Top 12 Stories of Christmas

1. The Original Christmas Story: The Nativity of Jesus, Gospel of Luke & Gospel of Matthew, The Bible

2. The Twelve Days of Christmas (published c. 1780)

3. “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” (by E. T. A. Hoffmann – 1816) – The Nutcracker

4. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (by Clement Clarke Moore – 1837)

5. A Christmas Carol (by Charles Dickens – 1843)

6. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

7. White Christmas (1954)

8. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1964)

9. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

10. Frosty the Snowman (1969)

11. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

12. The Legend of the Poinsettia (by Tomie dePaola – 1994)

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Top Christmas Movies (in chronological order of release):

1. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

2. White Christmas (1954)

3. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

Local shout out: Prancer (1989) – Filmed in Three Oaks, Michigan!

4. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

5. Elf (2003)

6. The Nativity Story (2006)

7. Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas) (2006)

8. Noelle (2019)

9. Let It Snow (2019)

10. Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)

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Top Christmas Cartoon Specials (in chronological order of release):

1. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1964)

2. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1967)

4. Frosty the Snowman (1969)

5. Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (1970)

6. The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)

Honorable mention: Jack Frost (1979) (a winter special, not a Christmas special)

7. The Snowman (1982)

8. Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)

Halloween crossover: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

9. The Polar Express (2004)

10. Klaus (2019)

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Top Movies & Specials Set During Christmas (in chronological order of release):

1. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

2. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984) “The Blue Carbuncle”

3. Gremlins (1984)

4. Die Hard (1988)

5. Batman Returns (1992)

6. Agatha Christie’s Poirot “Hercule Poirot’s Christmas” (1994)

7. Chronicles of Narnia – The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)

8. Doctor Who (2005) Christmas Specials

• • • “Voyage of the Damned” (2007) – Tenth Doctor with Astrid Peth vs. Heavenly Host on the Titanic
    • “The Next Doctor” (2008) – Tenth Doctor with Jackson Lake vs. Cybermen in Victorian London
    • “The End of Time” (2009) – Tenth Doctor with Wilfred Mott vs. the Master, featuring Rassilon
    • “The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe” (2011) – Eleventh Doctor in World War II England
    • “The Snowmen” (2012) – Eleventh Doctor with Clara Oswald vs. the Great Intelligence
    • “The Husbands of River Song” (2015) – Twelfth Doctor with River Song vs. King Hydroflax

9. Iron Man 3 (2013)

10. Little Women (2019)

Special mention: The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)

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Top Christmas Stories (in chronological order of release):

1. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (by Clement Clarke Moore – 1837)

2. A Christmas Carol (by Charles Dickens – 1843)

New Years honorable mention: The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In (by Charles Dickens – 1844)

3. The Cricket on the Hearth (by Charles Dickens – 1845)

4. Christmas; or, The Good Fairy (by Harriet Beecher Stowe – 1850)

5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (by Dr. Seuss – 1957)

6. Letters from Father Christmas (by J.R.R. Tolkien – 1976)

7. The Snowman (by Raymond Briggs – 1978)

8. The Polar Express (by Chris Van Allsburg – 1985)

9. The Legend of the Poinsettia (by Tomie dePaola – 1994)

10. Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce (by Stanley Weintraub – 2001)

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Top Christmas Short Stories & Poems (in chronological order of release):

1. “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” (by E. T. A. Hoffmann – 1816)

2. “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” (by Hans Christian Andersen – 1838)

3. “The Fir-Tree” (by Hans Christian Andersen – 1845)

4. “The Snow Queen” (by Hans Christian Andersen – 1845)

5. “The Gift of the Magi” (by O. Henry – 1905)

6. “The Three Kings” (by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow -1922)

7. “The Greatest Gift” (by Philip Van Doren Stern – 1943; basis for It’s a Wonderful Life – 1946)

8. “Christmas Day in the Morning” (“The Gift That Lasts a Lifetime”) (by Pearl S. Buck – 1955)

9. “A Christmas Memory” (by Truman Capote – 1956)

10. “Fish Cheeks” (by Amy Tan – 1989)

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Top 50 Favorite Christmas Carols & Songs:

