speaker 3>an email from somebody named Holly Iten Miller.

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<v Speaker 2>I think you nailed it.

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<v Speaker 3>And this is a drink that Holly invented called hang

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<v Speaker 3>on your hats here Grandma's Christmas Breath.

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<v Speaker 2>That's so great. One thing I've noticed when you look

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<v Speaker 2>around and read Christmas stuff and try to find Christmas stuff,

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<v Speaker 2>Grandma is almost invariably portrayed as a drunk.

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<v Speaker 3>Oh I didn't really, I wasn't sure what the breath

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<v Speaker 3>would be, but I guess boozy breath. That makes sense.

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<v Speaker 2>Boozy breath. Yeah, Like I found a recipe for something

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<v Speaker 2>or other. It's like Grandma's version has like whiskey and

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<v Speaker 2>roam in it. Yeah, everybody's grandma gets drunk. Apparently on Christmas.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, our deer departed Grandma Mary, Emily's grandmother who was

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<v Speaker 3>the senior general in the this stuff you shoot an

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<v Speaker 3>army who passed away at the ripled age of one

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<v Speaker 3>hundred and one when she was in her nineties, Like

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<v Speaker 3>around Christmas, she would have a little Bailey's in her coffee.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, just a little touch every now and then,

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<v Speaker 2>a little Christmas I ree.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, So I guess Christmas time, I don't know equals

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<v Speaker 3>drug grandparents.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's how I'm taking I mean, Holly ititen Miller's

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<v Speaker 2>the name of her recipe just says it all I think.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah. So I asked Holly if there was a story

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<v Speaker 3>behind it, but I did not hear back by recording time, so.

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<v Speaker 2>She doesn't want to talk about it.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah. You know what I'll do, I'll through the magic

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<v Speaker 3>of editing. I'll pause and go get some ice. Oh okay,

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<v Speaker 3>and then I'll be right back. But to your ears.

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<v Speaker 3>I'll be back in like one second.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, hold on, do.

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<v Speaker 3>You okay, I'm back everybody. I have my shaker with ice. Josh,

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<v Speaker 3>why don't you read out the ingredients and I'll pour

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<v Speaker 3>them up.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay you ready? Yeah, prepare chuck. One shot of Captain

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<v Speaker 2>Morgan gingerbread rum.

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<v Speaker 3>Okay, So the story here is this stuff is really

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<v Speaker 3>hard to find and I had to, oh yeah, get

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<v Speaker 3>like a delivery service because I literally couldn't find it anywhere.

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<v Speaker 2>Do you remember I tried to get liquor delivered to

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<v Speaker 2>you as a condolence like a year ago, and it

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<v Speaker 2>just did not work out. I tried like five different

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<v Speaker 2>services and none of it worked.

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<v Speaker 3>I don't remember that, but yeah, you know what I

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<v Speaker 3>gave up. That's the thought that counts.

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<v Speaker 2>I kept texting you like, are you gonna be home

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<v Speaker 2>at six pm? Are you gonna be home at three

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<v Speaker 2>am tomorrow? Are you gonna be home at noon today?

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<v Speaker 3>Oh? No? Yeah? All right, So the gingerbread rum just

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<v Speaker 3>went in. I took a little sniff and it smells

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<v Speaker 3>cloyingly sweet.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh it sounds delicious, but I could I could see that,

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<v Speaker 2>all right?

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<v Speaker 3>What's next?

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<v Speaker 2>I also, I just want to make a little note here,

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<v Speaker 2>A shot is very ambiguous. You could make a court

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<v Speaker 2>size shot. You could make a little tiny shot like

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<v Speaker 2>A shot is another way of putting one part.

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<v Speaker 3>Uh yeah, I mean I I just use a standard

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<v Speaker 3>bar jigger. So whatever the big side.

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<v Speaker 2>Is, the big side is usually two ounce. Okay, all right,

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<v Speaker 2>all right, this is gonna be quite a Christmas episode.

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<v Speaker 2>The second ingredient, chuck, is one shot of Grand Marnier.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I think you just heard the cork pop, the infamous.

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<v Speaker 2>Well hear it? Well, yeah, there's definitely two ounces.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm not saying I'm gonna drink all of this, all right,

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<v Speaker 3>what's next?

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<v Speaker 2>As much orange juice as you wish. I would strongly

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<v Speaker 2>recommend fresh squeezed. Anytime you're using citrus in a cocktail.

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<v Speaker 2>Just do yourself a favor and squeeze at yourself. It's

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<v Speaker 2>not that hard.

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<v Speaker 3>All right. Well, can we pause so I can go

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<v Speaker 3>to the grocery store. Yes, now, I'm gonna open up

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<v Speaker 3>the old tropic anna that I just bought. Yeah, and

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<v Speaker 3>I bought it a convenience store, or I would have

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<v Speaker 3>gotten an orange. I'm just gonna do one shot of that. Okay,

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<v Speaker 3>just go one one one. Okay, I think that's a

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<v Speaker 3>great idea. And then do you have any ice on

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<v Speaker 3>hand or do we need to wait around.

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<v Speaker 2>For that too?

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<v Speaker 3>That's what I got in the shaker.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, that Chuck's doing the next thing. Everybody shaking Grandma's

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<v Speaker 2>Christmas press together.

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<v Speaker 3>Should have this upper on the rocks. Probably on the rocks,

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<v Speaker 3>I don't know.

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<v Speaker 2>It sounds like you got enough ice in there and

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<v Speaker 2>this is boozy enough to go up.

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<v Speaker 3>All right, I'll go up.

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<v Speaker 2>Then we'll see and then we're going to all wait

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<v Speaker 2>around here to see what Chuck thinks of this. And

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<v Speaker 2>also I want to say I'm not drinking booze right now,

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<v Speaker 2>but I'm putting away a most of a quart of

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<v Speaker 2>eggnog as we speak.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it's uh. I mean, the only reason I'm doing

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<v Speaker 3>this is because I just felt like somebody should try

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<v Speaker 3>this out on the air. And so here we go.

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<v Speaker 3>Everybody a post production drum.

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<v Speaker 2>Roll, didn't.

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<v Speaker 1>Uh?

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<v Speaker 3>Okay?

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<v Speaker 2>Ope, poor Hollie. She her Christmas dreams have just been dashed.

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<v Speaker 3>No, it's not bad. I mean it is orange because

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<v Speaker 3>the Gramona and the orange juice obviously, and it's not bad,

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<v Speaker 3>you know. I mean, it's it's definitely like a festive

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<v Speaker 3>holiday drink. I don't I would not recommend more than

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<v Speaker 3>one of them.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh is it pretty boozy?

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<v Speaker 3>I mean it's pretty pretty, just sort of sweet. I

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<v Speaker 3>got on your tolerance for sweet drinks.

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<v Speaker 2>Is that room really coming through or is it getting

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<v Speaker 2>missed in the orange?

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<v Speaker 3>It could probably come through a little bit more so.

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<v Speaker 3>I could probably add a little less orange juice if

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<v Speaker 3>there were to be a next time.

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<v Speaker 2>Or you could add more room.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, let's let's not get carried away here.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, Well I say we move on. Speaking of carried away,

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<v Speaker 2>let's carry ourselves away to the next segment. And as

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<v Speaker 2>per Christmas tradition holiday show tradition, Jerry's going to add

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<v Speaker 2>some really nice Christmas y intersticial music. So take it away, Jerry.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, Chuck, how are you feeling good?

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<v Speaker 3>And big thanks to Holly again for this for this drink.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So we're gonna teach everybody how to play dirty

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<v Speaker 2>Santa next. We're doing that with an assist from Nella

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<v Speaker 2>Bailey McGoff. I'm pretty sure I'll tell you say her

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<v Speaker 2>last name from Southern Living, who wrote a pretty top

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<v Speaker 2>notch article on how to play this why to play it,

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<v Speaker 2>And they even turned up what the origin of the name,

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<v Speaker 2>because it's got a bunch of different names. White Elephant,

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<v Speaker 2>apparently in the South were the ones who typically call

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<v Speaker 2>it dirty Santa.

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<v Speaker 3>Never heard of that.

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<v Speaker 2>You've never heard of dirty Santa, That's all I've ever

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<v Speaker 2>heard it. Well, aside from white.

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<v Speaker 3>Elephant, I've only heard white elephant in what.

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<v Speaker 2>About Yankee swap? That one's new to me.

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<v Speaker 3>No, I've never heard that. One only heard white elephant

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<v Speaker 3>when it comes to this kind of game.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, well, I've heard Dirty Sanna and white elephant, but regardless,

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<v Speaker 2>the white Elephant name seems to be the traditional name

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<v Speaker 2>for this, which is it's kind of like it's a

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<v Speaker 2>party game. You would play it like your holiday party,

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<v Speaker 2>and in the spirit basically of Secret Sanna, where everybody

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<v Speaker 2>gives somebody else a gift anonymously and then the person

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<v Speaker 2>tries to guess who gave it to him. It's very

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<v Speaker 2>nice and sweet. This is not well, it's not supposed

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<v Speaker 2>to be mean or anything like that, but there's a

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<v Speaker 2>lot there's some twists to it that make it dirty.

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<v Speaker 3>That's right, because it involves the trading of gifts, which

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<v Speaker 3>we'll get to the rules in a second, it can well,

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<v Speaker 3>I'll mention that when we get to the trading part.

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<v Speaker 3>But okay, yeah, the origins is interesting because I never

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<v Speaker 3>knew this. As far as the white elephant name, supposedly

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<v Speaker 3>it came from what is now Thailand, what was Siam

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<v Speaker 3>back in the day, and the king of Siam was

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<v Speaker 3>if he was annoyed, he might give someone an albino

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<v Speaker 3>elephant if he didn't like them very much.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, yes, But the key here was to the cordier

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<v Speaker 2>who received this gift. I mean, this is a lavish gift,

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<v Speaker 2>but it was a lavish gift that cost a lot

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<v Speaker 2>and took a lot of effort to keep healthy and happy.

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<v Speaker 2>So although it seemed like you would really gain the

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<v Speaker 2>king's favor, the king was giving you a real problem

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<v Speaker 2>to deal with for the rest of the elephant's life.

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<v Speaker 2>So it's a pretty sharp little idea that Jil Brenner

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<v Speaker 2>came up with. And that's where the name came from,

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<v Speaker 2>White Elephant, right, yeah, okay, So getting onto the modern

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<v Speaker 2>incarnation of it, I did not see who invented this.

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<v Speaker 2>I guess the King of Siam did, but the modern

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<v Speaker 2>incarnation I don't know where that came from. But there

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<v Speaker 2>are basically wherever you look up rules for the white

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<v Speaker 2>Elephant game, there's some that are just tried and true.

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<v Speaker 2>They're just you're going to find them in any set

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<v Speaker 2>of rules. One of the big ones is set a

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<v Speaker 2>dollar limit. Yeah, you don't want some person just showing

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<v Speaker 2>off their Christmas bonus by you know, they show up

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<v Speaker 2>with a bunch of bang on olafs and speakers or

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<v Speaker 2>something like that. You know, by setting a limit at

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<v Speaker 2>like twenty bucks, you're making the people get kind of creative.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, And the whole idea here is to have fun.

