WEBVTT - From the Vault: Die Nacht des Krampus 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:08.000 Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name 0:00:08.039 --> 0:00:11.280 is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. In it's Saturday. 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:13.480 Time to go into the vault, and this time with 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:17.240 us in the dark is the ultimate wintertime bad boy, 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:20.320 the greatest goat of all time. I guess the greatest 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:24.640 goatman of all time. Dear Crumpus. That's right. This worked 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:27.640 out perfectly because we put this episode out last year 0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:32.000 on Crumpus Knocked, and now we have a slot for 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:35.560 a vault episode on Crompus Knocked, so we're we're unleashing 0:00:35.760 --> 0:00:38.199 the be Steel Hordes once again. Now when did this 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:44.200 episode originally come out? Originally published twelve five nineteen, and uh, 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:47.960 if the calendar speaks true, today is twelve five, So 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:54.160 it's perfect. Let's get in the basket. Welcome to Stuff 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:56.160 to Blow your Mind. A production of I Heart Radios 0:00:56.160 --> 0:01:04.640 has to work. Hey, are you welcome to Stuff to 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:07.119 Blow your Mind? My name is Robert Lamb and I'm 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:10.440 Joe McCormick. And it's Crampus Night, isn't it. That's right? 0:01:10.520 --> 0:01:15.160 Today is so or tonight? Rather is Crampus Knocked? The 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:20.280 night during which the Beast of Christmas comes down from 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:25.840 the mountains and terrorizes alpine towns around the world. Right, 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:29.960 it's so given that this episode falls on Crampus knocked, 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:34.320 we realized we had a solemn duty, a solemn holiday duty, 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:38.399 to explore Crampus in depth. Man, I think Crampus just 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:40.960 took a walk through our kitchen because I just went 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:42.959 through there and there was such a reek. There was 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:48.160 like a waft of aged shrimp all throughout the microwave area. 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:52.120 Does Crampus smell? You know? I would imagine you could 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:55.400 smell somewhat of sulfur and rot, Yeah, one would think, 0:01:55.480 --> 0:02:00.000 or or certainly the hides would have a daintness to them. Right. Um, 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:02.480 But but the smell is often overlooked because generally it's 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:06.560 more it's it's generally thought of as more visual spectacle. Uh. 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:10.079 Certainly for those of us far away from the Alpine 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:14.560 regions that that either have to make do with some 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:18.560 facsimile of Crampus rights in our own cities or simply 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:22.080 have to make do with with footage and uh images 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:25.320 and illustrations of what these rights consist of. Now, Crampus 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:28.000 was really having a moment like a couple of years 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:32.839 ago I think like the suddenly interest in this creature surged, uh, 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:35.280 and I feel like it's it's calmed down enough now 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:38.160 that we that we can properly tackle it. Yeah, but 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:39.840 I think the good news is that I think it 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:43.800 has calmed down to like a steady infection of of 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:47.720 Western civilization beyond the alpine regions, say, certainly here in 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:51.799 the United States, like crampus has you know, surged infected 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:54.320 the holiday host And now I think we can say 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:57.679 Crampus is part of our our holiday traditions here in 0:02:57.680 --> 0:02:59.840 the United States. Now, another thing is you said you 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:01.679 were going to be leaning into the holidays this year, 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:04.400 and man, you have been what we we do promise 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:06.960 it's not gonna be all Christmas stuff the rest of 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:09.720 the year. It was just that you saw that it 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:12.160 was coming out on Crampus knocked and we we couldn't 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:16.200 do but go to the horns exactly. So let's talk 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:18.280 a little bit more about Crampus, because some of you 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:20.760 may not actually be familiar with crampas or you might 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:23.960 not have, you know, as a robust and understandings as 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:26.720 other folks out there. So the short version, of course 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:30.200 is that Crampus is an Alpine holiday monster used as 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:35.320 negative reinforcement, a threat of punishment for bad behavior against children. 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:38.560 He has the bad cop to St. Nicholas's good cop. 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:42.680 He is uh the stick, whereas St. Nicholas is the carrot, 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:46.000 though much more directly so than St. Nicholas being the carrot, 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:48.880 because the child doesn't actually want to see St. Nicholas 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:52.040 in their house that would perhaps be traumatic. You want 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:54.480 the treats and the goodies and the presence that St. 