Key Takeaways
- Moravians significantly influenced US Christmas traditions, introducing putzes and early Christmas villages.
- London's frozen Thames hosted Frost Fairs during the Little Ice Age, with the final event occurring in 1814.
- Vince Guaraldi's jazz compositions, including 'Linus and Lucy,' became synonymous with 'A Charlie Brown Christmas.'
- The Welsh Mari Lwyd tradition involves a hobby horse leading a verse battle for hospitality during the holidays.
- A DIY pumpkin spice syrup recipe allows for customizable holiday cocktails like an Old Fashioned.
- Practical methods for storing Christmas tree lights, using cardboard or grocery bags, prevent tangling.
Deep Dive
- The Moravians, who settled in Pennsylvania in the 18th century, are credited with bringing traditions like Moravian cookies and precursors to miniature Christmas villages to the United States.
- They expanded European medieval nativity scenes, known as 'kretches,' into elaborate dioramas called 'putzes,' which could occupy entire rooms.
- These putzes typically added figures beyond biblical narratives and were traditionally unveiled to children on Christmas Eve.
- A homemade pumpkin spice syrup is created from scratch using water, brown sugar, turbinado sugar, and a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and clove.
- The syrup's sweetness and consistency can be adjusted by varying water-to-sugar ratios and boiling time.
- The cocktail uses bourbon, pumpkin spice syrup, Angostura, orange, and El Guapo chicory pecan bitters, garnished with an expressed orange peel.
- Frost Fairs were impromptu winter festivals held on London's frozen River Thames during the Little Ice Age, a period from the mid-14th to mid-19th centuries.
- The current London Bridge was built in the 1960s; its predecessor, built in 1831, ceased the tradition of the Thames freezing over due to wider spans.
- The first recorded fair was in 1564, and a notable fair in 1683-84 lasted two months, featuring rows of booths offering food and drink.
- The last recorded Frost Fair in 1814 featured food and potent drinks, including 'Pearl,' a wormwood wine mixed with gin, and 'mum,' a spiced winter ale.
- Food historian Ivan Day described the 1814 fair's offerings, which included a slow-roasted ox purportedly capable of feeding 800 people, along with mutton.
- The 1814 fair marked the end of the tradition as subsequent bridge constructions prevented the Thames from freezing sufficiently.
- Vince Guaraldi, born Vincent Anthony DeLaglio in San Francisco in 1928, began playing jazz seriously in college and during his Korean War service.
- He gained recognition in San Francisco jazz clubs and with bands like Woody Herman's in the 1950s, forming his own trios.
- Guaraldi's breakthrough came with the 1962 song 'Cast Your Fate to the Wind,' from the album 'Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus,' described as a 'breath of fresh air'.
- Lee Mendelssohn selected Vince Guaraldi to compose music for 'A Boy Named Charlie Brown' after hearing 'Cast Your Fate to the Wind'.
- Guaraldi created 'Linus and Lucy,' which became the theme for the documentary and later the famous Peanuts theme.
- For the 1965 Coca-Cola commissioned 'A Charlie Brown Christmas,' Guaraldi recycled 'Linus and Lucy' and composed 'Skating' and 'Christmastime Is Here,' with the album entering the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007.
- The Mari Lwyd, a Welsh Christmas tradition, involves a ghostly pale horse represented by a hobby horse visiting houses.
- Participants engage in 'mummering,' a verse battle where two groups sing through closed doors, with the goal being an invitation inside.
- Likely an ancient, possibly pagan tradition reaching its peak in the 19th century, it was believed to bring good luck for the new year and has seen a modern revival.
- One method for storing Christmas tree lights involves using a cardboard tube from wrapping paper, notching the ends to secure plugs, and winding lights around the tube.
- Another technique utilizes a rectangular piece of cardboard with notches at each end to secure light strands, preventing tangles.
- A 'lo-fi' approach suggests storing each light strand in a separate recycled grocery bag, which prevents tangles and allows for flat packing.