🎄🎶Your Hit Parade #8: I'm Sending a Letter to Santa Claus sung by Gracie Fields

Just when I thought I had pretty much covered all the popular Christmas music from WWII, I discover another song. Unfortunately, I couldn't find much about this song, since NYPL Performing Arts Library, my main source for musical information, is closed because of the pandemic, but I did find out a few interesting tidbits.

I'm Sending a Letter to Santa Claus was written by Spencer Williams and Lanny Rogers. Williams was an African American, who was born in New Orleans and known for his blues music. Williams suffered from wanderlust, and lived in Europe for a while. He was living in England when he wrote I'm Sending a Letter to Santa Claus with Lanny Rogers and according to Billboard, it was one of Spencer Williams' most popular songs. I couldn't find anything out about Lanny Rogers.

I'm Sending a Letter to Santa Claus was first sung by Gracie Fields in France at a troop concert in 1939 and became a big hit for her. In fact, the sheet music sold over 750,000 copies in the month before Christmas. It was also recorded by Vera Lynn in 1939, which you can listen to below. 

And here are the lyrics to I'm Sending a Letter to Santa Claus, in case you want to sing along:

I met a little fellow with a letter in his hand,

He asked me if I'd post it in the box for Fairyland.

I slipped it in the mailbox for that little curly head,

It seemed to make him happy very happy as he smiled and said

I'm sending a letter to Santa Claus.

My letter I hope he'll receive.

Oh, I wonder if he will please remember me

When he calls on Christmas Eve.

(refrain)

He'll get a lot of letter for playthings

From other girls and boys.

But I want my soldier daddy,

He's better than all the toys.

And so I'm sending my letter to Santa Claus

To bring daddy safely home to me. 

Merry Christmas! Wishing Everyone...

May We All Find Some Joy and Peace This Year

1942 Rockefeller Center - the Christmas Tree with no lights because of the war

Your Hit Parade #7: Someday at Christmas (two versions) sung by Stevie Wonder and Andra Day

Well, the Christmas season is upon us, the season of Peace on Earth, Goodwill towards Men, and I thought this would be the perfect song to get us started this year. It isn't a WWII song, but it is one of my favorites. Someday at Christmas was originally released in 1967  by Motown Records on Stevie Wonder's Christmas album by the same name. He was only 17 years old at the time. There was a lot of unrest in the country at that time and it that is reflected in the lyrics of this song - protests against the war in Vietnam and deteriorating race relations amid the fight for equality and civil rights. And even though the song ends on a bit of a pessimistic note, it was still listed as one of Billboards Best Bets for Christmas for the week of December 23, 1967. And sadly, almost 50 years later, it still rings true.

Someday at Christmas there'll be no wars
When we have learned what Christmas is for
When we have found what life's really worth
There'll be peace on earth

Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmastime

Someday at Christmas we'll see a Man
No hungry children, no empty hand
One happy morning people will share
Our world where people care

Someday at Christmas there'll be no tears
All men are equal and no men have fears
One shinning moment my heart ran away
From our world today

Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmastime

Someday at Christmas man will not fail
Hate will be gone love will prevail
Someday a new world that we can start
With hope in every heart

(Someday all our dreams will come to be)
(Someday in a world where men are free)
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmastime
Someday at Christmastime

Songwriters
BRYAN WELLS, RONALD MILLER, RONALD N. MILLER

In 2015, Stevie Wonder did an Apple commercial with Andra Day, singing a duet of Someday at Christmas while he records it on his Apple laptop. Later, they released it as a single on iTunes. This is the version I have on my iPod because I just love Andra Day's voice. And while I don't believe in promoting products for anyone, I have decided to include the full video of them singing together, mostly because there is nothing that indicates it was a TV ad.

Do you have a favorite?

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows ( a Flavia de Luce Mystery #4) by Alan Bradley

It's Christmastime and Flavia de Luce, 11, is anticipating the arrival and capture of Father Christmas, using a concoction whipped up in her fully equipped laboratory, her Sanctum Sanctorum, designed to hold him fast to the rooftop chimney till she can get there.   Once and for all the question of Father Christmas's existence will be answered for Flavia, and what older sisters Daffy (Daphne) and Feely (Ophelia) told her will either be right or wrong.

But before that can happen on Christmas eve, the ancestor home, Buckshaw, is going to be used as a movie set in order to make some money to keep Her Majesty's taxman at bay.  After the movie crew gets itself settled in at Buckshaw, the vicar, Rev. Richardson, asks the movie's leading lady, Phyllis Wyvern, if she would put on a performance with her leading man, Desmond Duncan, to raise money to help pay for roof repairs at St. Tankred's.  The plan is that they will do a scene from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Because the roof is already caving in, it is decided that the performance would be done at Buckshaw and, since there is already considerable snowing falling, the good folks of Bishop's Lacy will be brought in by sleigh and tractor.  

As the performance begins, the falling snow increases to blizzard proportions, and by the end of the performance, the snow has stranded  everyone at Buckshaw.   As everyone settles in for the night, sleeping on the floor scattered all around, upstairs Flavia decides to go have a midnight chat with Phyllis Wyvern.  Approaching her bedroom door, Flavia can hear a confusing slap-slap sound coming from the actress's bedroom.  Pushing the door open, she discovers a film projector going round and round and then she sees that Phyllis Wyvern is wearing the peasant blouse and skirt of one of her old movies - Dressed for Dying - and has been murdered, strangled with a piece of film from the movie and then tied in a big bow around her neck.

Naturally, Flavia manages to insinuate herself into the investigation once Inspector Hewit of the Hinley Constabulary is brought in,(and after doing her own initial investigations), yet this novel isn't about Flavia's sleuthing skills so much as it is about the de Luce family, past and present.  We are given more background information about the de Luce's, about Flavia's mother Harriet and how much her parents loved each other before Harriet's accidental death.  And, even sisters Daffy and Feely aren't as mean to Flavia as they normally are, especially when she almost becomes the victim of her own plan to discover the truth about Father Christmas.