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:58.160 Nicholas brings, So the St. Nicholas is like an indirect 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:01.760 giver of the carrot. Crampus is himself quite the stick, 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:04.800 right and and butt. He is something you wish to avoid. 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:07.440 And that's the general idea. The Crampus is what happens 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:11.120 to the bad children. You young women are not one 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:14.280 of the bad children, are you? Uh wait, so what 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:17.800 exactly does Crampus do to the bad children? Well? Uh 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:20.279 so so it it very I mean, the basic idea 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:23.200 is that Crampus is going to come and cramplog and 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:27.040 describe Crampus for everyone. Though again this is a situation 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:30.279 where the exact incarnation of Crampus is going to drift 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:32.640 a little bit, and we're going to discuss the wise 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:35.640 of that in a bit a little bit baffa metti. Yeah, 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:38.680 a goat like beast man, kind of a satyr, kind 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:42.160 of a pan figure, kind of a demon, like a furry, 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:47.799 shaggy alpine demon from the cold mountain wilderness comes down. 0:04:48.279 --> 0:04:51.600 Uh you know, it's covered in bells, has a basket 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:55.640 on it on his back as switches may bring coal 0:04:55.760 --> 0:04:57.560 as well. Sometimes it's shown to have like a big 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:02.680 lolling uh you know, giraffe like tongue, and basically he's 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:05.520 going to come in scare the bad children with the 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:08.400 bad children with his switches, and if you're particularly bad, 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:11.440 throw you into his basket and take you with him 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:14.719 back to the wilderness to either eat you out there 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:17.120 maybe or maybe take you to hell. Is is that 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:19.719 sometimes part of it? Uh? Yeah, I think again, the 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:23.080 exact exact details are going to vary. Sometimes. I wonder 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:25.919 if it's like, because clearly Crampus has coal, perhaps he 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:28.680 needs the children to work in the coal mine. Okay, 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:31.760 but that's just me. That's my my possible twist on it. 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:35.719 Now you're probably wondering, you know, where does this idea 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:38.400 come from? We know that it it definitely seems to 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:41.880 originate in the Alpine regions of Europe, but it's unsure 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:46.120 if it's truly a pre Christian pagan tradition. Um. Some 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:49.800 people say that it is, though it undoubtedly invokes pre 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:53.920 Christian pagan ideas and images, um, you know, regardless of 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:56.760 where it's actually or when it's actually emerging. But at 0:05:56.800 --> 0:05:59.560 hard he's a he's just a general bogey, right, the 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:03.919 embodied event of negative reinforcement of cultural norms in children, 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:07.840 and perhaps going back to our discussion of Jenny Green teeth, uh, 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:11.320 the bogey that is used to warn children away from 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:15.280 from still waters that are dangerous, perhaps crampus is an 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:18.599 embodiment of, you know, the general message that bad things 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:21.080 will happen to you if you do not take seriously 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:24.120 the rules and advice that your parents and your elders 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:28.359 present you with. So, while yes, misbehaving will not actually 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:31.960 result in foul beastmen venturing down from the mountains and 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:35.159 dragging you away to some horrific fate, but misbehaving could 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:38.560 result in bodily harm, and certainly the potential for violent 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:42.880 mistreatment by others is you know, is possible in certain circumstances. 0:06:43.120 --> 0:06:46.400 Either way, Crampus is an embodiment of fear in a 0:06:46.440 --> 0:06:48.960 holiday that is often reduced to just a notion of 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:52.479 pure joy, right, especially in the United States traditionally. But 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:55.600 his spirit is is certainly of the winter from which 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:58.840 our holiday traditions emerge. Uh. You know, he is the 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:03.440 the darkness of the holidays that is ultimately essential to 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:08.720 to winter um rights and winter belief systems that you 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:12.080 find in cultures around the world. Now, one thing that 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:14.880 I think is an interesting difference is that, like whether 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:17.640 or not there's really a St. Nicholas to bring you presents, 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:21.320 children will often end up with presents on Christmas Morning 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:24.520 with the implication that they have come from St. Nicholas, 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:29.200 But nobody ever actually gets carried off by Crampus. Yeah, 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:32.360 you know, you'll He's one of the big things here 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:37.600 is you have Crampus parades, traditional cramps parades in alpine areas, 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:40.600 in which people dressed in the crampus costumes will parade 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:44.520 through