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The Allusionist

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A PODCAST ABOUT LANGUAGE
BY HELEN ZALTZMAN

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The Allusionist

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Allusionist 26: Xmas Man

December 2, 2015 The Allusionist

iTUNES • RSS • SOUNDCLOUD • MP3

CONTENT WARNING: Be wary of listening to this episode around young children, as there may be life spoilers.

Historian Greg Jenner traces the origins of that mythical beardy man who turns up in December with gifts. And I ensure my permanent removal from everybody's Christmas card lists.

SACKFUL O'LINKS:

  • The history of Christmas is very interesting and knotty. For a summary, read Greg Jenner's three pieces about it: when and why; who or what Father Christmas is; and odd traditions.
  • Behold: some of the bonkers Victorian Christmas cards! Who says giant wasps can't be festive?
  • A lot of the most familiar Christmas tropes in the present day were concocted by the Victorians. Read some snippets about Victorian Christmas here and here.
  • 1843, the same year as the first Christmas card, was a seminal year for Christmas: Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol was published. Read it here, if you don't have a suitably dusty hardback version to hand.
  • Want to become fluent in the language of flowers? Here are floriography links to start you off.
  • Mentioning Theseus, here's the labyrinthine history of labyrinths.
  • Over at my other podcast, we made a whole album about Christmas history and practice. The Answer Me This! Christmas is available here.
  • Here's the transcript of this episode. Transcripts of most of the episodes can be found at theallusionist.org/transcripts.

MAILCHIMP'S RANDOMLY SELECTED WORD FROM THE DICTIONARY:
afferent

A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS:

i. Oxford Games are offering you 15% off their boxes of fun if you use the code ALL15 when you order from the shop at oxfordgames.co.uk. Need ideas about which game to buy? Listen to company founder Leslie Scott in the Word Play episode.
ii. Get 20% off any Passion House Coffee Roasters subscription by visiting passionhousecoffee.com and using the offer code ALLUSIONIST.

CREDITS:

  • Greg Jenner is the chief nerd at Horrible Histories. His excellent book One Million Years In A Day is out now at the usual book-selling places. Follow @greg_jenner on Twitter.
  • This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. Thanks to Radiotopia's new executive producer Julie Shapiro.
  • Martin Austwick provided all the music.
  • Send me the electronic equivalent of Christmas cards at facebook.com/allusionistshow, twitter.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/helenzaltzman.

Please return in a fortnight, for the final episode of 2015.

- HZ

The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

In audio Tags language, words, etymology, history, Christmas, Xmas, Greg Jenner, Oxford Games, Passion House Coffee Roasters, festive, festivities, Victorians, 19th century, children, romance, messages, code, non-verbal communication, Christmas cards, cards, post, postal reform, Roland Hill, penny post, stamps, postage, winter, St Nicholas, saints, Christianity, paganism, pagans, myth, mythological figures, Dutch, French, Pere Noel, Norse, Odin, Captain Christmas, Jesus, Christ, metaphor, clue, clew, Greek, mythology, myths, Valentine's cards, Valentine, heaven, yule, geol, morality, capitalism, tradition, Britain, England, Santa Claus, Father Christmas, flowers, floriography, Old English, soldiers, British Empire, Kris Kringle, presents, gifts, Frost King, Winter King
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