Holiday Nice Stories From Darkcast Network

In this episode are stories and vignettes from podcasts on the Darkcast Network all about the nice side of the holiday season. Expect stories from history, myths and traditions from around the world. Including a 10 minute story on the history of the Hollywood Christmas Parade in Hollywood, CA by California True Crime. Happy Holidays!

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Dark Cast Network. The light shinesbrightest on our indie podcasts. Hello listeners,
We're so very happy you could joinus here at the Darkcast Network for
the second part of our holiday stories. Are you comfy snacks insider nearby?

(00:26):
Great? It's time to hear fromour nice list of stories. Hi everyone,
my name is Jackie Moranti and Ihave a podcast called Cause of Death
one hundred seconds to Midnight. Italk about all the things, not true
crime, that will kill you.I talk about disease or socioeconomics, global

(00:50):
crises, and a lot of history. It's pretty dark. Last year,
when the Russians invaded Ukraine, Italked about the history of Ukraine and how
the Russians have in treating Ukrainians forcenturies. I even interviewed someone who had
gone to Ukraine to bring supplies inand bring people out. That war is
still going on and it's senseless andit's terrible. Today, though, I'm

(01:14):
bringing you a happier story from Ukraine. I'm going to tell you why Ukrainians
put spider webs on their Christmas trees. There once was a woman who lived
in a very small hut with herchildren. Her husband had passed away a
few years before, and she hadto work hard to keep the family together,
so they were very poor. Itwas harder for women to make their

(01:37):
own way back then, and theyweren't allowed to do the work that paid
well, so this woman had towork very, very hard to keep her
family together. Outside of their hut, there was a large pine tree,
and one day a pine cone fellfrom the tree. The pine cone ended
up buried deep in the soil underthe larger tree, and it began to
grow. The children were so excitedthat they might have a Christmas tree of

(02:00):
their very own that they tended tothe tree until it became big enough that
they could bring it inside and decorateit. They did just that. They
dug up the tree and put itin a bucket so it wouldn't die.
Then they brought it inside for Christmas. That's when they realized that they didn't
have ornaments to put on the tree. They had a tree, but they

(02:21):
were too poor to decorated. Thechildren were very sad, as was the
widow woman. The youngest of thechildren sobbed when he realized that the tree
would be bare. There would beno lights and no ornaments to adorn it.
A family of spiders had been livingin the house with the women and
the children for generations. Remember thatspider generations are a lot shorter than human

(02:46):
generations. The spiders were grateful tothe family for allowing them to live in
the hut with them. The womannor her children ever stepped on them or
put them outside, and for thatthey felt indebted to the family. The
spiders could not allow the tree toremain bare on Christmas morning, so the
spiders made a plant. After thefamily was asleep, the spiders went to

(03:09):
the tree and began spinning webs allaround and through the branches. They worked
all night until the entire tree wascovered in thin, loose webs that danced
on the draft that came through thewindows. When they were finished, they
went back to their lair in thewalls to watch as the family woke to
find their handiwork. As the sunrose, the family began to stir.

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The smaller children were of course upfirst, and upon seeing the tree,
they were so happy that they ranto their mother's room and told her that
she must come. Look, mamma, mamma, come see the tree.
Look what the spiders have done.The woman rushed from her room to see
what the children were shouting about spiders? What could they have done to the

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tree? Then she saw it.The spider webs were hung with such elegant
and silk key patterns, and theywere moving in the draft from the window.
The sun shone bright that morning,and it slid along the floor and
slowly moved up the tree. Asthe rays of the sun hit the spider
webs on the tree, they beganto glitter silver and gold, and this

(04:15):
made the tree sparkle in the sun. Every year after the family would bring
in their tree and let the spidersdecorate it for them, And from that
day forward the woman never felt poor. She felt grateful for all that life
had given her. Today, it'stradition in Ukraine to make spider webs out
of paper and metal and hang theseornaments on the tree. The ornaments are

(04:39):
called pavuchki, which means little spiders. They also decorate the tree with artificial
spider webs. It's also said thatthe tradition of putting tinsel on the tree
comes from this story. In Ukraine, Poland and Germany, to find a
spider web under Christmas tree is goodluck, and spiders represent prosperous. I

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hope that you enjoyed this story anda little look into some folklore from Ukraine.
I want to thank the Darkest Networkfor allowing me to tell this story.
I'd also like to invite you tolisten to Cause of Death one hundred
seconds to midnight, where you canlisten to other stories about history. Thank
you for listening. Happy Holidays.My name is Jessica and I'm one third

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of the hosts of California True Crime, a podcast that focuses on crimes and
history in California. California has lotsof holiday traditions, but none of them
are more California than the Hollywood ChristmasParade. Every year. The focus of
this parade, at least as shownon TV, our famous movie, TV

(05:43):
and music stars. But if youlive in the area and watch the parade
live, you're able to see localentries and sometimes Hollywood history as it drives
down Hollywood Boulevard. But this paradehas an incredible history that dates back to
nineteen twenty eight. It first begannot as a parade, but as something
roll intimately familiar with as a reasonto get people out and shop. It's

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hard to imagine a world where theChristmas shopping experience was not filled with bright
lights, pine trees, and MariahCarey endlessly singing that all she wants for
Christmas is you. But prior tothe nineteen twenties, the shopping experience was
a far more pragmatic experience. That'snot to say that people didn't buy things
they didn't need, or fashion andopulence weren't a thing, but people tended

