1 00:00:01,480 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of I 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Y Hey ho, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: I'm Josh, and there's Chuck and Jerry's even here, and 4 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:34,960 Speaker 1: we're all wishing you glad tidings and merry tidings and 5 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,840 Speaker 1: decking the halls and all of that for this very 6 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 1: special Christmas edition of Stuff You Should How did you 7 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: say stuff you Should? Hoe? I did? That's great, I thought. 8 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:52,199 Speaker 1: I don't know. It just came to me. And you know, 9 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 1: it basically made up for the pan of apple Pie 10 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: turnover analogy in the buffet episode. If you ask me, 11 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:03,880 Speaker 1: you rid it twice though, didn't you? The apple Pie one? No, 12 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: I hit the three time thing did for for genuine 13 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,399 Speaker 1: community effect. And I think that episode might. I don't know, 14 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: is that gonna come out before this one? Yeah? It come. 15 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,320 Speaker 1: It came out on the okay, and what day is 16 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,679 Speaker 1: this one out? I believe is it on Christmas Day 17 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: this year? I don't know. I'm going to look right 18 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 1: now to see. And as I'm talking, no, today, this 19 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:29,959 Speaker 1: one comes out. So buthdays came out of but it's 20 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: Christmas Eve. That's even better. Almost. Yeah, Merry Christmas Eve, everybody, Yeah, 21 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:38,320 Speaker 1: Merry Christmas Eve, and we like to remind people as 22 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:42,119 Speaker 1: per tradition, we fight tooth and nail for this. Uh. 23 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: It is an ad free episode and that's all we 24 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:47,039 Speaker 1: have to say about that. We don't do ads for 25 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: these episodes. Nope, this is a it's a it's a 26 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: very special thing every year, this one in the Halloween episode. Yeah, 27 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: we didn't even talk about which how we're going to 28 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: order these, but I'll go ahead and make a pitch 29 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: for lead treat Censel to go first. Okay, that's what 30 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: I've got it up. First to Chuck. It's a Christmas miracle, 31 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,079 Speaker 1: so Tinsel. I think we've talked about in another episode 32 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 1: before Chuck. Um where that came from. I believe it 33 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: was in one of the really early Christmas episodes. But um, 34 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: we can give a little background here in that think 35 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:38,240 Speaker 1: starting around the sixteenth century UM or the seventeenth century, 36 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: very wealthy aristocrats UM started putting actual like gold and 37 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: silver strands or like more commonly I think these kind 38 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,640 Speaker 1: of like twisted almost candy cane looking hooks made of 39 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: gold and silver. They would put it all over their 40 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 1: their tree. UM hang this stuff, and they called it tinsel, 41 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: which is from Old French for eston cell or sparkle, 42 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: and that's kind of where tinsel came from. But you 43 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: have to be fairly wealthy to put strands of pure 44 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: gold and silver on your Christmas shoe. You know. That 45 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 1: kind of is how it goes. Yeah, I'm surprised that's 46 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:22,119 Speaker 1: a French word. It sounds very German. Tinsel, yeah, tinsel does. 47 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: But eston cell, well, that sounds very French. You're right, 48 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,920 Speaker 1: it does. It's almost like that a Spree brand of clothing, 49 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: but just it takes a real sharp turn after that 50 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: first es syllable. So yeah, the rich people were doing 51 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: this on the tree, they kind of kept it to themselves. Uh. 52 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: And then the industrial age rolls around and all of 53 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: a sudden we had less expensive varieties of this kind 54 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 1: of thing, which meant aluminum copper great for both, and 55 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: lead not great. Well, the aluminum wasn't so great either. 56 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: They would make an aluminum paper tinsel with acetate and 57 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: that stuff would go up faster than a matchbook on 58 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 1: like a dead tree. And you know, this is a 59 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: time when everybody was smoking everywhere all the time. So 60 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:17,719 Speaker 1: the the illuminum one was particularly bad. And the copper. 61 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: I saw it still around, Chuck. They make garlands of 62 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: copper tinsel, but it's not for decorations. It's for you 63 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: to walk through to discharge static, like if you're going 64 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: into say like a computer clean room or something like that. 65 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:34,280 Speaker 1: They make copper tinsel now, but that didn't really catch 66 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: on either. So they settled finally, like you said, on lead. 67 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: And you know that's kind of problematic because leads as poisonous, 68 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: as we talked about in Our Wise Lead So poisonous episode? 69 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:49,479 Speaker 1: Did we do that? Yeah? Don't you remember? Um In 70 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: Mother Jones, Kevin drum like made the made them the 71 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: case that the the end of leaded gas actually was 72 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 1: responsible for the decline and violent crime over there. You 73 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: did an episode and that was a good A long 74 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:08,560 Speaker 1: time ago. So this was before the FDA got involved 75 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:11,039 Speaker 1: and knew that lead was you know, in our plates 76 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:13,920 Speaker 1: and in our paint and in our jewelry was killing people. 77 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:21,039 Speaker 1: And there was a German company called uh Staniel fabriqu 78 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: Epstein and they had an imperial pattern on lead tinsel 79 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: in nineteen o four and people love this stuff. It 80 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: translated uh Stanniel Lamenta into tiny Blade, which is hysterical 81 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: if you think about it, it's kind of what they were. 82 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: But it was people love this stuff because they started 83 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 1: making it in South Philly too in the early fifties. 