1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. So, as this episode airs, 4 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: we are already into Advent, both on the religious calendar 5 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 1: and as the word relates to Christmas countdown calendars and 6 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: those two things. Even though the countdown calendars have become 7 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: very very secular in some iterations, they still share a 8 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: root origin. And today you can get gift calendars that 9 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 1: are called Advent calendars don't even count down to Christmas, 10 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:41,880 Speaker 1: they don't really reference Advent at all, but they'll still 11 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: get called that, right, Like there are birthday countdown calendars 12 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 1: you can get. It's doesn't have anything to do with Advent, 13 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 1: but the name has become so connected to this idea 14 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 1: of a countdown calendar. And to talk about Advent calendars, 15 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: which is really what this episode is about, we do 16 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: have to talk about the religious observation of Ada, which 17 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: has historically been less clear cut in execution than you 18 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 1: may imagine. I feel like, especially if someone's not deeply 19 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:10,959 Speaker 1: religious or if they're not Catholic, they're like, Advent has 20 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:15,960 Speaker 1: a lot of rules well kind of, we'll see, they 21 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:20,839 Speaker 1: don't always get they have certainly not always, and even 22 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: today they don't always get observed in the same ways. 23 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: And the transition to commercially available products that are more 24 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:30,760 Speaker 1: about the secular celebration of Christmas than the religious one, 25 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 1: but still have the same name centers more than anything 26 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: on children and private celebrations, and how that kind of 27 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: changed over to be something else. But the commercial version 28 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: of the Advent calendar, i will say, is a pretty 29 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: recent development. So that's what we're talking about today. So 30 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 1: the word advent comes from the Latin ad venire to 31 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: come to, and you'll sometimes see the word adventists, which 32 00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: means arrival. So from a religious perspective, Advent is part 33 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: of Christian religious preparation for Christmas. Just does a note 34 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: of clarity, Like we were talking about non Orthodox, like 35 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:16,959 Speaker 1: not the Orthodox churches, but like Catholicism, most Protestant denominations. Right, 36 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 1: there are other versions of Advent within those other religions, 37 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: but they they're on a slightly different calendar and they 38 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:29,080 Speaker 1: don't track quite the same way. Right, So the common 39 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: version of Advent that our listeners are probably most familiar 40 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: with runs over four Sundays leading up to Christmas ending 41 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: on Christmas Eve. So, for example, the year that we're 42 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: recording this in twenty twenty three, Advent is on the 43 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: shorter side because Christmas Eve is on a Sunday, so 44 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: this is from Sunday, December third to Sunday December twenty fourth. 45 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,679 Speaker 1: This period is intended to be a time of reflection 46 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: and preparation for the Christmas holiday, and it's also considered 47 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,799 Speaker 1: a preparation for the second Coming of Christ. In I 48 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: would say in some denominations that was like not a 49 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: big part of it in my upbringing. Yeah, there are 50 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:07,920 Speaker 1: some Catholic churches that really go in on that in 51 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: my experience, and some that do not. So some churches 52 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: celebrated it more generally as a season to focus on 53 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:19,399 Speaker 1: and honor Christ. Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical year, 54 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: and depending on the denomination, Advent celebrations might include an 55 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: Advent wreath with those four Sundays represented. Those Sundays usually 56 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: each have their own theme. A lot of times it's hope, peace, 57 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: joy and love, and the use of a wreath to 58 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: celebrate Advent is tied to German Lutheran Johann Vickeran who 59 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: introduced it as a visual countdown to Christmas in his 60 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: church at a home for boys in eighteen thirty eight, 61 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: and we'll come back to that. Advent has been around 62 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: at least since the fourth century, when Bishop Perpetuus of 63 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: Tours set up a pre Christmas fast as part of 64 00:03:55,560 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: his church's calendar. Similar pre Christmas observations rapidly spread to 65 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: other parts of Europe, and it took different forms then, 66 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: often dependent on location. So there was a version of 67 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 1: it that lasted for six Sundays. Pope Gregory the First 68 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: also known as Gregory the Great, reduced it to four 69 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: Sundays during his papacy that ran from five ninety to 70 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: six oh four. And while there appear to have been 71 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:24,160 Speaker 1: some efforts to confine Advent just to December, that timeframe 72 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:26,919 Speaker 1: was not adopted by the Catholic Church right so Advent 73 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: can start in November. The longer version may have been 74 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: intended to include Epiphany that would account for that six 75 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: weeks that goes past Christmas and beyond, but that's a 76 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: little bit unclear. It doesn't really match up to some 77 