the streets and um and scared children. Though certainly 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:48.120 nowadays they are not They're generally not permitted to touch 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:50.560 the children or to actually strike the children with sticks, 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:56.200 much less drag them away. Uh. But in previous decades. Uh, 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:59.160 you know, I imagine they perhaps had a little more leeway. Yeah, 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:01.520 I guess so either way. Yes, the idea is that 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:04.720 Crampus is a a performance. It is a is a 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:09.480 folk festival performance and which people dress up as the monster, 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:12.480 and then the monsters parade through the streets. Uh. And 0:08:12.520 --> 0:08:15.440 in this, you know, it touches on so many other 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.680 different folk traditions. There's something about Crampus that seems to 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:21.760 embody just like it just checks off so many boxes 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:25.080 for folk traditions uh that you find throughout Europe but 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:27.640 also and around the world, you know, like the making 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:33.439 of bread totems that resemble Crampus, Crampus wearing the bells, 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:37.240 bells being objects that are typically used in folk decisions, 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:41.600 worn off evil spirits, uh. Crampus as being a kind 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:44.959 of horned god as another thing that is often brought up, 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:47.720 you know, and of course there are many versions of 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:51.520 horned gods and horned beings and various religions and myth 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:54.319 cycles uh, you know, tied you know, particularly with the 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:57.600 horned god to the unpredictable nature of the hunt. Uh. 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:01.560 So he he really you know stands uh, you know, 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:05.920 on this kind of nexus of so many different ideas, 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:09.240 Like it's easy to just go nuts chasing cramps through 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:13.120 the you know, through the centuries of of of human 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:18.320 fulk history. Well, he's also just a classic hybrid monster. Yeah, yeah, 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:20.440 I mean that at heart, he is kind of part 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:26.720 part man, part goat. I guess you'd say, part sheep, 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:30.320 maybe part you know, part beast. And in that like 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:33.280 he ties into some of our our oldest you know, 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:37.200 magical ideas. A hybridity is key to monstrosity. And what 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:39.600 he's thought to be the first monster in the human 0:09:39.640 --> 0:09:42.360 imagination is none other than the uh what the the 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:46.160 Lowan ninch figuring from about thirty five to forty thousand 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:49.360 years ago. Well, the first that we have physical episode, 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:51.640 because yeah, as we talked about in our episode about 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:54.080 the first monster, you can't know what the first monster was, 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:56.200 but this seems to be like the earliest one where 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:58.960 there's a physical record of the monster. Yeah, and we 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:01.440 did a whole episode on that talking about like, you know, 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:04.920 you know, certainly how this example was found and what 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:07.800 experts have thought about it, and how it ties into 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:11.400 just how how our minds work, like bringing two uh 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:14.640 different ideas together into a new idea, and what this 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:19.800 new idea encompasses totally. So what happens on Crampus Knocked, Well, uh, 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:23.640 Crampus Knocked is the eve of the Feast of St. Nicholas. 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:28.360 It occurs every December five, and so Crampus descends from 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:30.920 the mountain, terrorizes the children, drags the worst of them 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:35.400 away in that foul wicker basket covered in bells. Sometimes 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:38.679 he he hands out coal or root and bundles of sticks, 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:43.160 which is interesting. The bundles of sticks are sometimes also 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:46.000 musical instruments, of course, because they're can be used to 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:49.520 it with a percussion instrument. Um. But you know, this 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:53.319 is the overall just a parade in which there is 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:56.440 this threat of greater beatings or abduction if you do 0:10:56.520 --> 0:11:00.200 not behave yourselves and um. And this is another thing 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:03.040 like the Crampus parade through the streets also has this 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:05.920 kind of unruly atmosphere to it that ties in with 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:09.680 a lot of parade traditions that involve masks and you know, 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:13.439 be steel guys is that people take on and this 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:18.080 you know, so again it runs parallel to so many 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:20.080 different things in human culture. Well, it's one of the 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:23.200 great ironies in the belief in demons and devils that 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:25.959 have haunted us throughout the centuries, which is that they 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:31.320 are often used precisely to enforce order, like orderly behavior 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:34.920 among children, and yet they are themselves figures of chaos. 