The 2024 SYSK Christmas Extravaganza! | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

welcome to stuff you should know a. production of iHeart. [Music]. Radio hey and welcome to the podcast I'm. Josh and there's Chuck and Jerry's. trying to come but she's had car trouble. I guess either way she's here in spirit.

the Christmas spirit and this is stuff. you should know that's right the Holiday. Spectacular and uh a couple of. traditions here is that this episode is. brought to you ad free and also by no. one uh exactly by us uh and then also we. have managed to work it out I don't know. about every year but it seems like every. year where this is the last episode that. we record of our recording year and it's. so great and so fun to wind it down this.

way it's such a special tradition and. Chuck I'm really excited about this. particular one cuz this is a good a good. combination a good assemblage of stuff I. guess you could say but like add some. Holly to that yeah and I I also realized. when you sent your stuff over I was like. hey we kind of have a theme for one of. yours and one of mine yeah uh which is. you know like sugary Confections from. different parts of the world right so. those are kind of fun maybe we should do.

those back to back okay yeah I think. that's a good idea and then also we have. another theme movies oh yeah or. Christmas specials I don't know however. you want to put it that's right uh where. should we start this. year uh do you want to start with the. cocktail so you can get crocked while we. do this uh sure okay why not I think you. should announce what's going on to. everybody yeah so what's happening is uh. we usually try and Source some sort of a. holiday cocktail and tell you how to. make it sometimes we make it and have it.

on our own and this year we had someone. send in a holiday. cocktail uh few months ago we got an. email from uh somebody named Holly iten. Miller I think you nailed it and this is. a drink that Holly invented called hang. on your hats here grandma's Christmas. breath that's so great one thing I've. noticed when you look around and read. Christmas stuff and try to find.

Christmas stuff Grandma is almost. invariably portrayed as a drunk oh I I. didn't really I wasn't sure what the. breath would be but I guess boozy breath. that makes sense boozy breath yeah like. I found a recipe for something or other. it's like Grandma's version has like. whiskey and in rum in it yeah. everybody's grandma gets drunk. apparently on Christmas well um our uh. dear departed Grandma Mary Emily's. grandmother who was the senior General. in this stuff you shoot an army he. passed away at the the rifled age of 101.

that's awesome when she was in her. 90s like around Christmas she would have. a little Bailey in her coffee oh yeah. just touch every now and then a little. Christmas IE yeah so I guess Christmas. time uh I don't know equals Dr. grandparents yeah that's how I'm taking. it I mean Holly iten Miller's um the. name of her recipe just says it all I. think yeah so I asked Holly if there was. a story behind it but I did not hear. back by recording time so.

uh she doesn't want to talk about it. yeah you know what I'll do I'll uh. through the magic of editing I'll pause. and go get some ice oh okay and then. I'll be right back but to your ears I'll. be back in like one second okay hold. on okay I'm back everybody I have my. shaker with ice uh Josh why don't you. read out the ingredients and I'll pour. them up okay you ready yeah prepare. Chuck one one shot of Captain Morgan.

gingerbread rum okay so the story here. is this stuff is really hard to find and. I had to oh yeah get like a delivery. service cuz I literally couldn't find it. anywhere do you remember I tried to get. liquor delivered to you um as a. condolence like a year ago and it just. did not work out I tried like five. different services and none of it worked. I don't remember that but yeah you know. what gave up that's the thought that. counts I kept texting you like are you. going to be home at 600 p.m. are you.

going to be home at 3:00 a.m. tomorrow. are you going to be home at noon today. oh no yeah uh all right so the. gingerbread rum just went in I took a. little sniff and it smells cloyingly. sweet oh it sounds delicious but I could. I could see that all right what's next. um I also I just want to make a little. uh a little note here a shot is very. ambiguous you could make a quart size. shot you could make a a little tiny shot. like a shot is another way of putting. one part uh yeah I mean I just use a.

standard bar so what whatever the. big side is the big side's usually two o. okay all right all right this is gonna. be quite a Christmas episode the second. um ingredient Chuck is one shot of grah. marer yeah I think you just heard the. cork pop the. infamous oh I hear it that's definitely. 2. oz I'm not saying I'm going to drink all. of this all right what's next uh as as. much orange juice as you wish I would.

strongly recommend fresh squeezed. anytime you're using Citrus in a. cocktail just do yourself a favor and. squeeze it yourself it's not that hard. all right well do can we pause so I can. go to the grocery store yes uh no I'm. going to open up the old Tropicana that. I just bought yeah uh and I bought it at. a convenience store or I would have. gotten an orange I'm just going to do. one shot of that okay and just go. one1 okay I think that's a great idea. and and then do you have any ice on hand.

or do we need to wait around for that. too that's what I got in the Shaker okay. y Chuck's doing the next thing everybody. shaking grandma's Christmas breath. together should I have this Up or On the. Rocks probably on the Rocks uh I don't. know it sounds like you got enough ice. in there and this is boozy enough to go. up all right I'll go up then we'll. see and then we're going to all uh wait. around here to see what Chuck thinks of. this and also I want to say I'm not. drinking.