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 1: of the original dates mentioned, but there is a pretty 78 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: popular theory that includes Epiphany, in that early instances of 79 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: Advent may have tied not just to a Christmas countdown, 80 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:52,040 Speaker 1: but to the preparation for the baptisms that would normally 81 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:56,719 Speaker 1: happen to coincide with Epiphany. The start of the Advent season, 82 00:04:56,839 --> 00:05:00,040 Speaker 1: going back to Bishop Perpetuus, appears to have initially co 83 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: incided with the death of Saint Martin in a fast 84 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,919 Speaker 1: that follows the Feast of Saint Martin that begins in 85 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: early November, So that would have initially included the stretch 86 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: from early November to Christmas, not into January, and that 87 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:17,920 Speaker 1: might account for the sixth Sunday length. By the eighteenth century, 88 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:21,760 Speaker 1: the idea of Advent had been deeply cemented as an 89 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: important part of the religious calendar. There had also been 90 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: more lore and tradition established regarding Advent. In the seventeen 91 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:34,200 Speaker 1: seventy five book The Movable Feasts, Fasts and Other Annual 92 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,839 Speaker 1: Observances of the Catholic Church, the reverend doctor Alban Butler 93 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:41,280 Speaker 1: wrote this about Advent quote, Advent is a time of 94 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: penance and devotion before Christmas, appointed by the Church to 95 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: serve as a preparation to that great solemnity of the 96 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:51,800 Speaker 1: birth of Christ. Festivals were commanded by God himself and 97 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:55,719 Speaker 1: the Old Law to commemorate his principle, benefits and mercies, 98 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 1: that men might be more perfectly instructed in them, bear 99 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:02,760 Speaker 1: them all ways in mind, be always thankful for them, 100 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 1: and stirred up to dispose themselves to receive the fruits 101 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:10,040 Speaker 1: of these wonderful mysteries. The festivals of the New Law 102 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:12,920 Speaker 1: of Gray sought to be celebrated with so much the 103 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: greater preparation and devotion as the mysteries which we commemorate 104 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: transcend those of the Old Law, which, how wonderful of ever, 105 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:25,679 Speaker 1: were no more than weak types and figures, and empty 106 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,919 Speaker 1: shadows of them. By the time of Butler's writing, the 107 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,720 Speaker 1: rules of advent timing within the Catholic Church were firmly established, 108 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: though he notes that there continued to be differing observations regionally. 109 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,599 Speaker 1: He establishes the four Sundays of Advent as falling from 110 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 1: the Sunday nearest Saint Andrew's Day on either side of it, 111 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:48,400 Speaker 1: so even if the Sunday was before it or after it, 112 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,679 Speaker 1: whichever was closest, that's where it started. He also notes 113 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: in the text that a forty day Advent was in 114 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:56,839 Speaker 1: place at one time as a sort of parallel to Lent, 115 00:06:57,279 --> 00:06:59,719 Speaker 1: and was established in five eighty one at the Council 116 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: of Mine. That version was forty days, no matter how 117 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:07,159 Speaker 1: many Sundays were involved. It was also sometimes called Saint 118 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: Martin's Lent rather than Advent. Butler also notes that in 119 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 1: Milan in the late eighteenth century, the six week Advent, 120 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: which includes six Sundays, was still being observed when he 121 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:22,720 Speaker 1: wrote this so late eighteenth century. According to Butler's research, 122 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: in the tenth century, Pope Nicholas the First also endorsed 123 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 1: the four sunday version rather than forty days. Up to 124 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: that point, monks in England and Ireland particularly had continued 125 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: to observe the forty day rule, fasting most of the 126 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 1: day and then eating one meal in the evening. Butler 127 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: concludes his discussion of the varying advent calendar dates by saying, quote, 128 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: almost the whole Latin Church, in conformity with the Roman 129 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: has long since reduced advent to the uniform rule of 130 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: four weeks, or at least four sundays beginning about the 131 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 1: end of November, from the Sunday nearest the Feast of 132 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 1: Saint Andrew. So we just mentioned fasting, and even the 133 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:04,400 Speaker 1: rules around that have been wildly different depending on the 134 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 1: time and place. That Council of macall in five eighty 135 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 1: one that we mentioned laid out a proposed fasting schedule 136 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: of three days a week Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 137 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 1: the whole forty days, and even on days that weren't 138 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: fasting days, meat was to be avoided. Some churches encouraged 139 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: both fasting and quote abstinence from cohabitation in the married state. 140 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: Some observances of Advent focused more on spiritual preparation for 141 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,199 Speaker 1: the Christmas holiday and its meaning within the church, rather 142 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: than requiring physical observation through fasting or abstinence from sexual intercourse. 143 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:45,320 Speaker 1: Even in Butler's book, he notes that quote in monastic orders, 144 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: the fast of Advent has always been looked upon us 145 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 1: less rigorous and less solemn than that of Lent. The 146 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 1: bottom line is that even though there are church recognized 147 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: dates and practices of Advent, even within any religious denomination, 148 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 1: different areas or even individual churches can still define for 149 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 1: themselves a lot of the specifics about how this period 150 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:12,240 Speaker 1: is observed and celebrated. So this is all religious history 151 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 1: obviously that we've been talking about, but Advent is often 152 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: marked by secular advent calendars, So how did that start. 