I may be in my seventh decade of life, but I still love the old Christmas specials, the ones that came out in the 1960s.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas”? I’m there. “The Grinch”? Bring it on.
I’ll mouth the words and sing right along with the deep-voiced narrators. I also loved the “Frosty” offerings, and the Santa Claus programs narrated by well-known stars such as Fred Astaire and Mickey Rooney. The appearance of these made Christmastime so magical and special.
During our daughter’s brief lifetime, we studied the TV Guide to determine which nights the same specials would re-air. I think a lot of parents did that. It was a delight to watch Michele’s reactions to the shows and to share those precious moments with her, some that still resonate.
How we watch such programs has changed a lot. First, they came out on VHS tapes, then DVDs. Once in a while, I’ll still see a DVD multi-pack of a number of those programs and be tempted to buy it. But I haven’t yet. If we no longer have cable, we can now find many of them with a search on our streaming subscriptions. I’ve found a couple along with perennial Christmas movies, from the well-known, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” that Gordy and I always watched together, and “Miracle on 34th Street” with a very young Natalie Wood, to more contemporary favorites such as “Elf” and “Home Alone.”
My husband and I used to stack up a set of movies for holiday watching, beginning around Thanksgiving. They were for the VCR then, and included titles that weren’t traditional Christmas movies but had holiday themes. The first “Lethal Weapon,” “Die Hard” and Gordy’s favorite, “Trading Places,” with Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Don Ameche, Ralph Bellamy and other big names. That one he would screen multiple times each season. Sometimes I still watch them for the reminiscing quotient. Holidays bring out the “remember when’s,” especially when you’re missing others no longer with you.
For me, one of the advantages of celebrating Christmas early — getting packages in the mail the first part of December; lunches with friends, and a family gathering two weeks prior to Christmas — is the opportunity and freedom to “chill” as the actual holiday approaches.
I’m finding I like it this way. First, I had to reach an agreement with myself that it was OK to postpone serious writing work until after the New Year, like giving myself a holiday furlough. The decision gave me time to read, reflect and view holiday shows while bathed in the peaceful surrounding of colored lights in the living room.
Not long ago, I took advantage of a streaming deal that not only gave me news-related content, but a cool lineup of holiday specials. These were different from the animated ones. An old Andy Williams Christmas special warmed my heart and took me back in time. It was fun noticing clothing styles and hairdos I remember, but also seeing variety shows I grew up on.
A Perry Como special gave me the remembered rich talents of Richard and Karen Carpenter. I believe Karen’s voice was one of the all-time greats and it’s still sad to think of how she didn’t seem to know how talented she was and to recall her untimely death.
I had never seen Carroll O’Connor, whom we best knew as the character Archie Bunker, do a Christmas story reading surrounded by big-eyed little children. There was another where Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra sang their way through an hour while bantering with each other.
I watch Hallmark movies these days, and I like them for a month or two, but they don’t satisfy a reminiscent hunger for days gone by like these ’60s musicals and animations do. Some also feed my craving to come closer to the “real” Christmas, like when Como read the Christmas story while others acted out what it must’ve been like to witness Christ’s birth.
I recently read somewhere about how “A Charlie Brown Christmas” almost didn’t make it to TV because of concern about the use of a Bible scripture about the most famous story of all, and essential scenes that tied it all faithfully together in a way that still wins hearts and gives us pause. The piece may have been in this paper. My short-term memory often eludes me while, fortunately, for a nostalgia writer, memories further back are pretty clear and defined.
In any case, I’m glad Charles M. Schulz was able to push it through. So many hearts have been touched and opened to the message on what the season is really about. I hope this film is available in some form for years to come.
Come to think of it, as a dinosaur who still owns a DVD player, I might just make a trip to town to see if that multi-movie set is still available. Then I can view anytime I want and experience the warm-hearted messages. Even if it’s not yet Christmas.
Merry Christmas to all!
(Contact contributor Deb Wuethrich of Portville, N.Y., at deborahmarcein@gmail.com.)