uh booze right now but I'm putting away. a a most of a cord of eggnog as we speak. yeah it's uh I mean the only reason I'm. doing this is cuz I just felt like. somebody should try this out on the air. and so here we go everybody uh post. production drum. [Music]. roll uh okay oh poor Holly she her. Christmas dreams have just been dashed. no it's not bad I mean it is it's.

orangey because the grandon and the. orange juice obviously right and. uh it's not bad you know I mean it's uh. it's definitely like a a festive holiday. drink I don't I would not recommend more. than one of them oh is it pretty boozy. uh I mean it's pretty pretty just sort. of sweet depends on your tolerance for. sweet drinks is that rum really coming. through or is it getting um Mist in the. orange um it could probably come through. a little bit more so I I could probably. add a little less orange juice if there.

were to be a next time or you could add. more rum well let's let's not get. carried away here okay well um I say we. move on speaking of carried away let's. carry ourselves away to the next segment. yeah and uh as per Christmas tradition. holiday show tradition um Jerry's going. to add some really nice Christmasy. interstitial music so take it away Jerry. [Music].

all right Chuck how are you feeling good. and big thanks to Holly again uh for. this for this drink yeah so um we're. going to teach everybody how to play. dirty Santa next we're doing that with. an assist from Nella Bailey Mot.

I'm pretty sure that's how you'd say her. last name from Southern Living M who. wrote a pretty top-notch article on how. to play this why to play it and they. even turned up um what what the origin. of the name cuz it's got a bunch of. different names white elephant. apparently in the South were the ones. who typically call it dirty Santa never. heard of that you've never heard of. dirty Santa that's all I've ever heard. it um well aside from White Elephant. I've only heard white elephant. interesting what about what about Yankee. Swap that one's new to me no I've never. heard that that one I've only heard.

white elephant when it comes to this. kind of game okay well I've heard dirty. Santa and white elephant but regardless. the white elephant name seems to be the. traditional name for this which is it's. kind of like a it's a it's a party game. you would play it like your holiday. party um and in the spirit basically of. secret Santa where everybody gives. somebody else a gift anonymously and. then the person tries to guess who gave. it to him it's very nice and sweet this. is not well it's not supposed to be mean. or anything like that but there there's. a lot there's some twists to it that.

make it dirty that's right uh because it. involves the trading of gifts which. we'll get to the rules in a second um it. can well I'll mention that when we get. to the trading part but okay yeah the. origins is interesting cuz I never knew. this as far as the white elephant name. um supposedly uh it came from what is. Now Thailand what was Siam back in the. day mhm and the King of Siam was um if. he was annoyed he might give someone an. Albin elephant if he didn't like them.

very much right yes but the key here was. to the cordier who received this gift I. mean this is a lavish gift yeah but it. was a lavish gift that cost a lot and. took a lot of effort to keep healthy and. happy right so although it seemed like. you would really gain the king's favor. the King was giving you a real problem. to deal with for the rest of the. elephant's life so it's a pretty pretty. sharp little idea that Yu brener came up. with and that's where the name came from.

White Elephant right yeah okay so. getting on to the modern incarnation of. it I did not see who invented this I. guess the king of sayyam did but the the. modern Incarnation I I don't know where. that came from but there are basically. wherever you look up rules for um the. white elephant game there's some that. are just tried and true they're just. you're going to find them in any set of. rules one of the big ones is set a. dollar limit yeah you don't want some. person just showing off their Christmas.

bonus by you know they they show up with. a bunch of bang and olivs and speakers. or something like that you know by by. setting a limit at like 20 bucks you're. making the people get kind of creative. yeah and the whole idea here is to have. fun uh so yeah 20 bucks I feel like is I. mean you can set it according to. whatever you know Financial pool you're. swimming in but I feel like $20 is a. pretty good uh round number great but. yes the cheaper the lower the the the.

price limit the more creative the people. have to be to come up with something. yeah exactly um they give some tips here. in this article which is kind of fun uh. which is to try and uh fool the. unwrapper by wrapping it uh wrapping. perhaps a small thing and some big. elaborate package uh or by if you if you. get really creative if you can even. reshape something uh as far as the. wrapping goes to where it looks like. something else like maybe a bottle of. wine when it in in fact is just like a a. folded up whoopy cushion yes oh that's a.

good one yeah that's a great great white. elephant gift yeah those are probably. only like $5 right so you uh well not in. 2024 pal yeah um so you want to in your. invitation specify yes rrap it get. creative with you're rapping but do not. put a two or from thing this is all. Anonymous and then everybody comes on. the day of the party and they bring. their gift wrapped and they put it in a. pile the pool as some people call it. yeah and uh uh Nella Bailey mcgoff.

specifies do not put this area near your. own family's real presence because yeah. you don't want to mix up like that and. then once the everybody's assembled and. you're usually sitting around in a. circle or something so everybody can see. everybody else um you draw numbers from. a hat and the numbers in the Hat number. from one to the number of people playing. and everybody draws a number that's. right so uh once you've drawn your. number and are thus ordered and opening. um order. person number one is going to grab a.

