From bacon Christmas trees, awkward Santa photos to St. Nick’s evil counterpart The Krampus, we’re bringing the true spirit of the holidays straight to you.
Atlantic City Weekly's Weekend Hot Tub Party is bringing you a special present: a holiday stocking stuffer extravaganza filled with a variety of joyous videos, creepy Santa pictures and unusual festive folklore.
Over the past few weeks we have already given you the top 10 best and worst holiday movies, the top 10 best and worst holiday songs, and now we want to "wrap up" this Christmas season with an extra merry hot tub party to warm this wintry weekend.
From bacon Christmas trees, awkward Santa photos to St. Nick’s evil counterpart The Krampus, we’re bringing the true spirit of the holidays straight to you.
Every weekend we'll be back with fresh content for you to share with your friends, from a sweet play-list we've put together or behind the scenes exclusive photos for your viewing pleasure, stories overheard in a bar, or the latest viral videos, you'll find it all here.
The moon is right and the spirits up, so hang the stocking, grab some milk and cookies, press the play button and indulge in this holiday weekend’s hot tub party.
Origins of Christmas Characters:
1.) Santa Claus: Kris Kringle, St. Nicholas, Father Christmas or just plain old Santa, this magical mythical character originates from various cultures such as the Dutch, German, Scandinavian and Icelandic. According to folklore, St. Nicholas saved a poor man’s three daughters from becoming prostitutes by humbly and secretly slipping three purses of gold into the man’s house, one for each daughter. Sometimes described as an older elf, this white haired bearded overweight and plump man with a round belly that shakes when he laughs like a bowlful of jelly is what children throughout America are told to believe is real. In December of 1823 a poem called “A Visit From St. Nicholas” was published in the Troy, New York, Sentinel. Better known today as “The Night Before Christmas” some modern ideas of Santa came after this was published.
2.) Mrs. Claus (Yolanda): Yes, she actually has a name. The wife of Santa Claus is first mentioned in Philadelphia based Christian missionary James Rees’ 1849 short story "A Christmas Legend.” The story describes a wearily traveled elderly couple that is carrying a heavy bundle and is given shelter in a home on Christmas Eve. In the morning, the kids in the house find an abundance of gifts and the mysterious couple is revealed not to be Santa and his wife but the family’s long-lost elder daughter and her husband in disguise. Nevertheless, this is where Mrs. Claus first appears as an existing character. Katharine Lee Bates 1889 poem “Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride” further popularized Mrs. Yolanda Claus.
3.) Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer originated from a child’s coloring book. In 1939 the Montgomery Ward retailer had been buying and giving away coloring books for Christmas. In 1939, the company decided it would create its own in order to save money and gave Robert L. May the assignment. It was then that May was inspired to create Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. He tried out the names “Rollo” and “Reginald” but settled on Rudolph and 2.4 million copies were distributed by Montgomery Ward in the first year of publication.
4.) Jack Frost is usually a member of Santa Claus' entourage. This spirit is a personification of crisp, cold, winter weather with roots in the Anglo-Saxon and Norse winter customs. According to Viking lore, he is known as “Jokul Frosti” which means icicle frost. Traditionally, Mr. Frost is thought to leave the frosty, fern-like crystal <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal> patterns on windows on cold mornings <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning> and nipping the extremities in cold weather. According to legend, he is friendly but if provoked, he kills his victims by smothering them in snow. If a Jack Frost remembers his nature has a demon, he will turn into Black Frost.
5.) Krampus: Santa has always had a monster lurking over his shoulder. According to legend, this mythical demonic creature accompanies Saint Nicholas during the Christmas season. His job is to warn and punish naughty children acting as the alternative to Santa’s joyous gift giving. If the Krampus stumbles upon a particularly bad child, it stuffs the child in his sack and carries the frightened kid away to his “lair” and eats the child for Christmas dinner. This beast has roots in Germanic folklore and is celebrated in Austria and other Alpine countries during the first week of December where participants will dress up as the monster and roam the streets, frightening kids with rusty chains and bells. You can even get holiday greeting cards called Krampuskarten that feature the Krampus. Happy Holidays, from Hell!
As a final treat, here are some Santas sure to scare away the visions of sugarplums dancing in your head. Happy Holidays, to one and all! See you next week!
There is no movie review this week because, frankly, the choices went from re-releases (Titanic 3D) to unappetizing sequels (American Reunion) to recycled ideas (Mirror Mirror). Go ahead and tell me it is my job to go see crap movies so I can tell my readers they are crap movies. Point taken.
In honor of the this week's Jazz at the Point festival in Somers Point, we go cool mode this week.
Tweet your slogan suggestions using the hashtag #ACslogans. We're looking for some fresh creativity and wit. You never know, we might choose to reward a favorite.
In honor of 2012, we're going back 20 years to 1992 and bringing you back a nostalgic comparison of pop culture to our present day.
Holiday songs are either dreaded or anticipated. We know there are some songs most people look forward to hearing and others that exist only to irritate and annoy.
This time around, we've assembled our top 10 lists of the best and worst that holiday-themed movies have to offer.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we're coming to you early with your regular dose of the coolest photos, music, videos, trivia, op-ed stories, contests, and anything else we think that you, our dear reader, might dig.
In relation to Occupy movement's two month anniversary...
With 11-11-11 and this week's Bombshell of a cover story in mind...
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