Fox News joins Obama-led War on Christmas

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Even the home of right-wing unfairness and imbalance couldn't resist the compelling allure of liberal secularism.

Welcome to the 21st century, morons...

The Idiot O'Reilly can protest all he likes. He and his "folk" are on the wrong side of history, just like they're on the wrong side of everything else.

Obamas escalate War on Christmas

Guest post by Ted Leibowitz 

Ed. note: Ted is good friends with our former associate editor and co-blogger Creature, and Ted often wrote for Creature's now-on-long-hiatus blog State of the Day. He's an occasional guest blogger here at The Reaction, and it's great to have him back after a long absence. -- MJWS 

Ted Leibowitz is an award-winning internet radio music director / DJ focused on bringing the best new and interesting indie rock to his worldwide listenership via his 10-year old station BAGeL Radio. He has been featured on panels at music/tech conferences and writes about the exciting new business of music as well as the foot-dragging, entrenched, dinosaur-like old music industry.

**********

The first thing that came to mind while watching the Christmas Tree lighting in D.C. the other night was how Fox News was going to spin the bit with Michelle and Abby Cadabby:

a) Obamas escalate their War On Christmas; or

b) Michelle Obama read her lines while the puppet had hers memorized.

Inquiring minds want to know.

Listening to Now: Judy Garland - "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"

By Richard K. Barry

I'll try not to torture Michael too much with various Christmas music offerings this year, but it snowed a bunch in Toronto today, and we put up the tree, so I'm in the mood. 

This is my favourite song of the season. It is, of  course, Judy Garland singing "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" from the 1944 movie Meet Me in St. Louis. 

No war on Christmas in my house. Of course, near as I can tell there is no such war anywhere.

White Jesus, White Santa: Megyn Kelly nominates herself for title of stupidest person in the world

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Yes, she went there, exposing herself as an ignoramus and, it would seem, a bigot:

On Wednesday night Megyn Kelly declared on her Fox News show that both Santa Claus and Jesus were white. Discussing a piece in Slate by Aisha Harris about a black versus white Santa, Kelly that "just because it makes you feel uncomfortable it doesn't mean it has to change." 

"You know, I've given her her due. Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn't mean it has to change," Kelly said. "Jesus was a white man, too. It's like we have, he's a historical figure that's a verifiable fact, as is Santa, I just want kids to know that. How do you revise it in the middle of the legacy in the story and change Santa from white to black?"

Um... no:

Santa Claus can be traced to a real life monk named St. Nicholas who lived in what is today Turkey, according to the History Channel. Jesus Christ was born to a Jewish family around what is now Israel, and his race has long been debated with several scholars saying he likely looked like what many modern day people of Middle Eastern descent look like.

Exactly.

I get that there may be some confusion about Santa Claus, given that he's basically a Dutch cartoon character, but Jesus? Come on. Insofar as he was a real person, the guy was from Judea, basically the present-day West Bank. You know, because that's where Bethlehem is, and he was supposedly born in a manger there. I think the whole "Christ" story is bullshit, but who the hell doesn't know the story of Jesus's birth? Surely "God"-fearing Megyn does.

And, you know, people from that part of the world aren't "white," unless you stupidly think "white" is anything, oh, non-black. But maybe "fact"-based Megyn thinks just that. Or maybe thinks Jesus is the cartoon character of the right-wing Christian imagination.

Whatever the case, she's a fucking moron.

Jefferson, Christmas, and Sarah Palin's faux America; or, further evidence that Sarah Palin is a complete moron

By Michael J.W. Stickings

The Raw Story:

If Thomas Jefferson were alive today, Sarah Palin said, he would probably go on Fox News to complain about the war on Christmas.

The former half-term governor of Alaska and failed vice presidential candidate appeared Thursday at Liberty University to promote her new book Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas.

She told the audience of students that the U.S. Constitution was written by and for moral and religious people, and that nonreligious people probably were incapable of appreciating its principles.

*****

Palin said Jefferson would likely agree that secularists had set their sights on destroying the religious themes in Christmas celebrations.

"He would recognize those who would want to try to ignore that Jesus is the reason for the season, those who would want to try to abort Christ from Christmas," she said. "He would recognize that, for the most part, these are angry atheists armed with an attorney. They are not the majority of Americans."

Palin said there was a double standard that protected atheists at the expense of the religious.

