WEBVTT - Die Nacht des Krampus 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:04.960 Welcome Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of I 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:13.960 Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hey, you welcome to Stuff 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:16.360 to Blow your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb and 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:19.840 I'm Joe McCormick. And it's Crampus Night, isn't it. That's right? 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:24.919 Today is or tonight rather is Crampus Knocked, the night 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:29.880 during which the Beast of Christmas comes down from the 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:36.320 mountains and terrorizes alpine towns around the world. Right, it's 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:39.600 so given that this episode falls on Crampus Knock, we 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:43.680 realized we had a solemn duty, a solemn holiday duty, 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:47.839 to explore Crampus in depth. Man, I think Crampus just 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:50.360 took a walk through our kitchen because I just went 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:52.360 through there and there was such a reek. There was 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:57.600 like a waft of aged shrimp all throughout the microwave area. 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:01.560 Does Crampus smell? You know? I would imagine you would 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:04.440 smell somewhat of sulfur and rot. Yeah, I mean one 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:06.840 would think or or certainly the hides would have a 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:10.280 daintness to them, right. Um. But but the smell was 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.040 often overlooked because generally it's more it's it's generally thought 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:17.399 of as more visual spectacle. Uh, certainly for those of 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:21.280 us far away from the Alpine regions that that either 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:26.480 have to make do with some facsimile of Crampus rights 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:28.720 in our own cities or simply have to make do 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:33.000 with with footage and images and illustrations of what these 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:36.280 rights consist of. Now, Crampus was really having a moment 0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:38.600 like a couple of years ago. I think like the 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:42.880 suddenly interest in this creature surged, uh, And I feel 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:45.319 like it's it's calmed down enough now that we that 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:48.120 we can properly tackle it. Yeah, but I think the 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:50.080 good news is that I think it has calmed down 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:54.960 to like a steady infection of of Western civilization beyond 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:57.840 the Alpine regions. You know, certainly here in the United States, 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:01.280 like Crampus Uh has you know, sir urged infected the 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:04.280 holiday host And now I think we can say Crampus 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:07.160 is part of our our holiday traditions here in the 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:09.360 United States. Now, another thing is you said you were 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:11.160 going to be leaning into the holidays this year, and 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:13.840 man you have been. But what we we do promise 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:16.280 it's not going to be all Christmas stuff the rest 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:18.639 of the year. It was just that you saw that 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:21.120 it was coming out on Crampus knocked and we we 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:25.440 couldn't do but go to the horns exactly. So let's 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:27.560 talk a little bit more about Crampus, because some of 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:29.959 you may not actually be familiar with crampas or you 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:32.320 might not have you know, as you know, a robust 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:35.720 and understandings as other folks out there. So the short version, 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:38.640 of course, is that Crampus is an Alpine holiday monster 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:42.880 used as negative reinforcement, a threat of punishment for bad 0:02:42.919 --> 0:02:46.400 behavior against children. He is the bad cop to St. 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:50.760 Nicholas's good cop. He is uh the stick, whereas St. 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:54.280 Nicholas is the carrot, though much more directly so than St. 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:56.959 Nicholas being the carrot, because the child doesn't actually want 0:02:56.960 --> 0:02:59.800 to see St. Nicholas in their house that would perhaps 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:02.880 be traumatic. You want the treats and the goodies and 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:06.480 the presence that St. Nicholas brings, So the St. Nicholas 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:09.520 is like an indirect giver of the carrot. Crampus is 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:12.840 himself quite the stick, right and and but he is 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:15.520 something you wish to avoid. And that's the general idea. 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:19.519 The Crampus is what happens to the bad children. You, 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:21.720 young one, are not one of the bad children, are you. 