gift they're going to open it they're. going to show everybody what it is uh oh. my God it's for whoopy cushions because. they're well probably three these days. to hit that $20 Mark right and that's it. they got their gift everyone gets a good. laugh next up is person number two and. this is when it gets interesting because. person number two has a choice they can. pick a new gift from the pile or they. can go ahead and just steal that first. gift if that is something that they. actually want yeah there's also an.

alternate um set of rules that say. everyone picks a gift first and then the. stealing starts but most of the time you. can steal on that second turn there's. this is where it gets a little hazy so. let's say that you're five people into. this right so person number five it's. their turn if they go and steal person. number Four's gift now it's time for. person number four to go steal somebody. else's gift say person number two now. person number two has to steal a gift.

and this can just keep going on ADD. infinitum uh so usually it's the third. the third time a gift is stolen the last. person has to just go take a new gift. from the pile they don't get to steal or. else it just keep going on and on and on. right and then there's some other um. restrictions on how many times a gift. can be stolen or a person can be stolen. from too right yeah I mean you can do. house rules of course or Regional rules. but generally uh a gift can not be can. be stolen no more than three times um if.

a gift is pronounced dead that means you. can't steal it anymore and that that's. after it's been stolen right three times. oh oh after right duh after the three. times it can no longer be stolen yeah. and usually a person can only be stolen. from three times as well and then. whatever gift they're holding on the. last time it that gets whatever gift. they go steal from somebody else or pick. that's their gift to keep so you can. play strategically here if there's.

actually a gift there that you want like. you really want that whoopy cushion you. can choose it as the the um your last. gift after your you're dead essentially. yeah uh if your gift is stolen you can't. steal it right back you have to steal. another gift or choose from the. pile and is there are there any other. variations yeah um essentially once all. of this continues on once once this goes. around and everybody say you have 15. people playing. after person 15's turn you're back to.

person one because they had no choice. they had to choose a gift from the pile. now it's their turn to decide to steal. and if they decide to keep their gift. then the game's over if they steal it. keeps going on until you finally reach. somebody who goes I'm good I really love. my whoopy cushion I'm keeping my gift. the party the part is essentially over. at that point cuz the the excitement is. is so has been so charged that there's. nothing you could possibly do to top but. after that I don't know you got those.

woy cushions I say the part's just. getting started that's true that's true. I mean I was thinking you could drink. like gallons of grandma's Christmas. breath and it still wouldn't bring about. the thrill that the white elephant game. can yeah uh well two quick things one. thing I wanted to mention earlier on is. I I have seen this game go badly like if. somebody really wants to keep something. and it gets stolen they get their. feelings hurt um boy try try try and. park that attitude at the door yeah this.

is supposed to be fun and if all of a. sudden you're really getting mad because. you didn't get that whoopy cushion then. um you know do some self-reflection on. what you're bringing to the table yeah. for sure I mean you can go buy a whoopy. cushion if you really need it that's. right and the second thing I wanted to. say since you said gallons of this drink. um as I was drinking it I think this. would be really good as a. punch like throw it in the punch bowl. with some like cinnamon sticks and.

sliced oranges and some other like a. bunch of ice bunch of ice and stuff like. that and I think it would make like a. pretty pretty decent party punch. actually would you add soda water to it. I don't know how does that hold up in a. punch bowl well it very well I mean. there like a whole Sprite High sea punch. camp that is like crazy for that stuff. it's carbonated all right then I say. pour four liters of Topo Chico in there. okay all right that sounds good all. right actually that sounds terrible be. mineral water mixed with it you just.

want plain club soda uh yeah and what's. like a red uh tinting like a high see oh. I guess so but what's something that's. not super sweet like Campari would that. change the taste a lot uh yes it. definitely would I have no idea what. that would taste like after that point. it would it would be a little more. festive as a punch I think if it was red. or green yes for sure I I get what. you're saying it's I guess it's kind of. brown right now uh I mean it's more. orange orange oh it is actually orange.

okay good yeah it looks like orange. juice okay well that's it for white. elephant there is one one quote I wanted. to read from Nella Bailey. moff oh boy you know the do you know the. one I'm pretty sure go ahead they they. say that the mixture of gag gifts and. Gifts people actually want combin to. make the Nitro that fuels this amazing. game and I guess that Nella Bailey. mcgoff would be a really fun person to. play White Elephant totally I love it uh.

hey let's hit that interstitial. Christmas music again as we mosy on over. to the next. [Music]. segment all right I'd say we uh move on. to let's go ahead and knock out our two. our two Confections oh okay which one do. you want to do first uh you know what. let's start with Italy because this is. also o another thing that a listener.

sent in which is really great people are. starting to help program the show. because it gets really really hard to. find new short Christmas stuff MH after. all these years but uh Carl with a K. Harden sent in a suggestion to do a. short stuff on pel pel or pel P pizel I. thought. pizel yeah you got say it like like that. yeah it's an Italian cookie that is.