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<v Speaker 3>So yeah, twenty bucks, I feel like is I mean,

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<v Speaker 3>you can set it according to whatever you know, financial

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<v Speaker 3>pool you're swimming in, but I feel like twenty dollars

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<v Speaker 3>is a pretty good round number.

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<v Speaker 2>Great. But yes, the cheaper, the lower the price limit,

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<v Speaker 2>the more creative the people have to be to come

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<v Speaker 2>up with something.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, exactly. They give some tips here in this article

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<v Speaker 3>which is kind of fun, which is to try and

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<v Speaker 3>fool the unwrapper by wrapping it wrapping perhaps a small

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<v Speaker 3>thing and some big elaborate package, or by if you

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<v Speaker 3>get really creative, if you can even reshape something as

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<v Speaker 3>far as the wrapping goes to where it looks like

0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:58.000
<v Speaker 3>something else, like maybe a bottle of wine, when it

0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.120
<v Speaker 3>in fact is just like a folded up whoopy cushion.

0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:04.120
<v Speaker 2>Yes, oh that's a good one. Yeah, that's a great,

0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:05.559
<v Speaker 2>great white elephant kid.

0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:08.000
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, those are probably only like five dollars.

0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:12.040
<v Speaker 2>Right, so you well not in twenty twenty four, pal, Yeah,

0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:16.200
<v Speaker 2>so you want to in your invitation specify, yes, wrap it,

0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:18.320
<v Speaker 2>get creative when you're wrapping, but do not put it

0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:20.720
<v Speaker 2>to or from thing. This is all anonymous. And then

0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:22.760
<v Speaker 2>everybody comes on the day of the party and they

0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:24.720
<v Speaker 2>bring their gift wrapped and they put it in a

0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:29.200
<v Speaker 2>pile the pool as some people call it. Yeah, and

0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:33.840
<v Speaker 2>Nella Bailey McGoff specifies, do not put this area near

0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:37.880
<v Speaker 2>your own family's real presence, because you don't want to

0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:41.400
<v Speaker 2>mix up like that. And then once the everybody's assembled,

0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:43.520
<v Speaker 2>and you're usually sitting around in a circle or something

0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:46.520
<v Speaker 2>so everybody can see everybody else, you draw numbers from

0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:48.760
<v Speaker 2>a hat, and the numbers in the hat number from

0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:52.359
<v Speaker 2>one to the number of people playing, and everybody draws.

0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:55.000
<v Speaker 3>A number that's right. So once you've drawn your number

0:12:55.160 --> 0:13:00.839
<v Speaker 3>and are thus ordered in opening order number one. It's

0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:03.160
<v Speaker 3>gonna grab a gift. They're gonna open it, they're gonna

0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:06.240
<v Speaker 3>show everybody what it is. Oh my god, it's for

0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:09.760
<v Speaker 3>whoopy cushions because they're well probably three these days, to

0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:13.040
<v Speaker 3>hit that twenty dollars mark, right, and that's it. They

0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:15.720
<v Speaker 3>got their gift. Everyone gets a good laugh. Next up

0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:17.640
<v Speaker 3>is person number two, and this is when it gets

0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:21.000
<v Speaker 3>interesting because person number two has a choice. They can

0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:23.760
<v Speaker 3>pick a new gift from the pile, or they can

0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:26.680
<v Speaker 3>go ahead and just steal that first gift if that

0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:28.560
<v Speaker 3>is something that they actually want.

0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:32.800
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, there's also an alternate set of rules that say

0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:36.480
<v Speaker 2>everyone picks a gift first and then the stealing starts.

0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:39.040
<v Speaker 2>But most of the time you can steal on that

0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:42.440
<v Speaker 2>second turn. There's this is where it gets a little hazy.

0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:46.920
<v Speaker 2>So let's say that you're five people into this, right,

0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:50.440
<v Speaker 2>So person number five, it's their turn. If they go

0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:54.800
<v Speaker 2>and steal person number four's gift. Now it's time for

0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:57.319
<v Speaker 2>person number four to go steal somebody else's gifts, say

0:13:57.360 --> 0:13:59.959
<v Speaker 2>person number two. Now person number two has to steal

0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:03.640
<v Speaker 2>a gift, and this can just keep going on ad infinitum.

0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:08.000
<v Speaker 2>So usually it's the third the third time a gift

0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:10.840
<v Speaker 2>is stolen, the last person has to just go take

0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:12.760
<v Speaker 2>a new gift from the pile. They don't get to

0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:15.320
<v Speaker 2>stealer else and just keep going on and on and on. Right,

0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:20.040
<v Speaker 2>And then there's some other restrictions on how many times

0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:22.000
<v Speaker 2>a gift can be stolen or a person can be

0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:23.920
<v Speaker 2>stolen from too, right, Yeah, I.

0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:26.160
<v Speaker 3>Mean you can do house rules, of course or regional rules,

0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:29.880
<v Speaker 3>but generally a gift can not be can be stolen

0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:34.000
<v Speaker 3>no more than three times. If a gift is pronounced dead,

0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:36.920
<v Speaker 3>that means you can't steal it anymore, and that that's

0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:41.040
<v Speaker 3>after it's been stolen right three times? Oh oh after right, duh,

0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:44.000
<v Speaker 3>after the three times it can no longer be stolen.

0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:47.520
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, And usually a person can only be stolen from

0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.520
<v Speaker 2>three times as well. And then whatever gift they're holding

0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:54.480
<v Speaker 2>on the last time that gets whatever gift they go

0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:58.000
<v Speaker 2>steal from somebody else or pick, that's their gift to keep.

0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:00.800
<v Speaker 2>So you can play strategically here. There's actually a gift

0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:03.160
<v Speaker 2>there that you want, Like you really want that whoopee cushion.

0:15:04.040 --> 0:15:11.120
<v Speaker 2>You can choose it as your last gift after you're dead, essentially.

0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:13.840
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, if your gift is stolen, you can't steal it

0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:17.040
<v Speaker 3>right back. You have to steal another gift or choose

0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:21.280
<v Speaker 3>from the pile. And is there are there any other variations?

0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:26.200
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, essentially, once all of this continues on, Once this

0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:29.040
<v Speaker 2>goes around and everybody say, you have fifteen people playing.

0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:33.400
<v Speaker 2>After person fifteen's turn, you're back to person one because

0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:35.720
<v Speaker 2>they had no choice. They had to choose a gift

0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:38.600
<v Speaker 2>from the pile. Now it's their turn to decide to steal.

0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:40.760
<v Speaker 2>And if they decide to keep their gift, and the

0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:43.720
<v Speaker 2>game's over if they steal. It keeps going on until

0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:46.680
<v Speaker 2>you finally reach somebody who goes, I'm good, I really

0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:50.320
<v Speaker 2>love my whoope cushion. I'm keeping my gift. They the

0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:54.920
<v Speaker 2>party's essentially over at that point because the excitement has

0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:58.440
<v Speaker 2>been so charged that there's nothing you could possibly do

0:15:58.600 --> 0:15:59.600
<v Speaker 2>to top it. After that.

0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:02.360
<v Speaker 3>I don't know, you got those whoope cushions. I say,

0:16:02.360 --> 0:16:03.800
<v Speaker 3>the party is just getting started.

0:16:04.200 --> 0:16:07.360
<v Speaker 2>That's true, that's true. I mean I was thinking you

0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:10.360
<v Speaker 2>could drink like gallons of Grandma's Christmas breath in it

0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:13.640
<v Speaker 2>still wouldn't bring about the thrill that the White Elephant

0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:14.160
<v Speaker 2>game can.

0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:17.440
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, Well, two quick things one thing I wanted to

0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:21.640
<v Speaker 3>mention earlier on is I have seen this game go badly,

0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:25.040
<v Speaker 3>Like if somebody really wants to keep something and it

0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:29.160
<v Speaker 3>gets stolen, they get their feelings hurt. Boy, try and

0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:33.160
<v Speaker 3>park that attitude at the door. Yeah, this is supposed

0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:35.720
<v Speaker 3>to be fun. And if all of a sudden you're

0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:39.280
<v Speaker 3>really getting mad because you didn't get that Whoopee cushion,

0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:43.640
<v Speaker 3>then you know, do some self reflection on what you're

0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:44.480
<v Speaker 3>bringing to the table.

0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:46.960
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, for sure. I mean you can go buy a

0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:48.720
<v Speaker 2>Whoopee cushion if you really need it.

0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:50.400
<v Speaker 3>That's right. And the second thing I want to say,

0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:53.040
<v Speaker 3>since you said gallons of this drink as I was

0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:55.720
<v Speaker 3>drinking it, I think this would be really good as

0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:59.200
<v Speaker 3>a punch. Like throw it in the punch bowl with

0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:02.160
<v Speaker 3>some like cinnamon sticks and sliced oranges and some other

0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:04.760
<v Speaker 3>like a bunch of ice, a bunch of ice and

0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:06.359
<v Speaker 3>stuff like that, and I think it would make like

0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:07.800
<v Speaker 3>a pretty pretty decent party punch.

0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:09.879
<v Speaker 2>Actually, would you add soda water to it?

0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:12.399
<v Speaker 3>I don't know. How does that hold up in a

0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:12.880
<v Speaker 3>punch bowl?

0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:15.800
<v Speaker 2>Well? Very well. I mean there's like a whole sprite

0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:19.520
<v Speaker 2>high Sea punch camp that is like crazy for that stuff. Yeah,

0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:20.320
<v Speaker 2>it's carbonated.

0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:23.639
<v Speaker 3>All right, then I say, for four leaders of Topuchico

0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:24.000
<v Speaker 3>in there.

0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:28.000
<v Speaker 2>Okay, all right, that sounds good. All right, Actually that

0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:30.520
<v Speaker 2>sounds terrible. That'd be mineral water mixed with it. You

0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:32.200
<v Speaker 2>just want plain club soda.

0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:36.280
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and what's like a red tinting like a high

0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:39.280
<v Speaker 3>sea I guess so? But what's something that's not super

0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:41.920
<v Speaker 3>sweet like campari? Would that change the taste a lot?

0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:46.560
<v Speaker 2>Yes, yeah, definitely would. I have no idea what that

0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:47.880
<v Speaker 2>would taste like after that.

0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:49.760
<v Speaker 3>Point it would. It would be a little more festive

0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:51.480
<v Speaker 3>as a punch. I think if it was red or.

0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:55.359
<v Speaker 2>Green, yes, for sure. I get what you're saying. I

0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:56.800
<v Speaker 2>guess it's kind of brown right now.

0:17:58.000 --> 0:17:59.920
<v Speaker 3>I mean it's more orange.

0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:00.720
<v Speaker 2>Oh it is actually orange.

0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:02.200
<v Speaker 3>Okay, yeah, it looks like orange juice.

0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:05.399
<v Speaker 2>Okay, well that's it for a white elephant. There is

0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:10.880
<v Speaker 2>one one quote I wanted to read from Nella Bailey McGoff, boy,

0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:12.480
<v Speaker 2>you know the do you know the one?

0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:14.359
<v Speaker 3>I'm pretty sure? Go ahead.

0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:18.200
<v Speaker 2>They say that the mixture of gag gifts and gifts

0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:21.520
<v Speaker 2>people actually want combined to make the nitro that fuels

0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:25.879
<v Speaker 2>this amazing game. And I guess that Nella Bailey McGoff

0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:28.199
<v Speaker 2>would be a really fun person to play White Elephant.