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to shop near them in local stores. This was way before big malls were
everywhere and Black Fridays and whole familiespiling into cars for destination shopping. So
in an effort to draw shoppers toHollywood Boulevard, the Hollywood Boulevard Association was
born, and it was decided thatevery business on Hollywood Boulevard between Vine Streets
and La Brea Avenue would be decoratedin the most fantastic Christmas decorations to get

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people excited and to come out andshop. This mom long celebration included as
Santa Claus, who would make thejourney on his sleigh down Hollywood Boulevard,
often over the years pulled by realreindeer. The nineteen twenties are a huge
deal in movie history. As WarnerBrothers pioneered sound technology in movie theaters and
Hollywood, California became the movie capitalof the world. Good economic times met

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movie viewerships swored, and by nineteentwenty nine, one hundred and ten million
people were going to the movies everyweek. Of course, this meant that
movie studios got in on the actionof the celebration on Hollywood Boulevard, and
this area was re christened Santa ClausLane. Street signs were changed, and

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over two hundred ever green trees lynedthe entire length of the lane. These
trees ranged from twelve to fifteen feettall and they were covered in lights.
Two very famous men got in onthe action. They worked especially hard to
make Santa Claus Lane magical, andthey were Charles Toberman, who was own
as the Daddy of Hollywood, andSid Grauman of Grauman's Chinese Theater. These

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two men were largely responsible for someof the innovations we've seen in movies,
and in particular into turning actors inthe celebrities. These men had access to
incredible stage props and the people whomade them, and they lined the streets
with things like the giant statues fromthe movie Noah's Ark. It was also
arranged that a movie star would ridewith Santa in his sleigh during each trip

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down Hollywood Boulevard, and the monthlong celebration only got bigger from here.
A corral was actually built to housethe reindeer so people could visit them every
day ride on Hollywood Boulevard. Moviehouses handed out free tickets to movies,
and the decorations got even bigger.With access to some of the greatest creative

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minds in Hollywood in the nineteen thirties, including a man named Otto kay Olsen,
who was known for completely pioneering anew lighting technique and who was still
responsible for how many movies and TVare lit today, the decorations could obviously
only become more amazing. Olsen createdbrand new metal Christmas trees, built by

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hand and standing twenty five feet tallalong the street. These trees were illuminated
by six different colors of lights andcandles that stood four feet tall. Not
only that, but in the nineteenthirties, when Santa drove his sleigh down
the boulevard, spectators were treated toa real, live Hollywood snowstorm created by
using the same techniques directors used onset. Snow machines were employed, and

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people stood atop buildings, also droppingsnow to enhance the effect. But that
isn't all because things like lamp postcostumes were created. These costumes went on
every lamp post along the road andthey consisted of two stars near the top.
Each star was three feet in diameter. Below those stars were miniature Christmas

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trees, and below those trees werebig illuminated Christmas wreaths. Each wreath held
the picture of a famous actor oractress from the time period, and below
each wreath was a red bow thatwas six feet in diameter. Inside those
wreaths and riding with Santa would befamous people like Betty Davis, John Barrymore,

(10:16):
Mary Pickford, and Jackie Cooper,just to name a few. And
of course this magical scene worked.In nineteen thirty three, Santa Claus Lane
on Hollywood Boulevard saw over thirty fivethousand people visit daily. This obviously created
traffic problems, but honestly, whatdoesn't. In Los Angeles. Every year

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there would be more and more lights, more decorations, more celebrities, and
radio even picked up Opening night Whenone lucky celebrity would get to flip the
switch and turn the whole lane on, and Santa's Knightley ride down Hollywood Boulevard
also started to become more like aparade, with bands and floats joining in
on the excitement. But this celebrationwould come to a halt during the nineteen

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forties after the bombing of Pearl Harborand America's entrances into World War Two.
During this time, places like Californiawere prohibited from having lights on at night
for fear of bombings, and decorationsfor Christmas were taken indoors with doors closed
and window curtains drawn. Much ofthe decor that was created for Santa Claus

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Lane was metal, so it wastorn apart and melted down to be used
in the war effort. Even thingslike Christmas lights were taken apart so the
electrical parts themselves could be put touse in the war. Even so,
the Association wanted some Christmas on SantaClaus Lane, and so small trees were
put out, but absolutely no lightswere added. But there was a lot

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of ingenuity happening, as twenty fivefeet paper machee Santa Clauses were created and
put out on the lane. Thiswas definitely a subdued celebration, but a
way to still celebrate Christmas. Nonetheless, when the war ended in nineteen forty
five, the Association was ready andthey went all out to celebrate the holiday

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but also the ending of the war. This is also when this celebration more
fully turns into a single parade andit's called the Parade of Stars. It's
also broadcast on NBC, and itreally is a parade of stars. At
the time. In the fifties andsixties, people like Groucho Marx, Lucille,
Ball, Desi Arnaz became headliners.In nineteen fifty five, there were

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four hundred celebrities in the parade fromboth movies and television. Bows of the
Clown was on a float. Therewas a float that was a replica of
Space Patrols Tara four. This wasa TV show and the entire cast was
on the float, and that becamecommonplace for this parade. Famous cowboys were
in the parade and their famous horses, Roy Rogers, Del Elvins, Bill

