The Best Of...
Unwrapping Christmas Memories: A Spirited Journey Down Yuletide Traditions
Remember how it felt waking up on Christmas morning, the air filled with anticipation and magic? We're taking you back to those cherished moments, sharing our personal stories of excitement and the various ways we kept ourselves busy while waiting for Santa. Whether a real tree enthusiast or a faux tree devotee, you're in for a treat as we spark a fun debate.
Get ready to step into the world of our Christmas traditions. We talk about attending midnight mass, the thrill of opening a gift on Christmas Eve, and the joy and laughter around the NORAD Santa tracker. We even confess to a prank involving macaroni in cassette tapes - a story you wouldn't want to miss! And for those young at heart, we have a special treat - a fantastic website that creates personalized videos from Santa to children. So grab your hot cocoa, and join us as we relive the spirit of Christmas, a time that brings families together in joy and warmth.
Remember how it felt waking up on Christmas morning, the air filled with anticipation and magic? We're taking you back to those cherished moments, sharing our personal stories of excitement and the various ways we kept ourselves busy while waiting for Santa. Whether a real tree enthusiast or a faux tree devotee, you're in for a treat as we spark a fun debate.
Get ready to step into the world of our Christmas traditions. We talk about attending midnight mass, the thrill of opening a gift on Christmas Eve, and the joy and laughter around the NORAD Santa tracker. We even confess to a prank involving macaroni in cassette tapes - a story you wouldn't want to miss! And for those young at heart, we have a special treat - a fantastic website that creates personalized videos from Santa to children. So grab your hot cocoa, and join us as we relive the spirit of Christmas, a time that brings families together in joy and warmth.
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Speaker 1:Just three buddies sitting around the car table talking about things that absolutely matter to no one we are now less than one week away from the truly greatest day of the year Christmas and tonight we're going to be discussing Christmas traditions. I'm getting some strange looks when I say it's the greatest day of the year. How could there be anything greater than Christmas?
Speaker 3:it's a pretty good day.
Speaker 1:It's a good day pretty pretty good. So today, on the best of, we're gonna talk about the best of Christmas traditions, classical traditions, things that have, that have become traditions in our families, and we'll have some fun with this. I'm Mark, I'm Chris, I'm Greg, and where do we begin with Christmas traditions at Christmas do we want to start? We want to start off talking about some kind of some classical, vintage Christmas traditions. What, what? In your all's families growing up, did you have any specific Christmas traditions that really well, let me ask you a question.
Speaker 3:When you were growing up, when did you open your gifts? Always on Christmas morning never until Christmas morning we were Christmas Eve people, that's because you were did it wrong.
Speaker 2:Now, well, we were from Florida, gun he said you didn't know what, you didn't know whether the sun was up. We didn't really know which day it was the creek was gonna get up early, get him out well. So what'd you do on Christmas morning?
Speaker 3:played with the doors, I got a Christmas day Santa come. He drove up in a truck. He came Christmas Eve in a truck. No, offense. It makes no sense to nobody well there's a lot of people who do Christmas gifts and Christmas Eve only for the county. That was kind of a double negative.
Speaker 1:So it must make some semblance of sense.
Speaker 3:So you were always Christmas when I was young we opened on Christmas Eve and did?
Speaker 1:did we have any angst the night before? Obviously you didn't, because you already knew what you were doing any sleepless nights on Christmas Eve, chris all the sleepless nights on Christmas Eve.
Speaker 2:I gotta tell you going to be so are we gonna go ahead and just jump right into this?
Speaker 3:sure all right.
Speaker 2:So on Christmas Eve when I was younger, I remember anything I could do to make myself preoccupied, so I wouldn't worry about it. I remember working a puzzle. Doing that could right, yeah, pay attention. And it was time to go to bed. That you know. The mom and dad made you go to bed. Santa's not gonna come to you go to bed, they force you go to bed. So of course you lay there and you just lay awake away awake right and then like four or five in the morning.