84 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,160 Speaker 1: It really hung on it really looked great. It hung 85 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: on the tree very heavy, obviously because it's lead, and 86 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,839 Speaker 1: it looked Apparently this woman, Susan Wagoner wrote a book 87 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:58,600 Speaker 1: called hand Crafted Christmas where she talks about how wonderful 88 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: it was and it didn't turn ish and it just 89 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 1: gave a really kind of heavy icicle look to the tree. Yeah. 90 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 1: And so that German patent was issued in nineteen o four, 91 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: and I guess it took almost fifty years before it 92 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: made its way over to the United States. But by 93 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:17,279 Speaker 1: the fifties there is a company called bright Star Manufacturing 94 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:21,200 Speaker 1: that was making lead tree tensil for use in the 95 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:25,480 Speaker 1: United States to UM, but the party didn't last very long. 96 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:29,840 Speaker 1: About a decade really before UM it was becoming quite 97 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: obvious that lead poisoning was was a real problem. And 98 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:36,120 Speaker 1: the thing is, it's like you said, there's a you know, 99 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: there's a lot of um places where lead turned up 100 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,320 Speaker 1: in your house, including on the plate you ate from. 101 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:47,480 Speaker 1: So tree tinsel was probably one of the lesser evils 102 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:49,600 Speaker 1: in your house too, that that you were going to 103 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: get lead poisoning from. But it was also one of 104 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: the easiest things to phase out. And so the FDA 105 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 1: kind of zeroed in on getting rid of lead tree tensile, 106 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:01,720 Speaker 1: using these kind of back channel methods to to get 107 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: rid of it before anybody knew what was going on. Yeah, 108 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:07,280 Speaker 1: so they ended up making a deal, the f d 109 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: A with tinsel importers and said, you know what, you've 110 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,320 Speaker 1: got no product here that you can sell here anymore. 111 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 1: And this was in the early seventies. Uh, your time, 112 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: face it, Your time here is done. And the thing is, 113 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: though they didn't get the word out, it's not like 114 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: they that was like burning up the headlines all over 115 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 1: the country, because what they were afraid of was people 116 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 1: love this stuff, and if they hear that it's going 117 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: to go away, people are going to go out and 118 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 1: start buying up all the lead tinsel. Total. It's going 119 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 1: to be counterintuitive to our goal here, which is to 120 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: get rid of the lead tinsel. Right. It would take 121 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 1: you know, years and years before they finally got phase 122 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: would be so much easier if it just didn't come 123 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: back one year and that's basically what happened. The FDA 124 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: managed to kind of secretly get rid of lead from 125 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 1: Christmas tinsel and say, come up with some other stuff, 126 00:07:56,520 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: and uh, in very short order plastic came along to 127 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: replace it. But what what was crazy, Chuck, is that 128 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: um lead tinsel remained available in Germany until really yeah, 129 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: they did not get rid of the the lametta until then. 130 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: It's very surprising. Germans are tough. So I want to 131 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: say also, um, big shout out to our friend and 132 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 1: longtime listener Robert Paulson for suggesting that one. And as 133 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: you'll see later on in the episode, he's basically the 134 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: secret elf for this year's Christmas extravaganzas so thank you 135 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:38,959 Speaker 1: very much, Roberts. His name is Robert Paulson. Should we 136 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: move on to Charles Dickens? Oh yeah, I thought we 137 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: would just leave it at his name is Robert Paulson. 138 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:47,200 Speaker 1: But yes, all right, here we go with a little 139 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:53,120 Speaker 1: bit on how Dickens saved Christmas. Enough enough, he's going 140 00:08:53,240 --> 00:09:17,679 Speaker 1: from name uh um so um. Everybody thinks like a 141 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:21,200 Speaker 1: Christmas Carol is the most Christmas e thing that anyone's 142 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: ever come up with, and until a Christmas story came 143 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 1: along that was true, and Christmas Carol is kind of 144 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:32,360 Speaker 1: responsible for um a lot of the traditions that we 145 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 1: think of as Christmas Eve these days. Um it basically 146 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:39,600 Speaker 1: came from the end of christ of Dickens pen things 147 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: like this idea of having your family around you and 148 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:48,000 Speaker 1: and and being charitable and um spreading goodwill and peace 149 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: and all of that stuff. Like, all of that kind 150 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: of came from this Christmas Carol. And in fact, even 151 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: wishing people marry Christmas was a Dickens invention too. But 152 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 1: what a lot of people don't realize is that um 153 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 1: Dickens when he wrote a Christmas Carol, he basically grabbed 154 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 1: Christmas out from the clutches of oblivion and dragged it 155 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:12,800 Speaker 1: back into popular culture. That he was largely responsible, or 156 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 1: one of a few Victorian authors who were responsible for 157 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: saving Christmas from obscurity from around that time about the 158 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:24,440 Speaker 1: middle of the nineteenth century. It is hard to believe, 159 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:28,679 Speaker 1: but that is true that in eighteen sixty three Christmas 160 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:33,640 Speaker 1: was dying in no small part to uh at the 161 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 1: hands of a man named Oliver Cromwell, Boo, Lord and 162 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: Protector of England, very famous seventeenth century Puritan who didn't 163 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:45,679 Speaker 1: like Christmas. He didn't like the people were going out 164 00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:49,280 Speaker 1: and having a good time and drinking and eating too much. 165 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 1: And he was like, listen, there's no scriptural basis for Christmas. 166 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 1: It's not in the Bible. Uh, there is no you know, 167 00:10:57,080 --> 00:10:59,960 Speaker 1: there's the Sabbath, of course, but it doesn't say, hey, 168 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:04,480 Speaker 1: everyone get together on and get drunk, does it right? 169 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:06,920 Speaker 1: And I mean that's definitely what they were doing. In fact, 170 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,679 Speaker 1: like since the medieval era in Britain and other parts 171 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:14,200 Speaker 1: of Europe, especially like Celtic centric but pagan basically parts 172 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:19,720 Speaker 1: of Europe. Um, they would get together, uh and kick off. 173 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:22,559 Speaker 1: I guess the whole thing on Christmas kind of like 174 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: Fat Tuesday ends Marty Gras. It's like, in reverse, Christmas 175 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:31,440 Speaker 1: kicked off twelve days of festivals and celebrating, of gathering 176 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 1: at the tavern, of having friends and family over for 177 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:37,680 Speaker 1: a big feast um, and all of it can be 178 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:40,440 Speaker 1: traced back to these pagan winter solstices. But then when 179 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:43,400 Speaker 1: Christianity came along, they said, oh, we'll just say it's 180 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 1: the birth of Jesus kicking all this stuff off. But 181 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: it was a big, long twelve day winner festival of revelry, 182 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: