Christmas Past

This episode arrives on Christmas Eve Eve. It's our final family gathering of the season, where members of the Christmas Past family share some of their favorite Christmas memories. 

Music in This Episode

• "Cozy Podcast Music with Christmas Bells" — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay
• "Podcast Jazz Waltz Cozy Relaxing Vibes" — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay

Connect with Me

• Links to all the things https://chr...

A mysterious philanthropist spent more than 25 years handing out cash anonymously around Kansas City at Christmastime. 

Music in this Episode

• "I Knew A Guy" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
• "Elegy for Manush" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• "The Agency Man" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• "Velvet Ladder" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• "Soft Piano Music&...

We're at the end of the last full week of the Christmas season. Christmas 2025 is right around the corner. And today, we're back with another family gathering to reminisce about Christmases past. It's another visit dedicated to you and your Christmas memories! 

Music in This Episode

• "Cozy Podcast Music with Christmas Bells" — Denis Pavlov, via Pixabay
• "Podcast Jazz Waltz Cozy Relaxing Vibes" — De...

During the Great War, the fighting briefly ceased on Christmas on some parts of the front line. The so-called "Christmas Truce" has become almost legendary. What really happened? 

Read some of the newspaper articles from 1914 and 1915 reporting on the story at the Library of Congress's Chronicling America archive. 

Music in this Episode

• "Drum Feature: Generations from the Simple Gifts Show" — The United St...

1968 was one of the most tumultuous years in modern history. But one bright spot occurred on Christmas Eve: an amazing feat that captivated the world.

Music in this Episode

• "Farewell" — Maarten Schellekens, via Free Music Archive
• "Endless Cosmos" — Serge Quadrado, via Free Music Archive
• "You'll Never Come to Dorset" — C. Diab, from the album Immerro, courtesy of Tonal Union records
• "Dawn Summi...

A tragic accident at Christmastime in 1917 gives way to a story of a heroic response, a lasting friendship, and a unique Christmas tradition. 

Read Walter's letter to Harold, described in this story.

Music in this Episode

• "Carrier's Lullaby" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• "Quiet Serenity" — Lite Saturation, via Free Music Archive
• "Stay the Course" — Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech
• &...

Boy, are we right in the thick of this Christmas season. Thanksgiving was just a little over two weeks ago. Christmas Day is just a little under two weeks from today. I suppose that makes it peak Christmas season. 

So, what better time to come together again for a Christmas Past family gathering? Today, it's another special episode dedicated to you and your Christmas memories. 

Music in This Episode

• "Cozy Podcast Mu...

A child's Christmas surprise for his family in 1902 became the stuff of myth and legend. 

Music in this Episode

• "Crystal Dreams" — Lite Saturation, via Free Music Archive
• "Silent Movie" —Anastasia Chubarova, via Pixabay
• "Dreadnaught Files" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• "Cannolini" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• "Lonely Christmas" — Snoozy Beats, via Fre...

In 1953, a Christmas Eve train bound for New Zealand's capital city met a tragic fate. 

Music in this Episode

• "Ourselves at Least" — C. Diab, from the album Imerro on Tonal Union Records
• "Bucharest" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• "Cozy Winter" — Oleksii Kalyna, via Pixabay
• "Velejo" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• "Below the River" — Blue Dot Sessions, via...

In 1882, inventor Edward Johnson set up a one-of-a-kind Christmas display in his New York City home...and it changed the face of Christmas as we know it.

Music in This Episode

• "Vessel Five" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• "In the Saloon" — Piano Music, via Pixabay
• "Whispers of the Heart" — Lite Saturation, via Free Music Archive
• "Vessel One" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Arch...

The Christmas season is in full swing. The tree is up. The carols are playing. The shopping and baking merrymaking of all sorts is here once again. We're all doing a lot of the stuff that Christmas memories are made of. 

And Christmas memories are what bring us together here today. This season on Christmas Past, I’m sharing your Christmas memories in special episodes dedicated just to them...like this one. 

I want to share one o...

On a cold winter's night, a man working in a field saw an out-of-place object in the night sky. This is a Christmas story, but it's not the one you think it is. 

Music in This Episode

• "Below the River" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• "Dream Lodger" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• "Embrace Serenity" — Lite Saturation, via Free Music Archive
• "Mallet Play" — Maar...

Inventor Reginald Aubrey Fessenden received hundreds of patents in his career. And one invention that debuted in 1906 changed Christmas as we know it.

Music in This Episode

• "Agony and Ivory" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• "The Cresting" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• "Tranquility" — Kevin MacLeod, via Free Music Archive
• "Peaceful Acoustic Guitar Instrumental for Relaxation...

Teenaged Annie Ide resented being born on December 25 because Christmas always overshadowed her birthday. But a unique birthday gift from an eccentric family friend would change the course of her life forever. 

Music in This Episode

• "An Early Sneak" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• "Taboret" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive
• "Calm Meditation, Good Sleep" — Lihn Pham, via Pixabay
• &qu...

Just dropping by with a quick hello, now that the season is in full swing. Today, I share an announcement about this season of Christmas Past, as well as share highlights from my annual visit to the Great Dickens Christmas Fair in San Francisco. Plus...a surprise guest appearance!

Music in this Episode

"Working Time - Soft Acoustic Guitar" — Dream Protocol, via Pixabay

Connect with Me

• Links to all the things https://chr...

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! It's the kickoff to the main season of Christmas Past. What better way to get things going than with a cozy gathering around the fire for some old fashioned storytelling? Today, I'm back with a ghost story for Christmas. In "Lucky's Grove," when a Christmas tree is selected from a mysterious grove, strange and tragic events follow. 

Thanks to my friends at Biblioasis for once ag...

In today's episode, Vaughn Joy, Ph.D. joins Christmas Past to discuss how the social and political climate of the mid-20th century shaped the Christmas movies of that era. She's the author of the new book, Selling Out Santa: Hollywood Christmas Films in the Age of McCarthy

Music in this Episode

"Happy Night Christmas Winter Jazz" — Music for Videos, via Pixabay

Connect with Me

• Links to all the things https://c...

Today, we welcome back a frequent guest on Christmas Past. Thomas Ruys Smith is a professor of American literature and culture at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom. He’s also a frequent guest on Christmas Past and the author of several books about Christmas history and literature. His latest is Searching for Santa Claus: An Anthology of the Poems, Stories, and Illustrations...

Today, I'm talking to Alonso Duralde, film critic, podcaster, and author of Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas (2nd Edition).

Music in this episode

"Our Minds Following" — Blue Dot Sessions, via Free Music Archive

Connect with Me

• Links to all the things https://christmaspastpodcast.com/links
• Email: christmaspastpodcast@gmail.com

Books

Of Christmases Long, Long Ago: Surprising Traditions from Chr...