Speaker 2:I remember going over my brother, trying to wake my brother up, yeah, and then finally, you know, mom and dad, oh, the big thing in my house was we have to turn the heat up first, before you get out of bed. It's so cold, we have to turn the heat up. I'm like my god, we that poor, we can't turn the heat up. What's?
Speaker 1:going on here. We always had to build the fire, okay guess what?
Speaker 2:we were that poor. We had turned the heat up. We turned the heat down at night, sending the other turn heat up so we get out. And then of course we came down the hallway and mom and dad were there with the camera and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:But yeah, we had the wood burning stove and most of the day in Ohio Christmases were always cold, it seemed like. So we that kind of had a little fight, but the sermon who had to go outside to get the logs to get the fire going.
Speaker 2:I agree, and back in the 30s it sucked in Ohio and you didn't have central heat and stuff then, 30s man call, call, I tell you right, I had to walk up to school uphill both ways.
Speaker 1:So so we were. We were absolutely Christmas morning openers. Now was it? Did someone play Santa or was it just tear after? Whatever, you can see what were your mornings like or what were your my morning was like my morning was fine.
Speaker 3:We typically had somebody give out the gifts to people yeah, you know, it was always in my house.
Speaker 1:I guess it was my, my brother was the one that just gave out the gifts, and yeah, you know, it was always my mom, one at a time, you know yeah and you know if, let me ask this question in terms of the tree, since we're talking about Kinds of rush live tree, fake tree, what you know? What was the tree that you all had growing up?
Speaker 2:So growing up, when I was a kid here in Frankfurt, right, we, we had a live tree, mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:You were rich family, yeah, you could just throw a Christmas tree away. Have you ever heard of such?
Speaker 2:We went out to the old Cheshire farm. Oh oh, the Chessers own the farm out in. Chessers had a farm out in Schottesville where a granddaddy would raise tobacco with mr Cheshire.
Speaker 3:Why is his nose Snootyness right? I mean, gee, oh, we had a fake gold tree.
Speaker 2:We it was.
Speaker 3:It was years and years of the same tree, not not a new and improved tree every year from from a uppity farm.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Excuse me, Hold on.
Speaker 3:We're holding Every year. I mean, what'd you do with the tree afterward? So, we cut it down for wood.
Speaker 1:Exactly now we, we had the tree that had the, the little colored prongs that you, you had to remember what the colors were.
Speaker 3:The we had the exact tree. You had a real tree and a fake tree. You did have two houses.
Speaker 1:I don't remember. So was this in the beach condo?
Speaker 2:So now the secrets are coming out Up until about 80, 1980, 981.
Speaker 3:Greg, before you're born now I was born in. I was just still probably in diapers.
Speaker 2:We got a live tree. We cut off this old farm and then in about 80, 81, we had an artificial tree that had the colors you had to stick in the poles. Yeah, and I will tell you so in about 81. I beg mama, dad, I wanted this cat. My aunt and uncle had a, had a cat that had litter, and I said I want this kitten, and so we got this little run of the bunch and named him tigger and we had this artificial tree in the basement in the corner, and tigger said the, the the side of the tree, got the fake tree, got put in the basement.
Speaker 1:That's where I didn't have a basement. All right, yeah, all right. So what he helps?
Speaker 2:lab foundation in my house, the artificial tree replaced the live tree, so we ended up having to tie it to the ceiling because tigger tried to climb, it knocked it over and all that. But anyhow, we had an artificial tree from about 81 on and I I still miss that.
Speaker 3:I really do miss an artificial tree.
Speaker 2:I missed the live tree.
Speaker 3:You can go down to wilson's and go. Have you been? In case you've been, have you?
Speaker 2:been to my farm. Oh, we got a cedar tree, hey farm.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you have a farm in addition to your home.
Speaker 2:I like to call it the ranch. Wow, can we call it the?
Speaker 1:ranch. I don't know that I've ever known someone that has this much in terms of resources.