Early Nativity Christmas Carols

O Come, O Come, Emanuel (1499)
Angels We Have Heard on High (1700)
O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles) (1751) (Bing Crosby 1942)
Silent Night (1818) (Bing Crosby 1935)
The First Noel (1833)
Joy to the World (1836)
Hark, the Herald Angels Sing (1840)

Later Nativity Christmas Carols

We Three Kings (1857)
Go Tell It on the Mountain (1865)
What Child is This? (1865)
O Little Town of Bethlehem (1868)
Away In a Manger (1887)
The Little Drummer Boy (1955)
Do You Hear What I Hear (1962) (Bing Crosby 1963)

Classic Christmas Carols

The Twelve Days of Christmas (1500)
We Wish You a Merry Christmas (1500)
Deck the Halls (1800) (Nat King Cole 1960)
O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum!) (1800)
Here We Come A-wassailing (Here We Come A-caroling) (1850)
Good King Wenceslaus (1853)
Jingle Bells (1857)

Mid-20th Century Christmas Songs

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (1943) (Judy Garland 1944)
I’ll Be Home for Christmas (1943) (Bing Crosby 1943)
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) (1945) (Nat King Cole 1953)
All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth (1948)
Mele Kalikimaka (1949) (Bing Crosby with The Andrews Sisters 1950)
Silver Bells (1950) (Bing Crosby & Carole Richards 1950)
Home For The Holidays (1954)

Modern Christmas Songs

Jingle Bell Rock (1957) (Bobby Helms 1957)
Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree (1958)
Kissin’ by the Mistletoe (1961) (Aretha Franklin)
Holly Jolly Christmas (1964) (Burl Ives)
Feliz Navidad (1970) (José Feliciano)
All I Want for Christmas is You (1994) (Mariah Carey)
Underneath the Tree (2013) (Kelly Clarkson)

Santa Christmas Songs

Up on the Housetop (1870)
Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (1934)
Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer (1939) (Gene Autry & the Pinafores 1949)
Here Comes Santa Claus (1947) (Gene Autry)
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (1952)
Santa Baby (1953)
Oh Santa! (2010) (Mariah Carey)

Winter Christmas Songs

Winter Wonderland (1934)
White Christmas (1940) (Bing Crosby 1942)
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (1945)
Sleigh Ride (1948) (Dolly Parton 1984)
Frosty the Snowman (1950) (Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys 1950)
It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas (1951)
The Most Wonderful Time of The Year (1963)

New Years Song

Auld Lang Syne (1711) (Peerless Quartet 1921)

More Christmas Songs

• • Santa Claus Got Stuck in My Chimney (1950) (Ella Fitzgerald)
  • Suzy Snowflake (1951) (Rosemary Clooney)
  • The Night Before Christmas Song (1952) (Rosemary Clooney & Gene Autry)
  • Happy Christmas, Little Friend (1953) (Rosemary Clooney)
  • The Christmas Blues (1953) (Dean Martin)
  • Christmas in New Orleans (1955) (Louis Armstrong with the Benny Carter Orchestra)
  • Mistletoe and Holly (1957) (Frank Sinatra)
  • Christmas Celebration (1963) (B. B. King)
  • It’s Christmas Time All Over the World (1963) (Sammy Davis, Jr.)
  • You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (1966) (Thurl Ravenscroft)
  • Thank God It’s Christmas (1984) (Queen)
  • Last Christmas (1984) (Wham!)
  • Song for a Winter’s Night (1994) (Sarah McLachlan)
  • Christmas Canon (1998) (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
  • One Wish (for Christmas) (2003) (Whitney Houston)
  • Wizards in Winter (2004) (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
  • Christmas Tree (2009) Lady Gaga featuring Space Cowboy
  • Dreams of Fireflies (On a Christmas Night) (2012) (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
  • Underneath the Tree  (2013) Kelly Clarkson
  • Cozy Little Christmas (2018) Katy Perry

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Thanksgiving

November (2026)

26 (Th): Thanksgiving

27 (Fr): Black Friday

28 (Sa): Small Business Saturday

29 (Su): First Sunday of Advent

30 (Mo): Cyber Monday

Christmastide

December (2026)