I was going to go through her incorrect statements one by one, but, really, everything she said is wrong. The woman has zero understanding of America, its Founders, and its Constitution, and it's simply ludicrous that she opens her mouth to suggest otherwise.

[Keep reading to see how Woody Allen fits into all this.]
 
Read more »

Merry Christmas from The Reaction

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Whether you have the "Christ" in it or not, and we generally don't, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas from all of us here at The Reaction.

(And Happy Holidays, of course, speaking more generally.)

And personally, I want to wish the same to my friends and family, and especially in this context to my wonderful co-bloggers, without whom this blog wouldn't be nearly what it is, and to my many friends and acquaintances throughout the blogosphere, wherever they may be on the political spectrum.

Thank you, friends. Thank you, readers. Have a safe and happy day.

**********

I don't blog about art nearly as much as I used to, but here, to mark the seasonal occasion (even if its not exactly a white Christmas here in the Toronto area), is the very lovely Rabbit Warren at Pontoise, Snow (La Garenne à Pontoise, effet de neige) (1879) by Camille Pissarro, now at the Art Institute of Chicago:

As Richard Brettell writes in A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape (yes, I'm pulling out the research for this):

This one... is doggedly complex and difficult. There is nothing pleasant about the subject; its pictorial structure is highly idiosyncratic and even unclear; its facture is almost messy. Pissarro seems to have reveled in the ugliness of winter, and neither space nor sunshine gives us relief from what is little more than a tangle of vegetation in the dirty snow. None of this is made any pleasanter by the fact that the painting depicts a rabbit warren; the viewer is therefore called upon to imagine a group of shivering rabbits living together in the cold.

I'm not sure if Pissarro meant this to be an existential metaphor, but of course you may take it as such, for the human condition may well be akin to "a group of shivering rabbits living together in the cold."

Whatever the case... Merry Christmas!

I like Christmas as much as the next atheist

By Richard K. Barry

TV evangelist Pat Robertson has never been right about much, most recently admitting he erred in his understanding of God's message that Mitt Romney would win the election. Now he's on to his favourite rant this time of year, which is that atheists want to take Christmas away because, he says, they're miserable and want to make Christians miserable too.

Yes, Christmas is about to be taken away. Ask Bill O'Reilly if you don't believe Pat. That's another fine source of accurate news.

Anyway, here's Robertson's rant, for your holiday entertainment:

Judy Garland singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"

By Richard K. Barry 

Christmas is almost over. Almost everything that's supposed to happen has happened: presents, trees, music, children, etc., etc. My wife and I had a quiet dinner for just the two of us, the family having been here earlier in the day. And so it's over for another year.

I said a few days ago that I would post my three favourite Christmas songs, and have already put up Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" and Nat King Cole singing "The Christmas Song."

So, number one in my book is Judy Garland performing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." As you may know, it's from the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis.

It was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, and is undoubtedly one of the most performed Christmas songs each season.

I was able to catch the movie last night on the American Movie Channel and thoroughly enjoyed it. The host of the presentation cited the old story about the original lyrics being rewritten because they were deemed too depressing by Garland and the director of the film, Vincente Minnelli. They were probably right when you consider that the original words included these gems: "Have yourself a merry little Christmas, it may be your last. Next year we may all be living in the past." Yeah, thank you for that. Okay, in the context of the movie I guess it worked. But it sure wouldn't have become a Christmas classic if it remained as it was.

Anyway, beautiful song in its final version, and over the years recorded by everyone under the sun, including Kermit the Frog.

Hope you had a great Christmas, or whatever it is you celebrate, if you celebrate. And if you don't, that's fine too.

Back to politics tomorrow.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

Un-Christmas 2011: Get this kid off me before he pisses on me

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Sorry, I've been so busy waging war on Jesus and Santa today that I'm only now getting to the blog. It's tough out there, what with all the Christianists shoving their bullshit down our throats.

Isn't that we liberals are supposed to say?

Actually, no. There's no war on Christmas. We just happen to respect difference and diversity enough not to be a bunch of arrogant pricks when it comes to our dominant religious holidays.

And, personally, I like Christmas a lot, even if my Christmas has zero Christ in it. It's a wonderful time for my family, and the traditions I grew up with I'm now passing on to my own children.

And if I'm at "war" with anyone -- hyperbole, to be sure -- it's with the right-wing fanatics, like the morons at Fox News, who seek to impose their (usually hypocritical) moralism on everyone and who make up all this "war on Christmas" bullshit to begin with.

