Associate Professor of modern European and German history at Georgia State University and the author of Christmas in Germany: A Cultural History (2010). @GeorgiaStateU
In 1921, in a Munich beer hall, newly appointed Nazi party leader Adolf Hitler gave a Christmas speech to an excited crowd. According to undercover police observers, 4,000 supporters... Читать далее
It all really comes down to what is commercially viable. If you have a turkey and that turkey lays eggs, you’re going to get much more money by hatching those eggs and rearing the young... Читать далее
Christmas itself is a pagan tradition, which has been given a Christian makeover. For thousand of years we’ve celebrated the Winter Solstice, which occurs on or around 21 December. It’s... Читать далее
Only two Gospels actually have the Nativity story: Matthew and Luke. John starts right at the beginning of time – "In the beginning was the Word" – and in Mark, Jesus first appears as an... Читать далее
Overall, the records that get the most airplay in the year and, therefore, the most revenue from PPL year in and year out are the current hits. They have 12 months of airplay and are on... Читать далее
No. This is an urban myth. What is true is that Santa Claus, to give him his American name, was depicted in Coca-Cola adverts in the 1930s wearing his regulation red and white outfit... Читать далее
For me, as a general consumer, the answer is yes, most certainly so!
But from the point of view of marketers and advertisers, I think you’ve got to assume that it works. They don’t start... Читать далее
Author of 'Dickens and Popular Entertainment' and the recent ‘Simply Dickens’, General Editor of ‘The Oxford Companion to Dickens’ and editor of the forthcoming Clarendon Edition of ‘Sketches of Boz’. Past President of the Dickens Fellowship.
The quick answer is 'no'. Christmas obviously goes back centuries and what had happened was that during the Puritan revolution in the seventeenth century, the movement went away from... Читать далее
Quite a few Christmas traditions from medieval times have been lost – some of them probably better forgotten.
No one misses the tradition of Hunting the Wren, which involved men and boys... Читать далее
Each November, Sinterklaas, who is the Dutch version of Father Christmas, sails from Spain to the Netherlands. He’s accompanied on his journey by lots of helpers dressed up as Black... Читать далее