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Boyd Gene Autry. Lots of animalstoo. Lassie was a big draw for
the parade, but also big animals. This parade had elephants, camels,
mules, and in nineteen fifty five, the only known trained bull in the
world. In the nineteen sixties,parade attendants started to diminish, mainly because

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people could watch it on TV,but the celebrities kept coming. In nineteen
sixty eight, Buddy Ebstein of theBeverly Hillbillies had the honor of riding with
Santa, and the parade included suchinteresting things as the Batmobile, the car
from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, theMonkey's Car, the Mannix Roadster, and
art Link Ladder's Dragster. In thenineteen eighties, this parade really becomes about

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TV and the stars people see duringthe week on their televisions. Disney also
takes part with characters riding in theparade, and shows like Dynasty. In
the Facts of Life and of course, daytime soap opera celebrities were common sightings
these days. The parade takes placeon the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It remains
a nighttime parade and is usually broadcaston the c W. This year's parade

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in twenty twenty, the Grand Marshallwas none other than Danny Trejoe, who
we love at California True Crime.It was hosted by Dean Kane, Montell
Williams, Laura Mackenzie, Elizabeth Stanton, and Eric Estrada. It's now referred
to as the Hollywood Christmas Parade,and it also included one of my favorite
things in parades, some small balloons, including Mighty Mouse and Betty Boot.

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But looking back, it's hard tomatch the pageantry and the magic of the
parade and the events surrounding it thattook place in the twenties and thirties.
It truly would have been an amazingexperience to stand on Santa Claus Lane on
Hollywood Boulevard and experience the movie magicthat actors and directors get to put on
every day. Thank you for listeningto the history of the Hollywood Christmas Parade.

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For more information, you can checkout our hour long episode on the
topic and pictures at California Truecrime dotcom. We at California True Crime Hope
you have a wonderful holiday. Myname is Keely. I am the host
of a true crime and panormal podcasthere on the Dark Cast work called Misty
Mysteries. It's the holiday season.I hope that you're snuggled somewhere comfy with

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some yummy, yummy treats and thatyou're ready to hear about a magical holiday
spirit from the Nordic countries. Theselittle spirits are known by a couple of
different names. In Norway and Denmarkthey are known as the Nesser. In
Sweden name are known as the Tomter, and in Finland they are known as
the tomto. The Tomter range insize. The biggest are thought to be

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ninety centimeters or thirty five inches,and images of the tomter they are normally
side by side with cats and aroundthe same size. These little spirits look
like old men with long white beards. They dressed in traditional farm clothing like
tunics, stockings and leather boots,and to top off their outfits they always

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wear bright red pointed hats. It'sbelieve these spirits are made in the image
of the man who originally formed thelands, who may be buried on or
near by the lands, though thisman is unknown. The tomter lives on
farms and homesteads, sleeping in thebarn with the livestock or in the pantry
of the home. They have veryimportant jobs, and that is to watch

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over the home, to protect itfrom misfortune and evil and to take care
of the livestock. Though they aretiny, they are stronger than humans and
have special bonds with the livestock.If treated right, they will make sure
that the families have all that theyneed for a thriving home, and the
livestock will always be well cared for. The tomter have the strongest bond with
the horses. They will even braidtheir manes and tails overnight. But if

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the family they care for takes outthese braids, neglects, or abuse their
livestock, becomes lazy in their chores, or treat the tomta badly, they
can turn very mischievous in their michievousways, much like fairies. They will
hide the families belongings and play trickson them like tie the tails of cows
together. They can even become invisible, which just adds to their michievous ways.

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The best way to prevent any mischieffrom the tomter is to leave out
bowls of dual grout, a Christmasrice porridge topped with butter, sugar and
cinnamon. This is especially important onChristmas. Now. The tomter did not
used to be associated with Christmas,but this is holiday stories, So how

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did they get to be part ofholiday traditions. After Christianity made its way
to the Nordic countries, the tomterwas deemed as evil instead of good as
they always had been before. Theywere used in which trials to condemn farmers
that had good fortune. But ineighteen eighty one, a Swedish magazine changed

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everything for the tomter by releasing apoem called the Tomter by Victor Rindenberg.
This poem tells the tale of anold, lonely tomter who walks the farm
on a cold, snowy winter night, talking and caring for all of the
animals. He even looks over thechildren who were sleeping, wishing that he

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gets to them before he himself wentto bed in the henhouse with the barn
cats. When this poem was published, this was the first illustration of the
tomter, depicting the tomter walking pastthe window in the snow. This story
evolved to the belief of the JulianTomter, a tompter who rides in a
sleigh pulled by a yule goat.This tomter brings gifts to children as they

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sleep on Christmas Eve, but hedoes not go through the chimney. He
goes through the front door, verysimilar to the Juelan Tompter. There are
also the Julan Nesser, but theJuelan Nesser is portrayed as an older adult
sized man with a long white beardand a red hat with a suit much
like a little old Saint Nick manyof us know and love. He carries

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a sack of toys on his back, visiting children on Christmas Eve, asking
are there any good children in here, before leaving gifts for the children,
Much like the Nesser and the Tomteron Christmas Eve. Homes in Nordic countries
leave out the bulls of duel group, but the Juliannisser and the Julian Tumpter
and the modern day, these traditionsare deeply ingrained in many Nordic country families.