and um, people really appreciate it. And Cromwell said, no, 183 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: that's too much fun. Christmas is here here by band, 184 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:00,120 Speaker 1: and he got it pushed through Parliament that Christmas was 185 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 1: in fact banned. Yeah, and a couple of acts of 186 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:08,600 Speaker 1: Parliament and forty four and forty seven sixty seven. He uh, 187 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: he pushed it underground essentially because people uh still did 188 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,840 Speaker 1: their celebrating. It just wasn't as a raucous at the 189 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: local tavern. It was a little more at home behind 190 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:24,679 Speaker 1: closed doors. But he certainly could not dampen people's spirits. Uh, 191 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:28,280 Speaker 1: they just took it inside basically. Uh. Then the Industrial 192 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:33,320 Speaker 1: Revolution comes along and people worked on Christmas and it 193 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 1: wasn't like, well, we gotta work on Christmas this year. 194 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:39,560 Speaker 1: It was like Christmas was kind of like any other day, 195 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:42,920 Speaker 1: and you just worked because the factory was open, because 196 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:44,959 Speaker 1: there were seven days in a week and you were 197 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 1: expected to work all of them. Yeah, Cromwell couldn't quite 198 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 1: get rid of it. And he actually he and the 199 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:53,000 Speaker 1: rest of the Puritans got pushed aside when the monarchy 200 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: came back and all that stuff got overturned. But just yeah, 201 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:58,959 Speaker 1: about a hundred years later, when um England went through 202 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: the first Industrial evolution. That was I mean, that almost 203 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: did it in because, like you said, everybody was too 204 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:09,240 Speaker 1: tired to celebrate Christmas. They didn't have any time off. 205 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: But also very importantly, chuck a lot of those people 206 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:17,080 Speaker 1: who had been celebrating these Christmas is in the medieval 207 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:20,960 Speaker 1: style with feasts and friends and family and revelry and 208 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:23,199 Speaker 1: carols and all that stuff. They used to do that 209 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: back in the country during the agrarian age. Well, the 210 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 1: agrarian age had come to an abrupt halt during the 211 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:31,200 Speaker 1: Industrial Age, and so all those people had moved from 212 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:33,440 Speaker 1: the country to the city and they didn't have these 213 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 1: longstanding multi generational community ties any longer. So celebrating Christmas 214 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 1: kind of fell away. It stayed back there in the 215 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:43,320 Speaker 1: in the rural areas, and it didn't quite make that 216 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 1: transition to the city. So between these long seven day 217 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:51,680 Speaker 1: work weeks and then this transplanting from the countryside to 218 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,520 Speaker 1: the city, Christmas was almost lost had it not been 219 00:13:54,559 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: for Dickens. That's right. Then a Christmas Carol comes along, uh, 220 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 1: and that kind of did it. People loved it. It It 221 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:04,800 Speaker 1: was a very big hit Uh, he didn't make a 222 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:07,320 Speaker 1: ton of money on it because and that was kind 223 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:10,880 Speaker 1: of his fault because he really wanted, um, a really 224 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:13,800 Speaker 1: good looking book that was packaged well, he didn't want 225 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:16,720 Speaker 1: to charge a lot for it. Um. And like you 226 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:18,320 Speaker 1: said at the beginning, a lot of the things that 227 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 1: we think of it Christmas, like saying Mary Christmas, um, 228 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:25,160 Speaker 1: wishing for a white Christmas. This all comes from Dickens 229 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:28,960 Speaker 1: version of a Christmas Carol and it was a big hit. 230 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:32,440 Speaker 1: And he he worked in stuff like um ghost stories, 231 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: which in the medieval times they told Christmas ghost story, 232 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:38,640 Speaker 1: so that's people think that's kind of where he got 233 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:42,240 Speaker 1: the ghostly visitors from. I think we talked a couple 234 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,480 Speaker 1: of I think the Live Christmas Show we talked about that, 235 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:50,520 Speaker 1: didn't we I think so? Yeah. But yeah, thanks to uh, 236 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: thanks to Dickens, Christmas was a big hit again and 237 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:58,640 Speaker 1: his not been threatened since, except for you know, people 238 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: trying to kill Christmas. Now. I guess it's rampant, isn't it. 239 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:08,680 Speaker 1: The new Cromwells. Right, that's right. Well, now you can 240 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 1: say Merry Christmas everybody, and you can know you're giving 241 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 1: a hat tip to get old Charles Dickens. Al Right. 242 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 1: Next on our list of merriment is finance and economics, 243 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 1: but in a very fun way. I think I gotta 244 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:46,720 Speaker 1: feel like we've talked about this before because it seems 245 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 1: so familiar. But the PNC Christmas Price Index, Uh, since 246 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: the PNC Bank has been doing this where they calculate 247 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:58,920 Speaker 1: the current annual cost or the cost of that year 248 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:03,000 Speaker 1: for the items on the song from the song that 249 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:07,680 Speaker 1: Twelve Days of Christmas. Obviously we're talking about French hens 250 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:12,520 Speaker 1: and leaping lords and five golden rings and all of 251 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:18,000 Speaker 1: that livestock and jewelry and entertainment. They have very in 252 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: a very fun way, since the mid eighties, have been calculating, 253 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:24,680 Speaker 1: hey what would that cost this year? Yeah. And in fact, 254 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:29,360 Speaker 1: there's one particular economist at the bank, Rebecca McCann. Fun 255 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 1: job kind of yeah, it kind of oversees this whole thing. 256 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:34,160 Speaker 1: She's like, yeah, it's super fun. I don't get to 257 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 1: stop doing any of my regular work. They make me 258 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: do this on top of everything probably and I don't 259 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:40,960 Speaker 1: even give me a bonus anymore. They did away with 260 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:45,920 Speaker 1: bonuses in the merger. So it's funny when you when 261 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:47,800 Speaker 1: you think about this a lot of these are pretty 262 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 1: easy to get, like turtle doves and partridges. You could 263 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 1: call bird suppliers or hatcheries for hens and swans, or 264 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:00,680 Speaker 1: a nursery for pear trees and stuff like that, or 265 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:04,399 Speaker 1: obviously jewelry chains for gold rings. But it gets a 266 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: little trickier when it comes to uh, ladies dancing and 267 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:10,920 Speaker 1: lords of leaping, Like, what do you pay for that? Well, 268 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:15,960 Speaker 1: she calculated the cost by getting in touch with things 269 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:19,399 Speaker 1: like like dance companies the Philadelphia Ballet I think was 270 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:22,359 Speaker 1: one of them, for the Pennsylvania Ballet. The other one, Um, 271 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:25,920 Speaker 1: she got in touch with philadanco UM, which is a 272 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: dance company in Philadelphia, believe it or not. And Um said, basically, 273 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:33,760 Speaker 1: you know how much would it cost to to put 274 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:37,480 Speaker 1: on a show or to rent I guess eleven lords leaping? 