Christmas in the Colonies during Early America

What you're gonna do brother, when Jeff Townsend Media runs wild on you. America Stories. All right, all right, all right, this is another episode of America Stories. I'm Jeff, their Luke and Jack. He has the C capitalized in his name. Yeah yeah, yeah. Every week, like I say, he thinks it's really cute to modify his name in different ways. So today it's that way anyways. So yeah, welcome to America Stories, the podcast where we cover American history in a light, fun hearted yet educational manner. And speaking of which, so we've been going along the timeline here. We talked about the df I the last couple of weeks, the Deck of the Deck of Indie Independence. I thought that sounded cool. But since the holiday season is approaching us and Luke is the ever loving Christmas he is not the a umbug. He loves Christmas, so he has done some research here we're going to talk about I guess really like Christmas history for it like a pretty lengthynt like going way back in American history. Correct, Yeah, this is going to be Christmas history from the founding colonies up until eighteen seventy. It's a true that there's there was purging then kind of. Actually, some of the old Christmas traditions are pretty weird, and I'm looking forward to going over this. They might classify something that could all be done during the annual purge, that's what you're saying. Yeah, it's almost it's almost that level. It's almost, say, I don't know, I don't know if it's quite that extreme. Yeah, that might be. That might be a little stretch. So you're going to kick us off here. We're going to go into some Christmas as it relates to American history. All right, So the first settlers in Jamestown, that first James, like Jamestown, Virginia. Oh, okay, jameson aa is not too far, I guess said, no, it's not. So in sixteen oh three, they were still having hard times getting set up with the new colony, but they still observed Christmas as a day of rest in Jamestown. So in sixteen oh three or all the way back then, it was still kind of celebrated. This was extremely different from what happened in Plymouth though. Plymouth, Massachusetts, when it was founded, was founded by the Puritans. And the Puritans are pure, yeah, very pure, and they're very pure. They're staunchly against anything that the Church of England was up to, and especially really Christmas. The Puritans hated Christmas, kind of a real like Grinch on top of the mountain type thing. It is, I can't have that. They decided that new arrivals to the Plymouth Colony that didn't come with them originally they would give the one year to get Christmas out of their system, but then the next year you had to fall in line with how does they want to beat Christmas out of their system? You're allowed to celebrate in your home that one year, you cannot do it outside and if they catch you outside playing any Christmas games or observing any traditions, you'll be fined. Is this like death or not death? Per se? But it was definitely a staunch fine. For the time we'll write you a letter, it will be very angry. I mean, yeah, I guess, I guess that is a good question. It is like like I wonder how many people like rebelled against it, or just like I don't I'm doing it anyways. Taking the fine so early on, like before a certain thing happens, it was technically you could probably get away with it, and you wouldn't be in too big of a trouble. But in the sixteen forties, the Church of England and the monarch was overthrown by the Puritans in England for a time. And when that happened, the Puritans flat out outlawed Christmas allotted in England and they outlawed it. Here. They're not violent people, I mean, how do you overthrow something? But they were words. They were violent enough. Yeah, they were just throwing amount of violence they were through the whole religion they were. They were violent enough to depose the Mark and their plan on cutting his head off. All right, people, maybe it was kind of like the Purge. Maybe that was damn Yeah, well it was. It was the Civil War in England. The Massachusetts government and the other New England colonies that were founded in those twenty or so years, they all outlawed Christmas. Now, the southern colonies of Virginia on downwards they did not. They didn't outlaw and they still maintained Christmas traditions that were from imported from Europe. Even all the way back then, the Germans would bring would do Christmas trees. They were the only ones though to do it for many many years, roughly two hundred years. Why were they against the Christmas tradition? What were the Christmas traditions has to have some deeper meaning, that's to get against, right. There were a lot of traditions that they felt were too pagan because the Christmas was co opted by the Roman Catholic Church in four hundred AD from the celebration of Saturnalia that they would celebrate in Rome by the Pagans. This was then taken over by the Christian Church then and so some paganry stuff has always been part of Christmas. And yeah, still today. The tree itself is a pagan symbol. Little pagan