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:25.400 Uh wait, so what exactly does Crampus do to the 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:28.760 bad children? Well? Uh so so it it very I mean, 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:31.400 the basic idea is that Crampus is going to come 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:35.520 and crampallow go and describe Crampus for everyone, though again 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:39.120 this is a situation where the exact incarnation of Crampas 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:40.440 is going to drift a little bit, and we're going 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:42.920 to discuss the wise of that in a bit a 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:46.840 little bit. Baffa metti, Yeah, a goat like beast man, 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:50.000 kind of a satyr, kind of a pan figure, kind 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:53.720 of a demon, like a furry, shaggy alpine demon from 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:58.280 the cold mountain wilderness comes down. Uh you know, he's 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:01.480 covered in bell's uh as a basket on it on 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:06.000 his back as switches may bring coal as well. Sometimes 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:08.560 it's shown to have like a big lolling uh you know, 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:12.760 giraffe like tongue. And basically he's going to come in 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:16.440 scare the bad children with the bad children with his switches, 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.480 and if you're particularly bad, throw you into his basket 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.719 and take you with him back to the wilderness to 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:25.440 either eat you out there maybe or maybe take you 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:28.280 to hell. Is is that sometimes part of it. Uh, yeah, 0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:31.400 I think again, the exactly exact details are going to vary. 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:34.839 Sometimes I wonder if it's like, because clearly Crampus has coal, 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:38.200 perhaps he needs the children to work in the coal mine. 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:41.200 But that's just me. That's my my possible twist on it. 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:45.120 Now you're probably wondering, you know, where does this idea 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:47.800 come from. We know that it it definitely seems to 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:51.320 originate in the Alpine regions of Europe, but it's unsure 0:04:51.360 --> 0:04:55.520 if it's truly a pre Christian pagan tradition. Um. Some 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:59.240 people say that it is, though it undoubtedly invokes pre 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:03.200 Christian pay and ideas and images, um, you know, regardless 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:06.000 of where it's actually or when it's actually emerging. But 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:08.800 at heart, he's a He's just a general bogey, right, 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:13.359 the embodiment of negative reinforcement of cultural norms in children. 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:17.240 And perhaps going back to our discussion of Jenny Green teeth, uh, 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:20.719 the bogey that is used to warn children away from 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:24.680 from still waters that are dangerous. Perhaps Crampus is an 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:28.040 embodiment of, you know, the general message that bad things 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:30.480 will happen to you if you do not take seriously 0:05:30.560 --> 0:05:33.560 the rules and advice that your parents and your elders 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:37.760 present you with. So while yes, misbehaving will not actually 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:41.400 result in foul beastmen venturing down from the mountains and 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:44.640 dragging you away to some horrific fate, but misbehaving could 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:48.000 result in bodily harm, and certainly the potential for violent 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:52.279 mistreatment by others is you know, is possible in certain circumstances. 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:55.800 Either way, Crampus is an embodiment of fear in a 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:58.359 holiday that is often reduced to just a notion of 0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:01.919 pure joy right, especially in the United States traditionally, But 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:04.960 his spirit is is certainly of the winter from which 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:09.400 our holiday traditions emerge. Uh, you know, he is the 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:12.839 the darkness of the holidays that is ultimately essential to 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:18.160 to winter um rights and winter belief systems that you 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:21.479 find in cultures around the world. Now, one thing that 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:24.280 I think is an interesting difference is that, like whether 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:27.080 or not there's really a St. Nicholas to bring you presents, 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:30.760 children will often end up with presents on Christmas Morning 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:33.560 with the implication that they have come from St. Nicholas, 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:38.640 but nobody ever actually gets carried off by Crampus. Yeah, 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:41.760 you know, you'll he's one of the big things here 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:47.000 is you have Crampus parades, traditional Crampus parades in alpine areas, 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:50.040 in which people dressed in the crampas costumes will parade 0:06:50.040 --> 0:06:53.919 through the streets and um and scare children. Though certainly 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:57.520 nowadays they are not They're generally not permitted to touch 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:00.240 the children or to actually strike the children with sticks, 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:05.640 much less drag them away. Uh. But in previous decades, Uh, 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:08.560 you know, I imagine they perhaps had a little more leeway. Yeah, 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:10.800 I guess so. But either way, Yes, the idea is 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:13.960 that Crampus is a a performance. It is a is 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:18.280 a folk festival performance in which people dress up as 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:20.840 the monster and then the monsters parade through the streets. 