275 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 1: You know? And I'm sure they hung up a couple 276 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 1: of times on her before she finally convinced him to 277 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: to give her a straight answer. Um, but yeah, she 278 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:48,119 Speaker 1: really like she she goes through and figures out the 279 00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:50,160 Speaker 1: price of each of these things. But then she's also 280 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: being an economist, says, well, it's more than just that, 281 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:55,879 Speaker 1: you also have to pay for things like gas for shipping. Um, 282 00:17:56,119 --> 00:17:58,639 Speaker 1: the cost of services has gone up recently, but the 283 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:02,359 Speaker 1: cost of goods has gone down by comparison. She takes 284 00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:05,480 Speaker 1: all of this, all these different prices together, UM, adds 285 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: them up, and that is the Consumer Price Index every year. 286 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 1: That's right, the Christmas Price Index. That's right. I'm sorry, 287 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: so it actually it reflects the Consumer Price Index, which 288 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:20,960 Speaker 1: is a legit thing that's used as a metric to 289 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 1: track the economy of the United States. This is a 290 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,879 Speaker 1: slightly more tongue in cheek, although we're gonna see it 291 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:29,800 Speaker 1: actually does have some like real world reflections to it, 292 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:32,440 Speaker 1: and it is you know that if you went through 293 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 1: and hired eleven lords of leaping, this is probably roughly 294 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: what you would pay for it, you know. Yeah, I 295 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: think the saddest one for me would be made of milking. 296 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:43,440 Speaker 1: And it's also the easiest one to figure out, because 297 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 1: all she has to do is plug in minimum wage, 298 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:48,399 Speaker 1: because that's what a milking made would probably get paid. 299 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:52,160 Speaker 1: But that one hasn't changed obviously since two thousand nine, 300 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:57,080 Speaker 1: as uh horrifically, the federal minimum wage has been locked 301 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:02,080 Speaker 1: in place for eleven years. It seven. Yeah, so that 302 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:04,680 Speaker 1: was a bit of a bummer, and then, um, the 303 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:11,199 Speaker 1: big surprising thing for for me definitely was that, um, 304 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,720 Speaker 1: there were a number of things that you couldn't get 305 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:18,280 Speaker 1: this year McCann found out, and that the this year's 306 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:24,000 Speaker 1: total Christmas Price index was about sixty percent less than 307 00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:27,200 Speaker 1: last year's. The cost of it In two thousand nineteen 308 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:30,840 Speaker 1: it was thirty eight thousand, nine nine dollars and fifty 309 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 1: In twenty it costs you just sixteen thousand, one hundred 310 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:40,280 Speaker 1: and sixty eight dollars and fourteen cents. And you say, like, okay, 311 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:43,760 Speaker 1: well that's great. You know things prices are going down. Well, no, 312 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:47,399 Speaker 1: the like I said, the reason why the cost had 313 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:50,000 Speaker 1: gone down is because you couldn't get things like Lord's 314 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:54,800 Speaker 1: leaping or drummer's drumming, or pipers piping, or ladies dancing 315 00:19:55,119 --> 00:20:00,440 Speaker 1: because of COVID nineteen. Yeah, kind of rise me. And 316 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: it's not very fun. It's not you could get a 317 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:06,919 Speaker 1: drumline outdoors, space them out and pay them money. I guess. 318 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:09,879 Speaker 1: So maybe McCann wanted to point out that there's a 319 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:13,320 Speaker 1: coronavirus pandemic going on right now. Yeah, I think that's 320 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:15,600 Speaker 1: kind of the deal, is there. I think there's a 321 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 1: bit of a of a nod and a wink and 322 00:20:18,359 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 1: a message to be sent each year when this is released. 323 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:26,320 Speaker 1: But um, the thing is chucky. Even if you're like, whatever, 324 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:29,399 Speaker 1: I don't care about the pandemic. I'm I've got this 325 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 1: this price in hand. I'm gonna go with the two 326 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:33,240 Speaker 1: thousand nineteen prices because I'm really going to twist the 327 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: arms of those dance companies and get them to to 328 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 1: lend me some dancers. Um, do you have to stop 329 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:43,879 Speaker 1: and ask yourself like, are these actually good gifts anymore? Yeah, 330 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 1: the answer I think would be no. I mean yes, 331 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:50,240 Speaker 1: the the birds are calling, those are canaries. That's a 332 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:54,000 Speaker 1: pretty good idea. Or if you have like a a 333 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 1: farm friend and you're like, not only did I get 334 00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:59,159 Speaker 1: you some chickens, I got you some French hens. I 335 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,240 Speaker 1: think they might be slightly impressed. Everybody would like five 336 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:05,520 Speaker 1: gold rings that kind of thing, But if you put 337 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:07,119 Speaker 1: the whole thing together all at once, it can be 338 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:11,680 Speaker 1: kind of overwhelming. And they they mentioned this on an 339 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,960 Speaker 1: episode of Christmas episode at the Office, where Aaron, the receptionist, says, 340 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:18,679 Speaker 1: whoever is my secret? Saying it that's buying me the 341 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:21,640 Speaker 1: twelve Days of Christmas presents, like, please stop, it's ruining 342 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 1: my life. She said. The French ends are plucking at 343 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: her hair to make nests out of it. That's another 344 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 1: terrible stuff. So I guess if that's a if that's 345 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:34,040 Speaker 1: your idea, if that's you're thinking that you're going to 346 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:37,400 Speaker 1: buy your true love the presents from the twelve Days 347 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 1: of Days of Christmas, just don't don't do it. Maybe 348 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:45,600 Speaker 1: some leaping words, but then stop. Al Right, shall we 349 00:21:45,600 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: move on to our next segment? Yes, let's we need 350 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:03,119 Speaker 1: to thank Robert Paulson for this one too. Write the 351 00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:07,200 Speaker 1: little Elf from Los Angeles came to visit us yet again. Yeah, 352 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:11,439 Speaker 1: the little elf who could? So this is about the 353 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:14,560 Speaker 1: first department store Santa Claus and we need to caveat 354 