0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:29.320
<v Speaker 3>Totally. I love it.

0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:33.040
<v Speaker 2>Hey, let's hit the interstitial Christmas music again as we

0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:34.680
<v Speaker 2>mosey on over to the next segment.

0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:50.639
<v Speaker 3>All right, I'd say we move on to let's go

0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:53.199
<v Speaker 3>ahead knock out our our two confections.

0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:55.840
<v Speaker 2>Oh, okay, which one do you want to do first?

0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:58.480
<v Speaker 3>You know what, Let's start with Italy because this is

0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:02.000
<v Speaker 3>also the thing that a listener sent in, which is

0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:03.920
<v Speaker 3>really great. People are starting to help program the show

0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:07.040
<v Speaker 3>because it gets really really hard to find new short

0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:11.639
<v Speaker 3>Christmas stuff after all these years. But Carl with a

0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:15.280
<v Speaker 3>K Hardin sent in a suggestion to do a short

0:19:15.280 --> 0:19:21.320
<v Speaker 3>stuff on Pizzel pizze or pizzelle Pizzelle.

0:19:21.960 --> 0:19:26.400
<v Speaker 2>I thought pizzello, Yeah, you just say it like that.

0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:31.399
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it's an Italian cookie that is enjoyed, you know,

0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:33.159
<v Speaker 3>at different times of the air weddings and things, but

0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:35.639
<v Speaker 3>really known as a Christmas or Easter cookie.

0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:40.040
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I know them as Christmas. I didn't realize they

0:19:40.040 --> 0:19:42.879
<v Speaker 2>were Easter, but yeah, they're super Italian and they're so

0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:48.119
<v Speaker 2>Italian that it shares a word with pizza. Yeah, PiZZ

0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:52.000
<v Speaker 2>which means round and flat, which is pretty impressive that

0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:54.520
<v Speaker 2>they fit round and flat into just one word.

0:19:55.240 --> 0:19:56.200
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, that's true.

0:19:56.480 --> 0:20:00.840
<v Speaker 2>The L in pizzel means small and the ah in

0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:04.160
<v Speaker 2>pizza means personal pan Right.

0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:08.600
<v Speaker 3>Oh man, well done. That was pre thought of, I know,

0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:10.920
<v Speaker 3>but it was still great, great delivery. Nothing wrong with

0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:15.240
<v Speaker 3>writing a joke, my friend? All right, so such a fraud, No,

0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:19.280
<v Speaker 3>not at all. Traditionally, black licorice or anise is the

0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:22.600
<v Speaker 3>traditional flavor, but that's sort of the old world stuff.

0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:25.680
<v Speaker 3>These days, you can flavor it with whatever you want.

0:20:25.720 --> 0:20:29.280
<v Speaker 3>A lot of chocolate one's vanilla lemon's a very popular flavor.

0:20:30.280 --> 0:20:31.040
<v Speaker 2>Gingerbread.

0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:33.439
<v Speaker 3>Oh sure, I could dip it in this punch.

0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:36.920
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, sounds good. I also saw a savory one lemon dill.

0:20:37.520 --> 0:20:39.520
<v Speaker 2>I'm not crazy about that, but that was the most

0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:40.639
<v Speaker 2>exotic one I found.

0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:44.639
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I saw an Elk one, but that feels a

0:20:44.680 --> 0:20:47.480
<v Speaker 3>little gamey for real.

0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:50.880
<v Speaker 2>An Elk one? No, okay, because I was gonna say

0:20:50.880 --> 0:20:53.200
<v Speaker 2>maybe it was a recipe from the Elks.

0:20:53.520 --> 0:20:55.480
<v Speaker 3>Oh sure, sure, I get you. So.

0:20:56.560 --> 0:20:59.919
<v Speaker 2>It's also really simple to make too. It's just like sugar, eggs, flour,

0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:03.679
<v Speaker 2>maybe butter, maybe olive oil. If you really want to

0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:05.880
<v Speaker 2>get Italian and then, like you said, some of those

0:21:05.880 --> 0:21:08.760
<v Speaker 2>flavorings and then you make it essentially like an old

0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:14.399
<v Speaker 2>timey waffle where you have a like two irons that

0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:18.920
<v Speaker 2>usually have some sort of like like what is it

0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:23.800
<v Speaker 2>boss relief emblem or symbol or shape or something like that. Yeah,

0:21:23.840 --> 0:21:26.480
<v Speaker 2>that the dough cooks into, so it transfers as the

0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:28.040
<v Speaker 2>shape to the dough as you're cooking.

0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:30.840
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, like the old world way. And I imagine a

0:21:30.840 --> 0:21:33.639
<v Speaker 3>lot of just sort of traditional Italian family still do

0:21:33.680 --> 0:21:36.600
<v Speaker 3>it this way. I mean they make machines like a

0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:39.200
<v Speaker 3>waffle iron that you could do this in. But is

0:21:39.560 --> 0:21:43.240
<v Speaker 3>the old school two cast iron plates like you said,

0:21:43.240 --> 0:21:46.480
<v Speaker 3>that have those decorative designs and a lot of times

0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:49.679
<v Speaker 3>it's a snowflake. For Christmas. Back in the old days,

0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:53.600
<v Speaker 3>you could get like a family like a family plate

0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:57.000
<v Speaker 3>made with your whatever about you, like your family cress

0:21:57.000 --> 0:21:59.480
<v Speaker 3>maybe or a special date in your family or anything

0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:00.679
<v Speaker 3>meaningful to your family.

0:22:01.040 --> 0:22:03.080
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, picture of your grandma drunk at Christmas.

0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:06.800
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, sure, and then you can eat that drunk face.

0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:10.520
<v Speaker 3>And then you cook those over an open flame, you know,

0:22:10.600 --> 0:22:13.040
<v Speaker 3>like turning it over, you know, each side, each side.

0:22:13.560 --> 0:22:16.040
<v Speaker 3>Let that thing cool off, and then you can do

0:22:16.080 --> 0:22:17.800
<v Speaker 3>a lot of things with it. You can roll it

0:22:17.880 --> 0:22:19.679
<v Speaker 3>up like a cone and put stuff in it. You

0:22:19.720 --> 0:22:23.199
<v Speaker 3>can just sprinkle it with a little powdered sugar. You

0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:25.720
<v Speaker 3>can saw one where you can use it as a

0:22:25.880 --> 0:22:27.600
<v Speaker 3>like ice cream sandwich layer.

0:22:28.040 --> 0:22:30.919
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, the I don't know where you got this, but

0:22:30.960 --> 0:22:34.520
<v Speaker 2>there's a nutella ice cream pizzel sandwich. I don't even

0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:36.400
<v Speaker 2>know if this is a recipe, but you just alternate

0:22:36.480 --> 0:22:40.400
<v Speaker 2>layers of pizzel, natella and whatever flavor ice cream you want.

0:22:40.400 --> 0:22:42.639
<v Speaker 2>To stack it as high as you can get your

0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:44.040
<v Speaker 2>mouth around, and there you go.

0:22:44.640 --> 0:22:45.800
<v Speaker 3>It sounds delicious.

0:22:46.160 --> 0:22:48.840
<v Speaker 2>Plus also, I mean, like a fresh pizzelle out of

0:22:48.880 --> 0:22:52.240
<v Speaker 2>some hot iron sounds really really good. I mean even

0:22:52.280 --> 0:22:54.480
<v Speaker 2>a stale pizzel is still kind of good.

0:22:54.760 --> 0:22:55.960
<v Speaker 3>I don't think i've ever had one.

0:22:56.440 --> 0:22:59.240
<v Speaker 2>Oh really, you should order some. They're everywhere.

0:22:59.400 --> 0:23:01.160
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I figure this time of year.

0:23:01.119 --> 0:23:03.840
<v Speaker 2>Huh, yeah, I would. I would treat yourself and do

0:23:03.920 --> 0:23:08.320
<v Speaker 2>you in a nice one, the traditional kind. It's actually

0:23:08.359 --> 0:23:11.000
<v Speaker 2>surprisingly good. I'm not crazy about a nie, but it's

0:23:11.040 --> 0:23:14.000
<v Speaker 2>it's good in this context. Okay, and then gets something

0:23:14.000 --> 0:23:16.359
<v Speaker 2>else that you know you're gonna like, like lemon or something.

0:23:16.640 --> 0:23:19.760
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I'm gonna see if there's a good Italian bakery

0:23:19.960 --> 0:23:20.760
<v Speaker 3>in Atlanta.

0:23:20.800 --> 0:23:23.119
<v Speaker 2>I'm sure you go. But I mean even if there's not,

0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:25.920
<v Speaker 2>I guarantee you can find these that like TJ Max

0:23:25.960 --> 0:23:26.679
<v Speaker 2>if you want to.

0:23:27.280 --> 0:23:29.879
<v Speaker 3>Like they're everywhere, right behind the blouse aisle.

0:23:31.320 --> 0:23:33.760
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, sometimes mixed in with the blouses.

0:23:33.880 --> 0:23:37.040
<v Speaker 3>Oh all right, so that's the pizzel. Should we move

0:23:37.080 --> 0:23:39.880
<v Speaker 3>on to your le bouch de noel?

0:23:40.280 --> 0:23:42.520
<v Speaker 2>Yes, I did not expect you to say it like that,

0:23:42.680 --> 0:23:43.720
<v Speaker 2>but nicely done.

0:23:43.840 --> 0:23:45.679
<v Speaker 3>How would you say it? What's the correct way? In

0:23:45.720 --> 0:23:46.679
<v Speaker 3>other words?

0:23:46.920 --> 0:23:48.159
<v Speaker 2>I mean you basically had it.

0:23:48.200 --> 0:23:50.080
<v Speaker 3>I think it's bouche.

0:23:50.359 --> 0:23:53.320
<v Speaker 2>I think so, But I know that bousch also is

0:23:54.880 --> 0:23:56.280
<v Speaker 2>is a mouth?

0:23:57.800 --> 0:24:01.800
<v Speaker 3>No? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

0:24:01.720 --> 0:24:06.200
<v Speaker 2>I'm pretty sure. So I could be miss miss saying it.

0:24:06.320 --> 0:24:07.760
<v Speaker 2>It could be butchy.

0:24:07.880 --> 0:24:10.440
<v Speaker 3>Okay, okay, butchy noel.

0:24:11.280 --> 0:24:14.600
<v Speaker 2>Right, and it's a yule log, but it's an edible

0:24:14.680 --> 0:24:19.400
<v Speaker 2>yule log, and it's a really closely identified with France.

0:24:19.840 --> 0:24:23.000
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it is, uh, and it was not something you

0:24:23.000 --> 0:24:27.600
<v Speaker 3>would eat in the old school tradition in France. What happened.

