WEBVTT - Why Are We Dreaming of a White Christmas?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Bogobam Here. Whether you're listening to the radio in Caribou, Maine,

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<v Speaker 1>or Phoenix, Arizona, during the month of December, chances are

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<v Speaker 1>you'll hear Bing Crosby singing the lyrics I'm dreaming of

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<v Speaker 1>a White Christmas. A white Christmas, of course, refers to

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<v Speaker 1>snowy weather on Christmas Day. If you wake up Christmas

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<v Speaker 1>morning and look out the window to see a blanket

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<v Speaker 1>of bright white snow, then you've officially experienced your very

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<v Speaker 1>own white Christmas. Hoping for one has become a tradition,

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<v Speaker 1>just like putting up the Christmas tree and hanging stockings,

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<v Speaker 1>and it isn't exclusive to the United States. It's such

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<v Speaker 1>a big deal in London and Dublin, for instance, that

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<v Speaker 1>people actually track odds and gamble every year on whether

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<v Speaker 1>or not there will be any snowfall on December. Many

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<v Speaker 1>people in the Northern Hemisphere anyway, associate Christmas in the

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<v Speaker 1>holiday season with snow, even if we hardly ever get

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<v Speaker 1>snow where we live. Nostalgic illustrations like Norman Rockwell's snowy

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<v Speaker 1>Christmas scenes may evoked a yearning for simpler time, and

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<v Speaker 1>Bing Crosby's rendition of White Christmas is certainly fraught with

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<v Speaker 1>a sense of longing. The song White Christmas, written by

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<v Speaker 1>Irving Berlin in January of nineteen forty, is an extremely

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<v Speaker 1>influential pop song. It's even listed in the Guinness World

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<v Speaker 1>Records for selling more than fifty million copies worldwide. Hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>of artists have recorded the tune. Although Bing Crosby originally

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<v Speaker 1>made White Christmas famous, starting with the version in the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen forty two film Holiday Inn, but everyone from Louis

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<v Speaker 1>Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald to the Carpenters to Willie Nelson

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<v Speaker 1>to the cast of Glee has lent their voices to it.

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<v Speaker 1>Berlin's timing was perfect. The public started to catch on

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<v Speaker 1>to White Christmas around the same time that the United

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<v Speaker 1>States entered World War Two, and soldiers stationed overseas continued

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<v Speaker 1>to request records of White Christmas during the winter months

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<v Speaker 1>after the war. Berlin and Crosby secured the song and

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<v Speaker 1>its ties to World War Two and the public's consciousness

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<v Speaker 1>with the film White Christmas, which, along with die Hard,

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<v Speaker 1>I just don't feel like it's Christmas without It's enough

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<v Speaker 1>nostalgia to make even those of us who live in

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<v Speaker 1>a region where it's highly unlikely to get snowfall wish

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<v Speaker 1>for at least a dusting during the holidays. The National

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<v Speaker 1>Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has an interactive map that explores

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<v Speaker 1>the historical probability of getting a white Christmas throughout the

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<v Speaker 1>United States, and nearly half the country has less than

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<v Speaker 1>a chance. Berlin even poked fun at the likelihood of

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<v Speaker 1>a place like southern California ever getting any snow. The

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<v Speaker 1>original first verse of White Christmas refers to a sunny

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<v Speaker 1>Christmas Day in Los Angeles, but it's often cut and

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<v Speaker 1>the song's begun instead with the famous chorus, lending a

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<v Speaker 1>deeper note of melancholy and perhaps a more relatable story

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<v Speaker 1>for those of us who don't live in l A.

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<v Speaker 1>But Hey, although we can look at lots of data

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<v Speaker 1>and say that the chances of a certain area receiving

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<v Speaker 1>snowfall during Christmas are low, nothing is impossible when it

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<v Speaker 1>comes to the weather. Case In point, New Orleans hadn't

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<v Speaker 1>had a white Christmas for fifty years, but in two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand four, the city finally recorded snowfall on Christmas Day.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by John Fuller and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Clang. The brain Stuff is a production of I

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<v Speaker 1>Heart Radios How Stuff Works. For more in this and

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<v Speaker 1>lots of other festive topics, visit our home planet, how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff Works dot com. And for more podcasts for my

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.