Showing posts with label Giveaways. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Giveaways. Show all posts

Thursday, December 24, 2015

CHRISTMAS CAROL GIVEAWAY BOOK FROM THE 50S

This a book of Christmas carol that was given away for free by businesses in the 50s. This one is from Wickham Gardens in Springfield, Missouri. I obtained it at a garage sale this summer. These are mostly  familiar religious Christmas songs with three older secular Christmas songs.  Each song features a history of the song at the bottom of the page.




Two songs I am unfamiliar with, one is sacred, entitled "Angels From the Realms of Glory," and the other is called "The Boar's Head Carol."

 





Wednesday, December 16, 2015

CHRISTMAS IN THE OZARKS IS NEVER FUN

Dear Santa: Can I have her under my tree?

I know, I know. You are going to say, "Here we go again! Another blog post from Desdinova about how living in the Ozarks is horrible." Folks, I only want what is best for the kids, because I didn't have much fun as a kid.

Some of you may remember a post from last year about some people who complained on a local TV stations Facebook and website about how the girls in one of the high school's marching bands were dressed. They were wearing "Santa's Little Helper" outfits, like the lovely lady above is wearing. The more I think about it, the more I got to thinking about how we don't do Christmas right in the Ozarks. It isn't fun. I'll give reasons it is not fun later in the post (For one thing not enough sex & nudity, but that is for Christmas as a holiday in general).

First, I'll give an example from my childhood of this very problem. When I was a child, in the late 70s & early 80s, my sister lived in western Oklahoma. She and her husband owned two shoes stores. We would visit them on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The day after Thanksgiving, we would go to the stores in those towns for their big "Kick Off To Christmas" sales. This was before that day had been dubbed "Black Friday" by the world at large.

Remember in the movie Christmas Story how the department store and town was decorated? That was what these stores were like. An overabundance of lights, holly, ribbons and shiny silver stuff. There was also a Santa Claus in EVERY store, not just one store. Some stores had both Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus. We even went to one store that had a rather buxom woman dressed as Santa with a beard. My theory is the guy who was supposed to be Santa called in sick that day and the stores owner said "Quick, Paula, put on the Santa outfit! Let's hope the kids don't notice your boobs."

I wasn't just a simple, but flashy visit to Santa Claus. THEY GAVE AWAY STUFF! Christmas coloring books, chocolate Santa Claus, marshmallow snowmen, Christmas comic books, candy canes (which I don't like), Rudolph clickers, giant jingle bells, Christmas cookies and gingerbread men were given away at the various stores.

After that, I had to come home to Lebanon, where there were some decorations on the street lights and in some store windows. There may have been a Santa at Kmart and Wal-Mart, but nowhere else.  Frankly, there wasn't much to excite a kid about Christmas in Lebanon.

Found this on Tumblr. A Christmas ad for a store in Lebanon, MO.

I should add that it wasn't always that way. When I was a small child, one of the banks had an animated display with elves making toys and a snowman that would melt and then pop back up. Another store had a teddy bear in a sled that went back and forth in the store window. Then in the mid-70s, they stop putting these animated scenes in the windows. Supposedly, they broke down and were too expensive to fix... or so they said. Probably, some cranky, redneck parent didn't like that their kids want to go look at these displays every time that came to town, went to city council and asked that there be an ordinance against Christmas being fun in Lebanon.

At the place my father worked, they had a lighted Nativity scene in the window of the lobby, that you could see from the street. They quit putting the nativity scene up because of complaints. Now, before the soldiers in the "war on Christmas" start loading their guns, let me explain that the reason some old people (a group of veterans, I believe) in town said they were frightened by the three wise men because they "looked Arab."  At least, they replaced the Nativity scene with cool Willie Wirehand statue in a Santa Claus hat.

There was also a huge wooden Nativity scene along I-44 in Lebanon. The last few times that I remember it being erected, the wind blew part of it over and it wasn't taken down until about June. Supposedly, it was "too much trouble to maintain." When I hear people say things like this, I realize that this is where cartoonist got the stereotype of Ozarkers being shoeless guys with Duck Dynasty beards, laying on a hillside, sleeping next to a big jug of moonshine. 