enjoyed uh you know at different times. of the year weddings and things but. really known as a Christmas or Easter. cookie yeah um I know them as Christmas. I didn't realize they were Easter but. yeah they're super Italian and they're. so Italian that it's it shares a root. word with pizza yeah P which means round. and flat which is pretty impressive that. they fit round and flat into just one. word yeah that's true the L in pizelle. means small and the ah in Pizza means.

personal pan right oh man well done that. was pre-thought of I know but it was. still great great delivery nothing wrong. with writing a joke my friend all right. all feel like such a fraud no not at all. uh traditionally black licorice or Anise. is the traditional flavor but that's. sort of the Old World stuff these days. you can flavor it with whatever you want. a lot of chocolate ones vanilla uh. lemons a very popular flavor I saw.

gingerbread oh sure I could dip it in. this punch yeah sounds good I also saw a. Savory one lemon dill I'm not crazy. about that but that was the most exotic. one I found yeah I saw an elk one but. that feels a little. gy for real an elk one no okay because I. was going to say maybe it was a recipe. from the Elks oh sure sure I get you so. it's also really simple to make too it's. just like sugar eggs flour maybe butter.

maybe Olive Oil if you really want to. get Italian and then like you said some. of those flavorings and then you make it. essentially like a old timey waffle. where you have a like two irons that. usually have some sort of um like like. uh what is it boss relief emblem or. symbol or shape or something like that. yeah that the dough Cooks into so it. transfers the shape to the dough as. you're cooking yeah like the old world. way and I imagine a lot of just sort of.

um traditional Italian families still do. it this way uh I mean they make machines. like a waffle iron that you could do. this in uh but is is the old school two. cast iron plates uh like you said that. have those decorative designs and a lot. of times it's a snowflake for Christmas. um back in the old days you could get. like a family uh like a family plate. made with your whatever about like your. family crest maybe or a special date in. your family or anything that's. meaningful to your family yeah a picture.

of your grandma drunk at Christmas yeah. sure and then you can eat that drunk. face uh and then you cook those over an. open flame you know like turning it over. you know each side each side uh let that. thing cool off M and then you can do a. lot of things with it you can roll it up. like a cone and put stuff in it you can. just sprinkle it with a little powdered. sugar uh you can there I saw one where. you can use it as a like ice cream. sandwich layer yeah the um I don't know.

where you got this but there's a Nutella. ice cream pizelle sandwich I don't even. know if this is a recipe but you just. alternate layers of pizelle Nutella and. whatever flavor ice cream you want to. Stack it as high as you can get your. mouth around and there you go and it. sounds delicious plus also I mean like a. fresh pizelle out of some hot iron. sounds really really good I mean even a. stale pizelle is still kind of good I. don't think I've ever had one oh really. you should you should order some they're. everywhere yeah I I would figure this.

time of year huh I yeah I would I would. treat yourself and do an anise one the. traditional kind okay it's actually. surprisingly good I'm not crazy about. anise but it's it's good in this context. okay and then get something else that. you know you're going to like like lemon. or something yeah I'm going to see if. there's a good uh Italian bakery in. Atlanta I'm sure there go but I mean. even if there's not I guarantee you can. find these at like TJ Maxx if you want. to like they're everywhere right behind. the blouse.

aisle yeah sometimes mixed in with the. blouses oh uh all right so that's the. pel um should we move on to your Le de. Noel yes I did not expect you to say it. like that but nicely done how would you. say it what's the correct way in other. words I mean you basically had it I. think it's B the I think so but I I know. that bsh also is um is uh. mouth no yeah yeah yeah yeah I'm pretty.

sure so I I could be Mis Mis saying it. could be butci okay okay Lai Den right. and it's a a uog but it's a edible uog. and it's a really um closely identified. with France yeah it is uh and it it was. not a something you would eat in the old. school tradition in France um what. happened it dates back to to Medieval. Times mhm and you would get a real log.

of wood uh usually a fruit tree or many. times a fruit tree uh and you would do. that to let's say you wanted like a good. uh apple harvest for the year to come so. you would use like an apple um Branch or. log you bring it home you put that thing. in the Hearth and the Hearth is sort of. where the family hung out so it's just. sort of the centerpiece there yeah um. and then there were I think this. actually is like a pagan right even that. they would they would light this and it.

it was supposed to last from Christmas. through the new year so at least three. days if it didn't burned for three days. you did it wrong and your next year was. going to suck but if you could at least. make it three three days um yeah you you. were probably going to to choke to death. on an Apple the following year if it. didn't make it three days but if it. makes it three days or longer great and. so to kind of gain the system usually. your Ule log would be um like damp like. very green and very large cuz that.

wouldn't be the only thing you were. burning like you needed to cook you. needed to keep warm so you had fires. going this whole time so to keep this. log going for at least three days it had. to be of a certain type yeah and I'm not. sure if we mention you light it on. Christmas Eve um if you've really done. your job well and you picked out the. perfect loged maybe soaked it a little. bit and game the system like you said. that thing might burn to the new year. and I would guess the whole family just. celebrates if that happens yeah and the.

ashes even are were thought to prevent. lightning strikes so you'd want to cover. yourself in it anytime you went out in a. rainstorm I'm guessing um they would use. the coal and like medicinal. preparations all sorts of stuff right it. was a big deal the problem is and our. friend uh well I guess our online friend. this person that we who's article we. came across Lucy Rose on Beyond bro uh. Brios on french.com. wrote a great article about this and uh.