Bradley has created a very Agatha Christie-like situation involving an isolated country house full of suspects that can't easily get away from the scene of the crime.  And there are suspects galore, but why would any of them want Phyllis Wyvern dead?  Flavia naturally discovers, Phyllis Wyvern has secrets, lots of them.  Some involve the war, some involve her family and others involve professional jealousies, and Flavia is determined to get to the bottom of them all.

I've loved the four Flavia de Luce mysteries I read so far, and, even though I haven't read them in order, it hasn't been a problem.  Bradley gives enough information in each book to inform without over doing it.  And I like that Bradley has included a Christmas book in his Flavia novels, it gives it a more rounded feeling.  This isn't one of the best Flavia book but it is a nice holiday mystery.

And I am anxiously awaiting Flavia #8 - Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd.

This book is recommended for readers age 14+
This book was purchased for my personal library

Home and Away: A World War II Christmas Story by Dean Hughes

It's Thanksgiving 1944 in Ogden, Utah, and for the Hayes family, it's a tough one.  Oldest son Glen is a paratrooper  somewhere in Holland, and Dennis, his 16 year old brother. can't wait to enlist as soon as he turns 17.  Meanwhile, Dennis is trying to keep peace at home,  His dad, who has a drinking problem, also has a quick temper and sometimes a very cruel mouth, aimed at Dennis and his mother.  Younger sisters Sharon and Linda are still too young to be the brunt of their dad's anger. though he doesn't pay much attention to them anyway.

Dennis has decided he would like to make Christmas a special one for his mom this year.  He's working extra hours at the Walgreen's to save money to buy her a new dress for church, her first in a very long time.  Dennis even manages to get his car mechanic dad to contribute $5.00.  Dennis is aware that his father favors his brother, because Glen accepts his dad for who he is, and the two of them go hunting and fishing together, whereas Dennis is somewhat ashamed of his father.  Besides that, his dad thinks Dennis is a momma's boy - meaning he's not half the man his brother is.

And it turns out that Dennis realizes he is somewhat ashamed of his dad.  When a wealthy girl in his class, Judy Kay, lets him know, she would like to go to the Christmas dance at school, Dennis allows himself to be talked into buying an expensive suit and shoes by his wealthy best friend Gordon.  He knows he has spent way too much, but can't stop himself.

In alternating chapters, the reader learns about Glen Hayes and his friend Dibbs have survived the Normandy landing  and now they are living in a cold, muddy trench in the rain in Holland.  Their Thanksgiving meal, a wet, splashy version of someones idea of a traditional Thanksgiving meal, only serves to make Glen want to be home and to discourage his brother from joining up.

On December 17, Glen and the other men of the 101st Airborne Division are loaded up on trucks and sent to Belgium as infantry reinforcements despite not being trained for that and not having enough ammunition, or winter clothing to protect against the bitter cold there.  By Christmas, there is snow to compound the discomfort of their new trench.

Back in Ogden, Dennis manages to purchase the dress he has his heart set on for his mom, thanks to a kind sales lady who gets it discounted for him.  Christmas is a success, the dress is a success, the younger girls love their presents.  But more importantly, Dennis and his dad finally have a difficult conversation about how they both feel towards each other.

Not long after Christmas day, a telegram arrives that Glen has been seriously wounded in action.  Will this be the thing that finally pulls the Hayes family together or pulls them completely apart?

Dean Hughes has written a lot of WWII books and I thought this one would be an interesting Christmas story.  Christmas had to be a tense time with family members away fighting in Europe and the Pacific.  Worry about them could easily lead to tensions within the home and it's understandable that suppressed feelings could bubble up to the surface.  And that is exactly what Hughes has depicted in Home and Away.  With the exception of father Henry Hayes, the rest of the Hayes family is very religious and rely on that to help them through these tough times.  I should say that some of what Hughes writes is LDS fiction, but there is not particular religion mentioned in Home and Away.

Home and Away is a novella, but I can't say I found it very satisfying.  Although Hughes did a great job depicting Dennis' dilemma about signing up to be a paratrooper like his brother, I never felt like he was a coward because he had reservations.  Still, I did feel  that there were events that didn't quite come to a satisfying conclusion and that bothered me.  There was all that talk about money for a new dress, but nothing was said when Dennis spent so much on a suit, shoes and the dance.  Sure it came out of his pocket, but would that stop his dad from commenting on the waste of money it was.  And the girl Dennis took to the dance, Judy Kay, was so gun-ho war but why?  And what happened to Glen's friend Dibbs?  Was he hurt? or killed?

Hughes has captured life during the war at home and abroad so well, so realistically, I wish he had written this as a novel instead of a novella.  I think it would have been so much more satisfying.  Still, I would recommend it to anyone interested in historical fiction and/or WWII fiction.

This book is recommended for readers age 15+
This was an EARC received from Edelweiss/Above the Treeline 

Merry Christmas 2014

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas,

Little Orphan Annie Christmas 1942

Peace on earth, and
Goodwill towards all people

The Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth

It's Christmas Eve, 1957, and a 20 year old pilot has just climbed into the cockpit of his Vampire jet fighter, taking off from an RAF air base in Germany to return to England and home in time for Christmas day.

But ten minutes after taking off, over the North Sea, the pilot runs into his first bit of trouble - the jet's compass is not longer working.  Before long, the jet suffers a complete electrical failure and the young pilot needs to call up every bit of emergency information he had received while still in training.