Anyway, enough of that. I really do wish all my friends and family, including my wonderful co-bloggers here at The Reaction and all my friends throughout the blogosphere, as well as all of you, our readers (I cannot thank you enough for visiting us, and I hope you keep coming back), a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Be safe, and be good to one another.

**********

A few weeks ago, we posted a clip from what one of our contributors thinks is the best Christmas movie ever, Christmas Vacation. Well, my own pick for that title is Bad Santa, or rather the extended version of that hilarious movie, Badder Santa. Okay, it's not exactly the most sentimental pick. I suppose if sentiment were involved I'd go with, oh, say, Die Hard, or maybe Home Alone. But it's the funniest and best. (Sorry, the highly-overrated It's a Wonderful Life. I like Capra a lot, but not this one. I much prefer another Jimmy Stewart Christmas movie, The Shop Around the Corner. Lovely and charming. Actually, Elf is pretty funny, too. I'm watching it as I write.)

Here are a few clips. Enjoy.

A Christmas story

By Capt. Fogg 

I'd describe her as a sweet little old lady except for the nearness of our vintages, but she's barely five feet tall and fragile. We'd been talking about the Kindle e-book reader and she had asked if I'd read Bill O'Reilly's book on Lincoln. 

"Umm..." I said, stalling for time. 

I remember not long ago having shocked her, and the entire dinner table for that matter, by expressing distaste for Glenn Beck as a reliable source of information, and I really try to be polite to nice people but I went on: 

"Well, I'm not a big fan of his."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I think he tends to make things up or tell us things he gets from rumors and websites without verifying them, but I think that's true of Fox in general. I remember the first time I listened to him years ago, but maybe it was Hannity. I get them confused sometimes because I never watch Fox." 

The look of astonishment still had not faded. 

"But anyway, he was going on and on about how the PC liberals had banned Christmas lights in -- I think it was Muskegon, Michigan -- or wearing red and green clothing on Christmas -- and of course it was immediately checked by another network and it wasn't and of course it was a surprise to the mayor who had never heard of the whole thing -- and of course Fox never hinted that it had been caught in a lie."

Well here I go, I've lost another friend, I thought, but actually she was smiling.

"You know my son says the same thing about Fox: 'They make up stories, mom, don't watch them.'"

"He must be a brilliant guy if he agrees with me," I said, a bit relieved.

"He's got a Ph.D. in biochemistry."

"He sounds smart in spite of that."

"He is," said the proud mother, "but still, what I don't like is when they tell us we can't say Merry Christmas any more."

"But who ever told you that? That's what I mean. Nobody, and certainly not anyone in government has said that -- only Fox News! Merry Christmas! See, no black helicopters." 

**********

I try so hard to avoid such things. I'm much nicer in public than I am here, really, and I don't want to make people feel bad, but you know the day is only half over and I have already read in several places how those PC liberals won't let you say Merry Christmas and make you say Happy Holidays, which means you have to allow people other options, which means our Christianity is under attack and we're all victims of those PC liberals who hate Christmas. As I said, they're putting words in the mouths of their straw men and we're believing it, and it may be that the only people defending the right to celebrate whatever we want in our own way and the right not to be forced to celebrate are those damned PC liberals and their damned Bill of Rights.

So maybe Lyin' Bill and Insanity Hannity and the Fox Fiends have done their work well, or maybe the people who pull their strings are pulling other strings, I don't know, but if you want to wish me Eid Mubarak or happy Adam and Eve day (which in fact it is) or Krishna's birthday (if he has one), I'll wish you one too and I'll celebrate our secular laws that allow it and curse the bastards who equate that right with the fall of American values. 

Merry Christmas. 

(Cross-posted from Human Voices.)

Nat King Cole sings "The Christmas Song"

By Richard K. Barry 

In keeping with my promise to list my top three favourite Christmas songs, I give you number two: "The Christmas Song."

Mel Torme

I think most people know that vocalist Mel Torme co-wrote this one. They may not know that his collaborator was Bob Wells. In any case,  the legend associated with its composition has received a fair bit of play, but I'll repeat it, briefly.

It had something to do with the fact that Torme and Wells were trying to think cool thoughts on a very hot summer day and in the process of writing down things that might remind them of a less a sweltering time, they came up with "The Christmas Song" in something like 40 minutes. Good story.