153 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 1: We're going to talk about it right after we take 154 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 1: a quick sponsor break. We noted in the discussion of 155 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:36,720 Speaker 1: religious observations of Advent that a wreath was introduced into 156 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:39,199 Speaker 1: churches as a way to visually mark the progression of 157 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 1: the season and the approach of Christmas, and in Germany 158 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:45,560 Speaker 1: in the mid nineteenth century, this was one of several 159 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:49,160 Speaker 1: practices that shifted the Advent to include ways to track 160 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 1: the countdown to Christmas at home for children. So sometimes 161 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:56,120 Speaker 1: marking the days that countdown to Christmas was really simple, 162 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: like families just marking the day with chalk. I read 163 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 1: different accounts it said like in some families, like they 164 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: would put on the door, for example, like all of 165 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:07,800 Speaker 1: the chalk mark for all of the days, and they 166 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:09,880 Speaker 1: would erase one each day, and in others they would 167 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,080 Speaker 1: add one each day. Like it was a very personal 168 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:14,319 Speaker 1: way of marking it, and everybody had their own way 169 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 1: of doing it. It also started to include small physical 170 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 1: daily items, often paired with Bible verses to combine the 171 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:25,600 Speaker 1: religious observation with this idea of excitement of a visit 172 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:29,720 Speaker 1: from Santa and also teach kids about calendars. This started 173 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:32,560 Speaker 1: to shift from lining up with the moving target of 174 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 1: Advent dates that are like the four Sundays, say and Andrews, 175 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:38,840 Speaker 1: to just being December first to twenty fourth. And that 176 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 1: makes sense, particularly when you consider that these work countdowns 177 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,080 Speaker 1: that focused on children. Right, it's easy to track Advent 178 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:47,280 Speaker 1: when the first day of it lines up with December 179 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: first and so on, but it would surely be harder 180 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:52,400 Speaker 1: for little kids in particular to have the calendar say 181 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:56,040 Speaker 1: November twenty ninth, for example, when the Advent calendar says two. 182 00:10:56,559 --> 00:10:59,600 Speaker 1: So for example, a family might be setting up a 183 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 1: line of candles on their mantle to be lit in 184 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:04,839 Speaker 1: a succession as the twenty four days from December first 185 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:09,679 Speaker 1: to December twenty fourth unfolded. The Advent wreath, as we noted, 186 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 1: is credited to Johann Heinrich Vickern in the eighteen thirties, 187 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:16,480 Speaker 1: and this was adapted for home use in Germany in 188 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:18,960 Speaker 1: a way very similar to the way that we use 189 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: Advent calendars. And in this countdown, each day a prayer 190 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 1: or a Bible verse was read and then a candle 191 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:29,520 Speaker 1: was lit on the wreath. If you haven't seen one 192 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:31,640 Speaker 1: of these before and you're like, how would this work? 193 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 1: The wreath is flat on a surface or hung from 194 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 1: a chandelier. It's not vertically on the wall or a 195 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 1: door or something like that. Versions of the Advent wreath 196 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 1: could vary from the four candle one that mimicked those 197 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:48,600 Speaker 1: that might appear in churches all the way to twenty 198 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:52,200 Speaker 1: four day ones that mark December one through twenty fourth. 199 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,800 Speaker 1: These could be decorated with ornaments, but the focus remained 200 00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 1: on the religious verses and using the light the candles 201 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,240 Speaker 1: to create kind of a halo. So the Advent wreath 202 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:08,080 Speaker 1: is associated with Protestant traditions, and this too offers a 203 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:11,280 Speaker 1: possible insight into why they count down from December first 204 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:15,120 Speaker 1: instead of the religious calendar of Advent as it related 205 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:17,959 Speaker 1: to the Catholic Church. They simply were not governed by 206 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 1: the Catholic Church's rules of when Advents started, since most 207 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: of the Protestant versions of countdowns were part of family 208 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:27,920 Speaker 1: traditions and celebrations rather than part of any more formalized 209 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: church observants, they were also just free to do what 210 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:32,480 Speaker 1: they wished and what made sense for their family in 211 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:38,360 Speaker 1: this regard. Another Protestant originated countdown convention is the Advent tree. 212 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:41,600 Speaker 1: This is a practice that began in eighteen forty six 213 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: in Duisburg, Germany. And once again this was a tradition 214 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:48,120 Speaker 1: that started in a home for wayward boys as both 215 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: a Christmas countdown and in didactic religious practice. So a 216 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:55,160 Speaker 1: small fur tree was planted in a pot in the 217 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: home at the beginning of Advent, and then every day 218 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:00,160 Speaker 1: a Bible Verse was read aloud by one of the 219 