Before long, the pilot is completely lost in the fog over the North Sea and beginning to run out of fuel.   Bailing out isn't an option - the fighter jet just isn't made for that and it would most likely mean instant death.  Not far from the Norfolk coast, he decides to use a last resort technique - flying triangles in the hope that the odd behavior would be noticed and bring out a rescue plane that could bring the Vampire down safely.

The triangular pattern works, and suddenly, a pilot in an old World War II de Havilland Mosquito fighter with the initials JK on the side is signaling that he understands the problem and will shepherd the Vampire to safety.  Shepherding is when the rescue aircraft flies wing-tip to wing-tip with the disabled plane.

The Mosquito shepherds the Vampire slowly into the descent.  By now, the Vampire had pretty much run out of fuel.  Suddenly, "without warning, the shepherd pointed a single forefinger at me, then forward through the windscreen.  It meant, 'There you are, fly on and land.'"  At first, the pilot sees nothing.  Then, the blur of two parallel lines of lights become visible in the fog.  The pilot is able to safely land his Vampire.

After being rescued and brought back to RAF Station Minton, now just a supply depot run by the elderly WWII Flight Lieutenant Marks, things begin to get odd.  To begin with, Marks can't imagine how the young pilot found his way to the runway on this now preactically deserted base that had been a thriving hub of RAF pilots and planes during WWII.  And, the young pilot doesn't seem to be able to find anyone who knows anything about the pilot in the mosquito who had shepherded him to safety.  The whole story begins to become more and more sinister until the young pilot notices an old WWII picture in a room and recognizes the pilot in it standing by his Mosquito with the same JK initials.

But, who is the mysterious shepherd who brought a young pilot to safety on Christmas Eve 1957?

All through the novella, the young pilot provides himself with the rational explanations of how and why everything he experiences happens.  And most of the explanations are fine. That is, until he comes to the part about the shepherd, where all rational explanation fails, giving the story its surprise ending.

The Shepherd is a short, 144 page novella written in 1975 by Frederick Forsyth, author of novels like The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File.  It is said he wrote The Shepherd for Christmas as a present for his wife.

This tightly written illustrated story is perfect for Christmas Eve, with its message of hope.

Every year, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts a reading of The Shepherd by Alan Maitland on CBC Radio One.  Maitland passed away in 1999, but recordings of him reading The Shepherd are available, like this wonderful 32 minute reading.

This book is recommended for readers age 14+

This book was purchased for my personal library

This is my World War II book for my 2014 War Challenge with a Twist hosted by War Through the Genreations

Hit Parade #5: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

The not terribly Christmasy
original 1944 sheet music

On November 28, 1944, MGM released a movie starring Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor and Tom Drake, among others.  The movie, Meet Me in St. Louis, takes place in 1903, a year before the St. Louis World's Fair.  The Smith family has just learned that they will be moving from St. Louis to New York City.  Esther, 17 and played by Judy Garland, have fallen for the boy next door and is very unhappy about the move.  During Christmas, Tootie, her much younger sister played by Margaret O'Brien, is also upset about leaving family behind and is also afraid Santa won't be able to find her because of the move.  Esther sings "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" to try and comfort her sister as much as herself.

When the song was first written in 1944 by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine for the movie, some of the lyrics were very not quite as heartwarming as the ones that we are most familiar with now, so they were rewritten.  As you can see, there is quite a difference in meaning and sentiment:

Why the change?  Well, the world was still at war and, according to *Ace Collins, Judy Garland had spent a lot of time entertaining the troops during the past three years as well as visiting, talking and reading their fan mail.  She had a pretty good idea that a depressing song wasn't what was wanted or needed by these courageous soldiers and so, with support from the movie's director (and her future husband), Vincent Minnelli, she sent the song back to Martin and Blaine and asked for a rewrite.  The new version was certainly more hopeful than the original.

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"was released as a single in time for Christmas 1944, and Collins writes, when Judy Garland "sang in to soldiers at the Hollywood Canteen, there wasn't a dry eye in the place."

The song only spent one week on Billboard's charts in 1944.  With its message of hope for a future, it was extremely popular with troops, particularly those still serving overseas.  It seems that it wasn't until later that "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" became a big hit with the general public.

In 1957, Frank Sinatra recorded it for an album called A Jolly Christmas.  Thinking the line "Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow" wasn't very jolly, he asked Martin to revise that lyric and so it became "Hang a shining star upon the highest bough," which may the the lyric you are most familiar with, although both are still recorded by singers today.

Of the approximately 150 different versions that have been recorded since 1944, all by different recording artists, I think my favorites are the ones by Rosemary Clooney (1976) and Diana Krall (2001).  

Do you have a favorite version of this beloved Christmas song?

*Collins, Ace.  Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001.

Sunday Funnies # 13: Batman and Robin: Alfred Claus

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas

And from the first Christmas after the War:
Batman Christmas Sunday Comic Strips published December 16, 1945 and December 23, 1945:

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Your Hit Parade #2: I'll Be Home for Christmas

Because of copyright laws, music can't be included, but if you click this 

you can listen to the original song on YouTube

If White Christmas was sentimental chart topping holiday song of 1942, you might expect that I'll Be Home for Christmas would have filled that same slot when it came out in 1943.  After all, it was written specifically as a wartime Christmas song.  1943 was the third Christmas of the war for America, and the fifth for the other Allied and Axis countries.  By now, people were feeling the full impact of the war as more and more telegrams arrived at more and more front doors and blue stars on service flags* hanging in windows were changed to gold stars and that may have played a part in the songs popularity.

The lyrics to I'll Be Home for Christmas were written in 1942 by James "Kim" Gannon.  According to Ace Collins, Gannon was inspired by what he saw around him in Brooklyn:

The streets were decorated, trees were sold on corner lots, and Santas still rang their bells and smiled at children, but the war had cast a pall over the holiday.  It was hard to think of presents or peace on earth...To make it all worse, no one was completely sure that the United States and its allies could even win the war. (pg 92)

When he had finished, he brought the song to Walter Kent, who has already had success with his hit song "White Cliffs of Dover"and it was set to music.  Bing Crosby recorded I'll Be Home for Christmas on October 4, 1943 and it was released shortly after that.