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You will find many decorations of theJulian Nisser and the Julan Tumpter.
In America you may find these decorationsunder the name of Christmas gnomes. And
now that I know the more,I cannot wait to fill my home with
decorations of the tempters. Hi,I'm Dana from the Crime Diner. We
are a Jersey podcast, and eachweek we share a story of true crimes,

(19:33):
cults, mysteries, historical hilarities,and sometimes victims stories. One of
the things that I love to annoymy co host with is atrosities throughout history.
So while we're mostly a true crimepodcast, it's not uncommon to hear
me babbling on about some old timeycrime or some creep from the past.
So today I'd like to tell youabout the Christmas truth of World War One.

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Now, warren fighting is definitely notgoing to make it on Santa's Nice
List, but I still found thisstory really heartwarming. So prior to the
invention of modern weapons, most warswere fought hand to hand combat on the
battlefield. Then, with the introductionof muskets and rifles, soldiers did not
have to fight face to face.But since these guns were not very accurate,
opponents couldn't be much more than abouta hundred yards from each other,

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so they would stand in lines andshoot at each other. The common soldier
could take three or four shots ina minute, with an average load time
of fifteen to twenty seconds. WithWorld War One came huge changes in technology
and the way warfare was waged.The advances with gas, tanks, planes
and other equipment led to some ofthe most brutal warfare and widespread destruction the

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world had ever seen. With theaccuracy of machine guns and the speed in
which the bullets were fired, thestyle of fighting had to change as well.
No longer were soldiers standing in lineshooting into the void. Now they
were digging trenches and they were fightingfrom there. The trenches were designed to
try to provide the soldiers with someprotection from the machine gun, aircraft,
and chemical warfare. Areas of Belgiumand northern France saw the most trench warfare

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between Germans and the Allied forces.The trench systems on the Western Front were
roughly four hundred and seventy five mileslong, stretching from the English Channel to
the Swiss Alps. Although not ina continuous line. Though the trenches offered
some protection, they were still incrediblydangerous. The conditions in the trenches were
unimaginably horrendous. Trenches in World WarOne were constructed with sandbags, wooden planks,

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woven sticks, and tangled barbed wire, sometimes even just mud. The
only thing that would be visible fromthe trenches was a few feet on either
side of the walls and the skyabove. Depending on the weather, the
trenches could be filled with freezing water, mud, or even snow, and
despite the use of wooden plank,duckboards and sandbags to keep the water out,
soldiers on the front line lived inthe mud. One British infantry soldier

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wrote home, saying the mud inBelgium varies inconsistency from water about the thickness
of dough ready for the oven.The constant damp often led to conditions known
as trench foot. Symptoms would includetingling and or itchy sensation, pains,
swelling, cold and blotchy skin,numbness, and prickly or heavy feeling in
the foot. The foot baby redand dry and painful even after it becomes

(22:18):
warm. Blisters may form, followedby skin and tissue dying and falling off.
In severe cases, untreated trench footcan involve amputation of the toe,
the heel, or the entire foot. Trenches became trash dumps for debris of
war, ammunition boxes, empty cartridges, torn uniforms, shattered helmets, soiled
bandages, and bone fragments. Asidefrom the regular dangers of war, the

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trenches themselves were super dangerous. Theywould become living graves when they would collapse
in on the soldiers. So theseare the conditions that the Germans and Allied
soldiers were dealing with during the holidayseason of nineteen fourteen. The war had
only begun about six months before this, and most people thought that it would
be over relatively quick and they wouldbe home to their families by the holidays.

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Not only would the war drag onfor four more years, it would
prove to be the bloodiest conflict everup to that time. Before Christmas that
year, there were several peace initiatives. An Open Christmas Letter was a public
message for peace addressed to the womenof Germany and Austria, and it was
signed by one hundred and one Britishwomen suffragettes at the end of nineteen fourteen.
On December seventh, nineteen fourteen,the Pope had begged for an official

(23:26):
truce between the warring governments. Heasked that the guns may fall silent at
least upon the night the Angels sang, which was refused by both sides.
During the war, there had beensmall instances that could be considered truces.
There were regular half hour truces eachevening to recover dead soldiers for burial,
during which the French and German soldiersexchanged newspapers. When rations were brought up

(23:48):
to the front lines after dusk,soldiers on both sides would note periods of
peace just so they could go collecttheir food. The proximity to the trench
lines made it easy for soldiers toshout greetings to each other, and this
would have been the most common methodof arranging informal truces. Many German soldiers
had worked in London prior to theworst, so they were able to speak
some of the same language. Oneunusual thing that began to occur in some

(24:11):
of the more peaceful sectors was theintroduction of music. Soldiers on both sides
would sing, and it was clearthat the intention was to either entertain the
other side or maybe even gently tauntthem. This became more festive as the
holiday season grew nearer. Christmas Evenineteen fourteen, around ten pm, the
Germans placed candles on their trenches andon the Christmas tree, and then continued

(24:33):
to celebrate by singing Christmas carols.The British responded by singing Christmas carols of
their own. This did not justhappen in one location. It happened all
across the Western Front. Soon therewere excursions into no man's Land, which
is an area between the two trenches. Here the soldiers exchanged small gifts such
as food, tobacco, alcohol,souvenirs, buttons and hats. There was