tree, little pagan tree that didn't hurt I mean a little tree didn't hurt nobody. So it just starts with the tree. Jack, It just starts with the tree. It starts with the tree. Okay, it's like a slippery slope. There were two major things that they disagreed with, and that was the traditions of watling and mummy. What mumming as in like the word mummy, but it's of a why it's I in g well, wotling. That goes back to what the the Druidic people would do in England. They would have their apple orchards and they would make hard ciders and they would get drunk on them, and they would sing songs to and treat the spirits to protect their orchards. They would go out and they would pour cider and beer all over the roots to ensure a good harvest next year. It's slowly merged with Christmas celebrations, and they would then go and sing through the town, getting drunk and getting into fights. That's like a more extreme version of karl. I guess yeah. The to properly was wastle, though you had to have a bowl of the drink was wastle. Now the words are the same, but they have two different meanings. Wastling the act means in good health. It's like toasting someone's good health. Wastling the wastle. The drink is a corruption of the word lamb's wool, because it was made from warm beer and apple sauce and toast, and it looked like the wool of a lamb laying on top of the drink, and you would drink that down. It doesn't sound doesn't sound very appetizing. I don't like that. I had a little layup with my Anyway, so whistling made its way over and to the English the colonies. And what does it mean when somebody has to be wastled? That's a that's a different story for a different times. Well, if you wastled somebody, you would go to their house. You would knock on the door and you would you know, start drinking and singing in front of their house, and they had to give you food and drink or else you would cause some sort of mischief. You could purge them close, you could wreck some uh, I want to talk to us about. Mumming is also like an even crazier form of that though. Okay, so mumming is like how we would look at trick or treating today. You would get dressed up, and the things people dressed up for were ghosts or demons. There was a horsehead demon in Welsh mythology that they would bring to your door a horse and act like an actual one. Well they use an actual horse skull, but it was like a demon that they created. I can't remember the name of that one right now. Oh. They also dressed up in opposite genders. This was a big thing then too. That was considered super taboo. So like the man who addresses women and women dresses men. And then they also demons and stuff. And then they would come up to your door and they would demand food and drink or else they would curse you. Or technically they said they would bless them if they gave it, but the implication was if you didn't give food and drink, you would be cursed by evil spirits. So this is like a game though, right, I mean, by by the sixteen hundred, it's definitely a game. But when it started out, it was definitely, you know, a belief, a religious belief for the Druids. Well, I'm wondering. I'm just thinking to myself, would I want like a roving band of drunk people whostling wostling every night? You know, I don't know, like dress dressed up. They're full full of adults. You know. It's not like raising hell? Right, yeah, raising hell and not exactly my picture of an ideal Christmas mone but I guess, but sounds like a lot of the stems from alcohol. I it' that's what they're trying to say. Yeah, alcohol was definitely a big part. Well it's still kind of a big part of Christmas, but it was more so then. So this was, you know, behind why the Puritans outlawed it, because it was still celebrated elsewhere, though it did continually morph a little bit over time, drinking and you know, basically ransacking the town in a caroling. That kind of went away a little bit and it became more about just having parties. In fact, Christmas was also celebrated, not for one day. It was twelve days of celebration starts on Christmas Day and it goes to January sixth, which is called twelfth Night. Wait, so twelve days of Christmas started on twenty fifth, Yes, it starts on the twenty fifth, not twelve days before, and then it continues on. The Puritans lost control of England after a short period of time, it was about twenty years, and then after that slowly in the colonies. They also released their restrictions on Christmas by sixteen eighty, but by that time a good generation of people in the New England territories didn't celebrate Christmas, so it didn't really catch on again there for many years. Let me let me ask you a million dollar questions for you to continue, Yeah, when did this not? When was this not about Jesus? And when did this start becoming about Jesus again, Yeah, because like we haven't got any of that so far. I mean, you're talking to me, you're still I mean, you're we're talking BC times here. Jesus was Actually that was actually a problem that the Puritans also had with it. They said that the English Church had moved away even