Bing Crosby first sang this song on the NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941. The song was also part of the movie Holiday Inn(1942) starring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, and Marjorie Reynolds. The song, written by Irving Berlin in 1940, was not that well received at first. The movie version was actually overshadowed at first by Be Careful, It’s My Heart but by the end of October 1942 began climbing in the charts steadily until after the New Year. It became one of the most requested songs on the Armed Forces Radio Network. And of course not only became a holiday favorite but one of Crosby’s signature songs. Here is the version sung in Holiday Inn, a duet with Marjorie Reynolds. I highly recommend this movie for your holiday viewing. Aside from the great music and acting, Fred Astaire really displays his talent in this gem of movie history.
To watch this video, click here to view it on YouTube.
Holly Jolly Christmas is the first song in Burl Ives’ 1965 album Have A Holly Jolly Christmas. It also includes Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. Both songs were sung by Ives in the Rankin/Bass made-for-television Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer(1964) and was part of the official soundtrack album for that show. The version Ives did on his album differed from the soundtrack and is the one most people hear on the radio. Here is a music video that incorporates scenes from Rudolph with the soundtrack version. Enjoy.
Thanksgiving Grace (1942) Photo: Public Domain (US Library of Congress, digital id#fsa.8d10749)
Thanksgiving was not an official national holiday until 1863. A letter from a 74-year magazine editor, Sarah Josepha Hale, inspired President Abraham Lincoln to create a national holiday. She wrote in 1863 that we needed to have a national day of Thanksgiving so that everyone could celebrate it on the same day. At the time Thanksgiving was celebrated by the various states but not on the same date. She wanted President Lincoln to make it a national day so it would become a permanent part of “American custom and institution.”
According to Abraham Lincoln Online , other presidents had ignored such requests. Lincoln decided to act on her request and directed a proclamation be drawn up. On 3 October 1863, President Lincoln’s proclamation that establishes Thanksgiving as a national day was issued. It sets aside the last Thursday of November as a “day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.” Secretary of State William Seward actually drafted the proclamation which Lincoln signed. Thanksgiving became a national holiday and was celebrated on that date until 1939. President Roosevelt in 1939, 1940 and 1941 changed it to the third Thursday (to extend the Christmas season) causing considerable controversy. A joint resolution of Congress in 1941 resolved it by decreeing Thanksgiving would fall on the fourth Thursday of November.
Lincoln’s proclamation was written during the American Civil War, a terrible time in U.S. history. Today we forget why this day was made a national holiday. It was to thank God for the blessings of liberty but also to ask his help. In our politically correct times, this proclamation is not always read in full or edited. So here is the original proclamation. Read it and understand why Lincoln thought a national day of Thanksgiving was needed for the United States of America.
— Proclamation Establishing Thanksgiving Day October 3, 1863
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth. A. Lincoln
Turkey fryer used the wrong way. Photo: State Farm
Thanksgiving is almost here and every year injuries or damage result from deep frying turkey. Now you have read the postings here and elsewhere warning about the unsafe ways to avoid. So this is short and sweet. The indoor electric deep fryers are the best way to go if you have no outdoor area to cook in (they keep the oil at the right temperature and you have a lid to close it up). General safety rules always apply but for the traditional outdoor variety the safety rules are simple:
1. Never put the turkey fryer in a garage, on a balcony, or back porch. It needs to be on level ground and not close to any structure should the worst happen. And it goes without saying never use these outdoor ones inside unless you want to burn down your home.
2. Keep pets and kids away from the actual cooking.
3. Always make sure to put in the correct amount of oil. People often forget displacement occurs when the turkey is put in resulting in hot oil hitting the flames. Always test with water and mark exactly where the oil line is. Never assume the oil line inside the container is where it ought to be.
4. Remember to pat dry the turkey before you put it in. And this next part is important: NEVER EVER PUT A FROZEN TURKEY INTO HOT OIL. The resulting fireball will cause damage to people and property. Make sure it is completely defrosted and dry when you put it in the oil.
5. Wear appropriate clothing. This is hot oil and it will burn on bare skin. Wear long sleeve shirts or chefs coat.
6. Lower the turkey carefully into the hot oil.
Deep fried turkey is delicious but you must be careful or Thanksgiving will be ruined.
Now for some videos. The first one is a guy who thinks he knows what he is doing. Notice where he has the turkey fryer and how it is not set up right at all. This idiot even mentions Archimedes principle of displacement but clearly does not understand it when applied to liquid in a container. A heavy object in liquid displaces liquid around and over it. If the objects mass is greater than the liquid overflow results. [Update 25 Nov 2015-The first video is no longer available except in compilations. A different video has been substituted in its place.]
Here is a demonstration on the correct way to deep fry a turkey.
And because, just like those guys on Mythbusters who like their explosions, here is what happens when you put a frozen turkey in hot oil.
Today is Patriot Day and a Day of Remembrance for those who died as a result of terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001.
Today, 1 September, is Labor Day in the United States. It is a day specifically set aside to recognize the achievements of workers, to recognize their importance in the economy, and to thank them for the well being of this country. A similar day is celebrated in Canada on the same day. Labor Day became a national holiday in 1894 and occurs on the first Monday in September. As it is a federal holiday, the federal government is on holiday and there is no postal delivery. Banks are closed as well as the stock market. Every state and territory follows suit as well.
Usually schools reopen around this date. When I was a kid, they generally started just before Labor Day but back then there was a second holiday in California on 9 September-California Admission Day. So we got two holidays back then in September! However there is no legal requirement anymore to observe it. No state agency closes for the date but local governments may choose to do so. Some school districts observe it but not always on the standard date. Los Angeles school district celebrates it on the last Friday in August. None of the public schools where I live observe the holiday.
Aside from being considered the end of summer, a day for retail sales and ball games, it was also the last day you could wear seersucker or white suits. After Labor Day, wearing such clothing was considered a fashion faux pas in certain circles. You might get away with tan but it would depend on the formality of the occasion your attending.
Gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery decorated by U.S. flags on Memorial Day weekend. Photo:Public domain
In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
St. Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland. Photo:Andreas F. Borchert
The Feast of St. Patrick is celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church, the U.S.Episcopal Church, as a commemoration by the Evangelical Lutherans, and venerated in Orthodox Church. It is a public holiday in Ireland. The shamrock was used by St.Patrick to explain the Holy Trinity. In Ireland it is celebrated by families getting together for a meal. If the day falls on a Friday during Lent, observant Catholics receive dispensation to eat meat. If the feast day falls during Holy Week (and it does occasionally), the feast day is moved to avoid conflicting with the Holy Week calendar. A more recent occurrence are public festivals in Ireland and use of the day to promote Irish culture.