(24:53):
even a British soldier that set upa makeshift barber, charging Germans just a
few cigarettes for a haircut. Manyaccounts of the truce involved one or more
football matches that were played in noman's Land. To those of us who
are listening that are American, thiswould be called soccer. It was not
all fun in games. The silenceof the fighting allowed both sides to breathe
a little bit. They were ableto clean up the trenches, fortify the

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sturdiness of the sides, build drainsto remove some of the water to help
create better living conditions. They werealso able to collect their recently killed friends,
bury them, and even hold smallfuneral services for them. Most of
the people were thrilled by the spontaneousharmony that broke out on both sides,
but of course not everyone was pleased. In one account, a German soldier
scolded his fellow soldiers during the ChristmasTruce. Such a thing should not happen

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in wartime? Have you no Germansense of honor? Left? That twenty
five year old soldier's name was AdolfHitler. There are two Christmas Truces memorials,
one in France and one in England. Obviously, the truce did not
end the Great War, but thepeace did last for a few short days,
and almost all who was involved rememberthe time fondly seasons. Greetings.

(26:12):
This is Keiki, the producer andchief researcher for the Pennsylvania based podcast Mission
Spooky. I'm usually joined by myhost JC, a former paranormal investigator,
and my co host Chord, aformer ghost chaser and professional wrestler. We
usually dive into some very disturbing subjectssuch as ghostly encounters, weird legends of

(26:37):
the Northeast, and even some truecrime connected to paranormal activity. But today
we decided to slip away from thenaughty side and share a delightful and a
bit weird custom from the Yule tideseason in our neck of the woods.
And that tradition is the vine Knoxcook or the Christmas biggle. You might

(26:59):
be shocked to see a glass picklehanging among the usual ornaments of the Yule
season, but it's actually quite fortuitous. Those who find the Christmas pickle first
are often rewarded with anything from crispbills, to getting to open the first
gift, to having the coveted jobof handing out the gifts, or even
an extra present. In my family, there are four of us and three

(27:22):
pickles. Our prizes are scratch offtickets. Whoever finds the first pickle gets
five tickets, the second gets fourtickets, the third gets three tickets,
and who ever finds no pickle stillgets two tickets. It's always fun to
see when the person who only getsthe two tickets win on both of them
and no one else does. Thus, it's still a fun and fair game

(27:47):
to play with all of us grownchildren. But where did this weird tradition
come from? Most people believe itis a German tradition brought here by German
immigrants. I'm lucky enough to havean array of European immigrants in my family,
most only being in the US fortwo or three generations. Italians,
Norwegians, English, and Germans.But it wasn't my German family who brought

(28:11):
this tradition with us. Our familydidn't add the pickle to the tree until
we were young children, three generationsin and even then it was our neighbors
who came across the lovely little greenglass gherkins in one of their travels outside
of Pennsylvania. We were gifted thisadorable ornament, which came with a brief
history explaining its origins in German tradition. It was instantly added to our Yule

(28:37):
tree. But we were stumped asto why this quote German tradition was never
taught to us by our German immigrantgreat grandparents. Well, that's because it's
not entirely German tradition. As amatter of fact, in a recent survey,
only eight percent of Germans knew aboutthe pickle Christmas connection, and of

(28:57):
those, only two percent of thepractice any kind of family tradition around the
ornament. There are also several legendssupposedly from Germany explaining how the pickle weaved
its way into Christmas legend. Thefirst story takes us to a small town
in Michigan known for its cucumbers calledBarian Springs. While they are the self

(29:19):
proclaimed Christmas Pickle Capital of the World, an also uncontested title. Former and
current residents seem to disagree on whetherthat statement is true. I've seen some
arguments saying that the small town neverhad a Christmas pickle festival, while others
say it was there, but notas grand as described online. Either way,

(29:42):
Barian Springs appears to be the originof the first legend of the pickle
set anywhere from the Middle Ages tothe Victorian era. It is as follows.
There were two Spanish boys walking homefrom boarding school, ready to enjoy
their Christmas holiday with family. Theyare jumped by a nefarious innkeeper and trapped

(30:03):
inside an old pickle barrel. Noword on what exactly he was going to
do with them, but they're freedby Saint Nick when he taps on the
top of the barrel with his staff, and they're able to return home safely.
Another story comes from the American CivilWar and a Bavarian born soldier named
John C. Lower. He servedin the one hundred and third Pennsylvania Infantry,

(30:27):
was captured in North Carolina in eighteensixty four and sent to prison at
Fort Sumter. According to the Lowerfamily history by Christmas Eve, he was
starving and near death. He askeda guard for a pickle, which the
guard provided. Miraculously, John recoveredand credited the pickle with saving his life.

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After the war ended in eighteen sixtyfive, he returned to his family
in Pennsylvania and began a Christmas traditionof hiding a real pickle on the Christmas
tree each year, with the firstperson to find it gaining good fortune and
health in the coming year. Overthe years, the above two stories have
been debunked and the truth seems tobe a lot less exciting and more about

(31:11):
starting a tradition to sell particular items. In the small town of Laosha,
Germany, known as the birthplace forglass blowing since fifteen ninety seven, the
first glass blown Christmas tree ornaments inthe shape of nuts and fruits, including
the pickle, were produced in eighteenforty seven. In the eighteen eighties,

(31:33):
a creative salesman came up with thepickle tradition in order to sell more of
the Lausha glass ornaments in America.In the eighteen nineties, a company called
Old World Christmas Shop began selling theChristmas pickle along with the pamphlet explaining this
quote tradition. As far as sellingornaments from Laosha, It's worked out brilliantly.