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:39.040 It's like this unruly, unpredictable, wild kind of thing will 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:41.360 be there to punish you if you break the rules. 0:11:43.000 --> 0:11:45.480 Why is that? I don't know that. That's interesting to me. Yeah, 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:48.400 we'll certainly get into the psychology of this more in 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:51.160 the later portion of the episode. I asked for the 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:54.600 name Crampus comes from crumping, which means claw in German, 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:57.280 so which has a you know, a nice nasty connotation 0:11:57.360 --> 0:11:59.720 to it, like this is the claw the claw man 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:03.240 um let's see. Goodness, where do you even even go 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:05.920 from there? So we talked about crampas come, Crampas comes 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:10.160 to town, Crampus parades through the streets, or the crampus, 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:12.960 the cramp I you know, multiple cramp Crampus is some 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:16.920 of these, especially these these modern h crampus parades. You're 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:20.200 talking like four hundred crampuses parading through the streets. They're 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:23.240 quite a festival. Sometimes there's fire, uh, you know, sometimes 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:26.600 the costumes are a little more modern, but other times 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:32.280 they put a strong emphasis on maintaining traditional originality wooden masks, 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:35.280 actual um um, you know, goat and sheep skins, that 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:39.600 sort of thing. So the basic ideas that, okay, Crampus 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:43.880 either incorporates pagan ideas or emerges from pagan ideas, or 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:48.400 even is ultimately rooted in pre Christian pagan traditions. But 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:51.680 then St. Nicholas does come along around Uh. This is 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:56.160 the solemn Catholic precursor to the sort of jolly modern 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:59.240 Santa Claus that most of us grew up with. And St. 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:01.679 Nick gain pop already among German speaking people during the 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:04.920 eleventh century. Now, the story of St. Nicholas is itself 0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:09.520 full of fascinating diversions, Like there's a great story where St. Nicholas, 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:12.720 I believe he comes across a place where an evil 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:16.360 innkeeper or somebody like that has murdered some young boys. 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:20.440 And then then St. Nicholas murdered them, chopped them up 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:24.640 and pickled them. And then St. Nicholas resurrects the chopped 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:30.360 up pickled boys. Uh. And I guess the innkeepers somehow punished, Yeah, 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:33.440 and and and St. Nicholas is this the rather different 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:36.000 figure from from modern Santa Claus. To him that he is. 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:40.079 I mean, he's essentially like a former bishop of of 0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:42.760 what is now Turkey. I think, so, yeah, he's and 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:45.520 he's this dour individual. So he's not really jolly. I 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:49.080 guess he's jolly in comparison to the beast man Crampus, 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:52.480 but he's not quite Santa Claus, that's for sure. He's 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:57.120 more like a Christmas saw rouman kind of. I don't know. 0:13:57.160 --> 0:13:59.280 I think he's yeah, yeah, I guess he has kind 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:03.280 of kind Yeah. Anyway, in the centuries to follow, Crampus 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:05.960 becomes an essential part of these traditions. You have Crampus, 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:08.760 and you have sat Nick uh certainly you have Crampus 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:12.640 knocked ahead of the coming of St. Nicholas and uh, 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:15.680 and this just becomes, you know, just a popular part 0:14:15.760 --> 0:14:18.600 of the holiday, and at times it actually gets a 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:22.520 little too popular for some people. So Crampus has always 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:25.920 been just as Crampus as this this darkness to the light, uh, 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.680 compared to the light of St. Nicholas. You know, Crampus 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:31.080 even today is I think sometimes seen as kind of 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:34.120 an enemy of craft Christmas. Well, you know, the same 0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:37.440 way they say, like, it's hard to make an anti 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:40.800 war movie because war is inherently thrilling. It might be 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:45.240 hard to make an anti Satan like demon character because 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:48.160 demon characters are inherently kind of fun to act out, 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:51.680 and so like, there's always the risk that people might 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:55.920 be having a little too much fun acting out their 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:58.360 Crampus roles unless the Church might need to bring the 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:01.120 hammer down. That's right. So, you know, the Catholic Church 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:04.760 attempted to ban these festivals in the seventeen and eighteenth centuries, 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:07.960 but they weren't able to do so. Uh. And then 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:15.320 before Nazi Germany's invasion of Austria, Catholic Austro Fascist briefly 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.360 held power, and is reported in a ninety five New 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:23.320 York Times article titled Crampus Disliked in Fascist Austria. Uh. 