Gannon would have seemed to have captured the desires of those on the home front as well as those on the front lines when he when penned the first 11 lines of I'll Be Home for Christmas but then came the melancholy reality in the last line: "But only in my dreams."  Yet, this seemingly perfect wartime Christmas song never was the hit that White Christmas became, despite Crosby's lilting baritone.  For the most part, it occupied third place on Billboard's charts, and doesn't seem to have made it way to The Hit Parade's top weekly countdown.

I'll Be Home for Christmas may not have been a Number 1 hit at home, but, at Christmas USO shows on both fronts, it was the most requested song by those stationed overseas during the war.  This isn't surprising - the lyrics read like a letter being written by a soldier to his family back home:

I'll be home for Christmas

You can plan on me

Please have snow and mistletoe

And presents on the tree.

Christmas Eve will find me

Where the lovelight gleams

I'll be home for Christmas

If only in my dreams.

After the war, I'll Be Home for Christmas was heard much anymore, not until 1965.  Since then, though it still lags behind White Christmas in overall popularity, it has continued to be recorded by various artists.

The copyright for I'll Be Home for Christmas was granted to Gannon and Kent, but if you look closely at the original sheet music, you can see a third name - Buck Ram.  There was some controversy over the original song's ownership and if you are interested, you can find it nicely explained over at Steyn Online.

*A service flag with one or more blue stars meant that someone in that household was serving in the Armed Forces.
A service flag with one or more gold stars meant that someone in that household had been killed in action.

Collins, Ace.  Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001.

Izzy: The Christmas That Almost Wasn't by Budge Wilson

It is 1941, Canada has already been at war with Germany for two years.  In the small village of Granite Cove, Nova Scotia,  it is freezing, but today, 11 year old Isabel Piblicover, or Izzy as she is known, doesn't care.  She and her younger brother Joey are going into Halifax with their father and who knows, maybe they will be able to have a milkshake or see a movie - both such rare treats now that the war is on.  In fact, Izzie has only had one milkshake in her entire life and Joey has had none.

But Halifax proves to be a disappointment - it is crowded with people serving in the Armed Services and they always get special treatment.  The street cars, the luncheonette, the movie theater were full of men in uniform, which means no milkshake, no movie.  Still, Izzy and Joey groused about their disappointment for days, angering their dad, who had wanted to serve his country in the navy, but he had been turned down because of his age.  Nevertheless, the grousing continued.

By now, it is only a few weeks till Christmas, and to give Izzy and Joey something to take they thoughts off their disappointment and give them something to look forward to, their parents decide to let them plan the Christmas party.  How wonderful!  Izzy's grandparents are coming and so are her best friend's relatives and they will all celebrate together - a rare event with the war on.

So Izzy, Joey, and best friend Jasper set about planning the best Christmas party ever, even if they do always have to watch Jasper's little sister while they work, or find warm places to make decorations without parents around.  Slowly but surely, using imagination and innovation, it all comes together.  But so do warnings of a terrible snowstorm - predicted to be worse than any in years and years.

Izzy refuses to let that spoil things for them, but when snowflakes start falling, she begins to get worried. With good cause -  in the end, the village is covered with snow, with high drifts everywhere.  And none of the guests can make it to the party.  Is Izzy's party ruined?  It looks that way until a small boat with three sailors is spotted coming towards shore.

Can Christmas be saved?

The Christmas That Almost Wasn't is part of the Our Canadian Girl series.  It is similar to the Dear America or American Girl series; they are fictional stories about girls, and are set in different parts of Canada at different time periods.

This is the first of four books about Izzy.  It is historically accurate and quite interesting.  Budge Wilson describes the sacrifices and the make-do spirit that helped to keep people going, though I can't say my mother would have been OK when she discovered that I had dyed two good white sheets red without asking permission, as Izzy does to make tablecloths large enough to cover the tables.

Realistic details, however, always make a book interesting and The Christmas That Almost Wasn't gives us a good look at life in Canada.  I think Americans sometimes forget that Canada entered WW2 in 1939, along with England because it was part of the British Empire.  Living in a small village, Izzy experiences rationing and other wartime privations and restrictions.  She is always aware that friends have lost loved ones and others are off still fighting.  But she wouldn't have experiences the crowds of service people that she saw in Halifax.  And, like many people living along coastlines, Izzy was aware of the possibility of an invasion by the Germans, and was one of the many children who scoured the sea looking for the periscopes of Nazi submarines peeking out of the ocean.  These details of home front life in coastal Canada are what makes the book so interesting and different.

I did have a problem with Izzy and Joey being allowed to plan the Christmas party to stop their grumbling about the trip to Halifax.  It felt too much like bad behavior being rewarded.   But in all fairness, kindness and hospitality also prove to be Izzy's most valuable assets.  I did think overall that The Christmas That Almost Wasn't was a well-written, engaging book for young readers, Canadian and otherwise and a nice addition of books about Christmas on the home front.

This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was purchased for my personal library

To learn more about Izzy and her life, visit her home page HERE

Your Hit Parade #1: White Christmas

Because of copyright laws, music can't be included, but if you click this 
you can listen to the original song on YouTube

Back on April 20, 1935, a radio program called Your Hit Parade debuted on Saturday nights.  Each week, the program would play the 15 most popular songs of that week, performed by live artists, though not the person who originally recorded the songs.  Regardless, it didn't take long before Your Hit Parade was itself a hit.

It shouldn't be surprising that during WWII, Your Hit Parade was an very important part of life, not only on the home front, but it was also head overseas and on the front lines thanks to Armed Forces Radio Service.  