(31:56):
You can go to Old World ChristmasShop online right now and purchase your
own Christmas pickle. While the shopcontains many beautiful and one of a Kainan
glass ornaments, everything from horseshoe crabsto licensed glass twinkies to sugar skulls.
Americans have purchased twenty five thousand picklesjust in twenty seventeen alone. That year

(32:19):
they made roughly one hundred and seventyfive thousand dollars in just glass pickles.
And there you have it, folks, the legends, lure and tradition of
the Christmas pickle. Happy Holidays,and thank you for listening to this story
and all the stories brought to youby the Darkcast Network this Yule Tide season.

(32:42):
You can find Mission Spooky as wellas all the Darkcast podcasts on the
most popular podcast platforms. You canjoin us on Instagram, Twitter, and
Facebook at Mission Spooky. We'd loveto hear if you two have a Christmas
pickle tradition. We take our fourweek break in January with our next season
four coming out in February. Inthe meantime, feel free to listen to
our latest episodes, which include interviewswith horror author Max Hawthorne, paranormal investigator

(33:08):
and member of the Taps family JohnCurley on his new book Unholy Structure,
now available on Amazon, and authorand folklore expert Chad Lewis on his new
book of Yule Time Scary Legends entitledWinter Legends and Lore, also available on
Amazon as Always Day Spooky and don'tdie, but if you do, contact

(33:32):
us. Hey there. This isCJ host A Beyond the Rainbow, True
Crimes of the LGBTQ plus The Holidaystory I have for you today was written
by L. Frank Baum. Insome of you might recognize that name.
L. Frank Baum is the authorof The Wizard of Oz. So,

(33:53):
without further ado, here is thestory a kidnapped Santa Claus. Santa Claus
lives in the Laughing Valley, wherestands the Big Rambling Castle, in which
his toys are manufactured. His workmenselected from the Rills, nooks, pixies
and fairies live with him, andeveryone is as busy as can be from

(34:16):
one year's end to another. It'scalled the Laughing Valley, because everything there
is happy and gay. On oneside is the mighty forest of Burzee.
At the other side stands the hugemountain that contains the caves of the Demons.
One would think that our good oldSanta Claus, who devotes his days

(34:37):
to making children happy, would haveno enemies on all the earth, and
as a matter of fact, fora long period of time he encountered nothing
but love wherever he might go.But the demons who live in the mountain
caves grew to hate Santa Claus verymuch, and all for the simple reason

(34:58):
that he made children and happy.The caves of the Demons are five in
number. A broad pathway leads upto the first cave, which is a
finely arched cavern at the foot ofthe mountain, the entrance being beautifully carved
and decorated. In it resides thedemon of Selfishness. Back of this is

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another cavern inhabited by the demon ofEnvy, the cave of the demon of
Hatred. Next in order, andthrough this one passes to the home of
the demon of Malice, situated ina dark and fearful cave in the very
heart of the mountain. I donot know what lies beyond this. Some

(35:39):
say there are terrible pitfalls leading todeath and destruction, and this may very
well be true. However, fromeach of the four caves mentioned there is
a small, narrow tunnel leading tothe fifth one, a cozy little room
occupied by the demon of Repentance.And as the rocky floors of these passages

(36:02):
are well worn by the track ofpassing feet, I judge that many wanderers
in the cave of the demons haveescaped through the tunnels to the abode of
the demon of Repentance, who issaid to be a pleasant sort of fellow,
who gladly opens for one a littledoor in meeting you into fresh air
and sunshine again. Well, thesedemons of the caves, thinking they had

(36:27):
great cause to dislike old Santa,hell the meeting one day to discuss the
matter. I'm really getting lonesome,said the demon of Selfishness. For Santa
distribute so many pretty Christmas gifts toall the children that they become happy and
generous through his example, and theykeep away from my cave. I'm having

(36:49):
the same trouble, rejoined demon ofenvy. The little ones seem quite content
with Santa Claus, and there arefew I can coax to become envious,
and that makes it bad for me, declared the demon of hatred. For
if no children passed through the cavesof selfishness and envy, none can get

(37:10):
to my cavern or to mine,added the demon of malice. For my
part, said the Demon of repentance. It is easily seen that if the
children do not wish to visit yourcaves, they have no need to visit
mine, So that I am quiteas neglected as you are. And all

(37:31):
because of this person they call SantaClaus, exclaimed the demon of envy.
He is simply ruining our business,and something must be done at once.
To this they all readily agreed,but what to do was another and more
difficult matter to settle. They knewthat Santa Claus worked all through the year

(37:52):
at his castle in the Laughing Valley, preparing the gifts he was to distribute
on Christmas Eve. They resolved totry to tempt him into their caves that
might lead him on the terrible pitfallsthat ended in destruction. So the very
next day, while Santa was busyat work, surrounded by his little band