The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded it in 1946. A while later a second recording was done with strings, and redone a couple more times after that, again, with strings. Apparently, the 1961 version, the fourth recording, is the one with which most people are familiar.

A lot of artists have, of course, recorded "The Christmas Song" including Torme himself, several times in fact. The Wikipedia entry lists about a hundred who have taken a shot at it including: Bob Dylan, James Brown, Hootie and the Blowfish, The Jackson 5, and The Partridge Family. Really sorry, I'm not familiar with that last one.

It's a Christmas classic, one of the best loved. I'm partial to the Nat King Cole version, but like Torme's take as well as versions by Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby.  It's just not Christmas without those chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

Somebody went through a lot of trouble to pull together some great stills of Nat King Cole. Nice job.

 

Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" performed by the Boston Pops

By Richard K. Barry

Leroy Anderson

Just for something to do, I thought I would post my three favourite Christmas songs leading up to the big day. Who knows if these really are my three favourites. It's a fairly arbitrary exercise when it comes right down it. A mug's game, as they say.

Maybe it's from my years in a high school band, but I have a real soft spot for light orchestral pieces, and Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" is one of my most loved, which I'll say comes in at number three for me as Christmas songs go.

Anderson finished writing it in 1948 and the orchestral version was first recorded by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1949.

In 1950, lyrics for the song were written by Michael Parish. Check out the Wikipedia page for a comprehensive list of those who recorded it. I always liked Karen Carpenter's version.

Curiously, the song's original lyrics don't mention Christmas at all, though it's probably considered by most to be a Christmas song. And, if there is any doubt, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), in their annual review of Christmas music, report that "Sleigh Ride" consistently ranks in the top 10 of most performed songs written by ASCAP members during the holiday season worldwide.

Many works composed by Leroy Anderson (1908-1975) were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler. In the clip below, John Williams, who led the Orchestra from 1980 to 1993, conducts them in this rendition of "Sleigh Ride."

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

This day in music - December 15, 1984: "Do They Know It's Christmas?" enters the UK charts at #1

By Richard K. Barry

Just because Michael has been begging, literally begging, me to post as much Christmas music as I can this season (ed. note: not true! -- MJWS), I'm going to put up the truly awful "Do They Know It's Christmas?" -- the fundraising production for famine relief in Ethiopia recorded in 1984.

If you're old enough, you will recall that it was pulled together by former Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof. He gathered together some of the biggest names in pop music at the time to record a one-off single, raise some money and, I suppose, do some good.

Featured are Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Paul Young, Culture Club, George Michael, Sting, Bono, Phil Collins, Kool and the Gang, and others.

Maybe it's me and the fact that I hated so much of the music of the '80s, but this doesn't do it for me. Maybe you always loved it.

Hearing the title, "Do They Know It's Christmas (in Africa)?" always made me wonder: if they knew, would they care? Just a tad Eurocentric, don't you think? And the line, "and there won't be snow in Africa?" A bloody good thing, I'd say. Do they really need that headache too?

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

Un-Christmas 2011: When the shitter was full

By Michael J.W. Stickings

It feels like I'm under assault. It's only December 2 today, but already Christmas is upon us. In fact, it's been upon us for some time now, and it seems to be getting earlier and earlier every year.

Our local Santa parade was almost three weeks ago.

My kids are all about their advent calendars and counting down the days.

Our tree will likely go up this weekend. Try as I might, I just can't hold out much longer.

The Starbucks I go to downtown has been decked out in holiday decorations, adult-contemporary Christmas music polluting our ears, for a while now. I assume this is true of all Starbuckses. (Yes, I caved and got myself a gingerbread latte last week. It was okay.)

Black Friday was last Friday. Even more rampant and irresponsible consumerism than usual was unleashed. TV ads are telling you you're a bad person if you don't spend rampantly and irresponsibly on various things you surely don't need.

And Richard informs us that he's going heavy on the Christmas-related posts this holiday season.

Look, don't get me wrong, I like Christmas. Or, rather, I like Christmas without the Christ in it, the traditions that we have developed without any religion in them at all. Which is to say, I like the holiday season. It's nice. Especially when you have kids. And I'll get in the spirit eventually.

But let's push back a little. Let's respond to all this way-too-early Christmasification of our lives with some blatant irreverence.