In Britain, the BBC was also broadcast popular music to their forces fighting in Europe and to the war-torn home front.  Even the Germans recognized the morale building value of shared music and broadcast their own version of The Hit Parade in a weekly program called the Wunschkonzert für die Wehrmacht, also heard at home and on the front lines.

One of the most popular songs of the war was actually one that wasn't really considered really great by the composer, Irving Berlin, and the original singer, Bing Crosby.  White Christmas was originally just another song on a movie sound track, written sometime between 1940-1941, and it was supposed to be  ironic.  It was first introduced on the radio on Christmas Eve 1941 by Bing Crosby and later released on July 30, 1942.  At first, White Christmas didn't go anywhere, but by October 1942, thanks to radio plugs, it went to first place on The Hit Parade's weekly countdown and stayed there for 10 weeks, and was in first place on Billboard's charts for 11 weeks.

White Christmas on Billboard's charts October 1942 and December 1942
(click to enlarge) 

White Christmas is a simple song, but despite the opening words, it became a very popular war song because it appealed to people emotions with it melancholy nostalgia for the ideal long ago Christmas that, in reality, most people never experienced.   The opening lines, which make fun of Hollywood, are sometimes still recorded but not often.  In fact, Berlin had these cut from all sheet music after seeing how popular the song became in 1942:  

The sun is shining.

The grass is green.

The orange and palm trees sway.

There's never been such a day

In Beverly Hill, L.A.

But it's December the twenty-fourth,

And I'm longing to be up north.

In 1943, White Christmas won the Academy Award for Best Song.  The movie it was written for, Holiday Inn, was not about the war at all,  but when it was remade in 1954 and called, not surprisingly, White Christmas, it was about two former Army buddies trying to help out their former General with his so-far-not-too-successful Vermont hotel.  I have to admit, I like White Christmas more than Holiday Inn, but I think that has more to do with Rosemary Clooney being in it than anything else.  Although, I do like Fred Astaire's tap dancing in Holiday Inn.

Because the original recording of White Christmas was damaged, the Bing Crosby version that is most often heard now is a 1947 recording.  To date, it has sold over 50 million copies and, according to Wikipedia, there are more than 500 different recorded versions of it.

Original 1942 White Christmas sheet music,
complete with Buy War Bonds stamp

Your Hit Parade remained a popular radio show all through the 1940 and on July 10, 1950 became a weekly television show using the same countdown format.  

Movie Matinee #2: Christmas in Connecticut

Year after year, television offers up a variety of Christmas movies.  There are perennial favorites like It's a Wonderful Life with James Stewart and Donna Reed, A Christmas Story, A Christmas Carol, and, of course, Home Alone, just to name a few. These are all fine movies, but my very favorite is an old 1945 black and while film I discovered on television when I was about 12 or 13.  

It is called Christmas in Connecticut and is a wonderful, zany romantic comedy.  It stars Barbara Stanwyck as Elizabeth Lane, who writes articles of a woman's magazine, Smart Housekeeping, about life on her Connecticut farm with her husband and baby and includes decorating ideas and menus with recipes for the wonderful meals she prepares for them.  In truth, Elizabeth is a single woman living in a Manhattan apartment and couldn't boil water or diaper a baby if her life depended on it.

The love interest is Dennis Morgan who plays Jefferson Jones, a Navy man whose ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat and who spends 18 days in a life raft eating K-rations and dreaming about food and then six weeks in hospital eating mush.

Feeling sorry for Jefferson because he claims he never had a proper home and having finagled an engagement to him, his nurse Mary writes to Alexander Yardley, the owner of Smart Housekeeping, asking if Jefferson could spend the holidays at the Lane farms to experience a real home.  Yardley thinks it's a splendid idea, and that it would even be fun for him to join the festivities.

Luckily, Elizabeth has a friend, John Sloan, with a farm in Connecticut who just happens to want to marry her.  Elizabeth, thinking she will be fired when Yardley finds out the truth about who she is, agrees to marry Sloan in exchange for entertaining Jefferson and Yardley for the holidays.  Elizabeth, Sloan and Felix, the restaurant owner who provides her with the excellent recipes for the articles, all head to the farm.  Conveniently, Sloan's housekeeper watches a baby for a woman working in the nearby munitions factory.

But before the Justice of the Peace can marry Sloan and Elizabeth, Jefferson Jones shows up.  Now here is the sticky part - it is love at first sight, Jefferson and Elizabeth are totally smitten with each other.  Nut, he believes Elizabeth is a married woman, and Elizabeth believes he is engaged to be married.

From this point on, it is a series of close calls with the judge, changing babies (turns out the housekeeper watches two different babies - a boy and a girl), domestic close calls (the best is when  Elizabeth is asked to flip the breakfast flapjacks the way she describes in her articles and it is clear she doesn't know how), shameless flirting and lots of innuendo.

Does love win out?  Well, it's a romantic comedy, so you probably can guess the answer to that.  But, really, the best part of this movies is the journey.

Barbara Stanwyck was really a great comedic actress, but this wasn't showcased enough in her film career.  Certainly, she was as good as Katherine Hepburn, though in a different way.  This was the movie that made her one of my favorite actresses.  And Dennis Morgan wasn't too bad as the love interest, he is mighty good-looking and has a beautiful tenor voice.

As for the war - well, there is the footage of Jefferson's ship being torpedoed and of him and his friend on the life raft.  And Felix, whom Elizabeth introduces as her uncle, actually fled Hungary because of the Nazis.  Interestingly, although there are many mentions of the war, including a dance to sell war bonds,  there is no such thing as rationing, or shortages of any kind.  Ironically, though the film was made during the last year of the war, it was released in theaters three days before J-J day.  People loved it.