I will say that Lebanon STILL has one of the biggest and best Christmas parades in the area, second or maybe tied with Branson's nighttime, lighted Christmas parade. So I'm not totally saying Lebanon or other communities don't do anything fun at Christmas, but they just don't seem to make it fun for kids.    

Every time I bring this up, someone says "We don't do that stuff any more." Yet when you bring up something that needs to be changed in the Ozarks, people will get defensive and say "We've always done things that way and we will continue to do it that way." So what is the difference. Simple, what I'm talking about appeals to children's joy and happiness. I've pointed out this out before, but in Ozarks children are fourth class citizens behind senior citizens, middle-aged adults and pets/livestock.

A good example of this mentality is the women, who were complaining about band girls wearing "Santa's little helper outfits," complained when another TV station's Facebook site listed a schedule for the children's Christmas specials, that we all grew up loving (Rudolph, Frosty, Charlie Brown & the Grinch), were going to be on.

One year there was a group of protesters at the Battlefield Mall, wearing t-shirts with a red slash across a picture of Santa Claus. Personally, I think there is no lower form of life on this planet than a person who hates Santa Claus.

These people are taking the fun out of Christmas by turning it into some right-wing-talk-radio-political-crusade. This people would deny your child the enjoyment of Rudolph or Charlie Brown, just so they can please Bill O'Reilly or Glen Beck. I'm sure they would rather their children watch Bill O'Reilly or Glen Beck than Rudolph or Charlie Brown, because Ozarkers believe you shouldn't let childhood innocence get in the way of their right-wing agenda.

As for the decorations, fix them or buy new ones. How hard is that problem to solve? Put out some effort to make Christmas time special for future customers. Many of the business that were in Lebanon, when I was a child, no longer exist. Perhaps if they had put out some of the effort, like the stores in Oklahoma did, they would still be around. Who knows.

Here is an idea. Let's have fun and joy this Christmas, whether it is with we visit a department store Santa, make a Styrofoam snowman, bake gingerbread men, read The Night Before Christmas, buy toys for needy children, buy lots of toys for your own children, cruise the suburbs looking at the lights on houses, put up light on your own house, watch Christmas cartoons and movies (I have to watch Santa Claus Conquers the Martians and the MST3K episode with the 1950s Mexican film Santa Claus every year), listen to Christmas record (download my Christmas music podcast), or watch girls in "Santa's Little Helper" outfits dance. The point is have fun and be nice to your fellow human beings.

Of course, my opinions are why I'm considered the Super-Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

         

Friday, December 12, 2014

A CHEESY GIVEAWAY XMAS LP IPOD PLAYLIST (Compliments of your local Desdinova blogger)

It is one of those retro pop culture artifacts that is pretty much worthless, except for extreme collectors. Not that there aren't those who collect them, but they are not a high value item. They are complimentary, premium or free giveaway Christmas music compilation LPs.

Sometime in the early 60s, a record company marketing consultant thought up the idea of having a "sampler" of his companies Christmas LPs given away by a major retail chain. The only one interested was Goodyear Tire dealers. If you got your tires rotated or bought a new set of tires, you got a free Christmas LP. Even if you did buy tires, you could buy the LP at a modest price (usually a dollar). It was an immediate success. Naturally, Goodyear's competitor, Firestone, decided they had to do the same thing. By the end of the decade, the complimentary, premium or giveaway Christmas LP was everywhere, from banks, insurance companies, restaurants, pharmacies, supermarkets, department and hardware stores.

However, the premium Christmas LP died out by the mid 70s. Christmas LPs fell out of vogue and premium LPs were hurt by the rising price of records in general. The Christmas premium compilations came back in the form of CDs and as recording artist began recording Christmas albums again. Granted, unlike the original LP of the 60s, the CDs were rarely free but were cheaper than most new CDs (usually $4).