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: boys with the intention that they would all memorize it 220 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: that night. And then the next day a candle was 221 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:09,240 Speaker 1: lit on the tree and another Bible verse was read 222 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:12,959 Speaker 1: to be memorized, and this daily candle and Bible verse 223 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: practice continued every day of Advent until the tree was 224 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:20,120 Speaker 1: decorated and Advent ended. This practice was picked up in 225 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:23,000 Speaker 1: private homes as well, and a business grew out of 226 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:27,320 Speaker 1: it as printers started producing heavy paper or cardboard ornaments 227 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: that had Bible verses printed on them and even stars 228 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,439 Speaker 1: to top the tree. So to be clear, this Advent 229 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:38,800 Speaker 1: tree was not something used instead of a Christmas tree. 230 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: A lot of times the two would be alongside one 231 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:46,800 Speaker 1: another as kind of a commingling of Christmas decora and traditions. Yeah, 232 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,160 Speaker 1: one rite up that I read kind of made it 233 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:52,600 Speaker 1: sound like you did the Advent tree and then when 234 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:55,200 Speaker 1: it was done, you carried that one into the room 235 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:57,080 Speaker 1: with the Christmas tree. But I wasn't sure if that 236 00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:01,439 Speaker 1: was a translation issue. It seems like it would be 237 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 1: a pain in the neck to move a tree with 238 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:04,760 Speaker 1: candles on it, so I think that is what the 239 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:09,559 Speaker 1: problem was. Austria developed its own variation on the Advent calendar, 240 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:13,400 Speaker 1: called a Heaven Ladder. This version walked children down the 241 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: ladder as the days progressed, so each wrung was a 242 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: day and it was intended to represent the way that 243 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: God descends to earth to be present with humanity on Christmas. 244 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:26,680 Speaker 1: There were also candles that could be used in some celebrations, 245 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:29,840 Speaker 1: intended to be burned only a specific amount each day. 246 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:33,360 Speaker 1: That was in both Austria and other European countries. There 247 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 1: are also, we should say, a lot of different ways 248 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 1: to count down Advent that we're not even touching on 249 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:41,560 Speaker 1: because some of them probably aren't even documented as personal 250 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:45,640 Speaker 1: ways to do it. The German Christmas Museum describes Advent 251 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 1: calendars this way, which Holly found delightful. Quote. Advent or 252 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:53,840 Speaker 1: Christmas calendars are tools devised by adults for children to 253 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 1: make the remaining time until Christmas Eve countable and to 254 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:01,920 Speaker 1: stir up anticipation. Their English translation of their page on 255 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 1: Advent calendars, so Holly is hopeful that the German language 256 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:11,000 Speaker 1: version is just as charming. I don't know why. It's 257 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 1: like it's a tool for kids to make them happy, 258 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 1: keep them occupied. We noted that the days were sometimes 259 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:22,520 Speaker 1: marked really simply in advent countdowns, like with chalk. But 260 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 1: another form of simple advent calendar was mentioned in an 261 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty one children's book about Christmas by German social 262 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:33,080 Speaker 1: activist Elise Averdick. In that book, a little girl in 263 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:35,560 Speaker 1: her mother marked the days by hanging pictures on the 264 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: wall related to the story of Christmas, and a lot 265 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:42,080 Speaker 1: of homes did this for decades. Advent calendars for home 266 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:44,960 Speaker 1: use were also homemade. I don't want to make it 267 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:46,800 Speaker 1: sound like that's over. There are still people that make 268 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: homemade Advent calendars, and so they can take whatever form 269 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:54,760 Speaker 1: the creativity of the adults involved desire. The first printed 270 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:58,280 Speaker 1: Advent calendar was made in nineteen hundred in Munich and 271 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 1: told the story of Santa Claus. But this is a 272 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:04,119 Speaker 1: very small run. Two years later there was a commercially 273 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:07,960 Speaker 1: made Advent clock. This was not really a clock, but 274 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: it was two printouts of clockfaces in which each of 275 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 1: the twelve hours on the first image corresponded to December 276 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:17,200 Speaker 1: one through twelve, and the twelve hours on the second 277 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 1: image corresponded to the days thirteen to twenty four. So 278 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:25,960 Speaker 1: each day the hands of the clock this paper clock 279 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 1: could be advanced as Christmas could grew nearer. Because that 280 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 1: nineteen hundred Santa Claus Advent calendar appears not to have 281 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:38,160 Speaker 1: been widely released, there's another point at which the Advent 282 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:41,760 Speaker 1: calendar is often said to have been invented. In the 283 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:45,600 Speaker 1: early nineteen hundreds, a German printer named Gerhard Lang is 284 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:50,360 Speaker 1: credited with printing the first commercial Advent calendar. According to 285 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: the legend, this was inspired by his mother's practice of 286 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:57,440 Speaker 1: sewing twenty four cookies into a box lid for him 287 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: every year as a child, to be opened day by 288 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:04,679 Speaker 1: day as Christmas approached. And if you're wondering how cookies 289 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:08,480 Speaker 1: would survive