0:24:27.640 --> 0:24:32.000
<v Speaker 3>It dates back to medieval times and you would get

0:24:32.000 --> 0:24:35.080
<v Speaker 3>a real log of wood, usually a fruit tree or

0:24:35.119 --> 0:24:38.480
<v Speaker 3>many times a fruit tree, and you would do that

0:24:38.560 --> 0:24:41.600
<v Speaker 3>to let's say you wanted like a good apple harvest

0:24:41.680 --> 0:24:43.040
<v Speaker 3>for the year to come, so you would use like

0:24:43.080 --> 0:24:46.679
<v Speaker 3>an apple branch or log. You bring it home, you

0:24:46.720 --> 0:24:49.200
<v Speaker 3>put that thing in the hearth, and the hearth is

0:24:49.240 --> 0:24:50.879
<v Speaker 3>sort of where the family hung out, so it's just

0:24:50.920 --> 0:24:52.000
<v Speaker 3>sort of the centerpiece there.

0:24:52.800 --> 0:24:55.960
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and then there were I think this actually is

0:24:56.000 --> 0:24:58.760
<v Speaker 2>like a pagan right even that they would they would

0:24:58.840 --> 0:25:02.679
<v Speaker 2>light this and it was supposed to last from Christmas

0:25:02.800 --> 0:25:06.000
<v Speaker 2>through the New Year, so at least three days. If

0:25:06.040 --> 0:25:08.399
<v Speaker 2>it didn't burn for three days, you did it wrong

0:25:08.720 --> 0:25:10.919
<v Speaker 2>and your next year is going to suck. But if

0:25:10.960 --> 0:25:14.840
<v Speaker 2>you could at least make it three days, yeah, you

0:25:14.880 --> 0:25:17.520
<v Speaker 2>were probably going to choke to death on an apple

0:25:17.600 --> 0:25:20.000
<v Speaker 2>the following year if it didn't make it three days.

0:25:20.280 --> 0:25:22.280
<v Speaker 2>But if it makes it three days or longer, great,

0:25:22.520 --> 0:25:26.000
<v Speaker 2>And so to kind of game the system. Usually your

0:25:26.240 --> 0:25:30.000
<v Speaker 2>mule log would be like damp, like very green and

0:25:30.160 --> 0:25:33.159
<v Speaker 2>very large, because that wouldn't be the only thing you

0:25:33.160 --> 0:25:35.399
<v Speaker 2>were burning, like, you needed to cook, you needed to

0:25:35.640 --> 0:25:38.359
<v Speaker 2>keep warm, so you had fires going this whole time.

0:25:38.480 --> 0:25:41.040
<v Speaker 2>So you keep this log going for at least three

0:25:41.119 --> 0:25:42.960
<v Speaker 2>days it had to be of a certain type.

0:25:43.240 --> 0:25:44.960
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and I'm not sure if we mentioned you lighted

0:25:44.960 --> 0:25:49.040
<v Speaker 3>on Christmas Eve, if you've really done your job well

0:25:49.240 --> 0:25:51.680
<v Speaker 3>and you picked out the perfect log, maybe soaked it

0:25:51.680 --> 0:25:53.919
<v Speaker 3>a little bit and gain the system. Like you said,

0:25:54.200 --> 0:25:57.119
<v Speaker 3>that thing might burn to the new year, and I

0:25:57.160 --> 0:25:59.959
<v Speaker 3>would guess the whole family just celebrates that that happens.

0:26:00.400 --> 0:26:03.520
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and the ashes even are were thought to prevent

0:26:03.720 --> 0:26:06.439
<v Speaker 2>lightning strikes, so you'd want to cover yourself in it

0:26:06.480 --> 0:26:09.639
<v Speaker 2>anytime you went out in a rainstorm. I'm guessing they

0:26:09.680 --> 0:26:14.280
<v Speaker 2>would use the coal and like medicinal preparations, all sorts

0:26:14.320 --> 0:26:16.520
<v Speaker 2>of stuff. Right, it was a big deal. The problem

0:26:16.600 --> 0:26:20.399
<v Speaker 2>is and our friend, well, I guess our online friend,

0:26:21.240 --> 0:26:24.119
<v Speaker 2>this person that whose article we came across, Lucy Rose

0:26:24.760 --> 0:26:29.000
<v Speaker 2>beyond brosche Brioche on frenchly dot com wrote a great

0:26:29.080 --> 0:26:33.200
<v Speaker 2>article about this, and Lucy Rose said that eventually, over time,

0:26:33.320 --> 0:26:37.400
<v Speaker 2>hearths just kind of started to disappear, Like so the

0:26:37.400 --> 0:26:39.760
<v Speaker 2>center of the house where the mule log used to

0:26:39.880 --> 0:26:42.040
<v Speaker 2>kind of do its thing at the end of the year,

0:26:42.880 --> 0:26:46.959
<v Speaker 2>lost its setting. So people still kind of followed this tradition,

0:26:47.000 --> 0:26:49.280
<v Speaker 2>but they would just set a log on the dinner

0:26:49.320 --> 0:26:52.120
<v Speaker 2>table and and just look at it. They didn't set

0:26:52.160 --> 0:26:54.840
<v Speaker 2>it on fire, so it lost a little something. And

0:26:54.880 --> 0:26:58.040
<v Speaker 2>then eventually somebody was like, hey, why don't we eat

0:26:58.080 --> 0:27:00.479
<v Speaker 2>that thing. Let's make an edible version of this and

0:27:00.600 --> 0:27:04.440
<v Speaker 2>eat it. And that's where the bouche de noel came from.

0:27:04.560 --> 0:27:07.520
<v Speaker 3>That's right. That happened sometime in the late eighteen hundreds.

0:27:08.200 --> 0:27:12.840
<v Speaker 3>Apparently a gentleman named Pierre la Com published the first

0:27:12.920 --> 0:27:16.719
<v Speaker 3>recipe for that in eighteen ninety, and it started spreading

0:27:16.720 --> 0:27:21.200
<v Speaker 3>around to other cultures, other cultures that either spoke French

0:27:21.320 --> 0:27:25.639
<v Speaker 3>or just dug what the French were into. And you know,

0:27:25.760 --> 0:27:28.960
<v Speaker 3>you make it like a jelly roll cake, but you've

0:27:28.960 --> 0:27:31.640
<v Speaker 3>got butter cream instead of the jelly, and you roll

0:27:31.680 --> 0:27:34.240
<v Speaker 3>it up and you frost it with a ganache of

0:27:34.280 --> 0:27:36.240
<v Speaker 3>some kind, and then you try to make it look

0:27:36.280 --> 0:27:38.520
<v Speaker 3>like bark, like use a fork and kind of scrape

0:27:38.560 --> 0:27:40.560
<v Speaker 3>along the outside to make it look a little more

0:27:40.600 --> 0:27:41.040
<v Speaker 3>like a log.

0:27:41.560 --> 0:27:44.479
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. And sometimes, like the more modern ones, they'll come

0:27:44.480 --> 0:27:46.680
<v Speaker 2>in all sorts of colors or whatever, and they look

0:27:46.840 --> 0:27:50.919
<v Speaker 2>very sleek, like a Swiss cake roll essentially. But the

0:27:51.000 --> 0:27:54.840
<v Speaker 2>traditional bouche de noel is like you can really kind

0:27:54.840 --> 0:27:56.960
<v Speaker 2>of go to town with it, not just making that

0:27:57.040 --> 0:28:01.440
<v Speaker 2>bark effect, but you could make additional smaller jelly roll

0:28:01.520 --> 0:28:04.000
<v Speaker 2>cakes that you roll up and make us like branches

0:28:04.040 --> 0:28:06.560
<v Speaker 2>coming off of it. Some people go to the trouble

0:28:06.600 --> 0:28:12.520
<v Speaker 2>of making meringue or marzipan mushrooms like little toadstools growing

0:28:12.560 --> 0:28:12.920
<v Speaker 2>out of it.

0:28:13.280 --> 0:28:13.520
<v Speaker 3>Cute.

0:28:13.840 --> 0:28:15.920
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it is super cute, Like a really well done

0:28:15.960 --> 0:28:18.520
<v Speaker 2>bouch to noel is adorable, so much so that you

0:28:18.520 --> 0:28:21.560
<v Speaker 2>don't really want to eat it, but from the description

0:28:22.280 --> 0:28:25.120
<v Speaker 2>of the ingredients, I would eat it anyway.

0:28:25.400 --> 0:28:26.200
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, for sure.

0:28:26.359 --> 0:28:28.560
<v Speaker 2>And there's actually it's not that hard to make. And

0:28:28.600 --> 0:28:34.160
<v Speaker 2>there's some recipes that Lucy Rose recommends. There's one from

0:28:34.359 --> 0:28:37.680
<v Speaker 2>a leg grun Wheel, which is a legendary French restaurant

0:28:37.680 --> 0:28:40.320
<v Speaker 2>in New York. They had one published in the New

0:28:40.400 --> 0:28:43.040
<v Speaker 2>York Times in nineteen eighty two. Then the other one

0:28:43.080 --> 0:28:47.000
<v Speaker 2>she recommended came from Jacques Pepin. His classic bouche to.

0:28:46.960 --> 0:28:49.920
<v Speaker 3>Noel doesn't get any better than jacqu papin.

0:28:50.000 --> 0:28:53.320
<v Speaker 2>No And while you're out at those bakeries looking for pizzelle,

0:28:54.320 --> 0:28:55.920
<v Speaker 2>try a French bakery and see if they have a

0:28:55.920 --> 0:28:57.760
<v Speaker 2>bouche to noel. And if they don't, but you really

0:28:57.800 --> 0:28:59.720
<v Speaker 2>want to try it. They saw them online too.

0:29:00.040 --> 0:29:02.040
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, boy, I'm looking at some of these online. These

0:29:02.080 --> 0:29:03.240
<v Speaker 3>are really lovely.

0:29:03.680 --> 0:29:05.800
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, they really are. Don't they look cool? Like do

0:29:05.840 --> 0:29:07.280
<v Speaker 2>you see any with the toadstools?

0:29:07.520 --> 0:29:10.600
<v Speaker 3>I see the toadstools, I see the little forked bark.

0:29:10.640 --> 0:29:13.080
<v Speaker 3>Those look nice. But I see someone who somehow managed

0:29:13.080 --> 0:29:15.880
<v Speaker 3>to make it look like real pine bark. That looks

0:29:15.960 --> 0:29:16.440
<v Speaker 3>really great.

0:29:16.800 --> 0:29:19.920
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean, somebody with the right kind of fork

0:29:19.960 --> 0:29:25.520
<v Speaker 2>could really go to So let's move on. Huh.

0:29:25.600 --> 0:29:27.880
<v Speaker 3>All right? So those, yeah, those are the two confections.

0:29:27.920 --> 0:29:30.000
<v Speaker 3>And so we're gonna hop in our slate we're gonna

0:29:30.160 --> 0:29:33.240
<v Speaker 3>ride around up in the stratosphere atmosphere. Where are we

0:29:33.280 --> 0:29:33.640
<v Speaker 3>up there?

0:29:34.680 --> 0:29:37.000
<v Speaker 2>I think the stratosphere right along the edge of space.

0:29:37.320 --> 0:29:40.200
<v Speaker 3>Okay, perfect, And we will be right back after a

0:29:40.200 --> 0:29:41.120
<v Speaker 3>little Christmas.

0:29:40.840 --> 0:29:56.040
<v Speaker 2>Chuir, okay, Chuck, So we're talking. I think now we're

0:29:56.040 --> 0:29:59.560
<v Speaker 2>gonna move on to a segment on Christmas trees in

0:29:59.600 --> 0:30:02.320
<v Speaker 2>the White House. That's right, those of you who don't

0:30:02.360 --> 0:30:04.160
<v Speaker 2>live in the United States, the White House is where

0:30:04.160 --> 0:30:05.880
<v Speaker 2>the president lives.