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:21,119 Speaker 1: this in a big way because um is when Colonel 355 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: Jim James, Colonel Jim Edgar Brockton, Massachusetts claims and people 356 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:31,680 Speaker 1: look at him as the first department store Santa Claus. Uh. 357 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:35,480 Speaker 1: And we were emailing back and forth because Macy's they say, 358 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:39,879 Speaker 1: goes back to eighteen what sixty something? Yeah, there's apparently 359 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:43,879 Speaker 1: there was another one called I think J. W. Parkinson's 360 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:47,680 Speaker 1: from Philadelphia who hired somebody to dress up as Santa 361 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 1: and climb the roof. Um, even before Macy's. But Macy's 362 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:56,920 Speaker 1: was the first to actually have a Santa in their store. UM. 363 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,240 Speaker 1: And there's postcards from the seventies that clearly show this. 364 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,720 Speaker 1: That's that Macy's was the first. And yet you can 365 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,119 Speaker 1: go all over the internet and you you search the 366 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:09,720 Speaker 1: first department store Santa, you're gonna come back with James Edgar. 367 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:12,720 Speaker 1: And people even mentioned this in the same article that yeah, 368 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 1: Macey's had it first, but this guy's the first. Just 369 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:17,280 Speaker 1: you know, let's go out back and fight over it 370 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:19,800 Speaker 1: if you want to. Yeah. I think what you found 371 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:22,760 Speaker 1: and what we're just gonna agree on is that it 372 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:26,240 Speaker 1: said he was the first known what it what it 373 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 1: was the exact wording, not known quantity, but known individual, 374 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:33,480 Speaker 1: known entity. I think is how they put it in 375 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,680 Speaker 1: the weirdest possible way. Yeah, the only thing we could 376 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:41,000 Speaker 1: figure out was is that James, Colonel Jim Edgar was 377 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,919 Speaker 1: the first person to say, Hey, I'm Santa Claus in 378 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:50,360 Speaker 1: this town and my name's Colonel Jim Edgar, and everyone 379 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 1: knows it's me that's doing this thing. And he became 380 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: known as the guy, whereas I guess Macy's just had 381 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:00,800 Speaker 1: nameless Santa Claus. So maybe that's the difference that's got 382 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,240 Speaker 1: that's is, That's all I can figure out. But let's 383 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,360 Speaker 1: put all that nitpicky stuff aside. Okay, but I think 384 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 1: it's important that we said, and I'm glad you man, 385 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:11,639 Speaker 1: I'm glad you brought it up. But the thing is 386 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:13,800 Speaker 1: that I think a lot of the reason why people 387 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:16,239 Speaker 1: are really willing to go out back and fight you 388 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: over Jim Egger being the first Santa Claus is because 389 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:25,960 Speaker 1: this guy's character was as close to Santa's probably ever, 390 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:28,800 Speaker 1: any any Santa's helper whoever put on the suit and 391 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 1: when worked at a department store over the holiday season 392 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: ever has Yeah, he seemed like a really good guy. 393 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:37,800 Speaker 1: And there are stories that abound about the good things 394 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:40,960 Speaker 1: that have happened with Colonel Jim and in his wake. 395 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 1: Uh And one that happened in his wake was about 396 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:48,679 Speaker 1: thirty years after he started doing Santa. I guess he 397 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:53,359 Speaker 1: was gone at this point. But Brockton, mass was a 398 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 1: shoemaking town. It was very famous for making shoes, but 399 00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:58,880 Speaker 1: by the ninet twenties and thirties it had fallen upon 400 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,960 Speaker 1: hard times, and there was a truant officer that found 401 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 1: out that hundreds of kids we're not even going to 402 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,879 Speaker 1: school because they didn't have new shoes or means to 403 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:11,399 Speaker 1: repair their shoes. And so that truant officer's name was 404 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:16,360 Speaker 1: Charles Brooks explained this to William Wright, uh, the president 405 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:20,760 Speaker 1: of Edgar's department store, and he said, what should I do? 406 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:22,800 Speaker 1: What should I do? And he said, you know what 407 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:25,680 Speaker 1: you do? You do what James Edgar would have done. 408 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:29,639 Speaker 1: And the guy says what And the other guy goes, God, 409 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:32,800 Speaker 1: do I have to spell everything out for you every Tuesday? 410 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:37,040 Speaker 1: I have to explain everything I say. And the other guy, 411 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:39,119 Speaker 1: the truant officer, said please, just one more time. I 412 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:41,640 Speaker 1: have to know what would James Edgar do? And he said, 413 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 1: well he rip off Macy's and yeah, um, So what 414 00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:49,640 Speaker 1: he said was that the James Edgar would um fix 415 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:51,960 Speaker 1: these shoes and that he would use his company to 416 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:54,040 Speaker 1: do that. And so that's exactly what the president of 417 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:58,760 Speaker 1: this James Edgar's department store did. They removed the third 418 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:01,560 Speaker 1: floor of the department store. Amuse but I think a 419 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: three thousand dollars shoe repairing machine, hired six cobblers in 420 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:11,080 Speaker 1: the town and started repairing children's shoes for free. Amazing, 421 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:14,520 Speaker 1: you found another little piece about James Edgar and what 422 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 1: kind of guy he was to write. Do you want 423 00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:20,000 Speaker 1: me to talk about it? Because I will. That'd be great. 424 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:23,520 Speaker 1: So he Um, this is why I said he he 425 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:26,080 Speaker 1: had the character of Santa Like. He would dress up 426 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:28,440 Speaker 1: as a clown or that kind of stuff like and 427 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:30,760 Speaker 1: and wander around and finally one day he decided to 428 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,399 Speaker 1: dress up like a like a Santa Um. But he 429 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:37,600 Speaker 1: loved children, um like really genuinely loved the kids. And 430 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 1: I read Chuck that when he died uh and the 431 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:44,080 Speaker 1: local school let out for lunch, all the kids went 432 00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:46,880 Speaker 1: down to his funeral to pay their respects, like hundreds 433 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:49,640 Speaker 1: of children in town. And that was because he did 434 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:51,680 Speaker 1: things like he was well known to take care of 435 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:55,240 Speaker 1: his his staff, his employees. He made them shareholders in 436 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:58,400 Speaker 1: the business. Um. He lived on a second floor walk 437 00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 1: up apartment, even though he's very healthy man, because he 438 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:06,000 Speaker 1: wanted to have more money to share with his employees. UM. 439 