Looking at the performers featured on these LPs, it becomes clear that they were aimed an older audience. These LPs are a who's who of MOR/easy listening radio artist of the 60s and early 70s. Always included was about two or three classical/opera artist or large choirs doing a sacred Christmas carols. Although the LPs of the 70s interspersed the MOR performers with country music stars and a few bubble-gum teen idols, they were mainly MOR artist on these LPs.

Another thing that bugged me as a child, was how these LPs never featured that version of the song that you heard on the radio or TV. Part of this was due to the fact that one record label was contracted to produce these LPs. In those days, the record labels were all different companies, not owned by one or two big conglomerates. The kids who have grown up with the NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL CHRISTMAS CDs will never know the frustration of your parents owning a Christmas LP with Hank Locklin or Sandler & Young singing "Rudolph the Red Nose Raindeer" instead of Gene Autry or Burl Ives.

Even stranger was when an artist known for a particular Christmas song was one the LP, but not singing THAT song they were famous for. A perfect example of this is Bing Crosby. He would appear on these LPs, but NOT singing "White Christmas." Maybe Tony Bennett or Andy Williams would sing that, but not Bing. Speaking of Andy Williams, he won't be singing "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" on these, but Robert Goulet or Jim Nabors might. Sometimes the liner notes (if there were any) would try to smooth things over with a comment like "Millions have fallen in love with "The Christmas Shoes" by NewSong. On this LP, we have included a version by Ted Nugent."

Some artist were staples of these LPs: The Three Suns, Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme, The Ray Conniff Singers, the Robert Shaw Corale, the Hollyridge Strings, Robert Goulet, Jerry Vale, Kate Smith, Mitch Miller, Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, John Gary, Norman Luboff Choir, Andre Kostelanetz and Tennessee Ernie Ford. 

According to friends who are record collectors, these LPs are not worth anything except for sentimental value on the record collecting market. The reason is they were inexpensive and abundant and only played one time a year. Also most of the songs have been reissued on CD. According to some websites there is a cult of collectors and fans of these Christmas LPs.

So, I have decided to give you an Ipod playlist in the style of the old premium/giveaway Christmas LPs. This is compliments of your local Desdinova blogger. Merry Christmas from all of us and thank you for your patronage. 

 
We Wish You A Merry Christmas-André Kostelanetz & His Orchestra
Silver Bells-Andy Williams
Winter Wonderland-Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra
Frosty The Snowman-Billy Idol
Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree-Brenda Lee
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer-Dean Martin
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas-Doris Day
Sleigh Ride-Ferrante & Teicher
White Christmas-Frank Sinatra With The Bobby Tucker Singers
The Little Drummer Boy-Harry Simeone Chorale
Jingle Bells-The Hollyridge Strings
Blue Christmas-Jerry Vale
Joy to the World-Jim Nabors
Get Lost Jack Frost-The John Barry Seven
It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas-Johnny Mathis
Do You Hear What I Hear-Kate Smith
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing-The Lennon Sisters
The Christmas Song-Linda Ronstadt
O Come All Ye Faithful-Luther Vandross
O Holy Night-Mahalia Jackson
Here Comes Santa Claus-The Mills Brothers
Hooray For Santa Claus-Milton Delugg Orchestra
Deck The Halls-Mitch Miller & The Gang
What Child Is This-The Moody Blues
The Christmas Waltz-Nancy Wilson
All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)-Nat King Cole
The Twelve Days Of Christmas-The Norman Luboff Choir
Happy Holiday-Peggy Lee
We Need a Little Christmas-Percy Faith
The First Noel-Plácido Domingo & Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Christmas Trumpets-Ray Anthony
Here We Come A-Caroling-Ray Conniff Singers
Medley - Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow / Count Your Blessings / We Wish You A Merry Christmas-Ray Conniff Singers
Christmas Day-Robert Goulet
Away In A Manger-The Starlight Orchestra & Singers
Carol Of The Bells-The Starlight Orchestra & Singers
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town-Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme
Silent Night-The Temptations
O' Tannenbaum (Christmas Tree)-The Three Suns
My Favorite Things-Tony Bennett
I'll Be Home For Christmas-Tony Bennett & The Count Basie Big Band
Jingle Bell Rock-Wayne Newton
      

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