0:30:06.480 --> 0:30:11.000
<v Speaker 3>That's right, And generally the president's family lives there, depending

0:30:11.040 --> 0:30:12.680
<v Speaker 3>on like how all the kids are and stuff like that,

0:30:13.040 --> 0:30:15.560
<v Speaker 3>for sure, But there are a lot of traditions over

0:30:15.600 --> 0:30:17.840
<v Speaker 3>the years. We're not you know, you can go to

0:30:17.840 --> 0:30:20.520
<v Speaker 3>White House dot gov under the Christmas stuff if you

0:30:20.520 --> 0:30:23.080
<v Speaker 3>want to look at all these. But I feel like

0:30:23.080 --> 0:30:25.520
<v Speaker 3>we should maybe concentrate on a few of the more

0:30:25.560 --> 0:30:26.200
<v Speaker 3>fun ones.

0:30:26.520 --> 0:30:26.840
<v Speaker 2>Okay.

0:30:27.360 --> 0:30:30.440
<v Speaker 3>The first Christmas tree in the White House that anyone

0:30:30.480 --> 0:30:34.160
<v Speaker 3>knows about was in the second floor Oval Room, which

0:30:34.200 --> 0:30:38.360
<v Speaker 3>was a family parlor and library in eighteen eighty nine,

0:30:38.440 --> 0:30:43.240
<v Speaker 3>which was the Benjamin Harrison administration, and they used real

0:30:43.440 --> 0:30:45.240
<v Speaker 3>candles to delight the grandchildren.

0:30:46.160 --> 0:30:49.640
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, apparently, so that was eighteen eighty nine. And I

0:30:49.680 --> 0:30:54.000
<v Speaker 2>think electricity was brought to the lighthouse two years later.

0:30:54.640 --> 0:30:58.000
<v Speaker 2>The lighthouse yet, Yeah, I said the White House, didn't.

0:30:57.800 --> 0:31:00.840
<v Speaker 3>I you said lighthouse. But I love that it made

0:31:00.880 --> 0:31:01.200
<v Speaker 3>it light.

0:31:01.560 --> 0:31:05.120
<v Speaker 2>Well, white is a light like Keler. It's the absence

0:31:05.120 --> 0:31:09.600
<v Speaker 2>of color, actually so. But electricity was brought to the

0:31:09.680 --> 0:31:13.760
<v Speaker 2>White House in eighteen ninety one, and yeah, thirty plus

0:31:13.800 --> 0:31:20.080
<v Speaker 2>forty something years later, Fdr Franklin Delano Roosevelt still celebrated

0:31:20.160 --> 0:31:22.880
<v Speaker 2>with a Christmas tree lit with candles.

0:31:23.240 --> 0:31:26.440
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, despite the danger, I think, like you said, eighteen

0:31:26.520 --> 0:31:30.720
<v Speaker 3>ninety one, was electricity, and three years later Grover Cleveland

0:31:30.720 --> 0:31:35.480
<v Speaker 3>had the first electrically lit tree. But you know, Teddy Roosevelt,

0:31:35.480 --> 0:31:37.720
<v Speaker 3>that guy was old school. If he was nothing.

0:31:37.520 --> 0:31:40.480
<v Speaker 2>Else, well that was Franklin Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt has his

0:31:40.520 --> 0:31:41.640
<v Speaker 2>own interesting story.

0:31:41.840 --> 0:31:45.440
<v Speaker 3>Oh Franklin, of course he's an older school Yeah. But yeah,

0:31:45.480 --> 0:31:49.800
<v Speaker 3>Teddy supposedly banned Christmas trees. That is a bit of

0:31:50.000 --> 0:31:52.840
<v Speaker 3>a I think it's just been twisted a bit over

0:31:52.880 --> 0:31:55.600
<v Speaker 3>the years. I don't think he banned them. He just

0:31:55.640 --> 0:31:57.560
<v Speaker 3>it was not a part of their family tradition to

0:31:57.600 --> 0:31:59.440
<v Speaker 3>have a tree, so he did not.

0:32:00.680 --> 0:32:03.000
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that was I mean, that's it. There's apparently a

0:32:03.080 --> 0:32:07.080
<v Speaker 2>huge misunderstanding over the years that he was such a conservationist.

0:32:07.320 --> 0:32:12.880
<v Speaker 2>I guess historians retroactively reasoned that the reason there wasn't

0:32:12.960 --> 0:32:16.480
<v Speaker 2>Christmas trees during his administration was because he didn't want

0:32:16.520 --> 0:32:19.520
<v Speaker 2>them cut down. But the answer is they just didn't

0:32:19.560 --> 0:32:22.800
<v Speaker 2>celebrate with the Christmas tree. That wasn't their jam, which

0:32:22.840 --> 0:32:25.760
<v Speaker 2>is pretty typical at the time. I mean, people having

0:32:25.760 --> 0:32:28.640
<v Speaker 2>a Christmas tree in your house, you know, when you

0:32:28.680 --> 0:32:32.760
<v Speaker 2>celebrate Christmases. Fairly modern, certainly way more modern than the

0:32:32.800 --> 0:32:34.040
<v Speaker 2>turn of the last century.

0:32:34.480 --> 0:32:37.320
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, So it wasn't like everybody was doing it. Although

0:32:37.360 --> 0:32:41.240
<v Speaker 3>in nineteen oh two Archie Roosevelt did sneak a little

0:32:41.240 --> 0:32:45.760
<v Speaker 3>small tree, hid it in the closet upstairs, even decorated

0:32:45.800 --> 0:32:48.760
<v Speaker 3>it and showed his family and Teddy Roosevelt did not

0:32:48.920 --> 0:32:53.280
<v Speaker 3>say get that infernal thing out of here. Apparently he

0:32:53.360 --> 0:32:56.200
<v Speaker 3>liked it and said, all right, well the tree can stay.

0:32:56.360 --> 0:32:59.120
<v Speaker 2>Yes, which is sweet, you know.

0:32:59.480 --> 0:32:59.840
<v Speaker 3>Sure.

0:33:00.080 --> 0:33:02.160
<v Speaker 2>And then there was also a record that was set

0:33:02.200 --> 0:33:05.560
<v Speaker 2>by Dwight D. Eisenhower in the fifties, I think in

0:33:05.640 --> 0:33:11.080
<v Speaker 2>nineteen fifty nine for the greatest number of Christmas trees

0:33:11.120 --> 0:33:13.880
<v Speaker 2>in the White House at one time, and he really

0:33:13.920 --> 0:33:17.320
<v Speaker 2>macked it out with twenty six Christmas trees in the

0:33:17.360 --> 0:33:19.959
<v Speaker 2>White House. And for years and years and years, no

0:33:19.960 --> 0:33:25.160
<v Speaker 2>one even tried to beat Eisenhower's record until I think,

0:33:25.200 --> 0:33:28.840
<v Speaker 2>what was it nineteen ninety when the George W. Bush

0:33:28.880 --> 0:33:31.040
<v Speaker 2>administration blew it out of the water.

0:33:31.480 --> 0:33:34.160
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, he was like, I'm going to take down that record,

0:33:35.800 --> 0:33:39.400
<v Speaker 3>read my lips hey, great impression, it was so.

0:33:39.200 --> 0:33:40.760
<v Speaker 2>So, But how many trees did he have?

0:33:42.040 --> 0:33:45.520
<v Speaker 3>He brought in forty seven, just bleue Eisenhower out of

0:33:45.560 --> 0:33:50.000
<v Speaker 3>the water. The Clintons had thirty two, also beating Eisenhower

0:33:50.080 --> 0:33:55.959
<v Speaker 3>in ninety five, and the younger Bush said, I'm going

0:33:56.000 --> 0:33:56.680
<v Speaker 3>to beat Daddy.

0:33:56.960 --> 0:33:57.440
<v Speaker 2>He did.

0:33:57.840 --> 0:33:59.920
<v Speaker 3>He brought in two more trees than Dad.

0:34:00.160 --> 0:34:05.840
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and the Obama said, nice, try watch us beer. Yeah,

0:34:05.880 --> 0:34:09.719
<v Speaker 2>sixty two trees in twenty fifteen. And if you look

0:34:09.760 --> 0:34:13.680
<v Speaker 2>at all of these different, different competing numbers of trees,

0:34:13.719 --> 0:34:16.880
<v Speaker 2>these records just being broken and beaten and tossed and

0:34:16.960 --> 0:34:21.000
<v Speaker 2>dashed over the rocks. They all had themes. I think

0:34:21.040 --> 0:34:23.880
<v Speaker 2>Clinton's had. It was the night before Christmas. The first

0:34:23.920 --> 0:34:28.040
<v Speaker 2>Bush had a nutcracker ballet theme. The Obamas had timeless tradition,

0:34:28.320 --> 0:34:30.520
<v Speaker 2>the second Bush head home for the holidays. They all

0:34:30.560 --> 0:34:33.200
<v Speaker 2>had themes, and they were actually following in a tradition

0:34:33.520 --> 0:34:36.759
<v Speaker 2>set by Jackie Kennedy back in nineteen sixty one, who

0:34:36.840 --> 0:34:41.160
<v Speaker 2>created the first theme Christmas that the Christmas trees were

0:34:41.160 --> 0:34:43.040
<v Speaker 2>decorated with, again, nutcracker.

0:34:43.640 --> 0:34:45.799
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, that's fine, but it was the first one, so

0:34:45.960 --> 0:34:50.080
<v Speaker 3>technically I guess she started the nutcracker theme. Sure, as

0:34:50.120 --> 0:34:52.560
<v Speaker 3>all themes, but that wasn't the first tree in the

0:34:52.600 --> 0:34:55.520
<v Speaker 3>Blue Room, that is traditionally where the official tree is

0:34:55.560 --> 0:34:58.520
<v Speaker 3>now in the Blue Room. That started in nineteen twelve

0:34:59.400 --> 0:35:03.560
<v Speaker 3>when Robert Helen and Charlie Taft, the children of William Howard,

0:35:04.040 --> 0:35:06.360
<v Speaker 3>put that very first tree in the Blue Room, and

0:35:06.360 --> 0:35:09.319
<v Speaker 3>they have a competition now internationally, you have to win

0:35:09.360 --> 0:35:12.719
<v Speaker 3>the state competition first to qualify to see if your

0:35:12.760 --> 0:35:15.319
<v Speaker 3>tree can be the tree in the Blue Room. And

0:35:15.520 --> 0:35:16.920
<v Speaker 3>we're just going to go over a few of these

0:35:17.760 --> 0:35:20.400
<v Speaker 3>leading states now because far and away, well not that

0:35:20.440 --> 0:35:23.319
<v Speaker 3>far and away, but North Carolina has had the most

0:35:23.320 --> 0:35:26.040
<v Speaker 3>trees since nineteen sixty one in the Blue Room with thirteen.

