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Landlubber77 t1_j1b85ja wrote

"Every traveler has a home of his own, and he learns to appreciate it the more from his wandering." That's been my favorite quote from A Christmas Carol ever since I googled quotes from A Christmas Carol 16 seconds ago.

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chadslc t1_j1b9se6 wrote

Fun Fact: Most modern celebrations of Christmas are rooted in Dickens, with a Coca-Cola advertising mascot thrown in.

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BrokenEye3 t1_j1bb1hj wrote

That's a myth. Harper's magazine was publishing annual cover illustrations of the modern version of Santa decades before anyone at Coca-Cola thought to base a campaign around him. All Coke did was throw additional weight behind the trend.

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chadslc t1_j1bbcch wrote

Coca-Cola took red & white Santa and added the finer details to make theirs the predominant depiction of Santa.

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BrokenEye3 t1_j1bchwu wrote

Not really. His personal appearance was already completely described by Clark Clement Moore in A Visit from St. Nicholas in 1823, a little over 60 years before the Coca-Cola company was even founded, and the Santa Suit had already been developed to to the appoint of having its iconic present day appearance in 1862, 40 years prior to Haddon Sundblom's 1931 Coca Cola campaign. The Coca-Cola company have even gone on record saying they were only copying the look of Thomas Nast's Santa illustrations for Harper's. Only the art itself is original.

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snow_michael t1_j1bhajm wrote

And the red cloak, wandering around at midwinter, giving gifts to the good?

Odin

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BrokenEye3 t1_j1bqki4 wrote

Since when does Odin wear red?

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mtreef2 t1_j1ck5mm wrote

He doesn't. That's the blood from his enemies.

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snow_michael t1_j1feixw wrote

After gaining the knowledge of runes from hanging on Yggdrasil, he came down to find his blood has soaked his cloak red, so that is what he wore thereafter

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chadslc t1_j1bd833 wrote

That has nothing to do with what I said.

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BrokenEye3 t1_j1bdnfw wrote

It has everything to do with what you said. Coca-Cola's version of Santa is not and cannot be the predominant version of Santa because they don't have their own version of Santa and never had.

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chadslc t1_j1bgho9 wrote

Sit down and read it again.

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thewickerstan OP t1_j1ba79b wrote

I'd throw Washington Irving in there too.

>One of Irving's most lasting contributions to American culture is in the way that Americans celebrate Christmas. In his 1812 revisions to A History of New York, he inserted a dream sequence featuring St. Nicholas soaring over treetops in a flying wagon, an invention which others dressed up as Santa Claus. In his five Christmas stories in The Sketch Book, Irving portrayed an idealized celebration of old-fashioned Christmas customs at a quaint English manor which depicted English Christmas festivities that he experienced while staying in England, which had largely been abandoned.

I think it was the book on customs that had such a huge impact on Dickens.

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Cold_Situation_7803 t1_j1bjibd wrote

Yes, the Headless Sleigh-man is a classic.

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ADiestlTrain t1_j1bw8s8 wrote

Oh, someone is definitely writing that screenplay as we speak.

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RandoCalrissian11 t1_j1d4obz wrote

Unfortunately Hollywood doesn’t currently have the talent or foresight for that.

They will be able to do a sleepy hollow reboot though. It will suck. Or a sequel, which will also suck.

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spiderzork t1_j1bbvdg wrote

most american christmas celebrations.

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chadslc t1_j1bc1pt wrote

North American, though much of it bleeds over into other areas.

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SteO153 t1_j1daytw wrote

British traditions as well, as most of the traditions are from the Victorian era. Even the idea of white Christmas seems to be from Dickens, because when he was a kid there was a sort of small glaciation and snow on Christmas day was very common.

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DaveOJ12 t1_j1b685d wrote

"Happy Christmas" doesn't sound right.

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Kind-Truck3753 t1_j1bbgy4 wrote

It does if you live in England

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chobibbo t1_j1bi2kt wrote

Happy Christmas Harry!

  • Ron Weasley
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CryptidGrimnoir t1_j1bkdmt wrote

"Happy Christmas, Ron! What are you wearing?"

"Oh, this? Mum made it. Looks like you've got one too!"

"I've got presents?!"

"Yeah!"

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pseudo__gamer t1_j1bblim wrote

Lol english is not my main language, ive been saying this to Anglophones for years

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barcelonaKIZ t1_j1e5fnz wrote

If you’re around British people, that might be acceptable. But definitely not in America. It sounds off here

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itskdog t1_j1e2bm5 wrote

At the church I grew up in, it was almost always Happy instead of Merry as there were a few of the older folk who were against alcohol in the church building. (The communion wine was usually grape or cranberry juice)

Merry has hints of getting drunk in it, which wasn't exactly seen as a positive thing.

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Illinois_Yooper t1_j1c2h4o wrote

"I have always thought of Christmas time as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."

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NotReallyFamous5 t1_j1b95vy wrote

Nuh uh, Jesus invented it the day he was born!

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WhereGrapesMayRule t1_j1beirb wrote

Bullshit. GOD already knew about Christmas when he raw-dogged the virgin Mary.

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tchrbrian t1_j1eldph wrote

I favor the " A Christmas Carol " version with George C. Scott.

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burnsbabe t1_j1cdphq wrote

That's funny, since Dickens was English, and it's very American to say "Merry Christmas" instead of the much more English "Happy Christmas".

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treater t1_j1cg1mz wrote

“Merry Christmas” and “Happy Christmas” are both widely used in the UK.

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burnsbabe t1_j1cg7ld wrote

Yes, but "Happy Christmas" isn't really used over here.

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KillerWattage t1_j1d2jnq wrote

If I'm doing the combo it's "Merry Christmas and a happy New Year". Just the one and I'll say "Happy Christmas".

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itskdog t1_j1e2jxj wrote

I thought Americans said Happy Holidays to be neutral to religion?

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hrudnick t1_j1dpgrc wrote

Then they should have a war on Charles Dickens.

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