Elizabeth Lane is often compared to Martha Stewart, but forget that comparison.  Elizabeth is totally domestically challenged.  However, Elizabeth's magazine feature was modeled on Gladys Taber, who did live on a Connecticut farm, Stillmeadow Farm, and who did write a similar feature in Ladies Home Journal called Diary of Domesticity.  And according to Gladys's granddaughter, copies of Ladies Home Journal were often included in care packages to soldiers.  You can find more about this over at Hooked on Houses along with some wonderful movie screenshots.

And you can find more on Gladys Taber if head over to Letters from a Hill Farm.  Nan has written about Gladys a number of times.

If you are looking for a nice, relaxing holiday movie amid all the hustle and bustle of shopping, wrapping, decorating, cooking, baking and the million other things need to get done, get a copy of Christmas in Connecticut, sit back and have a chuckle or two.

This is the trailer that was shown in movie theaters in 1945.  Enjoy!

P.S. There is a 1992 updated remake of Christmas in Connecticut with Dyan Cannon and Kris Kristofferson and directed by Arnold Scharzenegger.  I avoid it.

Molly's Surprise: a Christmas Story by Valerie Tripp

Original Version

 Back on 2010, I listed Molly's Surprise along with some other Christmas books that are set during World War II, so I thought I would give it a proper review this year.  As you probably already know, the Molly in the title is Molly McIntire, a 9 year old girl living in the Midwest in 1944.

In Molly's Surprise, the holiday's are approaching, it appears it will be a real austerity Christmas for the McIntires, along with the rest of the country.  There will be no real treats because sugar and butter are rationed, no real toys because all metals and paper are going towards the war effort and no Dad, because he is an army doctor and stationed somewhere in England taking care of wounded soldiers.

Molly doesn't mind that their gifts will be practical, she just wants surprises because that is what the McIntires are known for - lots of Christmas surprises.  And she is absolutely sure her Dad will be sending them surprise presents from England.  She just knows he wouldn't let Christmas go by without any of his wonderful surprises.  But then, the always practical Jill, Molly's older sister, reminds her: "This Christmas is different...This is wartime.  There just won't be any wonderful surprises this year.  We have to be realistic." (pg 7)

But soon, there is one surprise and it isn't good. Her grandparents, who were supposed to bring a Christmas tree from their farm, have to cancel their plans.  Their car has a flat tire and rubber has gone the way of everything else for the war effort and they have to wait to get it repaired.

No dad, no grandparents, no tree, no presents - this was not shaping up to be a very Merry Christmas for Molly.

But then more surprises start to happen and they are good.  First,  Jill announces that she is willing to use her babysitting money to buy a tree.  So, Molly and brother Rickey both contribute what they have and the girls go off to find a nice Christmas tree.

Next surprise is a beautiful blanket of snow just in time for a perfect white Christmas.  And in that snow is a third surprise.  One that Molly and Jill decide to hide until Christmas morning.

Is is possible that in the season of perpetual hope the third surprise could be presents from Dad?  Well, maybe and maybe more than just that.

New Addition

Molly's Surprise is the second book in the American Girl series of books about Molly.  It is a historically correct, historically interesting story.  It demonstrates the sacrifices, the forgoing of so many things for the sake of the war effort.  Presents and sweets are much easier to give up, but not having a parent home during the holidays is hard for Molly, like it was for most kids who had a parent in the Armed Services in World War II and just as it is for those kids who have a deployed parent today.  Molly misses her Dad all the time, but especially at Christmas.

I've always liked the books about the historical figures that are part of the American Girl brand.  They do so much towards introducing girls to what it was like to be a girl at a pivotal time in history.  The stories are accurate, detailed and interesting enough to hold girls attention and make them want to find out more.  Aside from the six books in the Molly series, my Kiddo also read Molly mysteries, and a few other nice short stories that were produced, not just about Molly, but about the other historical dolls as well.  The good news is that they are still easy and affordable to find or to simply borrow from the library.

And to insure a high quality to the books, they are all written by excellent authors that you probably already know.  In the case of the Molly books, the author is Valerie Tripp.

Oh, and the books make nice stocking stuffers.  I know Santa stuffed an American Girl book more than once in my Kiddo's stocking.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was purchased for my Kiddos personal library.

Some Holiday Books

Last year, I did separate roundups of holiday books for kids for both Hanukkah and Christmas because these holidays were so far apart. This year they overlap, so I have done them in one roundup.  Be sure to take a look at last year's books as well as this years. 

Hanukkah:

The Christmas Menorahs; How a Town Fought Hate

Janice Cohn, DSW, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth

Albert Whitman

1995

40 Pages

From the author’s website:

“It’s Hanukkah, and menorahs glow in the windows of the Schnitzer home in Billings, Montana.  Then suddenly, a rock crashes through the window of Isaac Schnitzer’s bedroom.  ‘But, why?’ Isaac wants to know. ‘Because we are Jews,’ his father tells him.

Christmas lights shine in the Hanley home, where Isaac’s friend Teresa and her family decide to do something brave so that the Schnitzers can celebrate their holiday without fear.”

This is based on a true story, telling how two children, two families and a whole community come together to stand against hatred and bigotry.  This isn’t really a WW II story, but refers to the story about King Christian of Denmark wearing a Yellow Star after the Nazi occupation of his country.  I think this is an excellent, sensitive story for young readers about standing up for your beliefs.  The oils illustrations by Bill Farnsworth, on of my favorites, are wonderful.

One Candle

Eve Bunting, illustrated by K. Wendy Popp

Joanna Cotler Books

2002

32 Pages

From the publisher:

“For one family the traditional Hanukkah celebration has a deeper meaning. Amidst the food and the festivities, Grandma and Great-Aunt Rose begin their story- the one they tell each year. They pass on to each generation a tale of perseverance during the darkest hours of the Holocaust, and the strength it took to continue to honor Hanukkah in the only way they could.”  One Candle is a wonderful story about the power of faith and ingenuity under the worst of circumstances, but just keep a box of Kleenex nearby.  The pastel illustrations help enhance this story.