0:35:26.719 --> 0:35:30.279
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. I don't know how recent this stat is, but

0:35:30.400 --> 0:35:33.520
<v Speaker 2>I know that North Carolina was chosen again kind of

0:35:33.560 --> 0:35:37.520
<v Speaker 2>as a nod to the battering by Hurricane Helene. This year,

0:35:37.719 --> 0:35:41.480
<v Speaker 2>President Biden, I think chose one from western North Carolina

0:35:42.400 --> 0:35:45.879
<v Speaker 2>Cartner's Tree Farm in Newland, North Carolina was the one

0:35:46.120 --> 0:35:49.799
<v Speaker 2>who is sending the White House Christmas tree this year.

0:35:50.360 --> 0:35:52.360
<v Speaker 3>That's right, and surely not a sympathy pick, because like

0:35:52.400 --> 0:35:54.920
<v Speaker 3>I said, North Carolina pumps out some great trees as

0:35:54.960 --> 0:35:57.840
<v Speaker 3>they are in the lead. Pennsylvania's in second with eleven.

0:35:58.440 --> 0:36:01.279
<v Speaker 3>Then you have with Wisconsin with eight, to Washington State

0:36:01.320 --> 0:36:06.600
<v Speaker 3>with seven, West Virginia with four, and then basically other

0:36:06.680 --> 0:36:08.080
<v Speaker 3>states with two or one.

0:36:08.400 --> 0:36:11.560
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, there was one that was anonymously donated from New England.

0:36:11.640 --> 0:36:12.759
<v Speaker 2>It sounds suspicious.

0:36:14.320 --> 0:36:16.840
<v Speaker 3>And if you're wondering what kinds of trees, far and

0:36:16.880 --> 0:36:20.319
<v Speaker 3>away fur trees lead with fifty two, there have been

0:36:20.400 --> 0:36:22.720
<v Speaker 3>seven spruces and one pine.

0:36:23.880 --> 0:36:26.000
<v Speaker 2>That's the one that's coming out of Cartner's this year too,

0:36:26.000 --> 0:36:26.719
<v Speaker 2>a Fraser fur.

0:36:27.840 --> 0:36:30.080
<v Speaker 3>Oh first, so it'll be I guess that'll be the

0:36:30.160 --> 0:36:30.800
<v Speaker 3>fifty third.

0:36:31.200 --> 0:36:33.279
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, white House dot gov needs to get on this.

0:36:33.840 --> 0:36:35.680
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, that's right, update your side already.

0:36:37.200 --> 0:36:39.759
<v Speaker 2>So yeah, that's it for White House Christmas trees. Huh.

0:36:39.800 --> 0:36:42.799
<v Speaker 2>I think that that was a pleasant little journey, thank you,

0:36:43.120 --> 0:36:47.520
<v Speaker 2>through a political minefield. That's right, Okay, Chuck, it's next,

0:36:47.560 --> 0:36:49.839
<v Speaker 2>next up. I'm pretty psyched we're gonna do another two

0:36:49.880 --> 0:36:50.759
<v Speaker 2>first segment, aren't we.

0:36:51.200 --> 0:36:52.960
<v Speaker 3>Uh yeah, we're gonna hit these Christmas movies.

0:36:53.280 --> 0:36:56.279
<v Speaker 2>Yes, but first, how about some more jolly music from

0:36:56.320 --> 0:37:05.720
<v Speaker 2>our friend Jerry.

0:37:08.960 --> 0:37:11.759
<v Speaker 3>All right, everyone, we're back and we're gonna finish up

0:37:11.800 --> 0:37:14.680
<v Speaker 3>with a couple of Christmas movies. Well, one a TV

0:37:14.760 --> 0:37:18.560
<v Speaker 3>special on one not just a Christmas movie, but the

0:37:19.800 --> 0:37:23.680
<v Speaker 3>er Christmas movie. Yeah, you are right, I don't know

0:37:23.719 --> 0:37:24.440
<v Speaker 3>how you spell it?

0:37:24.719 --> 0:37:27.360
<v Speaker 2>You do? You are? It's like a reference to a

0:37:27.440 --> 0:37:31.080
<v Speaker 2>city in Sumeri or Mesopotamia or something like that, like

0:37:31.120 --> 0:37:32.160
<v Speaker 2>one of the first cities.

0:37:32.560 --> 0:37:37.160
<v Speaker 3>Oh look at you, mister smarty pants er. Yeah, we're

0:37:37.160 --> 0:37:40.600
<v Speaker 3>talking about the first Christmas movies. Shocking stat here, Over

0:37:40.680 --> 0:37:44.719
<v Speaker 3>one hundred and fifty new holiday movies are produced annually.

0:37:44.400 --> 0:37:46.320
<v Speaker 2>Yet ninety eight percent of them from Hallmark.

0:37:46.880 --> 0:37:49.480
<v Speaker 3>Probably so or that may be a real stat. Actually

0:37:49.680 --> 0:37:50.319
<v Speaker 3>knows it is.

0:37:50.360 --> 0:37:52.560
<v Speaker 2>They shoot two a days, is what they call them.

0:37:52.560 --> 0:37:55.439
<v Speaker 2>They complete two films from scratch in a day.

0:37:56.520 --> 0:38:00.160
<v Speaker 3>They should just re dress people and recast them and

0:38:00.320 --> 0:38:04.200
<v Speaker 3>just be like, all right, your Bill the local sheriff

0:38:04.239 --> 0:38:07.320
<v Speaker 3>in this one, and you're Johnny the local diner owner

0:38:07.320 --> 0:38:07.839
<v Speaker 3>in this one.

0:38:07.920 --> 0:38:10.239
<v Speaker 2>Right Wait, I thought I was Johnny in this one. No,

0:38:10.560 --> 0:38:11.920
<v Speaker 2>just shut up, wear this.

0:38:13.520 --> 0:38:16.440
<v Speaker 3>But if you're thinking like, oh, it's a wonderful life,

0:38:16.600 --> 0:38:18.839
<v Speaker 3>no no, no, that's the forties. If you're thinking, all right,

0:38:19.239 --> 0:38:22.399
<v Speaker 3>March of the Wooden Soldiers, no no, that's nineteen thirty four.

0:38:22.680 --> 0:38:25.239
<v Speaker 3>Sure you have to go all the way back to

0:38:25.600 --> 0:38:29.120
<v Speaker 3>the very earliest days of putting anything on film to

0:38:29.280 --> 0:38:32.160
<v Speaker 3>find the inspiration that would lead to the first Christmas movie.

0:38:32.440 --> 0:38:35.359
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it turns out that we're going all the way

0:38:35.400 --> 0:38:38.400
<v Speaker 2>back to the eighteen nineties, but we should go back

0:38:38.400 --> 0:38:42.680
<v Speaker 2>a little before then in France. France, apparently, I didn't

0:38:42.680 --> 0:38:47.839
<v Speaker 2>know this was like the er center of filmmaking. Did

0:38:47.920 --> 0:38:49.880
<v Speaker 2>you know that that that's where it originally kind of

0:38:49.920 --> 0:38:50.400
<v Speaker 2>came out of.

0:38:50.719 --> 0:38:52.080
<v Speaker 3>Sure, the Lumire Brothers.

0:38:52.480 --> 0:38:54.880
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so them. There was a guy named Louis Le

0:38:55.000 --> 0:38:59.879
<v Speaker 2>Prince who is considered as having filmed the first serve

0:39:00.640 --> 0:39:04.280
<v Speaker 2>for the oldest surviving motion picture, which you've probably seen before.

0:39:04.560 --> 0:39:06.920
<v Speaker 2>I know you have. I'm saying you the listener. It's

0:39:06.960 --> 0:39:10.040
<v Speaker 2>a horse running and it almost looks like a flip book.

0:39:10.080 --> 0:39:13.319
<v Speaker 2>It's that primitive. Yeah, and it's referenced. Actually, have you

0:39:13.320 --> 0:39:14.240
<v Speaker 2>seen that movie? Nope?

0:39:15.320 --> 0:39:17.239
<v Speaker 3>Oh yeah, sure, remember.

0:39:16.920 --> 0:39:18.920
<v Speaker 2>When they when they show up on the set, they

0:39:19.000 --> 0:39:21.280
<v Speaker 2>kind of give that spiel about their family and the horses,

0:39:21.280 --> 0:39:23.960
<v Speaker 2>and they say that that was their an sister. That's

0:39:24.160 --> 0:39:26.680
<v Speaker 2>what they're talking about, is that it's just a two

0:39:26.800 --> 0:39:29.239
<v Speaker 2>second long shot of a horse running a person with

0:39:29.280 --> 0:39:30.239
<v Speaker 2>a jockey on it.

0:39:30.640 --> 0:39:31.640
<v Speaker 3>I'd like to see that again.

0:39:32.640 --> 0:39:34.560
<v Speaker 2>Nope, or that two second long shot?

0:39:35.120 --> 0:39:38.520
<v Speaker 3>No, wait, all right, I just watched the horse thing again, No,

0:39:38.600 --> 0:39:39.880
<v Speaker 3>I'd like to see Nope again. I saw that in

0:39:39.880 --> 0:39:41.400
<v Speaker 3>the theater, but I haven't seen it since, and I

0:39:41.440 --> 0:39:42.120
<v Speaker 3>quite enjoyed it.

0:39:42.239 --> 0:39:43.839
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it was pretty good, all right.

0:39:43.960 --> 0:39:48.080
<v Speaker 3>So that two and two point one second horse running

0:39:48.600 --> 0:39:51.520
<v Speaker 3>first thing. A lot of films that followed didn't have

0:39:51.600 --> 0:39:54.200
<v Speaker 3>a narrative yet. They were just literally people were amazed

0:39:54.239 --> 0:39:57.400
<v Speaker 3>that they could just see something moving on film. Hm.

0:39:57.960 --> 0:40:00.719
<v Speaker 3>The Lamaher Brothers very famously, and they ten ninety six

0:40:00.760 --> 0:40:03.480
<v Speaker 3>had a fifty second clip of a train coming right

0:40:03.520 --> 0:40:07.600
<v Speaker 3>toward the screen, probably the first and last time a

0:40:07.680 --> 0:40:11.799
<v Speaker 3>train didn't go through a tunnel to indicate intercourse.

0:40:12.640 --> 0:40:15.360
<v Speaker 2>Right, Yeah, they hadn't figured that out quite yet. That

0:40:15.520 --> 0:40:17.240
<v Speaker 2>was the next year probably.

0:40:17.080 --> 0:40:19.799
<v Speaker 3>That's right. But then the first Christmas movie came just

0:40:19.840 --> 0:40:21.560
<v Speaker 3>a few years later, right, just.

0:40:21.560 --> 0:40:24.799
<v Speaker 2>Two years later after that fifty second clip was called

0:40:24.800 --> 0:40:27.759
<v Speaker 2>the Arrival of a Train. It really gets across what

0:40:27.800 --> 0:40:30.840
<v Speaker 2>you're watching. But it's just two years after that a

0:40:30.880 --> 0:40:34.600
<v Speaker 2>guy named George Albert Smith became the creator of the

0:40:34.800 --> 0:40:38.160
<v Speaker 2>very first Christmas movie uncontested, No when it ever made

0:40:38.200 --> 0:40:41.680
<v Speaker 2>a Christmas movie before until George Albert Smith came along

0:40:41.920 --> 0:40:45.120
<v Speaker 2>and put seventy six seconds of goodness on film.