twenty four days involved in this countdown, these 290 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: were allegedly Vibela cookies, which are more like biscuits that 291 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:16,520 Speaker 1: share characteristics with meringues or the cookie part of a mackerel, 292 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:20,560 Speaker 1: so they were probably okay for a few weeks. The 293 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:26,240 Speaker 1: last few probably chewier then that would be freshly made. 294 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:31,399 Speaker 1: Because Lang's not only made a widely distributed calendar, he 295 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:35,159 Speaker 1: continued to print new ones for decades. His name is 296 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:39,320 Speaker 1: the one that's most associated with the beginnings of advent 297 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:43,879 Speaker 1: calendars as a consumer product. There is not a load 298 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:48,200 Speaker 1: of readily available information about Gerhard Lang. If you search 299 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:50,640 Speaker 1: his name, a few examples come up over and over, 300 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:53,120 Speaker 1: none of which are him. One is a printer from 301 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:55,600 Speaker 1: Frankfurt who was born in nineteen twenty one and is 302 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,200 Speaker 1: linked to the beginning of font design, which is pretty fascinating. 303 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,359 Speaker 1: Another was a botanist born in nineteen twenty four, and 304 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 1: yet another was a brewer and Democratic State committeeman who 305 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:06,480 Speaker 1: lived in Buffalo, New York. None of those are the 306 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:09,960 Speaker 1: Advent calendar guy. So we don't know much about the 307 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:13,160 Speaker 1: life of Gerhard Lang, who is sometimes called the inventor 308 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:15,720 Speaker 1: of the advent calendar. But what we do know is 309 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: that he eventually was made a partner in a publishing 310 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: company called Reichold and Lang. The date that Lang published 311 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:25,719 Speaker 1: his first calendar is different depending on what source you 312 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: look at. Some say nineteen oh eight, others placed the 313 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,280 Speaker 1: date earlier in the nineteen hundreds. There's a children's book 314 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 1: called Waiting for Christmas from two thousand and six that 315 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:38,640 Speaker 1: shares an imagined version of Gerhard Lang as a child 316 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:42,600 Speaker 1: learning about Advent through his mother's cookie countdown. The book 317 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:46,560 Speaker 1: says the cookies were Lebkitchen, So who knows that book 318 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,560 Speaker 1: included the nineteen oh eight date, and it might be 319 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:54,240 Speaker 1: where other recent accounts picked that year up. Lang's collaborator 320 00:18:54,359 --> 00:18:57,560 Speaker 1: on several of these Advent calendars was an illustrator named 321 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 1: Richard Ernst Kepler. You can find some of Kepler's early 322 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:04,639 Speaker 1: Advent calendar illustrations for Laying online, and one of these 323 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 1: is from nineteen oh three, and it's titled in the 324 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 1: Land of the Christ Child, and it features in an 325 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:12,440 Speaker 1: array of scenes that all depict children, either representing moments 326 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,640 Speaker 1: from the life of Christ or showing some imagery that's 327 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:19,080 Speaker 1: commonly associated with the more secular aspects of Christmas, like 328 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: nutcrackers and dolls and other toys. These calendars started out 329 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:26,560 Speaker 1: just as paper calendars that had a degree of activity 330 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,160 Speaker 1: to them. You could open a little window and see 331 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,159 Speaker 1: a Bible verse, or you could paste an image onto 332 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:36,560 Speaker 1: the square that noted the day. The original edition of 333 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:38,960 Speaker 1: In the Land of the Christ Child, for example, wasn't 334 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:41,359 Speaker 1: even sold on its own, It was an insert in 335 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:46,160 Speaker 1: a newspaper. It was the Stuttgarter new Tagblat. There were 336 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: two sheets that made up the calendar, and then after 337 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 1: reading the Bible verse framed in each square of the calendar, 338 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:54,520 Speaker 1: kids could cut out the corresponding art to paste over it. 339 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 1: The National Museum of Germany recognizes nineteen oh three as 340 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 1: the year of the first advent calendar because of that 341 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 1: newspaper distributed start of Lang's long career, making them Another 342 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:09,479 Speaker 1: reason the nineteen oh eight origin date comes up is 343 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:13,680 Speaker 1: because although Lang started before that date, it wasn't until 344 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:16,840 Speaker 1: nineteen oh eight that he was actually producing advent calendars 345 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:21,159 Speaker 1: that sold just on their own outside of some other publication. 346 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 1: Over time, the Lang Advent calendars became more complex and 347 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: they started to look a little more like the ones 348 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:31,160 Speaker 1: that you could purchase today. If your family has one 349 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 1: of those calendars, that's like part of the family tradition 350 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:35,640 Speaker 1: that hangs on a door with pockets or some other 351 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,000 Speaker 1: interactive feature. Those door calendars are an idea that came 352 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:43,200 Speaker 1: from Lang. Similarly, the first Advent calendar with a chocolate 353 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:45,960 Speaker 1: behind each door is credited to him, although his first 354 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:48,639 Speaker 1: one did not have the chocolate included. It was just 355 00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:50,480 Speaker 1: set up so that parents could fill it up for 356 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:53,560 Speaker 1: their kids to then have them. This is a good 357 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:56,280 Speaker 1: way to get around the idea to sidestep the problem 358 00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:59,600 Speaker 