more from Jesus than what they originally said they was about. They also said that they're nowhere in the Bible doesn't say when Jesus was born, so they were just like saying, this is their interpretation that it was. They just basically they knew that the Church of England and before them, the Roman Catholic Church, had co opted a holiday that they then declared as their own holiday, and so they're kind of pointing out the hypocrisy of that, is using a pagan holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and so they wanted to sort of shine a light on that. They're actually, in my opinion, they're wildly wrong in doing this though, because like, it doesn't matter if the outcome it works in your favor, right, if more people listen to your preaching and go to your masses, which what the Roman Catholics did. They did three masses on Christmas, and people showed up for those in any other time of year. I feel like, if you were getting people to listen to your religion, doesn't matter if the day is a little bit wonky, you know. I think their stance on that was a little bit of ridiculous. But you know, calling out the Puritans three hundred years ago, I can't really say much. Yeah, so it took. Like I said, sometime before, it was still popular in the South, but not popular in the Massachusetts area for a long time. Is it Massachusetts or is it what my grandma calls it Massachusetts? Well, they called that because of their Puritans. Oh okay, okay, sorry, go ahead. Slowly, as the everything morphed, though, in early seventeen hundreds, the traditions started to be a little bit closer to what we have now, still not quite. They started giving gifts in the early seventeen hundreds of the two children and servants. The gifts at the time was usually like either a small envelope of cash or a book such as the Bible, or if it's a young kid, get a horn book, which is like a like a paddle with a verse on it with sliver of horn laid over to keep it secure. An older child would get like a rifle. The rifle. So I mean, okay, so now we're getting into Christmas story, right, Ralfie and the be begun. Yeah, very much, but you know they're already well but okay, so I'm I'm a little confused about the horn book. Why was it a paddle? I mean, no, I don't know. As it was, it was a mixed message. Yeah, it is a big It was easier for a kid to hold on to, like a stick in their hand, and they just keep it with them and walk around with it when they're studying it during the day of to day. I always walk around when I study. Yeah. And because it was also cover, like the words were covered in that horn, uh and the rest was a solid wood they couldn't really bring and they couldn't Yeah, So it was so this is for like young kids. Yeah, this was for like four year olds, gotcha, they can't read. But the Quakers they were also really against Christmas early on too, and they controlled Philadelphia and those colonies. But Benjamin Franklin, you know, coming from Philadelphia and stuff like that, and in his he had an almanac he wrote, which is The Poor Richard's Almanac, seventeen thirty four. In the calendar section he put a little poem. It was between December twenty third and twenty ninth, if you would have guests, marry with cheer, be or so yourself, or at least appear. He was like saying, you know, if you're going to have a bunch of guests and they're having fun, try to have fun too. Another one he put in it later on is oh blessed season loved by saints and sinners for long devotions or longer dinners. He was really into the party in aspect of Christmas. Yeah, I was gonna say this is like it was trash Venor of Franklin. He was. He was. He was not so much concerned with the religious aspect anything. As long as there was a party to be had, he was. He was all about some party and some sex. It was a yeah. Christmas was still very much local holidays though you had your different enclaves of different European settlers celebrating their own versions of Christmas, and it was not a national holiday, partly because it wasn't a nation at the time. But even after we became a nation, they still didn't have a holiday for in seventeen eighty nine, actually, the Continental Congress had a day of work on December twenty fifth. They didn't even take day off. This was, you know, wildly different than this. Today. You know, we see Christmas is like this all encompassy thing, but back then it really wasn't. People celebrated it in parts of the country, but not everywhere. And it's partly because of the differences that people had with how they celebrated. The English traditions definitely didn't gibe with something the others. The French traditions are like a little more severe and talk about the punishments of like not observing it properly and being solemn. So like, you know, this was this was not a real holiday because of how different everyone felt about it. Controversial, it was. Yeah, I mean, all right, I hate, I hate to interrupt, but I gotta type out something because I'm still are you looking at a horn book? If you have a horn book? I'm still I'm still curious about the horn books because all