0:40:45.360 --> 0:40:49.000
<v Speaker 3>That's right, it's called Santa Claus. It's a pretty groundbreaking

0:40:49.040 --> 0:40:51.120
<v Speaker 3>film at the time. I guess almost anything you did

0:40:51.120 --> 0:40:52.560
<v Speaker 3>would be groundbreaking at the time.

0:40:52.960 --> 0:40:56.120
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, but this he was showing off almost.

0:40:55.760 --> 0:40:59.359
<v Speaker 3>No, I agree, had some pretty decent special effects. It's

0:40:59.360 --> 0:41:02.520
<v Speaker 3>the story of Santa, a very simple story, obviously seventy

0:41:02.560 --> 0:41:05.400
<v Speaker 3>six seconds, but it's Santa visiting the home of two

0:41:05.480 --> 0:41:08.360
<v Speaker 3>kids on Christmas Eve. You can watch it on YouTube.

0:41:08.360 --> 0:41:10.959
<v Speaker 3>It only takes seventy six seconds plus some dumb ad

0:41:12.200 --> 0:41:16.480
<v Speaker 3>but you see two kids checking the chimney for Santa

0:41:16.560 --> 0:41:20.120
<v Speaker 3>before the either mom or the nanny or somebody puts

0:41:20.160 --> 0:41:23.520
<v Speaker 3>them to bed. They turn off the lights and then

0:41:23.640 --> 0:41:25.480
<v Speaker 3>the room is dark, and then all of a sudden

0:41:25.520 --> 0:41:28.200
<v Speaker 3>pops up. The first little special effect is on the

0:41:28.280 --> 0:41:31.080
<v Speaker 3>right side of the screen, a little circular image of

0:41:31.160 --> 0:41:34.400
<v Speaker 3>the rooftop, like an insert almost within the film frame itself,

0:41:34.880 --> 0:41:38.880
<v Speaker 3>where you see Santa climbing down a chimney but really

0:41:38.920 --> 0:41:41.360
<v Speaker 3>just walking down some stairs disguised as a chimney.

0:41:41.760 --> 0:41:44.640
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, right, And then like once he gets into the

0:41:44.760 --> 0:41:48.160
<v Speaker 2>chimney or out of that additional shot that's showing him

0:41:48.200 --> 0:41:50.920
<v Speaker 2>on the rooftop, all of a sudden he's in the

0:41:51.000 --> 0:41:56.040
<v Speaker 2>kid's room, and it's like an editing cut, but also

0:41:56.480 --> 0:42:01.080
<v Speaker 2>it was edited just a little early, are a little late,

0:42:01.560 --> 0:42:04.919
<v Speaker 2>so that you can see him coming through the black curtain. Yeah,

0:42:05.000 --> 0:42:08.480
<v Speaker 2>that he's suddenly appearing from. But again, we're talking eighteen

0:42:08.560 --> 0:42:10.799
<v Speaker 2>ninety eight, and people were just amazed by this kind

0:42:10.840 --> 0:42:13.760
<v Speaker 2>of stuff. And then Santa while the kids are sleeping,

0:42:13.800 --> 0:42:17.759
<v Speaker 2>he puts little little goodies in their stocking and he

0:42:17.800 --> 0:42:20.000
<v Speaker 2>waves goodbye, and then all of a sudden, poof, he's

0:42:20.000 --> 0:42:23.440
<v Speaker 2>gone again. And I mean, like, even watching it now,

0:42:23.480 --> 0:42:27.000
<v Speaker 2>I'm like, that was pretty cool. I can't imagine being

0:42:27.040 --> 0:42:29.319
<v Speaker 2>alive in eighteen ninety eight and seeing that and just

0:42:29.360 --> 0:42:30.680
<v Speaker 2>being like, oh my god.

0:42:30.920 --> 0:42:32.000
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I can't wait.

0:42:31.840 --> 0:42:33.439
<v Speaker 2>Till Polar Express comes out.

0:42:35.040 --> 0:42:36.120
<v Speaker 3>Movie I still haven't seen.

0:42:36.600 --> 0:42:37.239
<v Speaker 2>I haven't either.

0:42:37.600 --> 0:42:39.959
<v Speaker 3>Oh, let's let's keep it that way. Let's promise, let's

0:42:40.040 --> 0:42:43.279
<v Speaker 3>do a blood oath. Let's see that.

0:42:43.760 --> 0:42:45.520
<v Speaker 2>I think we also we talked about that in the

0:42:45.600 --> 0:42:46.880
<v Speaker 2>Uncanny Valley episode.

0:42:46.920 --> 0:42:47.960
<v Speaker 3>Oh sure we had to have.

0:42:48.360 --> 0:42:48.560
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:42:48.840 --> 0:42:51.359
<v Speaker 3>I will say this about Santa Claus the seventy six

0:42:51.400 --> 0:42:55.359
<v Speaker 3>second film, given that most movies from this era look

0:42:55.440 --> 0:42:58.879
<v Speaker 3>pretty creepy, and given that every Santa from this era

0:42:59.040 --> 0:43:03.359
<v Speaker 3>looks really creepy. Yeah, this Santa creeping through the room

0:43:03.440 --> 0:43:06.920
<v Speaker 3>over these children. I was ready for this thing to

0:43:07.080 --> 0:43:10.560
<v Speaker 3>just make my hair stand on end. And it wasn't

0:43:10.600 --> 0:43:13.840
<v Speaker 3>that bad. A little bit of creep but it was

0:43:13.880 --> 0:43:15.920
<v Speaker 3>actually had a little sweetness to it.

0:43:16.320 --> 0:43:19.000
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, he was a little slim for a Santa. I

0:43:19.080 --> 0:43:21.759
<v Speaker 2>think that that added to the creepiness. But yeah, no,

0:43:21.880 --> 0:43:24.520
<v Speaker 2>he was nowhere near the creepiest Santa of his time.

0:43:24.760 --> 0:43:27.000
<v Speaker 2>But we don't know who this guy is, right, No,

0:43:27.280 --> 0:43:31.160
<v Speaker 2>he was uncredited. So the first Santa Claus on screen,

0:43:31.320 --> 0:43:33.960
<v Speaker 2>the first person to play Santa Claus on screen, No

0:43:34.000 --> 0:43:35.880
<v Speaker 2>one knows. We probably never know.

0:43:36.640 --> 0:43:38.080
<v Speaker 3>It's not Tim Allen. I know that.

0:43:39.000 --> 0:43:43.400
<v Speaker 2>No, and shout out to Justin Childress on edgelnd today

0:43:44.400 --> 0:43:47.279
<v Speaker 2>who helped us with this, did some great research and

0:43:47.480 --> 0:43:48.640
<v Speaker 2>made a nice little article.

0:43:49.400 --> 0:43:50.799
<v Speaker 3>All right, how are we going to wrap it up?

0:43:50.840 --> 0:43:50.920
<v Speaker 1>Oh?

0:43:50.960 --> 0:43:52.439
<v Speaker 3>Wait, we need to get in our sleigh first.

0:43:53.040 --> 0:43:54.959
<v Speaker 2>Oh okay, all right, here we go up.

0:43:54.880 --> 0:44:00.120
<v Speaker 3>In the old sled and let's go.

0:44:02.000 --> 0:44:11.240
<v Speaker 2>Okay, Chuck, did do do do do do do do?

0:44:10.680 --> 0:44:10.719
<v Speaker 3>Do?

0:44:14.680 --> 0:44:15.279
<v Speaker 2>Did it work?

0:44:17.719 --> 0:44:20.160
<v Speaker 3>Josh has been giving me the earworm for sixteen years

0:44:20.440 --> 0:44:21.280
<v Speaker 3>on the rag.

0:44:21.640 --> 0:44:23.440
<v Speaker 2>It just it works really well.

0:44:24.760 --> 0:44:27.000
<v Speaker 3>All right, So now I'm annoyed. So let's talk about

0:44:27.320 --> 0:44:29.319
<v Speaker 3>the sweetest Christmas special of all time.

0:44:29.600 --> 0:44:31.319
<v Speaker 2>It is sweetest and it did you watch it?

0:44:31.400 --> 0:44:31.920
<v Speaker 3>Of course?

0:44:32.360 --> 0:44:35.960
<v Speaker 2>Okay, So in nineteen eighty two, Christmas Time nineteen eighty two,

0:44:36.560 --> 0:44:39.840
<v Speaker 2>it was a there was a cavalcade of familiar characters

0:44:39.840 --> 0:44:44.319
<v Speaker 2>who made their debut in Christmas specials. Right. You had

0:44:44.440 --> 0:44:48.120
<v Speaker 2>pac Man with the classic Christmas Comes to pack Land. Yeah,

0:44:48.800 --> 0:44:52.440
<v Speaker 2>so I think, good, this Murf Christmas special, which actually

0:44:52.520 --> 0:44:53.879
<v Speaker 2>is quite good, I.

0:44:53.920 --> 0:44:54.880
<v Speaker 3>Was too ultra Smurf.

0:44:54.960 --> 0:44:57.439
<v Speaker 2>So I went back and watched it like last week

0:44:57.480 --> 0:44:58.719
<v Speaker 2>or a couple of days ago, and I was like,

0:44:58.760 --> 0:44:59.439
<v Speaker 2>this is pretty good.

0:44:59.480 --> 0:45:00.319
<v Speaker 3>Pretty good, all right?

0:45:01.200 --> 0:45:04.120
<v Speaker 2>And then far and away the best of the bunch

0:45:04.160 --> 0:45:06.400
<v Speaker 2>that came out in nineteen eighty two, and among the

0:45:06.440 --> 0:45:10.360
<v Speaker 2>top ever Christmas TV specials, if you ask me, was

0:45:10.440 --> 0:45:15.200
<v Speaker 2>Ziggy's Gift, which is, like you said, incredibly sweet.

0:45:15.520 --> 0:45:20.239
<v Speaker 3>That's right. Ziggy is the comic strip character Ziggy, the

0:45:20.280 --> 0:45:23.560
<v Speaker 3>little short bald. How old is Ziggy?

0:45:23.960 --> 0:45:25.759
<v Speaker 2>That was one of my question timeless ageless?

0:45:26.160 --> 0:45:27.759
<v Speaker 3>I mean, is it supposed to be a grown up? Though?

0:45:28.320 --> 0:45:29.720
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, he's not a kid.

0:45:29.920 --> 0:45:32.560
<v Speaker 3>Okay. I couldn't tell because I wasn't into Ziggy, But

0:45:33.480 --> 0:45:35.440
<v Speaker 3>did you know some Ziggy research and looked back at

0:45:35.440 --> 0:45:37.880
<v Speaker 3>some of the comics, and you know, Ziggy was beloved

0:45:37.920 --> 0:45:41.640
<v Speaker 3>because Ziggy was great, and Ziggy was sweet, and Ziggy

0:45:41.719 --> 0:45:48.439
<v Speaker 3>was joyful, and Ziggy was not cynical. Uh, Ziggy lived

0:45:48.480 --> 0:45:50.560
<v Speaker 3>with a dog and a parrot. And you might find

0:45:50.600 --> 0:45:54.479
<v Speaker 3>a Ziggy comic strip that was just a little rye joke,

0:45:54.600 --> 0:45:57.040
<v Speaker 3>or you might find a Ziggy comic that is literally

0:45:57.239 --> 0:46:00.520
<v Speaker 3>just Ziggy smiling and looking at you and say hello.