1: of chocolate getting stale on shelves because it goes out 359 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:04,440 Speaker 1: onto the show shelf sometime in July. One of his calendars, 360 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:07,280 Speaker 1: which sounds very quaint, was a small cardboard house, and 361 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:10,280 Speaker 1: each day of the Advent countdown, one of the windows 362 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:12,360 Speaker 1: would be opened, and then when all of the windows 363 00:21:12,359 --> 00:21:14,720 Speaker 1: and finally on the last day, the door was open. 364 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:17,680 Speaker 1: The calendar had become a lantern and it was meant 365 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 1: to put a candle inside. He created the first Advent 366 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:25,560 Speaker 1: calendar for blind consumers in nineteen thirty and by the 367 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: nineteen thirties Advent calendars had become very popular in Germany 368 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:31,400 Speaker 1: and they were a pretty standard part of a lot 369 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:35,280 Speaker 1: of families holiday traditions. They had also become pretty popular 370 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:37,760 Speaker 1: by that time in Great Britain because Lang had started 371 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:40,920 Speaker 1: shipping them there in the years following World War One. 372 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:44,000 Speaker 1: During the time that Lang was making calendars, the Sank 373 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 1: Johannis Printing Company also started making Advent calendars. Sank Johannas 374 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:52,560 Speaker 1: started printing in the nineteen twenties and sometimes is credited 375 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 1: with the openable doors on Advent calendars, although Lang also 376 00:21:57,640 --> 00:21:59,800 Speaker 1: gets the credit for that in a lot of sources. Yeah, 377 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:03,640 Speaker 1: it's hard to pin down. World War two, though, put 378 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:06,080 Speaker 1: the brakes on the printing of Advent calendars, as it 379 00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:08,440 Speaker 1: put their Greeks on a lot of things. Not long 380 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 1: after the war started, the rising prices on paper products 381 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 1: meant that reich Holden Lang just could not stay in business, 382 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:19,400 Speaker 1: and then paper goods were also rationed. Then no illustrated 383 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:22,119 Speaker 1: calendars were allowed to be printed under the Third Reich, 384 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 1: at least not any that were not Nazi produced and 385 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: intended to indoctrinate children in a Nazi ideology. New Advent 386 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:32,760 Speaker 1: calendars just simply could not exist during World War II. 387 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:36,520 Speaker 1: But when the war ended, the Advent calendar was one 388 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:40,160 Speaker 1: of those things that pretty quickly bounced back. The companies 389 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:42,520 Speaker 1: that had survived the war were able to get back 390 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:46,800 Speaker 1: into printing production relatively quickly, and this also was probably 391 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:50,240 Speaker 1: motivated by a desire to recapture a sliver of normalcy 392 00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:53,320 Speaker 1: for children in Germany post war, and there were Advent 393 00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:58,200 Speaker 1: calendars available by Christmas nineteen forty five. US soldiers stationed 394 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:00,560 Speaker 1: in Europe bought them and then brought them home when 395 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 1: their tours were over. One of the major sellers of 396 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:07,240 Speaker 1: Advent calendars after the war was Richard Selmer, who started 397 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:11,840 Speaker 1: producing Advent calendars in nineteen forty five. Selmer's first calendar 398 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:15,320 Speaker 1: was called The Little Town, sometimes also appearing in print 399 00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:18,440 Speaker 1: as the Little Christmas Town, and it featured a serene 400 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 1: looking village in the winter kind of a balm. After 401 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:24,640 Speaker 1: the war. Incidentally, you can still buy the Little Town 402 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:28,520 Speaker 1: calendars from Selmer's company, which today is called Selmer Verlag. 403 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,199 Speaker 1: As their offerings have expanded to include a wide variety 404 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:36,640 Speaker 1: of Advent calendars. Selmer Verlag reports that they sell as 405 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:40,120 Speaker 1: many for adults as they do for children. Her website 406 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 1: also has photos of some of their Advent calendars from 407 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:47,320 Speaker 1: decades ago. Selmer's real genius, though, was expanding his business 408 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:52,040 Speaker 1: into the international market, seeing how eager visitors to Germany 409 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,560 Speaker 1: were for Advent calendars, who started distributing in North America 410 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:59,200 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty six, and one of the pivotal moments 411 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:02,119 Speaker 1: in the US that is cited as giving Advent calendars 412 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:05,320 Speaker 1: a huge boost was a photo that was published during 413 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:10,360 Speaker 1: the Eisenhower presidency. That photo was of Dwight D. Eisenhower 414 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: opening an Advent calendar with his grandchildren. There were also 415 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,800 Speaker 1: some additional photos of the kids holding up the calendar 416 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:21,480 Speaker 1: and smiling. Those photographs ran in Newsweek in nineteen fifty four, 417 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:24,440 Speaker 1: and it made the novelty of an Advent calendar something 418 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:27,600 Speaker 1: that a lot of US families wanted in their own homes. 419 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,679 Speaker 1: A photo, though, was no accident. The photo op was 420 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:34,320 Speaker 1: intended to promote the sales of the calendars to raise 421 00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:37,919 Speaker 1: money for the National Epilepsy League, and the calendar that 422 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:41,640 Speaker 1: was photographed with the Eisenhower family that was Richard Selmer's 423 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: Little Christmas Town. Selmer had arranged for the calendars to 424 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:47,960 Speaker 1: be sold for charity because he knew that it would 425 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: help establish the United States as a market for Advent 426 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 1: calendars for years, and he was of course correct. In 427 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,760 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy one, Cadbury introduced its first Advent calendar filled 428 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:03,720 Speaker 1: with Cadbury chocolate santas, although that didn't catch on immediately, 429 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,479 Speaker 1: and the company didn't always offer Advent calendars because they 430 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:10,879 Speaker 1: didn't always sell. By the nineteen nineties, though, they had 431 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:15,240 Speaker 1: become a regular part of the annual product offerings. Today. 