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:08,359 Speaker 1: He would close early four nights a week so that 440 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:11,320 Speaker 1: his employees could go spend more time with their families 441 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:13,480 Speaker 1: and he had a really great quote that I think 442 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,800 Speaker 1: sums them up pretty well. I've made a barrel of money, 443 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:19,280 Speaker 1: and I have spent it as freely as I've made it. 444 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:21,960 Speaker 1: Thousands of it goes back to the people from whom 445 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,200 Speaker 1: I made it for. I fully believe in that kind 446 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:26,440 Speaker 1: of in exchange. And he seems to be the kind 447 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:28,480 Speaker 1: of guy who really literally put his money where his 448 00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:31,440 Speaker 1: mouth is. He would he would take his money, put 449 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:33,600 Speaker 1: it in his mouth and be like Carker, I wanna 450 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:40,320 Speaker 1: good one. Thank you. So the the whole reason people 451 00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:43,119 Speaker 1: say Jim Mega was the first department store saying is 452 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:45,919 Speaker 1: because he did this thing in nine and you know, 453 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:49,200 Speaker 1: he attracted kids from all over the Northeast and um 454 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:52,440 Speaker 1: in very short order. Starting the next year, department stores 455 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:56,240 Speaker 1: all over the place suddenly had Mall Santas or department 456 00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:58,800 Speaker 1: store Santras So, which is so a lot of people 457 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 1: point to Jimer's influence is the reason why I love it. 458 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:07,160 Speaker 1: So hats off to you, Colonel Jim. We salute you, sir, Yes, 459 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 1: yes we do, all right. So the leg lamp from 460 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:31,080 Speaker 1: a Christmas story. I know that we had to have 461 00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:33,240 Speaker 1: talked about this at some point when we talked about 462 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:36,960 Speaker 1: a Christmas Story and one of our previous holiday episodes, 463 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:40,800 Speaker 1: but we're gonna talk about it again. We could talk 464 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:44,040 Speaker 1: about this every year and I'd be happy. Man. Everyone 465 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:47,880 Speaker 1: knows the very famous major award from the Christmas Story 466 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:52,040 Speaker 1: when the old man wins this award that is brought 467 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:54,800 Speaker 1: into his house in a crate pulled out to the 468 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:59,120 Speaker 1: horror of his wife, the wonderful Melinda Dylan, and the 469 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:03,120 Speaker 1: leg lamp, the the kitschy item that everyone likes to 470 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:05,680 Speaker 1: have on their tree or in their actual window to 471 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:11,520 Speaker 1: this day, was born. Yep, so Um, there's some there's 472 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:15,720 Speaker 1: some really great background about that leg lamp in particular Um. 473 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:19,640 Speaker 1: As far as the movies production went, it was designed 474 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 1: by the production designer. I believe his name was Reuben 475 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 1: what was his last name, Chuck, Reuben Freed, Reuben Freed, 476 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,800 Speaker 1: and so Reuben Freed. Um based it on the description 477 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:38,240 Speaker 1: by Jeane Shepherd, who wrote the book and God We 478 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:41,600 Speaker 1: Trust all others paid cash Um that a Christmas Story 479 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:46,120 Speaker 1: was based on and Um. Apparently Jean Shepherd was involved 480 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:50,200 Speaker 1: in the production and saw some drafts of what Reuben 481 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:52,720 Speaker 1: Freed had drawn up and said, Yep, that's it. But 482 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:55,400 Speaker 1: he apparently Jean Shepherd apparently based it on a knee 483 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:58,560 Speaker 1: high sign that he'd seen as a child. Right, Yeah, 484 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 1: kneehigh soda. Uh is you can still get any house. 485 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:05,680 Speaker 1: I like the kneehigh orange and grape. And I think 486 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:08,360 Speaker 1: it had a pair of pair of gams, had some 487 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:11,880 Speaker 1: ladies legs, and he liked the look of him. And 488 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,400 Speaker 1: this is how I love the reading. Actually, uh and 489 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:18,760 Speaker 1: this is from I actually got this part from the 490 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 1: Man behind the leg Lamp from Read Krieger from inventor 491 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:26,320 Speaker 1: Digest dot com a few years ago. And this is 492 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:31,240 Speaker 1: from the actual short story My Old Man and the 493 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:35,080 Speaker 1: Lascivious Special Award that heralded the birth of pop art. 494 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:37,600 Speaker 1: And I guess it was that the deal is and 495 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:39,240 Speaker 1: God we trust all of us to pay cash. Was 496 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:42,240 Speaker 1: a collection of short stories. Yeah, and that that Bob 497 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:47,560 Speaker 1: Clark interpreted them perfectly into the movie A Christmas Story. 498 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:49,360 Speaker 1: So this is how it was described in that book, 499 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:53,200 Speaker 1: the leg lamp. From ankle to thigh, the translucent flesh 500 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:58,280 Speaker 1: radiated a vibrant, sensual, luminous orange yellow, pinkish nimbus of 501 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:02,680 Speaker 1: pagan fire. All it needed was Tom Tom's and maybe 502 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 1: a gong or two and a tenor seeing in a high, quavery, 503 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 1: earnest voice, A pretty girl is like a melody. Such 504 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:13,920 Speaker 1: great writing, it is really great. I love Jean Shepherd stuff, 505 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 1: even though I've never read a lick of it. I 506 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:18,880 Speaker 1: just love a Christmas story that much, right, exactly so. 507 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:22,440 Speaker 1: The leg Lamp actually made its first debut before Christmas 508 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:26,600 Speaker 1: Story did. It showed up on a PBS UM special 509 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:31,560 Speaker 1: called um The Phantom of the Open Hearth and I 510 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:36,400 Speaker 1: watched it, Dude, I watched it, and it is wrong. 511 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:39,600 Speaker 1: It is the most alien thing I've ever seen. Ralphie 512 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:43,680 Speaker 1: is like fifteen and a bit of a punk. Uh 513 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:48,160 Speaker 1: Randy is like about what Ralphie's ages and a Christmas story. 514 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:52,440 Speaker 1: It's just really weird in mid seventies, so it should 515 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:55,400 Speaker 1: be stricken from the memory of humanity. But if you're interested, 516 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:57,040 Speaker 1: you should go check it out and you'll see what 517 00:31:57,040 --> 00:31:59,600 Speaker 1: I'm talking about. It's just it's it's just very weird. 