(38:13):
of assistance, the demon of selfishnesscame to him and said, these toys
are wonderfully bright and pretty. Whydo you not keep them for yourself.
It's a pity to give them tothose noisy boys and fretful girls who break
and destroy them so quickly. Nonsense, cried the old Graybeard, his eyes

(38:37):
bright twinkling merrily as he turned towardsthe tempting demon. The boys and girls
are never so noisy and fretful afterreceiving my presence, and if I can
make them happy for one day inthe year, I am quite content.
So the demon went back to theothers who awaited him in their caves,

(38:59):
and said, I have failed,for Santa Claus is not at all selfish.
The following day, the demon ofenvy visited Santa Claus. The toy
shops are full of playthings quite aspretty as those you are making. What
a shame it is that they shouldinterfere with your business. They make toys

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by machinery much quicker than you couldmake them by hand, and they sell
them for money, while you getnothing at all for your hard work.
But Santa refused to be envious.At the toy shops, I could supply
the little ones, but once ayear on Christmas Eve for the children or
many. And I am but one, and my work is one of love

(39:45):
and kindness. I would be ashamedto receive money from my little gifts,
but throughout all the year the childrenmust be amused in some way, and
so the toy shops are able tobring much happiness to my little friends.
And I like the toy shops,and I'm glad to see them prosper.

(40:06):
In spite of the second rebuff,the demon of Hatred thought he would try
to influence Santa Claus. So thenext day he entered the busy workshop and
said, good morning, Santa.I have bad news for you. Then
run away like a good fellow,answered Santa Claus. Bad news is something

(40:29):
that should be kept secret and nevertold. You cannot escape this, however,
declared the demon. For in theworld there are a good many who
do not believe in Santa Claus,and these you are bound to hate bitterly,
since they have wronged you. Stuffand rubbish, cried Santa. And

(40:51):
there are others who resent your makingchildren happy, and who sneer at you
and call you a foolish old rattlepate. You are quite right to hate
such base slanderers, and you oughtto be revenged upon for their evil words.
But I don't hate them, exclaimedSanta Claus positively. Such people do

(41:15):
me no real harm, but merelyrender themselves and their children unhappy poor things.
I'd much rather help them any daythan injure them. Indeed, the
demons could not tempt old Santa Clausin any way. On the contrary,
he was shrewd enough to see theirobject in visiting him was to make mischief

(41:37):
and trouble. And his cheery laughterdisconcerted the evil ones and showed them to
the folly of such an undertaking.So they abandoned the honeyed words and determined
to use force. It was wellknown that no harm can come to Santa
Claus while he is in the LaughingValley, for the fairies and riles and

(42:00):
nooks all protect him. But onChristmas Eve he drives his reindeer out into
the big world, carrying a sleighload of toys and pretty gifts to the
children. And this was the timeand the occasion when his enemies had the
best chance to injure him. Sothe demons laid their plans and awaited the

(42:21):
arrival of Christmas Eve. The moonshone big and white in the sky,
and the snow lay crisp and sparklingon the ground. As Santa Claus cracked
his whip and he sped away outof the valley into the great world beyond.
The roomy sleigh was packed full withhuge sacks of toys. And as

(42:42):
the reindeer dashed onward our jolly oldSanta laugh and whistled and sang for very
joy. For in all his merrylife, this was the one day in
the year when he was the happiest. It would be a busy night for
him, he well knew. Ashe whistled and shouted and cracked his whip
again, he reviewed in his mindall the towns and cities and farmhouses,

(43:07):
and figured that he had just enoughpresents to go around and make every child
happy. Suddenly, a strange thinghappened. A rope shot through the midnight,
and a big noose that was atthe end of it settled over the
arms and body of Santa Claus.Before he could resist or even cry out,

(43:29):
he was jerked from the seat ofthe sleigh, and he tumbled head
foremost into a snow bank. Sucha surprising experience confused Old Santa for a
moment, and when he had collectedhis senses, he found that the wicked
demons had pulled him from the snowdrift and bound him tightly with many coils

(43:49):
of stout rope. And then theycarried the kidnaped Santa Claus away to their
mountains. Ha ha, ha,laughed the demons, rubbing their hands together
with cruel glee. What will thechildren do now, How they will cry
and storm when they find out thereare no toys in their stockings, And

(44:10):
what a lot of punishment they willreceive from their barns, And how they
will flock to our caves of selfishnessand envy and hatred and malas. Now,
it's so chanced that on Christmas Evethe good Santa Claus had taken with
him in his sleigh, nut Orthe Ryle, Peter, the Nook,

(44:34):
Kilter, the Pixie, and asmall fairy named Whisk, his four favorite
assistants. And when their master wasso suddenly dragged from the sleigh, they
were all snugly tucked underneath the seat. The tiny immortals knew nothing of the
capture of Santa Claus, until sometime after he had disappeared. And as

(44:57):
their master always sang or whistled onhis journey, the silence warned them that
something was wrong. Little Whisks stuckout his head from underneath the seat,
and he found Santa Claus gone andno one to direct the flight of reindeer.
Oh whoa, he called out,and the deer obediently slackened speed and
came to a halt. Peter andNutter and Kilter all jumped out of the

(45:21):
seat and looked back over the trackmade by the sleigh. But Santa Claus
had been left miles and miles behind. What shall we do, asked whisk
anxiously. We must go back atonce and find our master, said Nutta
the ryle. Now now, weexclaimed Peter the knook. If we had
to lay her go back, there'llbe no time to get the toys to