432 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,600 Speaker 1: One of the interesting ways that Advent calendars have evolved 433 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:22,399 Speaker 1: is into this unique space of being a marketing tool. 434 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:26,280 Speaker 1: So more and more companies have custom calendars printed just 435 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:28,720 Speaker 1: to market their products, and this can be a giveaway, 436 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 1: so like think the kind of calendar mailers you might 437 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:34,760 Speaker 1: sometimes receive from companies in the winter to promote their 438 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:38,480 Speaker 1: offerings or and this is really fascinating to me, there's 439 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,760 Speaker 1: this more subtle aspect where they become products themselves. So 440 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:45,920 Speaker 1: when consumers purchase Advent calendars that are made by companies 441 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,480 Speaker 1: because they're perhaps fans of that company, they're also essentially 442 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:52,720 Speaker 1: getting samples of products that might lead them to buy more. 443 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: And because Advent calendars are also marketed as gifts, it's 444 00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: kind of like consumers are paying a company for a 445 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,320 Speaker 1: gift they will give someone else that will help market 446 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:05,879 Speaker 1: that company's products to the recipient. We mentioned a moment 447 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: ago that Advent calendars have become not just a way 448 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:12,560 Speaker 1: to count down to Christmas, but also are now gifts themselves, 449 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:18,399 Speaker 1: and there's truly something for everyone. There are socks. Every 450 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,880 Speaker 1: ip you can think of probably has an Advent calendar 451 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:26,399 Speaker 1: associated with it. Another evolution of the concept of Advent 452 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:30,120 Speaker 1: calendars is like virtual digital calendars, and sometimes these are 453 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:34,439 Speaker 1: packaged as a physical item, but every day's reveal is 454 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,400 Speaker 1: something that you have to open online. Yeah. Sometimes it's 455 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:40,040 Speaker 1: like the music download calendar and you just get a 456 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,119 Speaker 1: new song every day, like the There have been so 457 00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:47,080 Speaker 1: many creative iterations of how to use this concept. The 458 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:50,400 Speaker 1: largest Advent calendar on record, according to the Guinness Book 459 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:52,679 Speaker 1: of Records, was built in two thousand and seven at 460 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,360 Speaker 1: Saint Pancras station in London as part of the station's 461 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:59,320 Speaker 1: renovation celebration. That was seventy one meters that's two hundred 462 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:02,159 Speaker 1: and thirty two feet and eleven inches high and twenty 463 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 1: three meters as seventy five feet five inches wide. I 464 00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:09,040 Speaker 1: will say I have seen some other Advent calendars that 465 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:11,159 Speaker 1: looked like they might be more giant than this like, 466 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:13,199 Speaker 1: there's a town in Germany where their town hall is 467 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:15,560 Speaker 1: made into a giant Advent calendar every year. And I'm 468 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:17,679 Speaker 1: not sure it's not bigger than this, but this is 469 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:21,359 Speaker 1: the Guinness World record holder. But this giant Advent calendar 470 00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:25,280 Speaker 1: at Saint Pancras station had digital windows. The entire thing 471 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:28,560 Speaker 1: was really a fundraiser for the Great Ormond Street Hospital charity. 472 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,200 Speaker 1: Maybe the most startling of all the advent calendars that's 473 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:34,720 Speaker 1: turned up in Holly's research was one that was offered 474 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,800 Speaker 1: by Porsche in twenty ten, and there were only five 475 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: of them made available, one for each continent where the 476 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:44,919 Speaker 1: company had businesses. The physical calendar itself was made of 477 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:50,160 Speaker 1: brushed aluminum and as tall as a person. The treats 478 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:53,399 Speaker 1: inside each revial were completely over the top. The recipient 479 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: of this would get a watch one day, gold sunglasses another. 480 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:01,920 Speaker 1: There was even a custom designed kitchen and custom yacht. 481 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:06,439 Speaker 1: Each of these Advent calendars, sold in twenty ten, cost 482 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:13,359 Speaker 1: one million dollars. One of the most beautiful advent calendars, 483 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: in my opinion, that has been published since twenty twelve 484 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:21,159 Speaker 1: is the Atlantic's annual Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar. So 485 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:24,359 Speaker 1: This online outlet posts a new image from the Telescope 486 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:27,879 Speaker 1: each day, selecting some of the most spectacular and fascinating 487 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,439 Speaker 1: photos of space that humans have ever seen. The Advent 488 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 1: Calendar has also manifested as a community event in some places. 489 00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 1: So every day people gather at a spot to see 490 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,280 Speaker 1: an actual thing like a storefront window or a church 491 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:45,000 Speaker 1: door or et cetera, something that's been decorated to mark 492 00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 1: the day. Some of these are religious, some are more secular. 