Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

You know it's the Christmas season when the old Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer claymation movies start playing!

Now you can bring the magic and delight of this holiday classic right into your own home.

Your kids will love the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as he overcomes all odds to pull Santa's sleigh through a snowstorm and save Christmas for everyone!

The Tradition of Christmas Stockings

Hanging stockings by the fire to be filled with "stocking stuffers" is one of the oldest traditions associated with Saint Nick.

The story goes that an old nobleman lost his wife and shortly thereafter fell into complete poverty, leaving him unable to provide for his three young daughters. The family lost their home and was forced to live in a humble shack, so poor had they become.

When the time came for his daughters to marry, he had nothing to give them for their dowries. Without dowries they would never be able to find a husband and start families of their own, and for this the old man was heavy with sorrow.

So it happened that one night after the old man's daughters had washed their clothes, they hung their stockings by the fire to dry.

Saint Nicholas stopped by their shack that night, knowing of the despair of the old man. Seeing the girls' stockings hung by the fire, he slipped a pouch of gold in each one, thereby providing the dowry for each of the girls to be married and bringing great joy to the house.

And so, the tradition of receiving gifts in stockings by the fireplace was born!

Narnian Christmas

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis are among the best books to be read and enjoyed during the Christmas season.

One of the most memorable scenes in this much-beloved series of children's books can be found in book two, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, when the three children meet Santa Claus himself in the land of Narnia!

The jolly old man has just returned from a prolonged absence, banished by the evil White Witch a hundred years earlier. He gives the children the first Christmas presents in Narnia since the witch's arrival, as the spell cast upon the land of eternal winter begins to break.

There's nothing better than sitting around the Christmas tree and curling up with a good book, is there?

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Snowman

The Snowman, a short animated film based on a book by Raymond Briggs, is a Christmas memory waiting to happen.

If you or your children haven't seen this movie yet, this is the perfect season to experience it for the first time.

The movie has no words, only music, and vibrant, pulsing scenery like a moving watercolor painting, or the northern lights.

In the film, a young English boy wakes up on Christmas Eve to find that it has snowed. He spends the day building a snowman, which comes to life later that night, taking him on a magical flying journey to the North Pole.

This is a must-see film, and one that you and your children will cherish and enjoy at Christmas time each year.

The Snowman

The Christmas Season Begins!

The Christmas Season traditionally begins the day after Thanksgiving. This is the time when many people begin to put candles in the windows and Christmas lights on the house, and millions get a jump on their holiday shopping.

Check back here at the Old Time Christmas blog for daily Christmas news, stories, gift ideas, recipes and reminiscences!

An Amish Christmas

We all know the Amish don't use electricity, automobiles, or telephones. But have you ever wondered what an Amish Christmas is like?

You won't find elaborately decorated Christmas trees, tons of presents or Christmas lights on the front of an Amish home.

But Amish homes are often decorated with pine boughs and candles, children exchange simple gifts like paper products or knitting kits, and families will exchange similar gifts with other families. Special cookies and candy are often made as special Christmas treats, and some Amish will send Christmas cards to their non-Amish friends.

The Amish celebrate both Christmas on December 25th, and "second Christmas" on the 26th. Second Christmas is a day for relaxing and visiting with friends and family. Highlights of the Christmas festivities include gatherings at the small one room school houses to showcase craftwork as the children perform Christmas-themed plays.

Now THAT is an old time Christmas.