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:29.520 They pointed out that that at the time, the people 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:33.000 in power saw Crampus as a demonic, unruly and potentially 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:39.120 communist usurper of Christian traditions. Yeah. So basically the Crampus, 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:42.120 according to this article, Crampus postcards and candies, you know, 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:44.880 had always been popular, but but they had they had 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:49.200 become so popular that Crampus had virtually taken over from 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:51.760 Sander like he was, he was becoming the gift giver 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:56.200 as well. Um So, at any rate, there was an 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:59.560 attempt to uh uh, you know, to to to oust 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:03.360 cramp us, to to you know, to say it's a communist, 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:06.320 because ultimately, in some depictions he was reading wearing red 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:09.600 I guess. But they ordered anyone in a crampas costume 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:13.280 to be rested on site. Festive crampas dances were outlawed, 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:16.320 and they even required all Santa clauses as well to 0:16:16.360 --> 0:16:21.320 be licensed by the state and monitored fascist through and everything, yes, 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:26.800 now um uh. In modern times, of course, there have 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:30.520 also been concerns about the potential trauma of subjecting children 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:33.520 to the idea of cramps or certainly the reality of 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:38.200 frightening um grown people in crampas costumes breaking through the street. 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:41.560 According to a two thousand six report from Reuter's, concerned 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:44.600 parents and one child psychologists spoke out against the demons 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:48.920 violent influence as well as so called childhood crampus trauma, 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:52.080 of which there are you know, only a few cases, 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:56.160 but at any rate enough for some individuals to to 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:59.040 want to sound the alarm. Uh. And you know what 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:01.360 What made the city wish and particularly interesting was that 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:04.399 while Santa ended up being banned for visiting kindergartens in 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:07.760 Vienna at the time, Crampus apparently still had access to 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:10.200 the children, and so there was a certain amount of 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:13.760 outrage over that. Well, you know, so I'm of two 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:16.040 minds about this. Of course, I love Crampus. I love 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:18.840 the demons and the monsters and all that that that's 0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:22.400 sort of my personal jam. But I also am very 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:28.800 naturally disposed against terrorizing children with supernatural threats. Uh So, 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:31.600 I mean I would I would propose making Crampus more 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:34.720 of a Halloween style thing. What what vampires and goblins 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:37.879 are to Halloween, Crampus could be to the Christmas season, 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:41.000 you know, not something that you are taught is literally 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:43.960 an existent threat that will hurt you, but just kind 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:47.080 of like a fun trapping of the season. Ah, you 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:49.200 know this week kind of referring back to our episode 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:52.119 on cuteness and monsters. Right, Ultimately, if you want to 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:57.000 declaw the monster, if you want to deflox, declaw the Crampus, 0:17:57.080 --> 0:17:59.159 what you need to do is make him funny and 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:03.639 or cute, especially cute. The cut Crampus becomes the you know, 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:06.280 the less terrifying he is. But then how will we 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:10.320 get the children to behave um and now I mentioned 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:12.520 earlier about how you know, the tradition of of of 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:17.119 Crampus has spread over the world and uh and as such, 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:20.320 you'll see some crampas parades where there's more of a 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:23.800 Hollywood and horror of film culture reflected. Uh. Certainly, if 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:26.240 you just start looking at Crampus images online, some of 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:28.639 them are going to look more like demon costumes that 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:31.960 you might buy at a Halloween superstore. And then you're 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:36.560 gonna see things that are that are far more traditional looking. Um. 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:39.520 And I was looking at one particular article. This is 0:18:39.560 --> 0:18:42.320 a New York Times article titled he Sees You when 0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:46.199 You're sleeping and gives you Nightmare My Melissa Eddie. This 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:50.359 is about the celebration of Crampus in Munich. And in 0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:53.919 this article I point out that that in in this 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:58.439 particular Munich Crampus parade, they only allow really traditional crampuses. 