right, all right, it's experiens exactly what you think it looks like exactly he described, Yeah, it's it yeah, you got it, as he pulls out one. I got a hornbook, right, I go no, if I have actually looked up and I'm like, I kind of want to make some horn books. I don't know, this seems like a fun project. Anyway. It wasn't until eighteen hundreds that things started to change with Christmas, you know, the advent of mostly being about kids having fun and the way that changed because like I said, seventeen hundred started giving gifts, that started giving gifts of kids, and then they they're like, you know, we have fun doing fun things for kids. And so the drunken revelries and mumming and all that kind of went out the purging. The purging kind of went out the window. And slowly but surely people started adopting other people's traditions. So like the Germanic traditions of mistletoe and holly and ivy and the tree started getting adopted by the boisterous you know English who wanted to have a party and invite people over. So now you had your your decorating your house to have a big feasts and and a gift giving is dramatic, actually is dramatic Actually a word Germanic. Yeah, like the like the Germanic countries, gotcha, I like it all right, role of that. But actually what's interesting is you were not given a gift on Christmas Day. You were actually giving a gift on New Year's Day. It had something to do with the fact that it was like celebrating the next year. You were giving a gift. So it was like midway through the twelve days of celebration you got a gift. Then the various different local holidays though still survived. You had, you know, still pockets of the country doing things one way and others doing it another way. It wasn't until the eighteen fifties when railroads became very popular that everyone mixed together. And it happened immediately. Christmas sort of geled in exactly the type of holiday we have now almost overnight within a year or two of different people traveling for the holidays and then you know, moving across country bringing their traditions. It just snapped into the place as a That's why Jack likes trained so much. Yes, why everybody those trains. Trainings brought the country together. I mean, I live by I live I get stopped going to work every day by train. So I'm my opinion of trains is not what it's like us. They do stuff us too a lot. At the end of eighteen fifties, though, we move into the Civil War that actually made Christmas even more popular. Christmas was already you know now like a like a solid holiday that was pretty codified by this mixing. But at this point the idea of peace being nice to people not have to deal with the dark alone and be able to talk to other people and not worry became infinitely more preferable to the grind of this war that's going on. So it helped make people happy to celebrate Christmas. So Christmas became a massive holiday during the war. People couldn't spend a ton of money then, that wasn't done then, but it was just a meeting people celebrating being nice, sending Christmas cards. That became a thing during this time, and the war, for all its horror, besides freeing slaves, also did the country of service in making Christmas like the backbone of the of the year. During the Civil War, there was a man named Henry Wats for Longfellow. He is a prolific writer in root poems. A lot of novels. They were mostly religious, and he kind of taught, like, you know, being a decent person was like his thing, and like all of his novels and poems. But he had a somewhat tragic life. In sixty one, his wife was burnt to death in a fire. He tried to savor, but in doing so he was scarred all over his face. So he grew a full beard and mustache to cover the scars. Ne were healed. He's about to tell us that's how Santa Claus started. It could very well be Henry la Unfortunately not so. Then his son joined a civil war in sixty one or sixty two, and he didn't tell that he was going to war. He sent a letter after he had left. His son was injured terribly. He survived, but he was forever like a mangled from the battle. Henry Longfellow fell into a deep depression. He was thinking of on it one day, and it happened to me Christmas Day, and he was nineteen sixty three or eighteen sixty three. Sorry, he heard the church in the town playing Christmas bells, and he was thinking himself, during all this going on in the country, they're still celebrating, and it occurred to him that this idea that celebrating this holiday will help it struck a chord with him, and he sat down. He wrote a poem, and it's one of the biggest poems at the time, and it became the rallying cry to make Christmas a national holiday. It's called the Bells on Christmas Day. It's a really good poem, kind of wall read through it real fast. Here I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old familiar carol's play, and mild and sweet, the words repeat of peace on Earth, goodwill to men. And it's not how as the day had come, the belfries of all Christendom had rolled along the unbroken song of peace on Earth, goodwill to men, till ringing singing on its way, the world revolved from night to day, a voice, a chime, a chance sublime, of peace on Earth, goodwill to men. Then from each a cursed mouth. The cannons thundered in the south, and with the sound the carols drowned of Peace on Earth, goodwill to men. It was as if some earthquake rent the heart zones of a continent and made forlorn the households born of peace on earth, goodwill to men. And in despair I bowed my head. There is no peace on earth, I said, for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, goodwill to men. Then peeled the bells more loud and deep. God is not dead, nor doth he sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail with peace on earth, goodwill to men. Amen. It's a prayer. Yeah, it kind of is. Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah. It was in eighteen seventy, after a few years after ward been over, that they finally made Christmas a national holiday. It's been like the very essence of every year since then. Everyone looks forward to it. You know, we may have our disagreements on how celebrated, whether or not it should be so lavish and commercialized as it is today, And that's hon say, a choice that people need to make themselves, Like do you go not spending millions of dollars or do you just simply have a fun time turkey and a few friends over and drink some gross wastle. Yeah, or you could have a person like they did back in the six Yeah, we'll bring back mommy and we'll purge you still haven't explained when Jesus comes into play. I guess they I guess there's did that even that guess never happened. It's all right, it goes back to the four hundred eight. Uh, I guess yeah. I guess it was just kind of like just kind of also Jesus. Also Jesus, you never once mentioned it. Oh gosh, I mean yeah, I guess it's actually because like all the particulars, they never really they never really tie it in. It's kind of it's just kind of like in the background the whole time. Well, it is a religious holiday, so it's it's implied to each his own. Yeah, yeah, what else you got, Luke? Oh that that's that's the end of my speel on the history of Christmas, if you have any questions. So I definitely probably clarify some stuff, except for when Jesus comes in. Okay, that's the one thing we can't quite pin down. So I guess my question is one of them. I have many. When did it? So? At what point do you think it became or do you think you just continued to evolve with the luxury of the gifts? I guess you could say, so, Yeah, that comes later. During the Roaring twenties nineteen twenty onwards, there was a big push by like marketing chains to our market supermarkets and stuff to get people to buy these new gifts that were coming in from Europe after your war, because you have people importing goods from Europe to help rebuild their economy, and so they're selling them hard here because we had the only economy that wasn't wrecked by the war. So we were, you know, being kind of sold on a a thing to be patriotic by buying this stuff. At the same time, it's like to help other nations, and it's kind of a gross I guess you could say, like, you know, it's we were pushed to buy this stuff to help someone else, So that kind of makes sense, I guess. But at the same time it kind of made Americans addicted to spending on commercial goods. Damn roar in twenties. I mean, it's less it's less happy than some of these other stories, but yeah, it's kind of it's it was kind of a marketing trick that's suppressing check with question do you have before I asked more, Yes, I have a question about the wastle. Okay, so we talked about how it looks like wool floating in a bowl, which you know that would make the im they say, why are we drinking this? But you said that they put toasters, Like are you saying they put like and by ten you mean yeah, So they there's two different things that they could put in. One was a slice of bread that was toasted would be at the bott of your cup and they pour that stuff on there and with the apple sauce and the beer. Wait, before we started out with the second base, why would they do that? That's actually really good question. The exact reason why I don't know, but it has something to do with the way it ate. A lot back then, you would dip your bread or you're eating into into beer and that was just kind of like just the accepted norm. So for them it wasn't super weird to do. And actually the the to say, you know, you're toasting someone comes from that game punch with a toast piece and that you give it to you like dip your toast in their drink. No, no, you would give them give them their toast. Oh okay, all right, yeah it makes more sense because you give them your toast. I would be I would be very toast drink the drink to get that toast away from a drink. The other thing that they would put in there a lot is a baked seed cake, a Carraway seed cakes. They would be made in what they're called wigs and they were kind of like a size of a modern day biscuit that they would cut into. They would put like a marking the quarret, and then they would bake that and you put that into your drink as well. That was