518 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:02,160 Speaker 1: But they have a leg lamp in there. They basically 519 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:05,120 Speaker 1: adapt the same short story, but this leg Lamp is 520 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:08,240 Speaker 1: way more tasteful than what Reuben Freed came up with. 521 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:11,080 Speaker 1: And once you've seen the Reuben Freed one. Everything else 522 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:13,880 Speaker 1: is kind of pales in comparison to it. Yeah, I mean, 523 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:16,320 Speaker 1: do you remember Reuben Fried's version had a at a 524 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:19,240 Speaker 1: stocking and a little fringe hanging down. It was a 525 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: very sexy lamp and uh, I think that's what made 526 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:25,720 Speaker 1: it so iconic. I believe they made three of them 527 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:29,320 Speaker 1: for the movie. The story is that they were all 528 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:34,840 Speaker 1: broken during the production of filming, although uh, and this 529 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:38,960 Speaker 1: is from from Reed Krieger's article, Supposedly there was a 530 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:42,200 Speaker 1: special effects like prop shop in Toronto that said that 531 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 1: they had one of them, one of the originals, until 532 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:48,680 Speaker 1: the early nineteen nineties, which may be true. Yes, there 533 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:52,800 Speaker 1: it was. Um, there was a guy named Martin Malavoir 534 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:56,720 Speaker 1: and he worked on the movie. He worked on several movies, 535 00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:59,320 Speaker 1: but he worked on a Christmas story. And he said 536 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:02,760 Speaker 1: himself he had several of these things in his shop. 537 00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:05,400 Speaker 1: That they actually made more than a dozen, not just three. 538 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:08,280 Speaker 1: So it's not entirely clear, but there doesn't seem to 539 00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:10,760 Speaker 1: be any surviving ones. He said he threw his out 540 00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:13,960 Speaker 1: in the nineties, which is terrible. It's like me throwing 541 00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:17,800 Speaker 1: up Burt Reynolds's door or Jackie Gleason's store. Yeah, or 542 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:22,720 Speaker 1: Burt Reynolds mustache. Don't throw that out. But the one 543 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:26,040 Speaker 1: thing I couldn't find was whose leg it was molded from, 544 00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:30,160 Speaker 1: because it was supposedly molded from actual human models leg 545 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:33,040 Speaker 1: and it could not. That seems to be lost to history. 546 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,120 Speaker 1: Another kind of fun fact here, if you notice carefully, 547 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,440 Speaker 1: when they're bringing that crate in, uh, it says his 548 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:44,000 Speaker 1: end up instead of this end up And a lot 549 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:47,160 Speaker 1: of people think that's just a little joke, but apparently 550 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:49,040 Speaker 1: it's just a movie thing. That crate was too big 551 00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,880 Speaker 1: to fit through the door, so the set carpenters came 552 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:55,640 Speaker 1: in and shaved four inches off, which included that letter T. Yeah, 553 00:33:56,080 --> 00:33:59,000 Speaker 1: that's good. And then that UM. That lamp is just 554 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:02,800 Speaker 1: so iconic it actually has patented. The lamp itself is 555 00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:07,880 Speaker 1: patent number three three six four five four two, And 556 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:10,920 Speaker 1: there's a Christmas ornaments you can get. We actually have 557 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:14,399 Speaker 1: a string of lights of leg lamp lights, but the 558 00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:19,120 Speaker 1: ornament itself is has a patent. UM and the town 559 00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:22,600 Speaker 1: of Cleveland, where we talked about Christmas Story being shot 560 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:27,880 Speaker 1: partially UM turned one of its skyscrapers, like they changed 561 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:30,160 Speaker 1: the lights so that it created a leg lamp to 562 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:33,480 Speaker 1: commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the movie in two thousand thirteen. 563 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:37,600 Speaker 1: And that's right. And as we said back when we 564 00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:41,080 Speaker 1: initially talked about The Christmas Story House, if you were 565 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:43,799 Speaker 1: a fan of that film, I highly highly recommend you 566 00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:47,680 Speaker 1: visiting the Christmas story House. Uh there in the shadow 567 00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:53,200 Speaker 1: of Cleveland. It's to walk around that home is uh 568 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:55,920 Speaker 1: is a pretty great thing, very special place to be. 569 00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:59,640 Speaker 1: I gotta go. You saw, Oh you never went. No, 570 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:02,080 Speaker 1: it's still not been. Yeah, you guys will make it 571 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:04,719 Speaker 1: over there at some point. Go to Cleveland. Cleveland's great. 572 00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:08,239 Speaker 1: Go the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Check out this. 573 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:10,760 Speaker 1: You probably don't care about the NFL Hall of Fame. 574 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:12,759 Speaker 1: That's kind of cool though if you're into football, But 575 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:14,920 Speaker 1: it's worth it to go to the Rock and Roll 576 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:17,280 Speaker 1: Hall of Fame. And uh in the Christmas story House? 577 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:21,080 Speaker 1: Are you talking about the Hard Rock Cafe Cleveland? No, 578 00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:23,960 Speaker 1: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I don't I 579 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:26,000 Speaker 1: don't know what that means. It's where you walk around 580 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:31,480 Speaker 1: at the end when they have everyone's uh original clothing 581 00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:34,839 Speaker 1: and these iconic outfits like Princess Purple Rain and Quick 582 00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:37,680 Speaker 1: Jaggers thing and Bruce Springsteen's outfit from Born in the USA. 583 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:39,719 Speaker 1: And you just walk around and look at them all 584 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:44,640 Speaker 1: and think, was Prince nine years old? Yeah he was 585 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:48,000 Speaker 1: a little guy, wasn't it was Mick Jagger twelve. They're 586 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:52,200 Speaker 1: all tiny. Well, a lot of energy. It's like a 587 00:35:52,239 --> 00:35:54,359 Speaker 1: small dog. Small dogs have a lot more energy than 588 00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:58,000 Speaker 1: big dogs, you know what I mean? That's right, um man, 589 00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:01,960 Speaker 1: I guess that's it. About the the leg lamp huh yeah, well, 590 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:03,799 Speaker 1: actually were I want to know where you hang those lights? 591 00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:05,640 Speaker 1: Do you string those on the tree or they like, 592 00:36:06,239 --> 00:36:12,120 Speaker 1: you know, on a archway or something archway or something. Yeah, yeah, 593 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:14,919 Speaker 1: because you can't just throw one string of leg lamp 594 00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:18,120 Speaker 1: lights among your other lights now. And plus, I mean 595 00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:20,600 Speaker 1: the trees already got it going on those leg lamp lights. 596 00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:24,160 Speaker 1: They can really light up a neglected or overlooked area 597 00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:30,080 Speaker 1: and they're so bad corner. Yeah, exactly awesome. I gotta 598 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:47,360 Speaker 1: get some of those myself. I'll get you some for Christmas, 599 00:36:34,239 --> 00:36:53,840 Speaker 1: all right, Chuckers. So it wouldn't be if we didn't 600 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:58,880 Speaker 1: have a Christmas segment about COVID nineteen. This is for 601 00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:02,239 Speaker 1: all the kids out there, because I know kids listen 602 00:37:02,239 --> 00:37:05,360 Speaker 1: to this with their families on Christmas Eve. It's a tradition. 