(45:42):
the children before morning, and thatwould grieve Santa Claus more than anything else.
It is shouldn't yet, sim wickedcreature I captured him, added Kilter
thoughtfully. And yet object must beto make the children unhappy. So our
first duty is to get the toysto distributed as carefully as if Santa Claus
were himself present, afterwards, wecan search for our master and easily secure

(46:07):
his freedom. This seemed such goodand sensible advice that the others at once
resolved to adopt it. They cameto the houses wherein the children lay sleeping
and dreaming of the pretty gifts theywould find on Christmas morning. The little
immortals had set themselves a difficult task, for although they had assisted Santa Claus

(46:30):
on many of his journeys, theirmaster had always directed and guided them and
told them exactly what he wished forthem to do. But now they had
to distribute the toys according to theirown judgment. And they did not understand
children as well as Old Santa,so it's no wonder they made some laughable
errors. Mamie Brown, who wanteda doll, got a drum instead.

(46:53):
And Charlie Smith, who delights toromp and play out of doors, and
who wanted some new rubber boots tokeep his feet dry, he received a
sewing box, which made him soprovoked that he thoughtlessly called our dear Old
Santa Claus of fraud. Had therebeen many such mistakes, the demons would

(47:14):
have accomplished their evil purpose and madethe children unhappy. But the little friends
of the absent Santa Claus labored faithfullyand intelligently to carry out their master's ideas,
and they made fewer errors than mightbe expected under unusual circumstances. Having
put the deer in the stable,the little folk began to wonder how they

(47:36):
might rescue their master, and theyrealized they must discover, first of all,
what had happened to him and wherehe was whisked. The Fairy transported
himself to the bower of the FairyQueen, which was located deep in the
heart of the forest of Berzy,and once there it did not take him

(47:57):
long to find out about the naughtydemons and how they had kidnapped the good
Santa Claus to prevent his making childrenhappy. The Fairy Queen also promised her
assistance, and, then, fortifiedby this powerful support, Whisk flew back
to where Nutter, Peter, andKilter awaited him. The four counseled each

(48:19):
other and laid plans to rescue theirmaster from his enemies. It is possible
that Santa Claus was not as merryas usual during the night that succeeded his
capture, for Although he had faithin the judgment of his little friends,
he could not avoid a certain amountof worry, and the demons who guarded
him by turns one after another,did not neglect to taunt him with contemptuous

(48:45):
words in his helpless condition. WhenChristmas Day dawned, the demon of Malice
was guarding the prisoner, and histongue was sharper than that of any of
the others. The children are wakingup, Santa. They're waking up to
find their stockings empty. How theywill quarrel and wail and stamp their feet

(49:08):
in anger. Our caves will befold today, Old Santa. But to
this, as to other like taunts, Santa answered nothing. He was much
grieved by his capture, it istrue, but his courage did not forsake
him, and, finding that theprisoner would not reply to his jeers,

(49:32):
the demon of Malice presently went awayand sent the demon of repentance to take
his place. My brother, demons, do not trust me over much,
said he as he entered the cavern. But it is my morning now,
and the mischief is done. Youcannot visit the children again for another year.

(49:57):
The little ones will be greatly disappopointed, but that cannot be helped
now. Their grief is likely tomake the children selfish and envious and hateful.
And if they come to the cavesof demons today, I shall get
a chance to lead some of themto my cave of repentance? Do you
ever repent her so fast? Santacuriously? Oh? Yes, indeed,

(50:22):
answered the demon. I am evennow repenting that I assisted in your capture.
Of course, it's too late toremedy the evil that has been done.
Yet you have to no evil.Are about to visit my cave at
once for to prove that I sincerelyregret my share of your capture. I
am going to permit you to escape. The fellow at once busied himself on

(50:46):
tying the knots that bound Santa Clausand unlocking the change that fastened him to
the wall. Then he led theway through a long tunnel until they both
emerged in the Cave of repentance.I hope you'll forgive me. I'm really
not a bad person, you know, and I believe I accomplish a great
deal of good in the world.With this, he opened a back door

(51:09):
that led a flood of sunshine in, and Santa sniffed the fresh air.
Gratefully, said he to the demonin a gentle voice. Long shred of
night would be a dreary place withoutyou, So good morning and a merry
Christmas to you. With these words, he stepped out to greet the bright

(51:30):
morning, and a moment later hewas trudging along, whistling softly to himself.
As for the wicked demons of theCaves, they were filled with anger
and chagrin when they found that theirclever capture of Santa Claus had come to
nought. Indeed, no one thatChristmas Day appeared to be at all selfish,

(51:53):
or envious or hateful, And realizingthat while the children's saint had so
many powerful friends, it was follyto oppose him, the demons never again
attempted to interfere with his journeys onChristmas Eve. Thank you so much for

(52:15):
tuning into Darkcast Networks Holiday stories theNaughty or Nice Lists. We hope you
enjoyed listening as much as we enjoyedpresenting you these stories. Be sure to
check out all the incredible shows onDartcast Network by visiting our website at dartcast
Network dot wicksite, that's wi xstedot com, backslash Indie, I n

(52:43):
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Until next time, come to theDark Side of podcasts. We have cookies
and happy holidays everyone, don't m