Speaker 2:By the way, you can call me baron from now on, you can call you ray.
Speaker 1:Well, you can call you jay, you can call you in shotty.
Speaker 2:I mean, if you guys want a live tree, come down to the double d ranch and help yourself.
Speaker 3:Do you have?
Speaker 1:a ranch that's got a name. Alas, I do not. I have a a mortgage home so.
Speaker 3:Okay, anyhow, I digress. So we had an art, we had one only, yes, we only had one artificial one. You had one artificial and one real at one time.
Speaker 2:We only had one tree ever at a time. But but did you have colored lights, or all white, or all blue or whatever?
Speaker 3:We, we had multi-colored like color.
Speaker 2:So you guys had colored lights as well.
Speaker 1:We had multi colored lights. Yes, we did too. We had the same tree that you had. Yes, how do you know it?
Speaker 3:had. It had the the different like it had yellow and orange, so you had the color ends that went in, but I will say that.
Speaker 1:So some things that have carried on into a. You know that's become a tradition now for us. We had a star on our on our tree that my dad had bought back in the 60s and it actually it had a light bulb in it and it heated up this little disk and it rotated and it projected stars. You still have it on your tree and you're living. We have the modern version of that, the old version, which was a it's called a Bradford Celestial Star Topper. They were fire hazards because they would eat that disk.
Speaker 3:Imagine that. And if you especially if you had a giant Christmas tree, but if you had a real tree, absolutely it was a fire for sure Now ours.
Speaker 2:It just ran up a bit. It's fine, hold on, hold on. Yeah, I just looked up on.
Speaker 1:Bradford Celestial Topper.
Speaker 2:They're going for like $300.
Speaker 1:That's a low price In there, up to 600. By the way.
Speaker 2:by the way, who do you think had money up in Ohio?
Speaker 1:Where are you from in Ohio? The Celestial Star Topper in those days was about $5. Where are you from in Ohio? Oh, it's in Waverly, Southern Ohio.
Speaker 3:So that's South Atlanta, very south.
Speaker 1:And thank.
Speaker 2:God for Christmas we told the story. Yeah, we did, but we can do it again.
Speaker 1:We told all about the story and you know, sorry, I don't know what you guys.
Speaker 3:Why are you cursing?
Speaker 1:in there, right, it was weird, yeah. So what are the?
Speaker 2:traditions we got, because I've already told you guys.
Speaker 1:Well, let me, let me Real tree, then a fake tree. Still on the Christmas tree, we also had bubble lights.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh no, we never had those. We had people. We didn't have.
Speaker 3:We didn't have bubble lights either until like a couple of years ago. After you got yours, we got to sit.
Speaker 1:The bubble lights are awesome, and I still have them now.
Speaker 3:You have them on your tree. This is I do.
Speaker 2:Did you get those?
Speaker 1:Macalpins or doll hairs. We we never heard of a store called doll doll hairs.
Speaker 3:Hey, that's part of a to Paduca. That's it. Oh, I forgot.
Speaker 1:We only had Kmart, so I don't know what fancy is over the soul Is over the soul. Now, is that Macalpins? Was that by your winter estate, or is that? What about Tinsel? Tinsel on the tree?
Speaker 3:We had some when I was growing up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, obviously not now. You don't even find it anymore Do you have Tinsel growing up and we did not call it Tinsel back then Did you all call it something else. Let me show what Tinsel. What are you talking about? Icicles?
Speaker 2:Oh, you remember these to come in a pack and all those things.
Speaker 1:And you have to do them one at a time, supposedly.
Speaker 2:But you never would. You just don't know. Oh no, we never really had that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, if you had a live tree, I could see why you were yeah, you got to say that.
Speaker 2:You know, you just throw the tree away.
Speaker 1:You wealthy people, and you know when you have a fake tree and you have to pull those off at the end of the season or just leave them until next season.