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:24.640 And in this, you know, it touches on so many 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:28.000 other different folk traditions. There's something about Crampus that seems 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:30.600 to embody just like it just checks off so many 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:34.280 boxes for folk traditions, uh that you find throughout Europe 0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:36.440 but also in around the world, you know, like the 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:42.840 making of bread totems that resemble Crampus, Crampus wearing the bells, 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:46.680 bells being objects that are typically used in folk decisions, 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:51.040 worn off evil spirits. Uh, Crampus as being a kind 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:54.400 of horned god as another thing that is often brought up, 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:56.920 you know, and of course there are many versions of 0:07:57.400 --> 0:08:01.480 horned gods and horned beings and various religions and myth cycles, 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:04.080 uh you know, tied you know, particularly with the horned 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:07.360 god to the unpredictable nature of the hunt. Uh. So 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:11.360 he he really you know, stands uh, you know, on 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:15.440 this kind of nexus of so many different ideas, Like 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:18.840 it's easy to just go nuts chasing cramps through the 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:24.120 you know, through the centuries of of of human folk history. Well, 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:27.800 he's also just a classic hybrid monster. Yeah, yeah, I 0:08:27.800 --> 0:08:31.080 mean that at heart he is kind of part part man, 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:37.000 part goat. I guess you'd say, part sheep, maybe part 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:40.320 you know, part beast, and in that like he ties 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:43.959 into some of our our oldest you know, magical ideas. 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:47.080 A hybridity is key to monstrosity. And what is thought 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:49.880 to be the first monster in the human imagination is 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:52.719 none other than the uh what the the low and 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:56.720 mench figuring from about thirty five to forty thousand years ago. Well, 0:08:56.800 --> 0:08:59.679 the first that we have physical epiens. Because yeah, as 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:01.720 we talk about in our episode about the first monster. 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:03.760 You can't know what the first monster was, but this 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:05.920 seems to be like the earliest one where there's a 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:08.640 physical record of the monster. Yeah, and we did a 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:11.559 whole episode on that talking about like, you know, you 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:15.000 know certainly how this example was found and what experts 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:17.360 have thought about it, and how it ties into just 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:21.400 how how our minds work, like bringing two uh different 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:24.280 ideas together into a new idea, and what this new 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:29.240 idea encompasses totally. So what happens on Crampus Knocked, well, uh, 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:33.080 Crampus Knocked is the eve of the Feast of St. Nicholas. 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:37.760 It occurs every December five, and so Crampus descends from 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:40.160 the mountain, terrorizes with the children, drags the worst of 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:43.960 them away in that foul wicker basket covered in bells. 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:47.520 Sometimes he he hands out coal or root and bundles 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:51.640 of sticks, which is interesting. The bundles of sticks are 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:54.679 sometimes also met musical instruments, of course, because they can 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:57.840 be used to it with a percussion instrument. Um. But 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:01.960 you know, this is the overall just a parade in 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:05.640 which there's this threat of greater beatings or abduction if 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:09.160 you do not behave yourselves and um. And this is 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:12.200 another thing, like the Crampus parade through the streets also 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:15.080 has this kind of unruly atmosphere to it that ties 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:18.240 in with a lot of parade traditions that involve masks 0:10:18.320 --> 0:10:21.720 and uh, you know, be steel guys is that people 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:25.720 take on and this you know, so again it runs 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:29.040 parallel to so many different things in human culture. Well, 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:31.360 it's one of the great ironies in the belief in 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:34.240 demons and devils that have haaunted us throughout the centuries, 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:38.520 which is that they are often used precisely to enforce 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:42.439 order like orderly behavior among children, and yet they are 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:47.480 themselves figures of chaos. It's like this unruly, unpredictable, wild 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:49.800 kind of thing will be there to punish you if 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:53.480 you break the rules. Why is that? I don't know 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:55.760 that that's interesting to me. Yeah, we'll certainly get into 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:58.920 the psychology of this more in the later portion of 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:02.439 the episode. Asked for the name Crampus comes from cramping, 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:05.200 which means claw in German, so which has a you know, 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:07.720 a nice nasty connotation to it, like this is the 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:12.000 claw the claw man. Um, let's see, goodness, where do 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:13.720 you even even go from there? So we talked about 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:17.560 crampas come, Crampas comes to town, Crampus parades through the streets, 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:21.440 or the Crampus, the cramp i, you know, multiple cramp 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:26.120 Crampus is some of these, especially these these modern Crampus parades. 