1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:11,760 Speaker 1: Lauren Bogobam Here. Whether you're listening to the radio in Caribou, Maine, 3 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,960 Speaker 1: or Phoenix, Arizona, during the month of December, chances are 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,279 Speaker 1: you'll hear Bing Crosby singing the lyrics I'm dreaming of 5 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: a White Christmas. A white Christmas, of course, refers to 6 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: snowy weather on Christmas Day. If you wake up Christmas 7 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: morning and look out the window to see a blanket 8 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: of bright white snow, then you've officially experienced your very 9 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: own white Christmas. Hoping for one has become a tradition, 10 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:35,640 Speaker 1: just like putting up the Christmas tree and hanging stockings, 11 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: and it isn't exclusive to the United States. It's such 12 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: a big deal in London and Dublin, for instance, that 13 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: people actually track odds and gamble every year on whether 14 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: or not there will be any snowfall on December. Many 15 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:50,880 Speaker 1: people in the Northern Hemisphere anyway, associate Christmas in the 16 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: holiday season with snow, even if we hardly ever get 17 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: snow where we live. Nostalgic illustrations like Norman Rockwell's snowy 18 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: Christmas scenes may evoked a yearning for simpler time, and 19 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: Bing Crosby's rendition of White Christmas is certainly fraught with 20 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: a sense of longing. The song White Christmas, written by 21 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 1: Irving Berlin in January of nineteen forty, is an extremely 22 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: influential pop song. It's even listed in the Guinness World 23 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:18,480 Speaker 1: Records for selling more than fifty million copies worldwide. Hundreds 24 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: of artists have recorded the tune. Although Bing Crosby originally 25 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: made White Christmas famous, starting with the version in the 26 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 1: nineteen forty two film Holiday Inn, but everyone from Louis 27 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:31,279 Speaker 1: Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald to the Carpenters to Willie Nelson 28 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: to the cast of Glee has lent their voices to it. 29 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:38,400 Speaker 1: Berlin's timing was perfect. The public started to catch on 30 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:40,679 Speaker 1: to White Christmas around the same time that the United 31 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 1: States entered World War Two, and soldiers stationed overseas continued 32 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: to request records of White Christmas during the winter months 33 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: after the war. Berlin and Crosby secured the song and 34 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: its ties to World War Two and the public's consciousness 35 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,559 Speaker 1: with the film White Christmas, which, along with die Hard, 36 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: I just don't feel like it's Christmas without It's enough 37 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: nostalgia to make even those of us who live in 38 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: a region where it's highly unlikely to get snowfall wish 39 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: for at least a dusting during the holidays. The National 40 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,799 Speaker 1: Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has an interactive map that explores 41 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,639 Speaker 1: the historical probability of getting a white Christmas throughout the 42 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,640 Speaker 1: United States, and nearly half the country has less than 43 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,799 Speaker 1: a chance. Berlin even poked fun at the likelihood of 44 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: a place like southern California ever getting any snow. The 45 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 1: original first verse of White Christmas refers to a sunny 46 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: Christmas Day in Los Angeles, but it's often cut and 47 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:34,639 Speaker 1: the song's begun instead with the famous chorus, lending a 48 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: deeper note of melancholy and perhaps a more relatable story 49 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: for those of us who don't live in l A. 50 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 1: But Hey, although we can look at lots of data 51 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: and say that the chances of a certain area receiving 52 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:49,800 Speaker 1: snowfall during Christmas are low, nothing is impossible when it 53 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: comes to the weather. Case In point, New Orleans hadn't 54 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: had a white Christmas for fifty years, but in two 55 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: thousand four, the city finally recorded snowfall on Christmas Day. 56 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by John Fuller and produced by 57 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. The brain Stuff is a production of I 58 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 1: Heart Radios How Stuff Works. For more in this and 59 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: lots of other festive topics, visit our home planet, how 60 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com. And for more podcasts for my 61 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 62 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.