0:46:01.000 --> 0:46:05.040
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. And so he was like indefatigable even though basically

0:46:05.280 --> 0:46:09.439
<v Speaker 2>his entire life went wrong at every turn. Yeah, and

0:46:09.520 --> 0:46:11.120
<v Speaker 2>he like he could be affected by that. He was

0:46:11.120 --> 0:46:12.840
<v Speaker 2>put off, he was mad. He wasn't like he was

0:46:12.880 --> 0:46:16.480
<v Speaker 2>some sort of smiling automaton. But he returned back to

0:46:16.640 --> 0:46:19.799
<v Speaker 2>his like upbeat outlook on life very quickly, like that

0:46:19.960 --> 0:46:23.279
<v Speaker 2>was his default setting. And just reading Ziggy cartoons, it's

0:46:23.320 --> 0:46:25.080
<v Speaker 2>like it does it to you, you know, it really

0:46:25.080 --> 0:46:25.719
<v Speaker 2>brings it out.

0:46:25.920 --> 0:46:26.200
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

0:46:26.200 --> 0:46:29.080
<v Speaker 2>And so Ziggy had been around since I think in

0:46:29.120 --> 0:46:31.960
<v Speaker 2>the paper since nineteen seventy and it built up like

0:46:32.000 --> 0:46:34.440
<v Speaker 2>a pretty good audience by nineteen eighty two, so it's

0:46:34.480 --> 0:46:39.800
<v Speaker 2>a big deal. When Ziggy was coming to TV, Tom Wilson,

0:46:39.840 --> 0:46:42.120
<v Speaker 2>the creator of Ziggy, did a bunch of interviews with

0:46:42.160 --> 0:46:46.360
<v Speaker 2>different newspapers and everybody was quite excited that Ziggy was

0:46:46.440 --> 0:46:47.840
<v Speaker 2>having his own Christmas special.

0:46:48.040 --> 0:46:50.640
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, for sure, and he really pulled out all the

0:46:50.680 --> 0:46:54.640
<v Speaker 3>stops because not only is it a Christmas Special and

0:46:54.719 --> 0:46:58.279
<v Speaker 3>animated Christmas special, but it was one that really took

0:46:58.320 --> 0:47:00.680
<v Speaker 3>the time with the artistry to just knock it out

0:47:00.680 --> 0:47:04.319
<v Speaker 3>of the park. A typical half hour animated special at

0:47:04.360 --> 0:47:08.160
<v Speaker 3>the time I had about thirty five thousand drawings. Ziggy's

0:47:08.200 --> 0:47:11.560
<v Speaker 3>Gift had close to one hundred and forty thousand drawings.

0:47:12.880 --> 0:47:15.360
<v Speaker 3>They usually have about fifty rough sketches to sort of

0:47:15.360 --> 0:47:18.880
<v Speaker 3>map out the story. There were twelve hundred per Ziggy's Gift.

0:47:19.440 --> 0:47:23.040
<v Speaker 3>And for all of this effort, a you got an

0:47:23.040 --> 0:47:26.520
<v Speaker 3>animated special that for the time again when you look

0:47:26.560 --> 0:47:31.120
<v Speaker 3>back now, really good, smooth, outstanding animation. And it won

0:47:31.160 --> 0:47:34.120
<v Speaker 3>the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program that year.

0:47:34.480 --> 0:47:36.000
<v Speaker 2>Yeah beat Garfield beat.

0:47:35.760 --> 0:47:38.200
<v Speaker 3>The Smurfs, Take that Smurfs.

0:47:38.480 --> 0:47:42.120
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it beat Charlie Brown twice, two different Charlie Brown specials.

0:47:42.160 --> 0:47:43.959
<v Speaker 3>Good grief, there was just no.

0:47:43.960 --> 0:47:48.240
<v Speaker 2>Chance that anybody was going to beat Ziggy's gift that year. Yeah.

0:47:48.280 --> 0:47:51.120
<v Speaker 2>And also not just the animation, I mean, like people

0:47:51.160 --> 0:47:54.319
<v Speaker 2>like animation busts are like this is a classic masterpiece

0:47:54.360 --> 0:47:58.920
<v Speaker 2>of animation. But the plot too was really good. Like

0:47:59.000 --> 0:48:01.480
<v Speaker 2>the thing seems longer than twenty two minutes, not like

0:48:01.480 --> 0:48:04.560
<v Speaker 2>it drags. They just packed a lot into this twenty

0:48:04.600 --> 0:48:06.799
<v Speaker 2>two minutes, even though it just kind of takes its

0:48:06.840 --> 0:48:10.520
<v Speaker 2>own time. That's great. It's pretty funny in a lot

0:48:10.560 --> 0:48:13.319
<v Speaker 2>of places, it's sweet throughout, and all this kind of

0:48:13.360 --> 0:48:17.680
<v Speaker 2>came together and formed this perfect, sweet, little twenty two

0:48:17.719 --> 0:48:18.960
<v Speaker 2>minute Christmas special.

0:48:19.280 --> 0:48:22.520
<v Speaker 3>Yeah. Absolutely. When it came time to make the special,

0:48:23.320 --> 0:48:25.719
<v Speaker 3>they were like, what do we do with Ziggy's voice? Like,

0:48:25.719 --> 0:48:29.840
<v Speaker 3>how do we cast this iconic silent character, because you

0:48:29.840 --> 0:48:33.200
<v Speaker 3>can really ruin, like a comic strip character come to

0:48:33.239 --> 0:48:35.839
<v Speaker 3>life if you don't get the voice right. Yeah, and

0:48:35.920 --> 0:48:37.839
<v Speaker 3>so they decided not to use a voice at all,

0:48:37.920 --> 0:48:43.080
<v Speaker 3>which was brilliant. And apparently that came from Wilson's daughter Hugh,

0:48:43.280 --> 0:48:45.279
<v Speaker 3>who a few years before said that the reason it's

0:48:45.320 --> 0:48:47.640
<v Speaker 3>hard to find a voice for Ziggy is because when

0:48:47.680 --> 0:48:50.719
<v Speaker 3>you read Ziggy, you hear your own voice.

0:48:51.040 --> 0:48:52.560
<v Speaker 2>Out of the mouths of babes, you know.

0:48:53.000 --> 0:48:54.640
<v Speaker 3>Amazing. She was thirty two at the time.

0:48:54.680 --> 0:49:01.240
<v Speaker 2>But that's great. So yeah, the whole thing came together

0:49:01.400 --> 0:49:04.480
<v Speaker 2>to make this really great Christmas special. But what's puzzling

0:49:04.520 --> 0:49:08.759
<v Speaker 2>about it is it didn't become an enduring classic, Like

0:49:09.239 --> 0:49:12.560
<v Speaker 2>the latest I could see on good old newspapers dot

0:49:12.600 --> 0:49:16.440
<v Speaker 2>Com was nineteen eighty six. That's when the TV listings

0:49:16.440 --> 0:49:20.600
<v Speaker 2>for Ziggy's Gift around December just dried up. But the

0:49:20.680 --> 0:49:23.120
<v Speaker 2>great thing about it, and the reason why we're doing

0:49:23.160 --> 0:49:26.120
<v Speaker 2>this we're covering Ziggy's Gift is there's like a couple

0:49:26.120 --> 0:49:29.240
<v Speaker 2>of generations out there who don't even know this exists, Yeah,

0:49:29.280 --> 0:49:31.719
<v Speaker 2>and are going to be so happy to find this

0:49:31.960 --> 0:49:35.560
<v Speaker 2>sweet little Christmas special that I hope everybody who's listening

0:49:35.600 --> 0:49:38.640
<v Speaker 2>who's never seen it really enjoys. And if you have

0:49:38.760 --> 0:49:40.799
<v Speaker 2>seen it, it's been a little while, if it's been

0:49:40.840 --> 0:49:43.520
<v Speaker 2>a day, doesn't matter, go watch it again because it

0:49:43.920 --> 0:49:45.080
<v Speaker 2>just gets you every time.

0:49:45.400 --> 0:49:48.920
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and get your what would Ziggy Do? T? Shirt

0:49:49.120 --> 0:49:49.719
<v Speaker 3>printed up.

0:49:50.120 --> 0:49:52.160
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's another thing too. You could really get into

0:49:52.239 --> 0:49:54.320
<v Speaker 2>Ziggy after watching that. And there's a lot of great

0:49:54.360 --> 0:49:58.759
<v Speaker 2>like vintage Ziggy stuff like stickers of Ziggy catching a

0:49:58.840 --> 0:50:01.160
<v Speaker 2>rainbow in a butterfly, that kind of stuff.

0:50:01.520 --> 0:50:04.160
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and you could, you know, get ziggy with it.

0:50:05.400 --> 0:50:08.480
<v Speaker 2>Very nice. There's no way to end this better than

0:50:08.480 --> 0:50:09.000
<v Speaker 2>that choke.

0:50:09.120 --> 0:50:10.640
<v Speaker 3>It's my last bad joke of the year.

0:50:11.360 --> 0:50:13.239
<v Speaker 2>So let's get a little more Christmas music in and

0:50:13.280 --> 0:50:16.000
<v Speaker 2>then we'll wish everybody Merry Christmas and happy holidays. How

0:50:16.000 --> 0:50:16.360
<v Speaker 2>about that.

0:50:16.520 --> 0:50:35.400
<v Speaker 3>Let's do it all right? Well, that is it for

0:50:35.440 --> 0:50:38.240
<v Speaker 3>the Christmas Special this year. We want to wish everyone

0:50:38.280 --> 0:50:43.319
<v Speaker 3>a very merry Christmas or marry and happy holiday of

0:50:43.360 --> 0:50:47.080
<v Speaker 3>your choice, however you choose to celebrate. Yeah, we're Christmas guys,

0:50:47.120 --> 0:50:49.400
<v Speaker 3>so that's what we do around here, and I'm wishing

0:50:49.880 --> 0:50:52.560
<v Speaker 3>you and Umi and Momo a very merry Christmas, and

0:50:53.040 --> 0:50:57.960
<v Speaker 3>Jerry and Dave and Libya and Dave and Kyle and

0:50:58.440 --> 0:51:00.960
<v Speaker 3>who else Ben.

0:51:00.400 --> 0:51:03.879
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, the whole crew, and back at you too. Merry

0:51:03.920 --> 0:51:06.200
<v Speaker 2>Christmas to you and Ruby and Emily for sure.

0:51:06.520 --> 0:51:10.360
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, thanks man, and of course with Jerry her lovely

0:51:10.360 --> 0:51:11.279
<v Speaker 3>wife and daughter as well.

0:51:11.640 --> 0:51:15.560
<v Speaker 2>Yep, So merry Christmas to all of you, Happy Holidays

0:51:15.560 --> 0:51:17.759
<v Speaker 2>to all of you from everybody here. It's stuff you

0:51:17.800 --> 0:51:20.440
<v Speaker 2>should know. We hope. It's a great one for you

0:51:20.480 --> 0:51:25.320
<v Speaker 2>and go watch Siggy's gift and feel love. Merry Christmas, Everybody.

0:51:29.160 --> 0:51:32.040
<v Speaker 1>Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For

0:51:32.120 --> 0:51:36.319
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