0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:29.400 You're talking like four hundred crampuses parading through the streets. 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:32.160 They're quite a festival. Sometimes there's fire, uh, you know. 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:35.520 Sometimes the costumes are a little more modern, but other 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:40.760 times they put a strong emphasis on maintaining traditional originality. 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:44.600 Wooden masks, actual um, you know, goat and sheep skins, 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:47.720 that sort of thing. So they are the basic ideas that, okay, 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:53.040 Crampus either incorporates pagan ideas or emerges from pagan ideas, 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:57.000 or even is ultimately rooted in pre Christian pagan traditions. 0:11:57.760 --> 0:12:01.080 But then St. Nicholas does come along rounds. This is 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:05.559 the solemn Catholic precursor to the sort of jolly modern 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:08.640 Santa Claus that most of us grew up with, and St. 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:12.319 Nick gained popularity among German speaking people during the eleventh century. Now, 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:16.800 the story of St. Nicholas is itself full of fascinating diversions, 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:19.800 Like there's a great story where St. Nicholas. I believe 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:23.200 he comes across a place where an evil innkeeper or 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:26.800 somebody like that has murdered some young boys, and then 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:30.880 then St. Nicholas murdered them, chopped them up and pickled them, 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:35.600 and then St. Nicholas resurrects the chopped up, pickled boys. Uh. 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:40.440 And I guess the innkeepers somehow punished, Yeah, and and 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:43.560 and St. Nicholas. Is this the rather different figure from 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:45.640 from modern Santa Claus? To him that he is, I mean, 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:49.880 he's essentially like a former bishop of of what is 0:12:49.880 --> 0:12:52.600 now Turkey. I think so. Yeah, he's and he's this 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:55.280 dour individual. So he's not really jolly. I guess he's 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:59.880 jolly in comparison to the beast man Crampus, but he's 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:02.200 not quite Santa Claus, that's for sure. He's more like 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:06.800 a Christmas saw Uman kind of. I don't know. I 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:08.800 think he's yeah, yeah, I guess he has kind of 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:11.840 It's kind of. Yeah. Anyway, in the centuries to follow, 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:14.880 Crampus becomes an essential part of these traditions. You have 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:17.680 Crampus and you have St. Nick. Uh. Certainly you have 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:22.080 Crampus knocked ahead of the coming of St. Nicholas and uh, 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:25.120 and this just becomes, you know, just a popular part 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:28.040 of the holiday, and at times it actually gets a 0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:31.880 little too popular for some people. So Crampus has always 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:35.400 been just as Crampus as this this darkness to the light, uh, 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:38.080 compared to the light of St. Nicholas. You know, Crampus 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:40.480 even today is I think sometimes seen as kind of 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:43.560 an enemy of craft Christmas. Well, you know, the same 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:46.880 way they say, like it's hard to make an anti 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:50.240 war movie because war is inherently thrilling. It might be 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:54.640 hard to make an anti Satan like demon character because 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:57.560 demon characters are inherently kind of fun to act out, 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:01.120 and so like, there's always the risk that people might 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:05.360 be having a little too much fun acting out their 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:07.760 Crampus roles, unless the Church might need to bring the 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:10.560 hammer down, that's right. So you know, the Catholic Church 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:14.160 attempted to ban these festivals in the seventeen and eighteenth centuries, 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:17.360 but they weren't able to do so. Uh. And then 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:24.160 before Nazi Germany's Night invasion of Austria, Catholic Austro fascist 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:27.600 briefly held power and is reported in a ninety five 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:32.720 New York Times article titled Crampas disliked in Fascist Austria. Uh. 