another one. You could do a lot of pudding in drinks. Yeah, never never fly today. No, No, you can't tabor of drinks like that today. I can't just put But aren't you a little bit curious? Are you a little bit curious to how it tastes? Yeah, I mean I'm curious. It's kind of sounds disturbing, but yeah, there's always that intriguing factory to it, for sure. Yeah, I kind of want to drink it this week, and well what it'd be like a strawberry shortcake commas. Well that sounds good, but with beer, I guess, instead of strawberries and beer. I never thought about that wostling. So when did the I know I mean, I know it's always been in the winter, I get it, But when did it become so try to how to word it winterized? You said germanized. There's something earlier. I wasna Germanic. You're talking about like I'm gonna say winterized. When did it become so winter rized? Sleigh bells and the white PRIs all bells. The reason why they would, like, you know, jingle bells exist and stuff like that was it actually goes back to paganism again. I was a belief that during the dark months, the veil was thin and the spirits would walk the earth and keep you away. You would shake bills and make noise scare the demons away. Yeah, so that's where Yeah, okay, so that that that feels like that and save selves served a function of let you know that it's a sleigh coming down the road and so you don't step in front of it. So like combating like the demons with with bills and stuff like that. That See, that seems like something the Catholic Church or some served church would do. Uh, I'm not so sure about the dressing up as demons and singing. The Catholic Church actually still uses bells in mass they'll jingle them at specific points as like a a ward. Okay, all right then yeah, it just seems like and all that stuff that you said, you didn't talk about winter that much, and like today, it seems like heavily connected to winter. That's why I brought it up. So like the the you know, the evergreen stuff and all in the winter berriers like holly and ivy and uh, mistletoe, stuff like that. While that came from German influence on it because they were big about that there and it has to do it. They're druidic h of bringing in and like Norse mythology and stuff like that. Germanisms. Yeah, Germanism, Germans, Germans. I gotta look up this word now. He couldn't making up stuff all a long. We wouldn't know. I guess I started to think that about the toast, but but I guess if it's real, yeah wow, yeah, so and and I think I keep seeing a million dollar question is but you know, you didn't talk about Santa Claus. So you know, I didn't talk about Santa Claus because you don't believe in them. No, I did kind of gloss over like some of the other stuff that came in in like the mid eighteen hundreds, and Santa Claus became like a fixture then, you know, he was it was a patron Saint Nicholas, and you know there were stories how Saint Nicholas left wedding dowry for people in there in their homes, and so that's how I evolved, you know, Like so, like I said, they gave cash and envelopes as gifts early on. It's kind of the whole thing like that. And then Santa Claus became like the myth then of Saint Nicholas going out and giving gifts to people, and that's kind of how you bold. But it started mostly that was mostly European until like the eighteen fifties, and that actually that so it actually gives me the other question I've come from the other question. So speaking of speed of Santa Claus. So there's obviously we've we've all kind of sort of heard that there's multiple types of Santa Claus and different cultures, right, is uh, do those show up at early American Christmases or do we like we always like just Santa Claus. You know, we know that all these other cultures have other you like we've got Germanistic Santa Clausistic Santa Claus and or what was it, like the the Yule Lads. There's like fifteen of them or something like that. So it was like, no, Santa Claus is the only one work. They did all show up actually early on, like I said earlier, the French where they had like a very more severe and like reserved Christmas or any early days, and then they end up having their version of Santa Claus, which the name escapes here right now, but basically he would beat you at the Cat nine Tales if you misbehaved, my gosh. But yeah, it's also the German versions, like you said, the eu ole Ad and that's that's what he would say. So those things were all celebrate early on too, and that then once every day started melding together, Santa Claus became like the only one in the US. It was kind of curious, and I wonder if they're just like, you know what, this was like the easiest one to kind of like pass around, because like it pretty much was. It was like the most popular version because like the kids didn't like the ones that teach them lessons and beat them. Yeah, yeah, I mean understandably they get all their listens from the Hornbook. Yeah, they that's what the horn Book meant. So yeah, they the kids preferred the jolly elf of Santa Claus rather than the others. What would you say is the biggest and you know, you