Appreciating all that makes America special

Currently browsing: Holiday
From the dropping of the ball in Times Square through the marathon of A Christmas Story on TBS, we pay tribute to the greatest moments on the calendar. (All posts guaranteed not to shoot your eye out.)


Holiday: Candy Corn

Posted by on Oct 28, 2011 in Americana, Featured, Holiday | Comments Off on Holiday: Candy Corn

The one absolutely distinctive seasonal candy for Halloween is candy corn. Not everyone likes it (though I do – come to think of it,...

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Holiday: July 4th Fireworks

Posted by on Jul 4, 2011 in Americana, Holiday | Comments Off on Holiday: July 4th Fireworks

They can be spectacular. In New York City, they exploded more than 22 tons of pyrotechnics a couple of years ago. Or they can be modest, a...

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Song: “God Bless America”

Posted by on Jul 3, 2011 in Holiday, Songs | 1 comment

Hard to believe, but “God Bless America” languished unsung and unknown for its first twenty years. The great Irving Berlin...

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Album: "A Charlie Brown Christmas" Soundtrack

Posted by on Dec 23, 2010 in Holiday, Music | Comments Off on Album: "A Charlie Brown Christmas" Soundtrack

Even today, it doesn’t seem like a natural fit for a jazz soundtrack to accompany an animated Christmas show. Certainly the...

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Song: "White Christmas"

Posted by on Dec 20, 2010 in Holiday, Songs | 1 comment

My favorite Christmas album in my childhood was Bing Crosby’s Merry Christmas, which was released as an LP in 1949 and has never...

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Kid Stuff: Lionel Trains

Posted by on Dec 19, 2010 in Holiday, Kids Stuff | 2 comments

For many families of the 1940s and 1950s, a Christmas tree wasn’t complete without a Lionel train set encircling it. This...

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Holiday: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"

Posted by on Dec 16, 2010 in Holiday | 4 comments

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is one of the relatively few Christmas songs  to have their genesis in films or on...

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Holiday TV Show: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Posted by on Dec 12, 2010 in Holiday, TV Show | Comments Off on Holiday TV Show: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

  Rudolph started life in a poem, written in 1939 by Robert L. May. His brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, liked the poem and turned it...

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Kid Stuff: The Polar Express

Posted by on Dec 7, 2010 in Holiday, Kids Stuff | 1 comment

Children’s author Chris Van Allsburg created this beautiful Christmas story about a fantasy train that carried children to the North...

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Holiday: Andy Griffith Show Christmas Episode

Posted by on Dec 6, 2010 in Holiday, TV Show | 1 comment

This is the first time a single episode of a TV show has been featured on this list, but this one is a logical choice. The Andy Griffith...

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