The Year Without a Santa Claus

Jingle Bells: [answers the phone] Hello? Jingle Bells, number 1 elf speaking. May I ask who is calling please? Oh, hi, Mrs. Claus. Yes, Mrs. Claus. Okay, Mrs. Claus. Sure thing, Mrs. Claus. Right away, Mrs. Claus.[hangs up]Jangle Bells: Who was that?Jingle Bells: That was… Ooh. The Year Without a Santa Claus is my favorite silly Christmas special. This was pretty standard issue Rankin Bass stuff, jerky stop motion animation, sappy songs, and voices provided by has been actors. Mickey Rooney and Shirley Booth played Mr and Mrs Claus, but my favorite characters where Dick Shaw’s Cold Miser and George…

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Christmas Eve Will Find Us

My Mom was big on all the rituals that went with religion, but not so much taken with that whole going to church business. It was not uncommon in my household to have a Christmas tree in one corner and a little statue of Buddha or Confucius with a bit of incense burning in front of him in the other. She talked fondly of Catholicism and Judaism, though she was a proclaimed Southern Baptist. I found it best to stay away from all religions all together. But I was always fond of digging out those blown glass Christmas ornaments and…

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