1 (Tu): Giving Tuesday

• • • National Christmas Lights Day

2 (We): Business of Popping Corn Day

• • • National Build Joy Day

3 (Th): Make a Gift Day

4 (Fr): Sunset: Hanukkah begins

• • • Santa’s List Day
    • National Cookie Day

5 (Sa): Saint Nicholas’ Eve & Krampusnacht

• • • World Pear Day (First Saturday in December)

• 

6 (Su): Second Sunday of Advent & Saint Nicholas Day

• • • Mitten Tree Day

7 (Mo): Eve of the Immaculate Conception (Day of the Little Candles)

• • • Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

8 (Tu): Feast of the Immaculate Conception

• • • Bodhi Day

9 (We): Lutefisk Day

• • • Christmas Card Day

10 (Th): Christmas Jumper Day

11 (Fr): Holiday Food Drive Day

• • • Gingerbread House Eve

12 (Sa): Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

• • • National Poinsettia Day
    • Hanukkah ends (nightfall)

• 

13 (Su): Third Sunday of Advent & Saint Lucy’s Day

• • • National Hot Cocoa Day

14 (Mo): Roast Chestnuts Day

15 (Tu): National Lemon Cupcake Day

• 

16 (We): Las Posadas begins

17 (Th): Saturnalia

18 (Fr): National Wreaths Across America Day (Third Friday in December)

• • • National Roast Suckling Pig Day
    • Bake Cookies Day

19 (Sa): Holly Day

20 (Su): Fourth Sunday of Advent

• • • Games Day
    • Go Caroling Day

21 (Mo): Yule-Winter Solstice (wassail & Yule ham)

• • • Blue Christmas (Longest Night)
    • Ribbon Candy Day

22 (Tu): National Cookie Exchange Day

• • • National Date Nut Bread Day

23 (We): National Christmas Movie Marathon Day

• 

24 (Th): Christmas Eve (Feast of the Seven Fishes)

25 (Fr): Christmas Day

26 (Sa): Saint Stephen’s Day (“Good King Wenceslas” Christmas carol)

• • • Boxing Day
    • Wren Day (Lá an Dreoilín)
    • Kwanzaa begins
    • Zarathosht Diso
    • National Thank-You Note Day
    • National Candy Cane Day

27 (Su): Make Cut-Out Snowflakes Day

• • • National Fruitcake Day

28 (Mo): Childermas (Holy Innocents’ Day)

• • • Call a Friend Day

29 (Tu): Tick Tock Day (finish 2026 goals)

30 (We): National Resolution Planning Day

31 (Th): New Year’s Eve & Hogmanay

January (2027)

1 (Fr): New Year’s Day

• • • Polar Bear Plunge Day
    • Kwanzaa ends

2 (Sa): Celebration of Life Week

3 (Su): J.R.R. Tolkien Day

• • • National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day

4 (Mo): Trivia Day

• • • National Spaghetti Day

5 (Tu): Twelfth Night (Epiphany Eve) (wassail)

6 (We): Epiphany

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Christmas Traditions

Christmas Decorations

• • Nativity Creche (Saint Francis of Assisi in 1223)
  • Mistletoe (Ancient Druids)
  • Christmas Trees (Middle Ages Germany)
  • Christmas Wreath (Middle Ages Germany)
  • Christmas Pickles (late 1800’s USA)
  • Christmas Lights (1882 USA)
  • Poinsettias (Cuetlaxochitl) [kwet-la-sho-she] (20th Century USA)

Christmas Festivities

• • Yule Log (ancient winter solstice celebrations)
  • Christmas Markets (Christkindlmarkt) (1434 Germany)
  • Christmas Cards (1843 England)
  • Advent Calendars (1903 Germany)

Christmas Treats

• • Mincemeat Pie (European Crusaders from Levant)
  • Wassail mulled cider (13th Century England)
  • Boar’s Head (13th Century England)
  • Eggnog (14th Century England)
  • Figgy Pudding (14th Century England)
  • Fruitcake (16th Century England)
  • Gingerbread Houses (16th Century Germany)
  • Sugar Plums (1600s England)
  • Candy Canes (1670 Germany)
  • Smoking Bishop mulled wine (1800s England)
  • Roasted Chestnuts (1800s England)
  • Christmas Plum Pudding (1845 England)
  • Cookies and Milk for Santa (1930’s USA)