Lucy Rose said that eventually over time. hears just kind of started to disappear. like um so the center of the house where. the Ule log used to kind of do its thing. at the end of the year um lost its its. setting so people still kind of followed. this tradition but they would just set a. log on the dinner table and and just. look at it they didn't set it on fire so. it lost a little something and then. eventually somebody was like hey why. don't we eat that thing let's make an. edible version of this and eat it and.

that's where the bush Den Noel came from. that's right uh that happened sometime. in the late 1800s uh apparently a. gentleman named Pierre. Lam um published the first recipe for. that in. 1890 and it started spreading around to. other uh cultures other cultures that. either spoke French or just uh dug what. the french were into and uh you know you. make it uh it's like a it's like a jelly. roll cake but you've got buttercream. instead of the jelly and you roll it up.

and you frost it with a ganache of some. kind and then you try to make it look. like bark like use a fork and kind of. scrape along the outside to make it look. a little more like a log yeah and. sometimes like the more modern ones. they'll come in all sorts of colors or. whatever and they look very Sleek like a. Swiss cake roll essentially um but the. traditional Buel is like you can really. kind of go to town with it not just. making that bark effect but you could. make additional um smaller jelly roll.

cakes that you roll up and make as like. branches coming off of it some people go. to the trouble of making merang or. marzipan um mushrooms like little toad. stools growing out of it so cute yeah it. is super cute like a really wellone. busha Noel is adorable so much so that. you don't really want to eat it but from. the the description of the ingredients I. I would eat it anyway yeah for sure and. there's actually it's not that hard to. make and there's some recipes that uh.

Lucy Rose um uh recommends there's one. from leg run wheel which is a legendary. French restaurant in New York they had. one published in the New York Times in. 1982 then the other one she recommended. came from jacqu pepen his classic busho. doesn't get any better than jacqu pepen. no and while you're out at those. bakeries looking for pizelle try a. French Bakery and see if they have a. booster Noel and if they don't but you. really want to it they sawell them. online too yeah boy I'm looking at some.

of these online these are really lovely. yeah they really are don't they look. cool like do you see any with the toad. stools I see the toad stools uh I see. the Little Fork bark those look nice but. I see someone who somehow managed to. make it look like real pine bark that. looks really great yeah I mean somebody. with a the right kind of fork could. really go to. town so uh let's move on huh all right. so those yeah those are the two. Confections and so we're going to hop in. our slate we're going to ride around up.

in the stratosphere atmosphere where are. we up there um I think the stratosphere. right along the edge of space okay. perfect and we will be right back after. a little Christmas. cheer okay Chuck so we're talking um I. think now we're going to move on to a. segment on. Christmas trees in the white house.

that's right those of you who don't live. in the United States the White House is. where the president. lives that's right uh and and generally. the president's family uh lives there. depending on like how old the kids are. and stuff like that for sure uh but. there are a lot of traditions over the. years um we're not you know you can go. to White house.gov under the Christmas. stuff if you want to look at all these. but I feel like we should maybe. concentrate on a few of the more fun. ones okay um the first Christmas tree in. the White House that anyone knows about.

was in the second floor oval room which. was a family parlor and Library uh in. 1889 which was the Benjamin Harrison. Administration and they used real. candles to Delight the. grandchildren yeah apparently so that. was 1889 and I think um electricity was. brought to the lighthouse two years. later the. lighthous yeah I said the White House. didn't I he said Lighthouse but I love. that okay it made it light well white is.

a light light color uh it's the absence. of color actually so um but electricity. was brought to the White House in 1891. and yet 30 plus 4 something years later. um FDR Franklin Delano Roosevelt still. celebrated with a Christmas tree lit. with candles yeah despite the danger I. think um like you said 1891 was. electricity and three years later Grover.

Cleveland had the first electrically lit. tree uh but you know Teddy Roosevelt. that guy was old school if he was. nothing else well that was Franklin. Roosevelt Teddy Roosevelt has his own. interesting story oh Franklin of course. he's an older school yeah but yeah Teddy. supposedly banned Christmas trees um. that is a bit of a um I think it's just. been Twisted a bit over the years um I. don't think he banned them he just it. was not a part of their family tradition. to have tree so he did not yeah that was.