The Hanukkah Ghosts

Malka Penn

Avon Books

1997

80 Pages

From the publisher:

“When Susan visits her aunt's house on the English moors, she encounters some mysterious people. But even stranger, she comes across a barn full of horses--when her Aunt said there hadn't been horses on the grounds in years--and a young girl who says she lived in the house during World War II to escape Hitler's armies. The mysteries may be connected to the Hanukkah candles she and her aunt light each night, and Susan soon learns the truth about Hanukkah--a time of miracles.”

The ambiance of her aunt’s old isolated English estate is an ideal setting for a time-slip ghost story in which a young secular Jewish girl becomes aware of her Jewish identity.  I found it to be a compelling and suspenseful novel.

Christmas:

Franklin and Winston: a Christmas that Changed the World

Douglas Wood, illustrated by Barry Moser

Candlewick

2010

40 Pages

From the publisher:

“At the height of World War II, only a few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill began an extraordinary visit, during which they made plans that would lead to the success of the Allied powers as well as to a continuing peace after the war ended. Moving from witty banter to gravely serious discussions-- amid a traditional public celebration of the Christmas holiday-- the two cemented a unique bond as they decided how to confront a menace that threatened all of civilization. ”

This was an excellent telling of an important part of the history of WW II, but what really knocked my socks off were the incredible watercolor illustrations by Barry Moser. 

Other Bells for Us to Ring

Robert Cormier

Random House Children’s Books

1990

160 Pages

From the publisher:

“Eleven-year-old Darcy hasn't lived in any one place long enough to have a best friend--until her family settles in Frenchtown and she meets Kathleen Mary O'Hara. Darcy is spellbound by Kathleen Mary's vivid tales of Catholicism. She shows Darcy a world beyond Frenchtown: a world of daring games and secrets, of sins and miracles. With Darcy's father off fighting the war somewhere in Europe, Kathleen Mary couldn't have come into her life at a better time.
Then, just as suddenly as they appeared, Kathleen Mary and her family disappear. While Darcy waits to hear from her, she learns that her father is missing in action. Christmas is coming, and Darcy is unsure about the power of God's love. Will the miracle she hopes for really happen?”

I usually like Robert Cormier, but I had a lot of trouble with this book because it seemed to favor one religion over another, which seemed like the wrong thing to do under any circumstances, but especially in a WW II book. 

The Haunting of Stratton Falls

Brenda Seabrooke

Dutton Children’s Books

2000

151 Pages

From the publisher:

“Life is hard enough for Abby without a ghost. Her father, a soldier, is missing in action, and she and her mother have had to move in with relatives in rural New York State, far from her Florida home. Her cousin Chad and his friends seem to hate her, too. Then she sees the ghost of Felicia Stratton, a girl her own age who died many years before, waiting for her own father to come home from war. Is her appearance a warning? Abby must discover the ghost's secret before it's too late; and she'll need Chad's help.”

I always enjoy a good ghost story, and this one was ok, but I thought it was a little far-fetched.  What I really liked was the descriptions of life on the home front, which I found to be accurate and age appropriate for the readers of this novel.

Great Joy

Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline

Candlewick

2010

32 Pages

From the publisher:

“It is just before Christmas when an organ grinder and monkey appear on the street outside Frances’s apartment. When it’s quiet she can hear their music, and when she looks out her window at midnight, she sees them sleeping outside. Finally the day of the Christmas pageant arrives, but when it’s Frances’s turn to speak, all she can think about is the organ grinder’s sad eyes — until a door opens just in time, and she finds the perfect words to share.”

This is not an out and out WW II story, but there are hints in the illustrations – the hairstyles, the clothing, the picture of a serviceman on a table, red, white and blue bunting around a storefront.  It is a sweet story and brought back memories of all those years I also played the angel in the Christmas pageant. Once again, it is a story that is enhanced by the excellent illustrations done by Bagram Ibatoulline.

 I love the messages of Christmas and Hanukkah and I feel that stories set in World War II make their messages all the more important and poignant.  

Take a look at what other people are rounding up for the holidays at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns

Book Blogger Holiday Swap

I would like to thank Michelle at The True Book Addict for the wonderful Book Blogger Holiday Swap gift. As you can see below, the package arrived just in time to go under the tree for Christmas morning.  Michelle sent a lovely 2011 wall calendar, which I desperately needed.  Each month has a picture from a classic children’s book such as Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan.  Also enclosed were two medieval mysteries by P. C. Doherty that I have not read. Medieval mysteries are one of my favorite guilty pleasures, so I will be a happy reader - especially if the predicted blizzard really happens.
Thank you again, Michelle and I hope you have a very Happy New Year!

Some Holiday Books – Christmas

Christmas is almost here.  It is a season of hope, joy and miracles.  It is also the season of peace on earth, good will towards all men and that is my personal Christmas wish for all the world.

The Farolitos of Christmas: a New Mexico Christmas Story by Rudolfo A. Anaya, illustrated by Edward Gonzales. The story of a young New Mexican girl named Luz during World War II. Her father had been wounded a month before Christmas and is in a hospital. Her grandfather makes a promise to Santo Niño to light farolitos, or small lanterns, on Christmas Eve in exchange for the safe return of his son. But he is so ill and weak he cannot even chop the wood needed to make base for the candle lights that for the farolito, or small lantern.  A promise made to Santo Niño must be carried out only by the person who makes it.  Worried about both her father and grandfather, Luz finally figures out a new way to make the farolito that her grandfather can do without wood and it remains to be seen if Santo Niño honors his part of the promise.  This is wonderful book about an old Southwestern tradition and includes a glossary of Spanish used in the book.  Recommended for ages 5-9.