covered some of them, but what is the biggest Americanized Americanism, Americanized Christmas tradition that came out of all this? We talked about the trees coming from I don't remember which, what Germany? Yes, the Germanism trees, But what like was the most it was it the gift giving? Was it the like? Like? What was the most American thing to come out of and kind of morph into its own thing version of Christmas? Would you say that's a good question. Uh. I would have to say it would be the changing of certain drinks and things such as that, because like we mentioned that, you know, while Saul was either made with beer or cider. Well, in the United States, if you think of apple cider, it's usually a not alcoholic drink. They have hardsiders, like they specifically call it hardsiders. Well, in England it's just called cider when it's heartsider, So just apple juice yeah, so early on or not early on. Later on they switched out making alcoholic wascles with non alcoholic drinks here in the United States, so it was made with apple cider and other juices. What about eggnog? When does the eggnog coming to play? You know what's weird? I didn't look up agnolg eggnog. Well, I know what I know about egnog is that George Washington has a fantastic Well supposedly, we go off of what we think was the reality. But there is a recorded recipe for George Washington's eggnog, and I make it every year. Actually it's it's very boozy and it's fantastic. I was gonna say, interestingly to kind of contrasts the non alcoholic version of like Wassale and Insider. It seems that America has Are you ready for what? Wikipedia says? Okay, all right, let's go for it. Eggnog historically also known as milk punch or egg milk punch. While culinary historians debate its exact lineage, most agree eggnog originated from the mid evil British drink called It's spelt p O S S E T, which was made with hot milk and wine and ale and flavored spices. And also in the mid mid Middle Ages, it was used as cold and flu remedy. That's interesting where you see that because of a lot of the warmer because it's it's uh, because it can be served hot as well. Never had it hot those be used for like you know, like the hot Toddy friends. It would be like a cold and slid remedy and that would be also alcoholic. And it's also there's a similar drink to a Comma Jerry Tomah Jerry, yeah, and that's also served war Yeah. So I was just like, I just was just already bringing up to Tom and Jerry when you start, I knew year it's what you're going for there. So Tom and Jerry is also kind of uniquely American version of eggnog, and it came in in the holidays in the mid to late eighteen hundreds and it was served in the Midwest areas, so where it was a little bit colder. They would make this drink that was basically eggnogged, but with some different steps. You would take the eggs and you would beat them together with a stiffener like cream of tartar and you would make like a what they call it batter and have sugar in there, and then you would take a scoop of that batter put it into your cup, and then you would pour hot brandy into that and mix it up with or also hot water or milk as well, and you mix that all up and then you drink that milk water, same king. You can use either one for oak oatmeal. Yeah, it's pretty much what it was. You could do milk or water because it was where we had it. Wow. So the drinks, the feasting, I would say these aren't necessarily unique to America, but are definitely something that we've lashed on to considerave changed some like feasting and like England was almost exclusively goose, but here it's turkey and ham. Yeah you're not if you're eating goose. What do you know? I don't know the turkey population of England though, I can't speak to that. Yeah, I guess that's true. Is that just are the turkeys in other countries? Yeah, I mean I'm sure, but yeah, there's there's a Germanistic approach and turkeys. They are very like harsh turkeys. So I'll leave it off with a story about a turkey. Okay, so growing up says nothing to do with Christmas, but you might this might help it. This might give you a good laugh if you listening to this near Christmas. So growing up, my dad would we would go to this trading event like an hour away and at this flea it was like a flea market but outside it open and basically people would bring everything there and sell and trade it fruits, vegetable stands, guns, toys, hound dogs, hunting dogs, also anything literally. So one time and I had to go there like once a month. It was terrible as a kid. But one time we went and we brought our turkey and my dad want to get rid of this turkey because this turkey was a violent turkey. And he actually got this turkey at this place a couple months before. I don't know what he traded for the turkey. I can't remember, but you could get I'm serious, you'd trade stuff for you just trade. So we had this turkey at our house and it was meter the hell when you try to feed it. Now how one goes about feeding a turkey. It was terrible. You had to go under the coop because it was in a coop, which you can imagine irritated this turkey. But