I mean that's it there's apparently a. huge misunderstanding over the years. that he was such a conservationist I. guess historians retro retroactively. reasoned that the the reason there. wasn't Christmas trees during his. administration was because he didn't. want them cut down but the answer is. they just didn't celebrate with the. Christmas tree that wasn't their jam. yeah which is pretty typical at the time. I mean um people having a Christmas tree. in your house you know when you. celebrate Christmas is fairly modern.

certainly way more modern than the turn. of the last century yeah so it wasn't. like everybody was doing it um although. in 1902 Archie Roosevelt did sneak a. little small tree HIIT it in the closet. upstairs even decorated it and showed. his family and uh Teddy Roosevelt did. not say get that infernal thing out of. here uh apparently he liked it and said. all right well the tree can stay yes um. which is sweet you know sure and then.

there was also a record that was set by. Dwight D Eisenhower in the 50s I think. in 1959 for the the greatest number of. um Christmas trees in the white house at. one time and he really macked it out. with. 26 Christmas trees in the white house. and for years and years and years no one. even tried to beat Eisenhower's record. um until I think what was it 1990 when. the George W Bush Administration blew it.

out of the water yeah he was like I'm. going to take down that. record read my lips hey great impression. it was so so but how many trees did he. have he brought in 47 just blew. Eisenhower out of the water uh the. clintons had 32 also beating Eisenhower. in. 95 and the younger Bush said I'm going. to beat Daddy he did he brought in two. more trees than Dad yeah and the Obama.

said nice try watch us hold my beer yeah. 62 trees in 2015 and uh if you look at. all these different um different. competing numbers of trees these records. just being broken and beaten and tossed. and dashed over the Rocks um they all. had themes I think Clinton had it was. the night before Christmas the first. bush had a Nutcracker ballet theme the. Obamas had Timeless Trad tradition the. second bush had home for the holidays.

they all had themes and they were. actually following in a tradition set by. Jackie Kennedy back in 1961 who created. the first theme uh Christmas that the. Christmas trees were decorated with. again Nutcracker yeah that's fine but it. was the first one so technically I guess. she started the Nutcracker theme sure as. all themes uh but that wasn't the first. tree in the Blue Room uh that is. traditionally where the official tree is. now in the blue room that started in. 1912 uh when Robert Helen and Charlie.

Taft the uh children of William Howard. put that very first tree in the blue. room and they have a competition now um. internationally you have to win the. state competition first to qualify to. see if your tree can be the tree in the. blue room and we're just going to go. over a few of these um leading States. now because Far and Away well not that. far and away but uh North Carolina has. had the most trees since 1961 in the. blue room with 13 yeah I don't know how. uh how recent this stat is but I know.

that North Carolina was chosen again. kind of as a nod to the battering by. Hurricane Helen yeah this year President. Biden I think chose one from Western. North Carolina um Cartner tree farm and. newand North Carolina was the one who. who is um sending the White House. Christmas tree this year that's right. and surely not a sympathy pick cuz like. I said North Carolina pumps out some. great trees as they are in the lead uh. Pennsylvania's in second with 11. then you have wi Wisconsin with eight.

Washington state with seven West. Virginia with four and then basically. other states with two or one yeah there. was one that was anonymously donated. from New England which sounds. suspicious uh and if you're wondering. what kinds of trees uh Far and Away fur. Trees lead with 52 uh there have been. seven spruces and one Pine that's that's. the one that's coming out of cartners. this year too a Frasier fur oh first so. it'll be oh I guess that'll be the 53rd.

yeah white house.gov needs to get on. this yeah that's right update your site. already uh so yeah that's it for White. House Christmas trees huh I think that. was that was a pleasant little journey. thank you through a political mindfield. that's right uh okay Chuck it's next. next up I'm pretty psyched we're going. to do another TW for Segment aren't we. uh yeah are we going to hit these. Christmas movies yes but first how about. some more Jolly music from our friend. Jerry. [Music].

all right everyone we're back and we're. going to finish up with a couple of um. Christmas movies well one a TV special. and one not just a Christmas movie but. the ER Christmas movie yeah you are. right I don't know how you spell it you. do you are it's a like a reference to a. City in Sumeria or Mesopotamia or.

something like that like one of the. first cities oh look at you Mr Smarty. Pants yeah we're talking about the first. Christmas movies uh shocking stat here. over 150 new holiday movies are produced. annually yep 98% of them from Hallmark. probably so or that may be a real stat. actually who knows it is they they shoot. two a days is what they call them they. complete two films from scratch in a day. they should just. redress people and recast them and just.

be like all right you're you're Bill the. the local sheriff in this one and you're. Johnny the local Diner owner in this one. right wait I thought I was Johnny in. this one no just shut up wear. this uh but if you're thinking like oh. It's a Wonderful Life no no no that's. the 40s if you're thinking all right. March of the Wooden Soldiers no no. that's 1934 sure uh you have to go all. the way back to the very earliest days. of putting anything on film to find the. inspiration uh that would lead to the.

First Christmas movie yeah um it turns. out that we're going all the way back to. the 1890s but we should go back a little. before then um in France France. apparently I didn't know this was like. the the er um Center of film making did. you know that that that's where it. originally kind of came out of sure the. Lum Brothers yeah so them there was a. guy named Louis Le Prince who is um. considered Ed as having filmed the first. surviving or the oldest surviving Motion.

