Episode 004 – Advent Survey Results / The History of Christmas Culture in Last 100 Years (part 1)

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The latest Nick Alexander podcast is up.

First, I share my gratitude for your participation in the Advent Carol survey.  Because of this, I was able to craft an Advent Worship Podcast, and also an accompanying songbook.  The top results are as follows:

1. O Come O Come Emmanuel     86.96%
2. Lo How A Rose E’er Blooming     47.83%
3. People Look East     43.48%
4. Come O Long Expected Jesus     31.88%
5. Creator Of the Stars of Night     31.88%
6. Of the Father’s Love Begotten     30.43%
7. O Come Divine Messiah     24.64%
8. On Jordan’s Bank the Baptists Cry     15.94%
9. The Angel Gabriel From Heaven Came     15.94%
10. The King Shall Come When Glory Dawns     15.94%
11. Come Thou Almighty King     15.94%
12. Wake Awake And Sleep No Longer     8.70%
13. Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates     8.70%
14. Comfort, Comfort, O My People     8.70%

Secondly, I wonder about how come Advent hymns are not remembered as fondly as they were in the past.  And in light of this, I delve into history and share about how our culture has changed in the last 100 years.

A century ago, there may have been a lot less cooperation between the denominations as is today, but there was unity in terms of following the Christian calendar.  Nearly all churches celebrated Advent, as evidenced by their hymnal selections.  And while “O Come O Come Emmanuel” was in nearly all hymnals, so was a number of other great hymns shared in those days.

The beginning of films were small silent shorts and during this time, there was a love towards Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” that resonated then, as it does today.  In the early decades of the 20th century, it spoke to families as the rise of factories were putting great pressures upon its workers.  In the Great Depression, it spoke to caring for those who were downtrodden.

World War II was a huge cultural milestone, partially because the entertainment that came out of movies had to be light and diverting, while the husbands and fathers went off to fight.  “White Christmas,” the hit song from the movie “Holiday Inn”, became the new standard for Christmas carols, as it united families through the radio.  Ten years later, when they released a pseudo-sequel to “Holiday Inn”, they made the film a tribute to veterans.

I contend that the very best Christmas movies ever to come out came during the 40s, first because of WWII, and second because of the veterans’ getting adjusted back to normal life.  Turner Classic Movies has a great selection of old holiday films, and you can check out their schedule here.

The fifties’ gave rise to the boomer generation, and with that came novelty rock and roll songs such as “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and “Jingle Bell Rock.”

The rest of this sharing will take place in next week’s podcast.

In the meantime, I have a Christmas Carol Survey.  What are your favorite traditional Christmas carols?

And this is the last week to fill out the Nick Alexander podcast survey.  You can win a comedy CD of your choice!

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