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:38.920 They pointed out that that at the time, the people 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:42.400 in power saw Crampus as a demonic, unruly and potentially 0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:48.520 communist usurper of Christian traditions. Yeah. So basically the Crampus, 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:51.520 according to this article, Crampus postcards and candies you know, 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:54.320 had always been popular. But but they had they had 0:14:54.320 --> 0:14:58.640 become so popular that Crampus had virtually taken over from 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:01.160 Sander like he was he was becoming the gift giver 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:05.600 as well. Um So, at any rate, there was an 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:09.760 attempt to uh uh, you know, to to to oust Crampus, 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:12.840 to to you know, to say it was a communist 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:15.760 because ultimately in some depictions he was reading wearing red 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:19.000 I guess. But they ordered anyone in a Crampas costume 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:22.680 to be arrested on site. Festive Crampas dances were outlawed, 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:25.760 and they even required all Santa clauses as well to 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:30.200 be licensed by the state and monitored. Fascist ruin everything 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:36.200 now um uh. In modern times, of course, there have 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:39.920 also been concerns about the potential trauma of subjecting children 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:42.920 to the idea of Crampus, or certainly the reality of 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:47.600 frightening um grown people in crampas costumes breaking through the street. 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:51.000 According to a two thousand six reports from Reuter's, concerned 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:54.000 parents and one child psychologists spoke out against the demons 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:58.320 violent influence, as well as so called childhood crampus trauma, 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:02.120 of which there are only a few cases, but at 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:05.960 any rate enough for some individuals to to want to 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:09.080 sound the alarm. Uh And you know what what made 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:11.920 the situation particularly interesting was that while Santa ended up 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:14.720 being banned for visiting kindergartens in Vienna at the time, 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:18.520 Crampus apparently still had access to the children, and so 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:21.920 there was a certain amount of outrage over that. Well. 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:24.200 You know, so I'm of two minds about this. Of course, 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:27.320 I love Crampus. I love the demons and the monsters 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:29.800 and all that that. That's sort of my personal jam. 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:35.720 But I also am very naturally disposed against terrorizing children 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:39.320 with supernatural threats. Uh So, I mean, I would I 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:42.400 would propose making Crampus more of a Halloween style thing. 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:45.920 What what vampires and goblins are to Halloween, Crampus could 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:49.000 be to the Christmas season, you know, not something that 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:52.000 you are taught is literally an existent threat that will 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:55.080 hurt you, but just kind of like a fun trapping 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:57.360 of the season. Ah, you know, and this week kind 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:01.000 of referring back to our episode on cuteness and monsters. Right, Ultimately, 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:04.400 if you want to declaw the monster, if you want 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:07.200 to deflux declaw the Crampus, what you need to do 0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:10.720 is make him funny and or cute, especially cute. The 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:14.600 cuter Crampus becomes the you know, the less terrifying he is. 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:18.880 But then how will we get the children to behave um? 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:20.879 And now I mentioned earlier about how you know, the 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:24.919 tradition of of of Crampus has spread over the world 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:28.840 and uh, and as such you'll see some crampas parades 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:31.359 where there's more of a Hollywood and horror of film 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:33.960 culture reflected. Uh. Certainly, if you just start looking at 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:36.600 Crampus images online, some of them are going to look 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:39.440 more like demon costumes that you might buy at a 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:42.760 Halloween superstore. And then you're gonna see things that are 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:46.600 that are far more traditional looking. Um. And I was 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:49.440 looking at one particular article. This is a New York 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:52.439 Times article titled he sees you when You're sleeping and 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:57.600 gives you nightmare my Melissa Eddie, this is about the 0:17:57.600 --> 0:18:00.520 celebration of Crampus and Munich. And in this article I 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:05.439 point out that that in in this particular Munich Crampus parade, 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:10.280 they only allow really traditional crampuses. So this means wooden masks, horns, 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:15.800 goat and sheep pelts, bells and switches. Um and uh. 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:19.440 She writes that local crampus clubs there will spend between 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:24.440 eighteen hundred and euros upwards of three thousand dollars each 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:27.960 year on masks and costumes made from local materials. How 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:31.640 do you join a crampus club? Is that very exclusive? Um? 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:34.960 I get the impression it's kind of like joining a 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:38.240 crew with a k uh down in New Orleans, you know, 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:40.439 for various parades. You know, it's kind of like you 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:43.520 have clubs that get together and put put together. Uh, 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:47.960 you know these these particular costumes and performance. It's not 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:50.400 like a horned beast. Country club is not where crampus 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:52.880 is gathered to use the pool and place. I don't 0:18:52.920 --> 0:18:55.800 think so, but she points out the master or in 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:59.560 this case car from lime, Swiss pine or alderwood, and 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:01.719 the skin are going to be sheep or goats. Quote. 