Picture which you've probably seen. before I know you have but I'm saying. you The Listener it's a horse running. and it almost looks like a flip book. it's that primitive yeah and it's. referenced actually have you seen that. movie nope uh oh yeah sure remember when. they uh when they show up on the set. they kind of give that spiel about their. family and the horses and they say that. that was their ancestor that's what. they're talking about is that it's just. a two two second long shot of a horse. running a person with a jockey on it I'd.

like to see that again nope or that two. second long shot no wait all right I. just watched the horse thing again uh no. I'd like to see nope again I saw that in. the theater but I haven't seen it since. and I quite enjoyed it yeah it was. pretty good all right so um that two and. 2.1 second uh horse running first thing. a lot of films that followed didn't have. a narrative yet they were just literally. people were amazed that they could just. see something moving on film mhm uh the. lir brothers very famously in 1896 had a.

50-second clip of a train coming right. toward the screen um probably the first. and last time a train uh didn't go. through a tunnel to indicate uh. intercourse right yeah they hadn't. figured that out quite yet that was the. next year probably that's right but then. that first Christmas movie came just a. few years later right just two years. later after that 50c clip was called the. arrival of a train it really gets across. what you're watching um but it just two.

years after that a guy named George. Albert Smith became the creator of the. very first Christmas movie uncontested. no one had ever made a Christmas movie. before until George Albert Smith came. along and put 76 seconds of goodness on. film that's right it's called Santa. Claus uh it it's a pretty groundbreaking. film at the time I guess almost anything. you did would be groundbreaking at the. time yeah but this he was showing off. almost no I agree um had some pretty. decent special effects it's a story of.

Santa very simple story obviously 76. seconds uh but it's Santa visiting the. home of two kids on Christmas Eve uh you. can watch it on YouTube It Only Takes 76. seconds plus some dumb ad um but you uh. you see two kids um checking the chimney. for Santa before the uh either mom or. the nanny or somebody puts them to bed. they turn off the lights and then the. room is dark and then all of a sudden. pops up the first little special effect. is on the right side of the screen a. little circular image of the rooftop.

like an insert almost within the film. frame itself where you see Santa um. climbing down a chimney but really just. walking down some stairs disguised as a. chimney yeah right and then like once he. gets into the chimney or out of that. that additional shot that's showing him. on the rooftop um all of a sudden he's. in the kids room and uh it is it's like. a editing cut but also it was edited. just just a little uh early or a little.

late so that you can see him coming. through the the black curtain yeah that. he's suddenly appearing from but again. we're talking 1898 and people were just. amazed by this kind of stuff and then. Santa while the kids are sleeping he. puts um little little uh goodies in. their stocking and he waves goodbye and. then all of a sudden poof he's gone. again and I mean like even watching it. now I'm like that that was pretty cool I. can't imagine being live in 1898 and. seeing that and just being like Oh my.

God yeah I can't wait till Polar Express. comes. out movie I still haven't seen I haven't. either oh let's let's keep it that way. let's promise let's do a Blood Oath that. neither one of us will ever see that I. think we also we talked about that in. The Uncanny Valley episode oh sure we. had to have yeah uh I will say this. about Santa Claus the 76c film uh given. that most movies from this era look. pretty creepy and given that every Santa. from this era looks really creepy yeah.

uh this Santa creeping through the room. over these children I was ready for this. thing to just make my hair stand on end. and it wasn't that bad a little bit of. creep but it was actually had a a little. sweetness to it yeah he was a little. slim for a Sant I think that made that. added to the creepiness but yeah no he. was nowhere near the creepiest Santa of. his time but we don't know who this guy. is right no he was uncredited so the. first Santa Claus on screen the per.

first person to play Santa Claus on. screen no one knows we probably never. know it's not Tim Allen I know that no. uh and shout out to Justin childis on. edgin today uh who helped us with this. did some great research and made a nice. little article all right how are we. going to wrap it up oh wait we need to. get in our sigh first oh okay all right. here we go hop in the old sled and let's. go. [Music].

okay. [Music]. Chuck why do you got to do. [Music]. that did it. work Josh has been giving me that a worm. for 16 years on the rag it just it works. really. well all right so now I'm annoyed so. let's talk about the sweetest Christmas. special of all time it is sweet isn't it.

did you watch it of course okay so in. 1982 Christmas time 1982 it was a there. was a Cavalcade of familiar characters. who made it their debut in in Christmas. specials right mhm you had Pac-Man with. the classic Christmas Comes to packland. yeah something good um the Smurf. Christmas special which actually is. quite good I was too old for Smurf so oh. I went back and watched it like last. week or a couple days ago and I was like. this pretty good pretty good all right.

