The Everything Family Christmas Book (77 page)

Reindeer, 29, 315

Richard II, King, 11

“Rise Up, Shepherd and Follow” (carol), 224

Robert Shaw’s Christmas Special
(television program), 244

Robinson, Jackie (doll), 64

Roman Catholicism, 8, 35, 48, 316, 317, 320

Roman Empire, 5, 9, 60

Roosevelt, Theodore, 63, 280 Roquemaure, Cappeau de, 222 Rossetti, Christina, 199, 200
Rudolph’s Shiny New Year
(television program), 250

“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (song), 19

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
(television program), 251

Russia, 23, 27, 30, 311–12

Safety precautions, 344–45, 350, 352, 356

Santa Claus, 16, 19, 27–28, 62, 279, 304, 305, 314, 318, 319, 321.
See also
Nicholas, St.

evolution of, 30–31

sources of character, 22

writing letters to, 335

Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
(television program), 248

Saturnalia, 7–8, 40, 46, 47, 60, 62

Scarecrow and Mrs. King
(television program), 244

Schulz, Charles, 293

Schwan, Henry, 50

Scotland, 12, 307

Scrooge
(television program), 246

Sears, Edmund, 215

Sears Roebuck, 280

Seasons Greetings from the

Honeymooners
(television program), 247

Second Christmas, 309, 312

Sergius I, Pope, 37

Shakespeare, William, 39, 201

Sheng Dan Jieh (Holy Birth Festival), 319

Shepherds’ Fields, 317

Shopping, 335, 342–43, 345

Sicily, 23

Sikhism, 329

“Silent Night” (carol), 15, 225, 308

Silent Night
(television program), 250

The Simpsons
(television program), 249

Sing Along with Mitch Miller (television program), 238

Sing-It-Yourself Messiah
(television program), 244

Sinter Klaas, 18, 21, 26, 27–28, 30

60 Minutes
(television program), 239

The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.
(Irving), 18

Sleeping Beauty
(television program), 243

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (television program), 238

A Song for the Season
(television program), 249

The Sounds of Christmas
(television program), 241

South Africa, 317, 321

South America, 315–16

Space Cantata
(television program), 239

Spain, 39, 304–5

A Special Christmas with Mr. Rogers (television program), 241

Spring Festival, 319

St. Elsewhere
(television program), 244

St. Nicholas Collegiate Church, 28

St. Nicholas’s Day, 25, 27, 28, 40.
See also
Nicholas, St.

around the world, 302, 307, 308, 309, 311, 312

introduction of, 23–24

Star of Bethlehem, 4–5, 37–38, 312

Stealing Christmas
(television program), 250

Stern, Philip Van Doren, 234

Stockings, tradition of hanging, 24, 41, 305, 319, 334

Story Theater
(television program), 239

Stress reduction, 337, 341–43

Sundblom, Haddon, 31

Svatej Nikulus, 312, 313

Sweden, 27, 48, 55, 310–11

Switzerland, 34, 308

Synod of Mainz, 10

Syria, 318

The Tailor of Gloucester (television program), 246

Tate, Nahum, 231

Teddy bear, 62–63, 280

Telephone Hour
(television program), 237

That’s Life
(television program), 239

Thor, 47, 52, 310

Tiffany’s, 66

To a Stout Lady in a Short Skirt (poem), 285

Tony Orlando and Dawn
(television program), 241

Toys, 62–68, 282, 284, 286, 288, 298–99

Trading Spaces Christmas Marathon (television program), 249

Truman, Harry, 291

Twain, Mark, 180, 182

Twelfth Night, 36, 306

Twelve days of Christmas, 8, 9, 37, 40

“The Twelve Days of Christmas” (carol), 226–27, 339

20/20
(television program), 243

Two-thousands, 298–300

Unlikely Angel
(television program), 248

Urn of Fate, 304, 305

Use Less Stuff
(Lilienfeld), 299

Venezuela, 316

A Very Brady Christmas (television program), 296

A Very Retail Christmas
(television program), 245

Victoria, Queen, 15, 36

Victorian era, 14, 15–16, 40, 44, 54, 61

Viejo Pascuero, 315

“A Visit from St. Nicholas“/”’Twas the Night Before Christmas” (Moore), 19, 22, 28–29, 196–98

Vladimir of Russia, 25

Wade, John Francis, 220

Wales, 306

Walker, Cameron, 299

Washington, George, 18, 49

Wassail, 45, 406

Watts, Isaac, 218

Wesley, Charles, 212

West Indies, 313–15

The West Wing
(television program), 250

“We Three Kings of Orient Are” (carol), 228

“We Wish You a Merry Christmas” (carol), 229

“What Child Is This?” (carol), 230

“While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks” (carol), 231

White House Christmas events, 19, 49, 50, 291, 348

The White House Christmas 2005
(television program), 251

Wiccans, 331

Willis, Richard S., 215

Wilson, Harold, 285

Winter solstice, 6–7, 8, 9, 27, 40, 44, 331

Wise Men/Magi, 4–5, 27, 36–38, 60, 303, 304, 305, 311, 312, 318

Wodin, 26, 30

The Wonderful World of Disney (television program), 240

Woolworth, F. W., 56, 57

Wreaths, creating, 355–56, 359

Xmas (origin of spelling), 34

“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” (Church), 19, 22, 30–31, 86–87

Yule log, 9, 51–52

Yule log centerpiece, 353