Speaker 2:Why wouldn't you do that?
Speaker 1:Well, because that was a pain.
Speaker 2:I am so confused.
Speaker 1:But whatever you guys are doing with the story.
Speaker 2:What yes, all right.
Speaker 1:Fair enough, all right, so on the top, so yeah.
Speaker 2:So when I was a kid, you know, the angel on the top was the big thing and we didn't have that as a kid. We had this again. It was in the 70s and we had this cool looking I don't know like it wouldn't a star, it was like this. I wouldn't say obelisk, but it was this kind of tall thing, Obelisk.
Speaker 3:That sounds expensive.
Speaker 1:No, was it made of a crystal?
Speaker 2:No, it was platinum Blum glass in the oh from Italy and.
Speaker 1:I see it was not. It was not for G Lay Right.
Speaker 2:It was something you got at the heck Some sure, and it was on top and it was just weird looking thing. But in the 70s you got to admit the toppers and everything on the 70s was way different. They were cool.
Speaker 1:Very, very cool. So some other traditions that maybe have become part of your family. What are some things that have become become part of your family?
Speaker 2:besides that, Santa screwed everybody over in the world in little mud but, whatever.
Speaker 3:What happens. You know we have traditions. Now that we do that, it's become my favorite part of the Christmas for for my family, is when we it started, when we would take kids to see Santa on Christmas Eve, because you know, those Santa lines when you take pictures with Santa can be outrageous. But the trick on that is is if you go on Christmas Eve, there's nobody in line. So like last year, Basically right and there's nobody in line on Christmas Eve.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So you can just walk straight up at the mall, get your picture with Santa. And then we started taking our kids out to eat at. It started out at we would start out going to Malone's and extra bacon, no tomato, yeah, so we would go to Malone's. We did that for probably 10 years with the kids and and for the last three or four years we've changed it to where we go to Jeff Rubies and so that that meal is scheduled for this Friday. And that's probably my favorite thing about Christmas is going out and doing that.
Speaker 2:Well, that's awesome, real quick. Before we get to that, can we talk about when your boys have an exam and what they do after they take their exam?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's fine. What do they do?
Speaker 2:This is not a Christmas tradition but it is a UK exam tradition, awesome tradition.
Speaker 3:So after my boys have an exam, they get with Logan and Logan is, logan is your son and Reagan and Cameron are my sons, and after they get, the three of those kids get together and my treat. They go to Indies and they get wings and they get. They get potato wedges, peak lemonade and they go just devour. That's fantastic. It looks like after the exams after their exams that's what they do not experienced oh yeah, that's got to become a tradition. Logan will call me like dad exam day.
Speaker 2:Cameron or Hunter had an exam today. I'm like you had in these.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so, so it cost me 50 bucks basically each time they have an exam. I appreciate it. Totally worth it. All right, Christmas traditions.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'll throw one out. Yeah, kind of going along with yours. You know, we we start and it really. It really became as a result of watching Christmas story, I think, but when my daughter was black Bart now you get yours. When my daughter was very little, we started on Christmas Eve we would we go to Mass and then we would go out for Chinese and that's become our thing. We don't, we don't have. I'm just being honest here. We don't have a fantastic Chinese restaurant here, so we usually have to drive.
Speaker 2:Did you ever go to China Walk? Have you ever been to China Walk on the side?
Speaker 3:Um, he said yeah, got it, you owned it.
Speaker 2:It was good back in the 80s.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the 80s. I heard that. I have heard that actually.
Speaker 3:But where do you go to? We go to August.
Speaker 1:Moon over in Louisville, which is a fantastic Christmas. Yep, yep, really. I've never been to now growing up, the the big tradition obviously was midnight Mass. We would always go to midnight Mass, even when I was little, and the whole thing was about trying to stay up and stay awake until you know mass started at midnight. Is that the Baptist Church? No, that would be in the Catholic Church. So yeah, so yeah, that was that was the tradition going on. Where do you guys?
