I tried to find a vintage/retro film in honor of Hanukkah but, basically, all I could find was Adam Sandler’s Chanukah Song (which is pretty funny but not really retro) and lots and lots of videos of children’s performances of the Dreidel Song. If you know of one, please, let me know. I strongly believe in the “Happy Holidays” greeting and get a little annoyed when we Christians act like we own December.
I have had the good fortune of living in different parts of the United States and encountering the various cultures embedded within it. During my first Christmas in New Jersey, though, I wasn’t feeling very fortunate. I was terribly homesick, even though we had only arrived two months earlier. My New Jersey teaching certificate hadn’t been approved, yet, and I spent my days in our apartment crying and sewing and sometimes crying and sewing at the same time. And being flabbergasted by how utterly cold I was.
As luck would have it, WHYY in Philadelphia was having a pledge drive and as part of the offerings, they showed a film produced by Bells Systems Telephone Company in 1950 that had been recently unearthed and restored. “The Spirit of Christmas” is a gentle marionette version of “The Visit from St. Nicholas” poem by Clement Clark Moore followed by the telling of the Christmas story. I was still homesick but my new home had introduced me to a Philadelphia classic.
Unfortunately, the version I found on You Tube had been chopped up a little bit, but it is still worth watching.
Click here for Part 1 if player isn’t working
Click here for Part 2 if player isn’t working
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