um and then far and way the best of the. bunch that came out in 1982 and among. the top ever Christmas tv specials if. you ask me was Ziggy's gift which is. like you said incredibly sweet that's. right uh Ziggy is the comic strip. character Ziggy the little short bald um. how old is Ziggy that was one of my. questions Timeless ageless I mean is it. supposed to be a grown-up though yeah. yeah he's not a kid okay I couldn't tell.

because I I wasn't into Ziggy but uh did. you know some Ziggy research and look. back at some of the comics and you know. Ziggy was beloved because Ziggy was. great and Ziggy was sweet and Ziggy was. joyful and um Ziggy was not cynical uh. Ziggy lived with a dog and a parrot and. you might find a ziggy comic strip that. was just a little Ry joke or you might. find a ziggy comic that is literally. just Ziggy smiling and looking at you. and saying hello Yeah and so he was like.

indefatigable even though basically his. entire life went wrong at every turn. yeah and like he could be affected by. that he was put off he was mad he wasn't. like he was some sort of smiling. automaton but he returned back to his. like upbeat outlook on life very quickly. like that was his default setting and. just reading Ziggy cartoons it's like it. does it to you you know it really brings. it out and so zigy had been around since. I think in the paper since 1970 and it.

built up like a pretty good Audience by. 1982 so it was a big deal when Ziggy um. was coming to to TV um Tom Wilson the. creator of Ziggy did a bunch of. interviews with different newspapers and. everybody was quite excited that Ziggy. was having his own Christmas special. yeah for sure and he really pulled out. all the stops uh because not only is it. a Christmas special an animated. Christmas special but it was that really. took the time with the Artistry to just.

knock it out of the park um a typical. half hour animated special at the time. had about 35,000 drawings uh Ziggy's. gift had uh close to 140,000. drawings um they usually have about 50. rough sketches to sort of map out the. story uh there were 1,200 for Ziggy's. gift and for all of this effort um a you. got an animated special that uh for the. time again when you look back now really. good smooth outstanding animation and it.

won the prime time Emy for outstanding. animated program that year yeah beat. Garfield beat the Smurfs take that. Smurfs yeah it beat Charlie Brown twice. two different Charlie Brown specials. good grief there was just no chance that. anybody was going to beat Ziggy's gift. that year yeah um and also not just the. animation I mean like people like. animation Buffs are like this is a. classic Masterpiece of Animation but the. plot too was really good like the thing. seems longer than 22 minutes not like it.

drags they just packed a lot into this. 22 minutes even though it just kind of. takes its own time that's great um it's. pretty funny in a lot of places it's. sweet throughout and all this kind of. came together and formed this perfect. sweet little 22-minute Christmas special. yeah absolutely uh when it came time to. make the special they were like what do. we do with Ziggy's voice like how do we. cast this. iconic silent character because you can.

really ruin uh like a comic strip. character come to life if you don't get. the voice right yeah and so they decided. not to use a voice at all which was. brilliant and apparently that came from. Wilson's daughter uh who who a few years. before said that the reason it's hard to. find a voice for Ziggy is because when. you read Ziggy you hear your own voice. yeah out of the mouths of babes you know. amazing she was 32 at the time but right. that's great so um yeah the whole thing.

came together to to make this really. great Christmas special but what's. puzzling about it is it didn't become an. enduring classic like the latest I could. see on good old newspapers.com was was. 1986 that's when the TV listings for. Ziggy's gift around December just dried. up but the great thing about it and the. reason why we're we're doing this um. we're covering Ziggy's gift is there's. like a couple of generations out there. who don't even know this exists and are. going to be so happy to find this sweet.

little Christmas special that I hope. everybody who's listening who's never. seen it really enjoys and if you have. seen it it's been a little while if it's. been a day doesn't matter go watch it. again because it it just gets you every. time yeah and and get your uh what would. Ziggy do t-shirt printed up yeah that's. another thing too you could really get. into Ziggy after watching that and. there's a lot of great like vintage. Ziggy stuff like stickers of Ziggy. catching a rainbow in a butterfly net.

that kind of stuff yeah and you could uh. you know get Ziggy with it very nice. there's no way to end this better than. that Chuck it's my last bad joke of the. year so let's get a little more. Christmas music in and then we'll wish. everybody Merry Christmas and happy. holidays how about that let's do it. [Applause].

all right well that is it for the. Christmas special this year uh we want. to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. or uh Merry and happy holiday of your. choice however you choose to celebrate. yeah uh we're Christmas guys so that's. what we do around here and uh I'm. wishing you and Yumi and Momo a very. Merry Christmas and Jerry and Dave and. Livia and Dave and Kyle and uh who else. uh Ben yeah um the whole crew and back.

at you too A Merry Christmas to you and. Ruby and Emily for sure yeah thanks man. and uh of course with Jerry her uh her. lovely wife and daughter as well yeah so. uh Merry Christmas to all of you happy. holidays to all of you from everybody. here stuff you should know we hope it's. a great one for you and go watch siggy's. gift and feel love Merry Christmas. everybody. [Music]. stuff you should know is a production of.

iHeart radio for more podcasts iHeart. Radio visit the iHeart Radio app Apple. podcasts or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows. [Music].