Are we entering a dark age of Christmas pop culture? Some might argue that we already have.
Santa Claus by Thomas Nast (wikipedia.com)
Christmas has always been a magnet for writers, artists and musicians seeking to put their stamp on the western world’s most beloved time of year. Some have done it for the love of the holidays, or simply because they are inspired (and of course, more than a few have done it to make a quick buck).
But what’s unusual about Christmas pop culture is that it lasts. For a REALLY long time. This is due in no small part to the fact that there is an entire month (or more) entirely dedicated to promoting holiday culture. Great books, great songs and great movies may capture the imagination of a generation or two before they fade into obscurity.
But not it its “A Christmas Carol”, “Jingle Bells”, or “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Those keep coming back, over and over again.
Since the early 19th century, and especially into the mid- to late-20th century, Christmas has seen an annual crush of pop culture as new entries jostle to find a permanent position in the great pantheon of holiday traditions. This trend reached its crescendo from the 1940s through the 1990s.
And then something strange happened.
Beginning in 2007, right at the beginning of the Great Recession, the onslaught came to a sudden and dramatic end. There has not been a television holiday special of significance since the 1990s, except perhaps the Stephen Colbert Christmas Special in 2008 and Buddy’s Musical Christmas in 2014. There has not been a major new pop Christmas song hit since 2000 (not including covers). And the only major holiday movie release in the last ten years that has gone mainstream has been Disney’s “A Christmas Carol”.
So is this the end? Before we begin to panic, let’s take a look back at over two centuries of holiday pop culture:
18th Century: Santa Claus and Christmas Trees Introduced to the English Speaking World
1773 – The first known appearance of the name “Santa Claus” in English, adapted from the Dutch form “Sinterklass”
1777 – The first Christmas tree introduced to America by German immigrants
1800-1850: The great age of Christmas literature
1816 – E.T.A. Hoffman writes “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”
1823 – Clement Clark Moore writes “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (aka The Night Before Christmas)
1843 – Charles Dickens writes “A Christmas Carol”
1845 – Hans Christian Anderson writes “The Fir Tree”
1840s – Decorated Christmas trees become wildly popular thanks in large part to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Britain
1851-1923: Secular popular holiday music begins to appear; the modern Santa takes shape; Christmas enters the silent film era
1857 – James Pierpont writes first secular Christmas song, “Jingle Bells”
1863 – Thomas Nast picture of Santa Claus appears in Harper’s Weekly
1887 – First Santa Claus parade takes place in Peoria, Illinois
1892 – Peter Tchaikovsky composes his ballet masterpiece, “The Nutcracker”
1893 – Englebert Humperdinck composes “Hansel and Gretel”
1897 – Philip O’Hanlon writes famous editorial, “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus”
1902 – Frank Baum writes “The Life and Times of Santa Claus”
1903 – Victor Herbert composes “Babes in Toyland”
1905 – William Porter writes “The Gift of the Magi”
1908 – Film: “A Christmas Carol” (the earliest known version in film)
1915 – Images of Santa Claus appear on White Rock beverages
1921 – Mykola Leontovych composes the “Carol of the Bells”
1924-1933: Christmas becomes big entertainment and Santa becomes big business
1924 – Debut of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City
1927 – First Natchitoches Christmas Festival in Natchitoches, Mississippi
1928 – Debut of the Hollywood Santa Parade in Los Angeles, California
1932 – Debut of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular in New York City
1930s – Coca Cola begins to use Santa Claus image in their advertising
1934-1945: The first major wave of holiday movies and popular music
1934 – Film: “March of the Wooden Soldiers”; Songs: “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “Winter Wonderland”
1935 – Film: Release of “A Christmas Carol” (the first full version in sound)
1937 – Charles Howard opens his Santa School in Midland, Michigan
1938 – Film: Release of “A Christmas Carol” (MGM version with Reginald Owen)
1939 – Song: “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
1940 – Song: “White Christmas”
1941 – Song: “The Little Drummer Boy”
1942 – Film: “Holiday Inn”
1943 – Song: “I’ll be Home for Christmas”
1944 – Songs: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “The Christmas Song”
1945 – Wally Bronner opens Bronners Christmas Wonderland store in Frankenmuth, Michigan; Film: “Christmas in Connecticut” and “The Bells of St. Mary’s”; Song: “Let It Snow”
1946-1955: The second major wave of holiday movies and popular music
1946 – Santaland (now known as Holiday World) opened in Santa Claus, Indiana; Film: “It’s A Wonderful Life”