Speaker 2:eat blood sausage and that kind of stuff Right. So how long did the midnight, I think?
Speaker 1:you're confusing that with some other religion.
Speaker 3:So how long did the midnight Mass service last?
Speaker 1:Oh, usually about 1.15 in the morning or so yeah, that was always a trip. Have you ever so? Yes, so tradition dead air, that's all for it's okay, when I was a kid man.
Speaker 2:It was just such a different time. But when my kids were younger I would always and thank goodness you know, technology has really helped out I'd always watch the NORAD thing, the NORAD report where Santa was yeah, and I always tell the kids where they were and the kids always wanted to open one gift and so you let them open gifts on Christmas Eve.
Speaker 1:One like me no, just one one or all over yeah, don't let them open one get you know this has been a very informative podcast regarding Chris.
Speaker 2:I gotta tell you guys real quick, hold on, I got to you still. Right, this is for my Christmas. All right, hold on my father, the jokester that he was. So about 1983, 1984, when cassette tapes came in, those big long plastic packs. Cassette tapes, greg, you might know what these are. Mark eight tracks in your time. Cassette tapes can, those big plastic packs. Dad took elbow macaroni dried and put it in these long plastic tube right and when they wrapped it up. So if you shook it it's not like it was broken. Well, my brother and I were under the tree shaking gifts and we shook these things and I got to tell you my father ripped our absolute loving well.
Speaker 2:I? Oh, it was ridiculous, right? He absolutely with imagine it was terrible. Yeah, because he said we broke these gifts. It was ridiculous. I'm coming to find out. On Christmas morning we open them up, my brother got rat out of the cellar. I was jealous. Still won't take a set tape, I don't care. Rat, rat was great round and round and that's what was on that cellar was a great album.
Speaker 3:I got the Ghost Buster soundtrack, which was and also got minute work business as usual, great album business, business as usual.
Speaker 2:But my father ripped our tails because these cassette tapes had this dried macaroni inside. We broke them but he would not have all the gifts on Christmas Eve. You could open one there later in life with my kids. My father would not let us open a thing on Christmas Eve, chewed us out until we went to bed, got the next morning open everything up. So nice.
Speaker 1:So when Eva was a little girl, we did the, we did the video with Santa. There's this website yeah we've done it, yeah, yeah. So it's this and he's wearing a big long beard and they automate the name and what are you talking about?
Speaker 3:yeah, you could go online and you can get this video made and it's like a video message from Santa to your kid and whether he's been on the naughty or nice list.
Speaker 1:But it's amazing, kid you got you got to do it for the. You got to do it for the grandbaby, yeah, you do it to do it for Charlotte. So, eva, last night she was here last night for dinner and she admitted to carry and I she was like you know, when you all used to do that video I that I really believed that.
Speaker 2:I really don't know what you're talking about, and it's pretty neat it is pretty good where she was like kids missed out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she was like one time in third grade I had I've been bad in school, I'd done something, and as soon as I did it I was like, oh no, he's gonna mention it one, the video he's gonna talk about it, and. And then she was like I couldn't believe it when he said you've been such a good girl, eva, and oh yeah that's what I know about this boys yeah
Speaker 3:you're your granddaughter's got to know about to Google it.
Speaker 1:I can't remember what it is, so, but anyway, lots of great man it's been fun.
Speaker 2:Thank y'all so much. This is great. Merry Christmas everybody, hey, and thank you to our new sponsor, lawrence Berg Berbent company. Yes, we've got a sponsor. If you don't mind to go follow them and check them out. Lawrence Berg Berbent company dot com.
Speaker 1:Merry Christmas, happy holidays. Hope you all have a great one.
Speaker 2:Take care and thanks for listening to this week's podcast, the best of presented by the beer brothers the best of is available on all formats.
Speaker 1:Wherever you listen to podcasts, be sure to catch our next episode. You never know what or who will be the best of next. Have a great day, everyone.