One Splendid Tree by Marilyn Helmer, illustrated by Dianne Eastman. This is the story of Hattie, her younger brother Junior and their mother as they try to adjust to living in an small apartment in the city during World War II. Their father is fighting in the army and their mother has taken a job in a factory to help support the family. With Christmas coming, there is no money or space for a tree and it just doesn't feel like Christmas.  One day, Junior finds an abandoned large potted fernlike plant in the hallway and thinks it will make an ideal makeshift Christmas tree.  At first, Hattie is against it, but remembers her dad saying Christmas is a time when magical things can happen.  She changes her mind and they enthusiastly decorate the tree with homemake decoration leaving it in the hallway so everyone in the building can enjoy it. This is the season of peace on earth, good will towards all mankind. Can their tree create that kind of feeling in a building where everyone goes about his/her own business and don’t bother with their neighbors?  Recommended for ages 4-8.

In the Dark Streets Shineth: a 1941 Christmas Eve Story by David McCullough. This is a rather odd, but nevertheless interesting book about what feels like totally unrelated things.  In late December 1941, Winston Churchill traveled to Washington DC to speak with President Roosevelt about the war.  It was less that a month since the US declared was against the Japan and her allies, Germany and Italy. While here he heard the hymn O Little Town of Bethlehem for the first time.  McCullough then gives the history of that hymn and also of the song I’ll be Home for Christmas, written especially for the war and at the time, the most popular Christmas song besides White Christmas. McCullough attempts to tie them to Churchill’s visit. There are photos of ordinary people and the Roosevelts celebrating Christmas, along with photos of Churchill's visit.  At the end of the book is a transcript of Roosevelt's and Churchill's Christmas Eve address to both nation.  It is a newly published very nice non-fiction book by a well known historian.  Recommended for readers aged 10 and up.

Captain’s Command by Anna Myers. The story of 12 year old Gail Harmon living in Stonewall, Oklahoma.  Before her father had left for the war, he had given Gail a golden retriever puppy, which she named Captain and told her to look after her Uncle Ned.  Uncle Ned had been blinded early in the war, and has been bitter and depressed ever snce. The family receives news that her father had been shot down over France and is now considered missing in action, but her mother who refuses to believe the worst has happened to her husband.  Each chapter begins with a bit about two airmen, shot down over France, one very badly wounded.  On Christmas they receive a letter from one of the airmen telling them how he and Gail's father had been hidden by some French farmer and that her father had died in their barn and was now buried there.  This new causes Uncle Ned become even more despairing and he decided to run away. Now it is up to Gail and Captain to find and help him. This is a story about family, kindness and sacrifice, and a Jewish Santa named Mr. Weise.  Recommended for readers ages 9-12.

Christmas Sonata by Gary Paulson, illustrated by Leslie Bowman. Paulson grew up during World War II and there is supposedly an autobiographical basis for this novel.  It is the story of a 6 year old boy whose father is away, fighting in Europe and whose mother has had to take a job in a laundry to help support the two of them. Christmas is coming and the boy still fervently believes in Santa until one day when he sees his mean, nasty neighbor dressed as Santa and drinking wine.  His belief in Santa and the magic of Christmas are destroyed by this.  Shortly afterwards, he and his mother travel to visit his cousin Matthew, Uncle Ben and Aunt Marilyn in Minnesota. Matthew, who is bedridden and dying, has also lost his belief in Santa and it will probably be his last Christmas.  But when Uncle Ben hears the boys talking, he decides to do something. Can he pull of a real Christmas miracle?  Recommended for ages 9-12.

Molly’s Surprise, a Christmas Story by Valerie Tripp. Part to the American Girls collection, this is the third story about Molly McIntire. It is almost Christmas, but Molly's father, Dr. McIntire, is away, working in a hospital in England and she is missing him very much.   Her grandparents are supposed to visit and bring a Christmas tree with them, but call to cancel the trip.  Their car has a flat tire and they can't get a new one because of the rubber shortage and there is no one who can fix it until after the holidays.  It looks to be a sad Christmas for the McIntire household until Molly and her sister Jill decide to pool their money and buy a rather sparse, but affordable tree for the family. A few days before Christmas, there is a wonderful snowfall and while playing in it, Molly and Jill find a box from their dad that had gotten buried under the snow.  They decide to hide it until Christmas. Finally on Christmas morning, the McIntires open the box and have more than one special Christmas surprise from Dr. McIntire.  Recommended for readers ages 8-12.


These are three book I haven’t own and haven’t read, but I believe they are very good stories and I include the publisher’s abstract (even though I don’t normally like to do that)

The Miracle Tree by Christobel Mattingley, illustrated by Marianne Yamaguchi. Separated by the explosion of the atomic bomb, a husband, wife, and mother carry on with their lives in the ruins of Nagasaki and are eventually reunited one Christmas by a very special tree.

The Angel with a Mouth-Organ by Christobel Mattingley, illustrated by Astra Lacis. Just before the glass angel is put on the Christmas tree, Mother describes her experiences as a little girl during World War II when she and her family were refugees and how the glass angel came to symbolize a new beginning in their lives.

Izzie: the Christmas that almost wasn’t by Budge Wilson. This is the second book of a trilogy in the Our Canadian Girl series. Izzie and her family are preparing for a special Christmas in their coastal Nova Scotia village. The year is 1941, and with soldiers, sailors, and ships crowding into nearby Halifax, World War II seems especially close at hand. But this year, despite the war and rationing, Izzie's grandparents, aunt, uncles, and cousins are coming to spend the holiday. When a terrible storm threatens to spoil everything, Izzie is bound and determined to save Christmas for everyone.