Today’s Film: White Christmas
An absolute golden oldie for today’s film. Irving Berlin’s White Christmas is a 1954 musical starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. Song-and-dance duo Bob Wallace and Phil Davis meet a sister singing act, Betty and Judy, in Florida and join them for a holiday in Columbia Inn, Vermont where they decide to stage a large musical to attract guests kept away by the lack of snow. Some truly classic tunes made their debut in this film including “Sisters” and “Love, You Didn’t Do Right By Me”. But the most famous song, the titular “White Christmas” actually first appeared in 1942’s Holiday Inn which also starred Bing Crosby along side Fred Astaire. White Christmas has been remembered and love throughout the decades for good reason. It is cheerful, cosy, and everything else you could want from a Christmas film.
Today’s Tradition: Legend of the Christmas Spider; Ukraine
The Legend of the Christmas Spider is an Eastern European folktale which explains one possible origin of tinsel on Christmas trees. It is most prevalent in Western Ukraine, where small ornaments in the shape of a spider are traditionally a part of the Christmas decorations.
The story is of a poor but hardworking widow who once lived in a small hut with her children. One summer’s day, a pine cone fell on the earthen floor of the hut and took root. The widow’s children cared for the tree, excited at the prospect of having a Christmas tree by winter. The tree grew, but when Christmas Eve arrived, they could not afford to decorate it. The children sadly went to bed and fell asleep. Early the next morning, they woke up and saw the tree covered with cobwebs. When they opened the windows, the first rays of sunlight touched the webs and turned them into gold and silver. The widow and her children were overjoyed. From then on, they never lived in poverty again.