I happen to think that the best Christmas movie ever is Bad Santa (specifically the unrated version, Badder Santa). My buddy Robert (also known as our occasional International Sports Reporter) argues that it might just be Christmas Vacation (which I find amusing but generally mediocre). They're both certainly irreverent, including this admittedly amusing (Robert finds it absolutely hilarious) scene from the latter -- watch it below.

I'll post something from Bad Santa soon. Let's keep the irreverence coming. We need an antidote to all the Christmas spirit.

Enjoy:

This day in music - November 30, 1977: Big Crosby and David Bowie perform "Little Drummer Boy" and "Peace on Earth" on Crosby's Christmas special

By Richard K. Barry

I am well aware of the danger of getting totally sick of Christmas before we even get into December, but please indulge me on this one. I love that Bing Crosby-David Bowie duet that we have all seen so many times. For the record, this unusual performance was part of Bing Crosby's annual Christmas special in November of 1977 and, I'm sure you would agree, has become a classic.

I'll try to keep the Christmas music posts to a minimum -- or maybe I won't. I haven't decided.

(Ed. note: I'll do my best to keep things under control. -- MJWS)

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

Merry Mas!

By Michael J.W. Stickings

See what I did there? I took the "Christ" out of "Christmas" -- literally.

Because I'm a godless liberal waging war on Christmas, I have no choice but to take this step. And I'm not at all sorry to have to do it.

Simply, the right is right. Conservatives talk incessantly, belligerently, about this war on Christmas, and I've come to believe it.

So -- ye liberals, ye progressives, ye socialists, ye leftists of all stripes. To battle!

**********

Actually, back in the real world, there's no such war at all, just greater appreciation for difference and greater celebration of diversity.

And I do celebrate Christmas, just without the religion -- the way it can be in our modern liberal society, and, on those terms, I really like this time of the year, just as I did when I was growing up.

And it's been a nice, quiet day here at home. "Santa" came last night, the kids are happy, I've been watching the Diners, Drive-ins & Dives marathon on the Food Network, and now I'm just about to go make dinner.

So, yes, a Merry Christmas to you all, and Happy Holidays.

Whatever and however you celebrate, I hope you're having a lovely day.

Be safe and take care of one another.

**********

It'll be relatively quiet here at The Reaction over the next few days, but I'm sure we'll get some new posts up now and then, so keep checking back.

Talk to you later.

-- Michael

Barack Obama and the War on Christmas

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Photo from The Globe and Mail: "US President Barack Obama gives a high-five to a girl named Malia, like his daughter, after reading the book Twas the Night Before Christmas, to students at Long Branch Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia, during a surprise visit."

Christmas? Christmas?! 

What the hell is the president of the United States doing reading Christian propaganda to a group of easily-indoctrinated kids? Isn't he a Muslim? Or a Marxist? Or a godless liberal? Isn't he on our side?

How are we supposed to win this war if Obama himself is fighting for the theocrats?

And you conservatives out there, you've long suspected Obama of being a Khmer Rouge-style re-educator. How do you feel now that he's on your side? Happy?

You should be. Next thing you know Obama will go to church on Christmas and claim to be a man of faith.

Geez.

Craziest Republican of the Day: James Inhofe

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Tulsa World reports:

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Tuesday that he won't participate in Tulsa's Holiday Parade of Lights until organizers put "Christ" back in the event's title.

"Last year, the forces of political correctness removed the word 'Christmas' and replaced it with 'Holiday' instead," the Oklahoma Republican said. "I am deeply saddened and disappointed by this change."

Inhofe, who was Tulsa's mayor from 1978 to 1984, said he had participated in the parade annually, riding a horse as his children and grandchildren watched.

"I did not do so last year because I'm not going to ride in a Christmas parade that doesn't recognize Christmas," he said. "I am hopeful that the good people of Tulsa and the city's leadership will demand a correction to this shameful attempt to take Christ, the true reason for our celebration, out of the parade's title. Until the parade is again named the Christmas Parade of Lights, I will not participate."

Asked for a response from Mayor Dewey Bartlett, city spokeswoman Kim MacLeod said the mayor "wouldn't miss the city's parade" and then provided a comment from the mayor.

"If it was up to me, I'd call it a Christmas parade, but I also understand that we have a diverse community, and I'm sensitive to the importance of the many cultures and traditions that make up our city," Bartlett said.