493 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 1: It's a neat way that's sort of taken something that's 494 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:55,480 Speaker 1: become very commercial and maybe kitchen some ways to more 495 00:28:55,560 --> 00:29:00,320 Speaker 1: bring people together. Yeah, Advent calendars. Listen, we can talk 496 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: about having calendars a lot behind the scenes because I 497 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:06,880 Speaker 1: love them. Uh. And now we're gonna pop over to 498 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:11,200 Speaker 1: listener mail. Hey, this listener mail is from our listener Rebecca, 499 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 1: and she is writing in response to our episode about 500 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,280 Speaker 1: Gin based cocktail history. She writes, Hey, y'all, I have 501 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:20,840 Speaker 1: started to write so many times, but the Gin Cocktails 502 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:24,040 Speaker 1: episode finally made me follow through. I was raised by 503 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:27,360 Speaker 1: a very proper Southern Baptist Mama. Yes I am that Southern. 504 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:30,160 Speaker 1: My parents were and will always be Mama and Daddy 505 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 1: They weren't exactly teetotalers, but alcohol just wasn't a thing 506 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:36,320 Speaker 1: in our home when I was growing up, like everybody 507 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,320 Speaker 1: else in North Georgia. They both had uncles who made 508 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:42,600 Speaker 1: liquor or were known to frequent the best moonshiners when 509 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:45,640 Speaker 1: they got a thirst. My parents married in the sixties 510 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:48,200 Speaker 1: and started to move in circles where an occasional cocktail 511 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:50,640 Speaker 1: was served. A lady in town who was known for 512 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,200 Speaker 1: exceptional good graces and manners advised Mama to order a 513 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:57,800 Speaker 1: Tom Collins and sip it very slow, and throughout their 514 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:01,240 Speaker 1: social lives that became her go to. In my college days, 515 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:03,680 Speaker 1: I had the requisite fun that comes with matriculating in 516 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:07,200 Speaker 1: a southern university town. Go dogs. But if my parents knew, 517 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:09,640 Speaker 1: they never let on. I'm going to pick up this 518 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:13,240 Speaker 1: email from Holly and say after graduation, Mama sat me 519 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:15,520 Speaker 1: down and said, now, when you're at a cocktail party 520 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 1: or a work function, order a Tom Collins and sip 521 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:20,440 Speaker 1: it really slow. She had no idea that I was 522 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:23,480 Speaker 1: much more educated when it came to cocktail choices, and 523 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:25,400 Speaker 1: I let it stay that way for the most part. 524 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:28,520 Speaker 1: Mama passed away in February the episode brought me a 525 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,440 Speaker 1: sweet memory of a story I've shared many times through 526 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,480 Speaker 1: the years. Sometime soon, I planned to have a Tom 527 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:37,280 Speaker 1: Collins in memory of both my parents. I don't have 528 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:39,479 Speaker 1: a pet right now, so I don't have a picture 529 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:42,160 Speaker 1: to share. I tried to find one of Blackie, mama's 530 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:44,760 Speaker 1: last cat. She showed up one Saturday morning and didn't 531 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:47,760 Speaker 1: leave for eighteen years. Daddy was a dog person, but 532 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 1: that cat stole his heart too. Thanks for all the 533 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:53,360 Speaker 1: great and hard work. I hope y'all do a live 534 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:55,280 Speaker 1: show in Atlanta someday soon so I can meet you 535 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:59,480 Speaker 1: both in person. Rebecca Tracy picked that up because I 536 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:04,080 Speaker 1: got real weak about it. So I also read this 537 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:08,959 Speaker 1: email this morning, and it reminded me earlier in my life, 538 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:13,120 Speaker 1: when I was in college. I think I went to 539 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:15,880 Speaker 1: the beach with my mom and a couple of her sisters, 540 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:18,479 Speaker 1: and they wanted to make a thing they can they 541 00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:21,120 Speaker 1: typically consumed on their beach trips, which they described as 542 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:25,760 Speaker 1: wine coolers. It was diet mountain dew mixed with white sefidel, 543 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 1: and they were having trouble getting the cork out of 544 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:41,160 Speaker 1: the white zefandel, and I went and effortlessly took care 545 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:44,240 Speaker 1: of it, and there was a shared moment among my 546 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:47,400 Speaker 1: mom and her sisters in which they just sort of 547 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:51,440 Speaker 1: wordlessly acknowledged that I, their daughter slash niece, who they 548 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:55,680 Speaker 1: still saw as a child, knew how to operate a corkscrew. 549 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:02,400 Speaker 1: I love it. I love it. Good memories. We'll talk 550 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 1: about that Diamount and Duo White z Evanel in a 551 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:08,240 Speaker 1: minute when we do behind the scenes. I have some thoughts, 552 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:12,320 Speaker 1: So if again, thank you so much for this email, 553 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:14,080 Speaker 1: and I want to send my condolences. You got me 554 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:16,360 Speaker 1: all choked up. It's so sweet. If you would like 555 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:19,280 Speaker 1: to email us, you can do that at History Podcast 556 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 1: at iHeartRadio dot com. You can also find us on 557 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:25,160 Speaker 1: social media as Missed in History, and if you have 558 00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:27,840 Speaker 1: not subscribed yet, you can do that lickety split in 559 00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:32,400 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you listen to your favorite shows. 560 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:39,440 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 561 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:44,400 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 562 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:46,560 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.