603 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:09,560 Speaker 1: Nothing else happens on Christmas Eve, and just across America, 604 00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:13,840 Speaker 1: just people listening to this. So this is from people 605 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:18,200 Speaker 1: dot Com from Rachel to Santis and uh, this is 606 00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:24,279 Speaker 1: a great article from Dr Anthony Fauci revealing to all 607 00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:26,920 Speaker 1: the kids all around the country and all around the 608 00:37:26,960 --> 00:37:31,040 Speaker 1: world that they don't need to worry about Santa Claus 609 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:35,160 Speaker 1: coming in with COVID because Santa Claus is basically immune 610 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:40,600 Speaker 1: to coronavirus because, as Fauci says, quote of all the 611 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:45,680 Speaker 1: good qualities, he has a lot of good innate immunity. Yeah. 612 00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:50,360 Speaker 1: So Dr Faucci uh is reassuring us that Santa is immune. 613 00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:53,680 Speaker 1: And it makes sense, Chuck, because you know, um, as 614 00:37:53,719 --> 00:37:56,640 Speaker 1: everybody knows from a night before Christmas, Santa is actually 615 00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:59,760 Speaker 1: an elf. He's a jolly old elf, so of course 616 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:03,919 Speaker 1: he would be immune to something like COVID nineteen. That's right. 617 00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:08,680 Speaker 1: And that's not to say that Santa's helpers who are 618 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:11,800 Speaker 1: in department stores and malls all over the country and 619 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:15,560 Speaker 1: all over the world, like James Edger, That's right. Those 620 00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:20,000 Speaker 1: guys are oftentimes are elderly gentlemen. Sometimes they may be 621 00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:23,280 Speaker 1: carrying a little extra weight. And I guess the nicest 622 00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:26,640 Speaker 1: way to say that say this is that those Santa's 623 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:31,240 Speaker 1: are high risk, right, But everybody wants to see Santa's 624 00:38:31,239 --> 00:38:33,520 Speaker 1: helpers in the mall whenever they get a chance to, 625 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:37,120 Speaker 1: even during a pandemic. So there's a lot of these 626 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,000 Speaker 1: Santa's helpers who are figuring out how to do it 627 00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:44,600 Speaker 1: as safely as possible. This year. Um, there there's things 628 00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:50,799 Speaker 1: like virtual um virtual Santa visits, which apparently Macy's, which 629 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:56,080 Speaker 1: apparently is the originator of the department store Santa. Uh. 630 00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:59,320 Speaker 1: This is the first year since the eighteen sixties that's 631 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:03,759 Speaker 1: that macy will not have a Santa at their department 632 00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:06,560 Speaker 1: store in person. They're still going to have a virtual 633 00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:10,879 Speaker 1: Santa though. The ghost of Colonel Jim Edgar is right 634 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:14,280 Speaker 1: now just saying, why are these two loud mouths messing 635 00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:18,879 Speaker 1: with me? Right? I will haunt you? Yeah? And he 636 00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:21,920 Speaker 1: has been? Has he been haunting you? He's been haunting 637 00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:26,520 Speaker 1: me for the best couple of days for sure. Is terrifying. So, yeah, 638 00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:30,479 Speaker 1: they're doing some virtual Santa meeting by appointment. I thought 639 00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:35,960 Speaker 1: this was fairly creative. Um. This one Santa named Stephen Arnold, 640 00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:39,959 Speaker 1: who is a professional Santa, said he has three engagements 641 00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:43,120 Speaker 1: where they are setting him up in that sort of 642 00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:45,960 Speaker 1: a protective bubble built to look like a snow globe. 643 00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:47,680 Speaker 1: And I thought that was a very cool, kind of fun, 644 00:39:47,719 --> 00:39:50,640 Speaker 1: creative idea. Yeah. The other two engagements, he's going to 645 00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:53,400 Speaker 1: be sitting on a giant fire truck or a giant 646 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:57,840 Speaker 1: sleigh and like it don't climb up me fire trucks basically, 647 00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:02,600 Speaker 1: but his foot sticking out like fayback, yeah, fayback. Um. 648 00:40:02,640 --> 00:40:05,920 Speaker 1: But yeah, there's there's no reason you can't see Santa, 649 00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:09,520 Speaker 1: but probably just virtually this year, you know. But at 650 00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:11,840 Speaker 1: the very least you don't have to worry about the 651 00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:15,719 Speaker 1: real deal coming through on Christmas Eve and Christmas, you 652 00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:18,600 Speaker 1: know when saying it comes through, because he's not going 653 00:40:18,640 --> 00:40:21,320 Speaker 1: to be spreading COVID. He's just going to be spreading 654 00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:24,000 Speaker 1: glad tidings and jolly nous, So you don't need to 655 00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:25,520 Speaker 1: worry about that. Kids. You need to put out those 656 00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:28,080 Speaker 1: cookies and milk. You need to put out those carrots 657 00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:33,120 Speaker 1: and celery for those reindeer, and make sure you're cooperating 658 00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:36,400 Speaker 1: with your parents or else you're gonna get cold in 659 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:39,080 Speaker 1: that stocking. That's right, and it always helps to put 660 00:40:39,080 --> 00:40:43,319 Speaker 1: out probably triple or quadruple the amount of celery or 661 00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:49,239 Speaker 1: carrots you think you should kids. That's right? Is that it? 662 00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:52,160 Speaker 1: I think so, Chuck, I think it's time we wish 663 00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:55,640 Speaker 1: Merry Christmas to everybody in the Charles Dickens way. That's right. 664 00:40:55,680 --> 00:40:59,480 Speaker 1: Put a figurative bow on it, and what else. We'll 665 00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:01,359 Speaker 1: put your finger right here, and I'm going to tie 666 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:04,480 Speaker 1: the bow. And then when I counted three, move your 667 00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:06,640 Speaker 1: finger at the last second. Is I tightened the bow? 668 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:11,680 Speaker 1: You're ready? Three? Two? Three? Ouch? Okay, we just got it. 669 00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:14,240 Speaker 1: Got you a little bit that you're gonna lose that nail. 670 00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:18,680 Speaker 1: So happy holidays everyone, no matter how you celebrate it, 671 00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:21,879 Speaker 1: We're thinking of you. It's been a tough year for everybody. 672 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:24,080 Speaker 1: We look forward to a light at the end of 673 00:41:24,080 --> 00:41:27,439 Speaker 1: the tunnel next year, and uh, we just hope we're 674 00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:30,200 Speaker 1: with the friends and family that you really care about, 675 00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:33,520 Speaker 1: and everyone's forced to keep it small, but hopefully that 676 00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:36,759 Speaker 1: will not tarnish your Christmas and that everyone has a 677 00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:39,279 Speaker 1: really great holiday. Yeah. I just remember there's going to 678 00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:41,719 Speaker 1: be another Christmas. Six year, and the year after that 679 00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:43,440 Speaker 1: and the year after that, and we can all make 680 00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:47,360 Speaker 1: it through this one because Christmas isn't necessarily about traveling 681 00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:50,399 Speaker 1: or flying or doing or seeing. It's about feeling and 682 00:41:50,600 --> 00:41:53,359 Speaker 1: family and charity, and you can experience all of that 683 00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:56,960 Speaker 1: online this year. So no matter where you are, no 684 00:41:56,960 --> 00:41:59,040 Speaker 1: matter how you celebrate it, no matter who you are, 685 00:41:59,320 --> 00:42:03,400 Speaker 1: Merry christ Us, Happy Holidays, however you say it, Hopefully 686 00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:13,800 Speaker 1: the joy of the season alights upon you and yours. Huzzah. 687 00:42:16,520 --> 00:42:18,680 Speaker 1: Stuff you should know is a production of I Heart Radio. 688 00:42:19,160 --> 00:42:21,400 Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart 689 00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:23,960 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or where every listen to your 690 00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:28,279 Speaker 1: favorite shows. H