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:02.560 So this means wouldn't mask horns, goat and sheep pelts, 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:07.720 bells and switches. Um and uh. She writes that local 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:13.040 Crampus clubs there will spend between eighteen hundred and euros 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:16.119 upwards of three thousand dollars each year on masks and 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:19.200 costumes made from local materials. How do you join a 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:22.960 crampus club? Is that very exclusive? Um? I give the 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:26.439 impression it's kind of like joining a crew with a 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:29.040 k uh down in New Orleans, you know, for the 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:31.159 various parades. You know, it's kind of like you have 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:34.399 clubs that get together and put put together. Uh, you know, 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:38.760 these these particular costumes and performance. It's not like a 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:41.520 horned beast. Country club is not where crampus is gathered 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:43.840 to use the pool and place. I don't think so, 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:46.800 but she points out the master or in this case 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:50.560 car from lime, Swiss pine or alderwood, and the skins 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:53.080 are going to be sheep or goats. Quote. Although no 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:56.800 one turns away a crampus wearing wild board, which is nice, 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:00.600 and so four hundred crampas is wrong. They take to 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:03.200 the streets, but there are rules no drinking and again 0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:07.760 no actual hitting the children. Okay, but crampus traditions are 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:11.240 going to vary as well. Al Right, and our pointed 0:20:11.280 --> 0:20:14.560 out on Atlas Obscure back in that it's it's not 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:17.000 what crampas looks like so much is what he does 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:20.040 or threatens to do that matters. For instance, entire all 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:23.560 the crampas tradition there is the crampus is essentially wearing 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:26.440 this big suit of straw. So the crampuses look kind 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:30.639 of like a hay bale with the you know, beast legs, 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:34.160 arms and head and um and and that's just gonna 0:20:34.200 --> 0:20:37.800 be the way that cramp is depicted in that particular area. 0:20:38.240 --> 0:20:40.120 And then you can you know, travel over. For instance, 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:43.360 there's a part of Bavaria where they don't even have crampus. 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:47.719 Instead it's a bouten Munden, which is like a cramps figure. 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:52.520 So um. The author here that Alice obscure Piece says, quote, 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:55.399 like the tooth fairy, he had a definite function but 0:20:55.480 --> 0:20:57.800 no definite form. I think it's a nice way of 0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:01.160 putting it. Now, another thing that right and now points 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:04.680 out is that crampas traditions were ultimately, you know, traditionally 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:07.520 a thing of the country. They spread slowly and then 0:21:07.520 --> 0:21:11.200 eventually made their way to the cities where illustrators there 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:13.720 might have never heard of such traditions before, so in 0:21:13.760 --> 0:21:16.919 depicting them, they too might have had to rely on 0:21:17.040 --> 0:21:20.760 other demonic motifs such as devil motifs that were already 0:21:21.080 --> 0:21:25.280 you know, prevalent uh in religious iconography, as well as 0:21:25.400 --> 0:21:31.840 pan and sader motifs from art culture. So this would 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:34.199 and then I would imagine that this would end up 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:37.840 influencing through the traditions to some extent as well. So 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:42.560 again it ultimately the exact appearance of the creature is 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:45.119 going to vary, but it's the the intent that is 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:48.800 that is almost pure and its chaotic menace. I wonder 0:21:48.920 --> 0:21:53.680 what exactly it was that caused the sudden international surge 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:57.560 in Crampus interest a few years ago. Well, there's there's 0:21:57.600 --> 0:22:00.399 one possible answer to that. I was treading an article 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:04.520 in the Chicago Tribune from from this year by Rick Cogan, 0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:07.720 and he points out that the US explosion of Crampus 0:22:07.800 --> 0:22:10.080 might in part be due to the two thousand four 0:22:10.200 --> 0:22:14.360 publication of The Devil in Design the Cramps Postcards by 0:22:14.440 --> 0:22:18.440 mont Beauchamp, an award winning Chicago art director and graphic designer. 0:22:18.840 --> 0:22:20.720 So the idea here is, like this book came out, 0:22:20.960 --> 0:22:25.000 these images started circulating around um. The images zo ended 0:22:25.080 --> 0:22:27.080 up being licensed in some cases, or at least they 0:22:27.080 --> 0:22:30.160 were licensing request, and this kind of sets off the 0:22:30.240 --> 0:22:34.760 online fascination with Crampus and these Crampus images. You know, 0:22:34.800 --> 0:22:38.600 suddenly here's this this new dark spin on the holidays. 0:22:38.960 --> 0:22:42.840 It starts appearing in television shows. Uh what Venture Brothers 0:22:42.880 --> 0:22:44.960 I think was one of the first things, first shows 0:22:44.960 --> 0:22:46.879 in which I saw a depiction of Crampus, but I 0:22:46.960 --> 0:22:49.760 understand he's shown up on like Supernatural was another one, 0:22:50.200 --> 0:22:52.680 um and eventually had his own horror movie. I think 0:22:52.680 --> 0:22:54.000 that was in the last couple of years. That was that, 0:22:54.400 --> 0:22:56.919 So my dad's a big fan of it. This is 0:22:56.960 --> 0:22:59.600 like that. That was probably the Pete Crampus year I 0:22:59.640 --> 0:23:04.800 think would be like or something. Yeah, and of course, 0:23:04.800 --> 0:23:07.359 you know, Crampus parades can now be found throughout the 0:23:07.440 --> 0:23:10.920 United States, and there's one every year right here in Atlanta. 0:23:11.320 --> 0:23:13.200 That's also it's sort of a more of a pub 0:23:13.240 --> 0:23:16.600 crawl if I remember correctly, unless it's changed, uh, then 0:23:16.880 --> 0:23:20.520