1947 – Toys for Tots founded; Films: “Miracle on 34th Street”, “The Bishop’s Wife”; Song: “Here Comes Santa Claus”
1948 – Song: “Sleigh Ride”
1950 – Songs: “Frosty the Snowman” and “Silver Bells”
1951 – Film: “A Christmas Carol” (the good one with Alistair Sim); Song: “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas”
1952 – Song: “I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus”
1953 – Bob Hope Christmas special premiers (televisions first major holiday variety show); Songs: “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” and “Santa Baby”
1954 – Film: “White Christmas”, Song: “There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays”
1955 – NORAD introduces the Santa Tracker; Song: “Nuttin’ for Christmas”
1956-1963: Christmas specials hit the small screen and holiday songs go rock ‘n’ roll
1957 – First Bing Crosby television special; Dr. Seuss writes “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”; Songs: “Blue Christmas” and “Jingle Bell Rock”
1958 – Songs: “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and “The Chipmunk Song”
1959 – TV: Perry Como television special; Song: “Baby its Cold Outside”
1961 – Film: “Babes in Toyland”
1962 – TV: “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol”
1963 – Songs: “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and “Little Saint Nick”
1964-1979: Rankin Bass and variety shows take over holiday television; more holiday rock & roll
1964 – Kathe Wohlfahrt Christmas store opens in Rothenberg, Germany; TV: “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (first Rankin Bass claymation special); Song: “A Holly Jolly Christmas”
1965 – TV: “A Charlie Brown Christmas”
1966 – TV: “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”; Song: “We Need a Little Christmas”
1968 – TV: “The Little Drummer Boy”
1969 – TV: “Frosty the Snowman”
1970 – TV; “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”; Song: “Feliz Navidad”
1971 – Song: “War is Over”
1973 – TV: Andy Williams television special
1974 – TV: “The Year Without a Santa Claus” and “Twas the Night Before Christmas”
1975 – TV: Dean Martin television special
1976 – TV: “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year”
1979 – TV: The Osmond’s television special, Rich Little’s “A Christmas Carol”, “Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July”; Song: “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”
1980-2000: Holiday culture begins to ‘jump the shark’ as Christmas movies go comedy, Christmas songs turn terrible and Santa gets drunk
1982 – First Santa Claus pub crawl in Brisbane, Australia
1983 – Film: “A Christmas Story”
1984 – Songs: “Do They Know It’s Christmas” and “Last Christmas”
1985 – Film: “Santa Claus: The Movie”
1986 – Osborne family does their first Christmas light display in Little Rock, Arkansas
1988 – Film: “Scrooged”; TV: “A Very Brady Christmas”
1989 – Film: National Lampoon’s “Christmas Vacation”
1990 – Film: “Home Alone”
1992 – Films: “Home Alone 2” and “The Muppet’s Christmas Carol”
1993 – Film: “The Nightmare Before Christmas”
1994 – First Santa Con held in San Francisco; Film: “The Santa Clause”; Song: “All I Want For Christmas is You”
1996 – Film: “Jingle All the Way”
1997 – TV: “Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo”
2000 – Film: “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”; Songs: “The Christmas Shoes”, “Where Are You Christmas”
2001-present: More Christmas comedies from Hollywood, animated films get serious, television specials fade out, and somebody actually remembers Jesus
2002 – The first major annual Christmas eve/day sporting event, the Hawaii Bowl, debuts in Honolulu; Film: “The Santa Clause 2”
2003 – Film: “Elf”
2004 – Film: “The Polar Express”
2006 – Films: “The Nativity Story”, “The Santa Clause 3”, “Deck the Halls”
2008 – TV: The Stephen Colbert Christmas special
2009 – Film: “A Christmas Carol” (Disney version)
2014 – TV: “Elf-Buddy’s Musical Christmas”
2015 – Film: “Krampus”
Looking at the major contributions to Christmas pop culture since the year 2000, it is clearly becoming evident that things are starting to slow down. Maybe it’s that the increasingly secular nature and feel of the holiday is having an impact. Maybe the advent of the internet is making things too unprofitable. Maybe the giant annual parade of Hollywood blockbusters is simply squeezing out rival films. Maybe there’s enough material available for television to last a lifetime. Maybe it’s the ‘war on Christmas’.
Whatever the reason, the trend is undeniable. The most recent addition to leave a truly lasting mark on the holiday season is probably the movie “Elf”, which is already nearly two decades old.
For the moment, it feels like the new market is being surrendered to the annual parade of cookie-cutter made for TV specials on the Lifetime and Hallmark channels.
This is fascinating! I really enjoyed the article! And I saw one nice post last week and thought it was awesome too. It is about the history of the creation of the modern image of Santa Claus we now can find in shopping malls, greeting cards and commercials that was created by Coca-Cola campaign in 1931.