In related news, Sen. Inhofe called reports of non-Christians residing in Oklahoma "the greatest hoax ever perpetuated on the God-fearing people of this state."

Appearing on Glenn Beck's radio show yesterday, he said that he'd never encountered a "Mohammedan" anywhere in Oklahoma -- "and I've been around, from homestead to homestead." He also claimed that he'd never met "any so-called Jew or Jewess other than Joe Lieberman and his wife, and they're nice people otherwise." When asked about "Indians" and "blacks," he asserted that "Indians here embrace Christ and the Hinduist ones over there are atheists" and that "it is well-known that blacks have no traditions other than the Christian, so what's the big deal?" When asked about "Buddhists," he said he "[doesn't] even know that is," accusing Beck, who by then was sounding somewhat reasonable, of "making it up."

So, yeah, I don't think he's one to be sensitive and embrace diversity. Even by Oklahoma standards, Inhofe is a narrow-minded bigot.

(You think I'm making all that up about Inhofe? Huh.)

Christmas Day 2009

Whatever you celebrate, however you celebrate -- within reason, of course -- I hope you're having a great Christmas Day.

I've enjoyed many things this holiday season, and one of them, I must admit, is being away from the computer, taking a break from blogging. Aside from a short post yesterday, and this one now, I haven't done any posting, and I haven't even spent much time at the computer. There haven't even been any sports scores to check, and so even my fantasy teams have been on a much-needed break. (I'll be watching some of the Chargers-Titans game tonight, but my woeful team didn't make the playoffs in my main fantasy football league.)

Anyway, enjoy the rest of the day.

Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays.

-- Michael

Paging Clarence Oddbody

By J. Thomas Duffy

Phil Leigh writes a great newsletter, and blog, 'Inside Digital Media', and, last week, he posted a piece, on being pro e-book, illustrating it with what has become a very popular holiday tale;



A Christmas Lesson for Publishers

One February night in 1938 Philip Van Doren Stern had a dream. The 38 year-old published historian also had a deep interest in fantasy and the macabre. As with most dreams his morning recollections were vague and conflicting. It had something to do with a man who had never been born, or wished he had never been born.

Stern decided to write down his recollections. A narrative began to take shape and with later revisions became a short story he titled The Greatest Gift. It was a simple celebration of things taken for granted.

Regrettably he failed to interest a publisher over the next four years. Consequently, toward the end of 1943 Stern printed two hundred copies at his expense and enclosed one in each Christmas card envelope. One recipient was a Hollywood agent who asked if she might show it to some studios. Surprisingly, RKO bought the film rights for $10,000 in the spring of 1944. By December, Good Housekeeping finally published the story.
Hollywood screenwriters set to work on the manuscript until the essence of Stern’s story shrank into the Third Act. Eventually it would pass through nine writers, including Dorothy Parker and Frank Capra after Capra purchased RKO’s rights for $50,000.

The movie was finally released in 1946 but fell modestly short of break-even on its first run. It rose to 26th place in 1947 box office receipts. Although nominated for five Oscars it failed to win any. Thereafter the rights passed through a series of owners ending-up at Viacom.

During the 1980s local TV stations began to run it during the Christmas season. They regarded it as opportune low cost programming for time slots not allocated to the network shows. In 1984 an aged Frank Capra commented that the rise in popularity “was the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen”. He felt like “the parent of the kid who grows up to be President – but it’s the kid who did the work. (He) didn’t think of (the child) that way.”

By 1998 the American Film Institute ranked It’s a Wonderful Life as the 11th best movie of all time and rated George Bailey as the 9th most popular hero.

Over on Zoetrope's All Story site, ''The Great Gift' in it's entirety;

Here's the intro;

Unable to find a publisher for "The Greatest Gift," Philip Van Doren Stern printed two hundred copies of the story and used them as Christmas cards in 1943. From this humble beginning, a classic was born. Van Doren Stern's story captivated Frank Capra, who said he "had been looking for [it] all [his] life." Capra's beloved adaptation, It's a Wonderful Life, starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore, was released in 1946, and while the film, which received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director, didn't take home an Oscar, it has secured its place in the American holiday tradition.

We highly recommended you sign-up for the daily email from 'Inside Digital Media'.

And, remember, as Clarence Oddbody inscribed in the book (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer) he left for George Bailey, that is solid, not just at Christmas, but all-year round;

"No man is a failure who has friends."



(Cross Posted at The Garlic)