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:04.960 Although no one turns away a cramps wearing wild board, 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:09.760 which is nice, and so four crampas is strong. They 0:19:09.760 --> 0:19:12.080 take to the streets, but there are rules no drinking 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:17.080 and again no actual hitting the children. But crampus traditions 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:20.160 are going to vary as well, al right, and our 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:23.840 pointed out on Atlas Obscure back in that it's it's 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:26.119 not what crampas looks like, so much is what he 0:19:26.160 --> 0:19:29.240 does or threatens to do that matters. For instance, entire 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:32.720 all the cramps tradition there is that crampus is essentially 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:35.600 wearing this big suit of straw. So the crampuses look 0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:38.520 kind of like a hay bale with the you know, 0:19:38.640 --> 0:19:43.240 beast legs, arms and head and um, and and that's 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:45.959 just gonna be the way that cramps is depicted in 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:49.120 that particular area. And then you can you know, travel over. 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:51.920 For instance, there's a part of Bavaria where they don't 0:19:51.920 --> 0:19:56.040 even have crampus. Instead it's a bouten Munden, which is 0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:59.760 like a crampus figure. So um. The author here that 0:19:59.760 --> 0:20:03.000 as Alice obscure Piece says, quote, like the tooth fairy, 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:06.360 he had a definite function but no definite form, which 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:08.640 I think it's a nice way of putting it. Now, 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:11.000 another thing that right and our points out is that 0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:14.560 crampas traditions were ultimately, you know, traditionally a thing of 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:17.720 the country. They spread slowly and then eventually made their 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:21.240 way to the cities where illustrators there might have never 0:20:21.320 --> 0:20:24.400 heard of such traditions before, so in depicting them, they 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:28.320 too might have had to rely on other demonic motifs, 0:20:28.359 --> 0:20:31.160 such as devil motifs that were already you know, prevalent 0:20:31.880 --> 0:20:37.760 in religious iconography, as well as pan and sader motifs 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:41.880 from art culture. So this would and then I would 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:45.240 imagine that this would end up influencing through the traditions 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:49.320 to some extent as well. So again it ultimately the 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:52.960 exact appearance of the creature is going to vary, but 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:55.879 it's the the intent that is that is almost pure 0:20:56.000 --> 0:20:59.679 and its chaotic menace. I wonder what exactly it was 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:04.359 it caused the sudden international surge in crampus interest a 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:08.320 few years ago. Well, there's there's one possible answer to that. 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:12.040 I was treating an article in the Chicago Tribune from 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:15.119 from this year by Rick Cogan, and he points out 0:21:15.320 --> 0:21:18.119 that the US explosion of Crampus might in part be 0:21:18.200 --> 0:21:21.320 due to the two thousand four publication of The Devil 0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:25.159 in Design the Crampus Postcards by Mont Beauchamp, an award 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:28.840 winning Chicago art director and graphic designer. So the idea 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:31.280 here is like this book came out, these images started 0:21:31.320 --> 0:21:35.359 circulating around. UM. The images zo ended up being licensed 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:37.560 in some cases, or at least they were licensing request. 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:41.960 And this kind of sets off the online fascination with 0:21:42.119 --> 0:21:45.320 Crampus and these Crampus images. You know, suddenly here's this 0:21:45.320 --> 0:21:49.240 this new dark spin on the holidays. It starts appearing 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:52.639 in television shows. Uh what Venture Brothers I think was 0:21:52.640 --> 0:21:54.800 one of the first things, first shows in which I 0:21:54.800 --> 0:21:57.160 saw a depiction of Crampus, but I understand he's shown 0:21:57.240 --> 0:22:00.720 up on like Supernatural was another one UM and eventually 0:22:00.760 --> 0:22:02.320 had his own horror movie. I think that was in 0:22:02.320 --> 0:22:04.000 the last couple of years. That was that. So my 0:22:04.080 --> 0:22:06.560 dad's a big fan of it. This is like that. 0:22:06.720 --> 0:22:09.840 That was probably the peat Crampus year, I think. So yeah, 0:22:10.359 --> 0:22:14.320 would be like or something. Yeah, And of course, you know, 0:22:14.400 --> 0:22:17.560 crap Crampus parades can now be found throughout the United States, 0:22:17.560 --> 0:22:21.000 and there's one every year right here in Atlanta. That's 0:22:21.160 --> 0:22:23.040 also it's sort of a more of a pub crawl 0:22:23.359 --> 0:22:26.399 if I remember correctly, unless it's changed, uh, then like 0:22:26.640 --> 0:22:30.720 a pure parade, like an actual license parade. But then 0:22:30.800 --> 0:22:34.840 unsurprisingly you'll find parade crews in New Orleans that that 0:22:34.960 --> 0:22:37.640 put on a Crampus parade every year through the streets 0:22:38.000 --> 0:22:40.560 and then they finish up at a German restaurant there 0:22:40.560 --> 0:22:44.080 in uh, in New Orleans. Okay, you Hollywood development people, 0:22:44.480 --> 0:22:46.080 I've got an idea. I'm gonna pitch it to you 0:22:46.160 --> 0:22:49.200 right now. Okay, it's a Miracle on thirty four Street, 0:22:49.320 --> 0:22:52.879 but with Crampus instead of Santa Claus. So a little 0:22:52.880 --> 0:22:56.080 girl be friends a goatman who thinks he who says 0:22:56.119 --> 0:22:58.880 he's the real Crampus, and you don't know the whole 0:22:58.920 --> 0:23:01.480 movie is either real Crampus or is he just a 0:23:01.520 --> 0:23:04.919 regular goat man who thinks he's Crampas. I don't know. 0:23:05.000 --> 0:23:07.359