anyway, I wasn't allowed to feed the turkey because it tried to attack me once. Well, once my grandpa fed the turkey, he went into the coop to feed the turkey. And this is a true story, by the way, and that sounds ridiculous, but the turkey flew at him to attack him as much as one can fly in the coop, and he had to hit it with the bucket that he was using to feed it. And when it did that, it actually formed a big knot on its head. So my dad called the turkey not head. So we went back to the market to get rid of this market thing, to get rid of, to get rid of not head. And I think my dad trade did not head for like a small rifle that he was going to give me or something back. Then this is a true story. I can't believe I'm telling this to the world here. But uh So, after the exchange was made and the guy was holding the cage with the cage with the turkey was loaded the back of his truck and we had whatever we got, he said, is he how is he? My dad said, he's meaner than hell, but he's yours now I walked away. That's the story of Turkey and the Turkey. You're not head. I can't tell if you're screwed. No, no, believe I'll take this to uh Facebook is proof, you know. I'll copy you guys on it. Yeah. Anyway, I know your dad, so I'm sure he'll comment on it. Yeah, but no, my dad, this shouldn't surprise you too much. That that's why I was like, I believe this completely. So I have a different view on turkeys anyway. It's nothing to do with Christmas, but it's it's a good it's a good American story. Some would say it is, Oh it is still that's the nightmares about that flea market and be so damn hot, and I'd have to be there all day. It is literally like a big lot and they and you'd it's like a big grass lot in the country, middle of nowhere, nowhere, middle of nowhere, and you'd go and you'd set up stands there. Interesting anyway, So yeah, uh, you guys have anything else before I start to segue out of here. I don't think so we this episode will be the one that comes up closest to Christmas because we normally release on Monday. Christmas is on a Monday, so we'll release an episode the day after. So we'll go ahead and release this one two weeks before Christmas, just to give everybody the opportunity to listen to it and let the Christmas spirit develop, Let it, let it. What words could we use that? Look you you used here? Muzzle? Yeah? Oh, mummy, whatever the hell it was? Mummy, yeah, mummy. Yeah. So yeah, so, yeah, this is a little bit of a celebration of Christmas because it is Christmas, your guy's favorite holiday. Honestly, Yeah, yeah, I would say so. Yeah, it's not mad right up there with the Fort July and Christmas. Yeah. Yeah, maybe I'm just a old man anyway. So yeah, No, seriously though, yeah, we appreciate you listening to the podcast. This will be a little bit of a Christmas gift for you. Are our Christmas gift to you, the American Stories History version of Christmas. So this has been a fun episode. Well, I don't know what we'll bring after this. Maybe Luke will have some New Year's or crazy or we'll just get back to into the storyline. Who knows. Oh yeah, we'll find out that New Year's is secretly evil holiday too or something. Yeah, horses heads and raising hell and drinking and purging. By the way, that I did watch the show The Purge in the last week. There's a television show of it, and that's why there's been so many perdrafts, per instance. Yeah, not like some deeper meaning or anything. I literally just watched the show. We talked about it for a few us for the show. Yeah, before we have recorded. I gave the recap on season one and two, so don't don't. They'll take it to heart there anyways. So with that being said, we have a bunch of episodes you can listen to in the in the back catalog that are great. I'm going to pass it over to Jack to take us all the way home here. Yes, if you want to follow us on Twitter, we're America Stories, America's story pod and just because there's a character limit, yes, yes, and we've got our links on there as well, so if you want to follow there. But you can also email us at America Stories Pod at gmail dot com if you have a questions or just want to get in contact with us or have episode ideas or something like that. And you can also go to our website to watch all for episodes at Americastories dot U s. Wow, he's got better, has any Luke? Yeah, you definitely check out the button episode one we did just for this Ston's revenge. Yeah, it was open to all. He would connect with Christmas, but he's just too much of a humbug to connect. He didn't believe in Christmas terribly. He was a funny daddy. Well yeah, everybody listening, Merry Christmas, and we appreciate you supporting the show. So until next time, keep being you and keep being great. Got the kind of fix everybody knows ut around there for wed You like him and you do as well. People know the thank the d inside the best us. Take care on you all you so to some of us do this, wee can some of must do. Jeff Townsend Media said you good night. And the question is do I stay here? Will you be back? Are you going to come back? Will you be back? Are you coming back