Christmas Eve Programs
(As originally broadcast on WTIC, Hartford, CT)
Notes on programs, by Doug Bertel

Notes on programs, by Doug Bertel A holiday tradition on WTIC Radio in Hartford, Connecticut from 1962 to 1976, Dick Bertel would host a program of Christmas music at 8:00 p.m. each Christmas Eve.  1964 was the first year that he included Jimmy and daughter Darcy in the show. 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1972 1973 1975 1976 Christmas Eve 1964 The Night before Christmas This is the program that answers that immortal Christmas question:  What’s a ‘boose?  In a rare appearance, Dick Bertel’s wife Jean can be heard laughing when their son Jimmy goes to the hall closet to fetch an example of something he believes Santa’s elves have packed for him at the North Pole. The anticipation of the imminent arrival of Santa Claus dominates the conversation.  Bertel also relates a fictionalized account of how Dr. Clement Clarke Moore wrote his famous poem “Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” better known by its opening line, “’‘twas the night before Christmas,” while riding in a sleigh in New York on Christmas Eve 1822.  According to this story, the sleigh was being driven by a Dutch handyman named Peter who inspired Moore’s iconic image of Santa Claus as he and his horse pushed through the winter night. This episode was broadcast on Thursday, December 24, 1964.   The children’s dialogue with their father was recorded at their home on Randy Lane in Wethersfield, Connecticut.  The rest of the show was recorded, mixed, and produced by engineer Bob Scherago at WTIC’s Broadcast House studios on Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford. This edition was sponsored by the Connecticut Light and Power Company and the Charter Oak Bank and Trust Company.  The president and founder of the bank, William E. Budds (1920-2001), offers yuletide greetings. Songs Most of the songs in this episode were taken from two albums.  One is a 1954 compilation of music by various artists called “First Christmas Record for Children,” abbreviated below as “FCRC.”  The other is “Pops Christmas Party,” designated below as “PCP,” a 1959 collection of performances by the Boston Pops Orchestra, conducted by Arthur Fiedler.  • “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” (opening theme) by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra from their 1959 album “Music for a Merry Christmas” • “Silent Night, Holy Night” from the 1961 album "A Music Box Christmas" from the music box collection of Rita Ford (repeats during the program) • “Here Comes Santa Claus (Down Santa Claus Lane)” by Doris Day, 1949 (FCRC) • “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by Bob Hannon, 1954 (FCRC) • “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” by an orchestra conducted by Jackie Gleason from his 1956 album “Merry Christmas” • “Jolly Old St. Nicholas” by Frank DeVol and the Rainbow Strings from their 1960 album “The Old Sweet Songs of Christmas" • “Sleigh Ride,” a composition by Leroy Anderson (PCP) • “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella” by Percy Faith and his Orchestra from their 1958 album "Hallelujah!" • “’Twas the Night before Christmas" by Ray Heatherton, 1950  (FCRC)   [Heatherton was “The Merry Mailman” on New York television stations Channel 9, WOR-TV (WWOR today), and Channel 11, WPIX, as well as the Mutual Broadcasting System radio network.] • “Babes in Toyland:  March of the Toys,” performed by the Boston Pops Orchestra as conducted by Arthur Fiedler on its 1958 album "Marches in HiFi" • “He’ll be Coming Down the Chimney (Like He Always Did Before)” by Gene Autry, 1951 (FCRC) • “A Christmas Festival,” a medley of carols arranged by Leroy Anderson that includes “Joy to the World,” “Deck the Halls,” “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” “Good King Wenceslas,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “The First Nowell (The First Noel)," “Silent Night,” “Jingle Bells,” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful” (PCP) • “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” (closing theme) by Percy Faith and his Orchestra, also from “Hallelujah!,” 1958 NOTE:  This episode was originally approximately one hour in length.  Degradation of the reel-to-reel tape on which it had been saved, however, made it necessary to truncate a portion of it. Top Christmas Eve 1965 It's a Small World after All In this episode, Dick Bertel uses "Walt Disney's 'It's a Small World,' a Salute to UNICEF and the World's Children" exhibit inside the Pepsi pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair to illustrate to his daughter Darcy, son Jimmy, and their listeners how "Christmas is for everyone, not just a special few." He also tells the children about a nine-feet wide Christmas pie that was baked in 1770 in England. Its ingredients included geese, turkeys, rabbits, ducks, woodcocks, snipes, partridges, curlews, blackbirds, and pigeons. In addition, he shares a fictionalized account of how Dr. Clement Clarke Moore wrote his immortal poem "Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas," better known by its opening line, "'Twas the Night before Christmas," while riding in a sleigh in New York on Christmas Eve 1822. According to this story, the sleigh was being driven by a Dutch handyman named Peter who inspired Moore's iconic image of Santa Claus as he and his horse pushed through the winter night. Finally, Bertel recites "The Bells of Christmas" by Hilliard Arthur Schendorf, a story with a moral similar to that of the 1985 book "The Polar Express" by Chris Van Allsburg. This episode was broadcast on Friday, December 24, 1965. The children's dialogue with their father was recorded at their home on Randy Lane in Wethersfield, Connecticut. The rest of the show was recorded, mixed, and produced by engineer Bob Scherago at WTIC's Broadcast House studios on Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford. This program was sponsored by the Hartford Insurance Group and the Charter Oak Bank and Trust Company. The president and founder of the bank, William E. Budds (1920-2001), offers yuletide greetings. Songs "Good Christian Men, Rejoice" (opening theme) by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra from their 1959 album "Music for a Merry Christmas"T The title track from "Ray Conniff's Christmas Album: Here We Come A-caroling," issued in 1965 "Greensleeves" by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra, also from "Music for a Merry Christmas," 1959 "What Child Is This?" from the 1957 album "The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sings Christmas Carols" "Christmas Magic (The Meaning of Christmas)" by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians from their 1961 album "The Meaning of Christmas" "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" by an orchestra conducted by Jackie Gleason from his 1956 album "Merry Christmas" "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" by Frank DeVol and the Rainbow Strings from their 1960 album "The Old Sweet Songs of Christmas" "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" by Mitch Miller and the Gang from their 1961 album "Holiday Sing Along with Mitch" "Away in a Manger" by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra, also from "Music for a Merry Christmas," 1959 "Mary's Boy Child" by Harry Belafonte from his 1957 album "An Evening with Belafonte" "The Snow Falls Quietly (Leise Rieselt der Schnee)" by Hans Carste and his Orchestra from their 1958 album "Silent Night - Holy Night (Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht)" "Carol of the Bells" by the Harry Simeone Chorale from its 1965 album "O Bambino - The Little Drummer Boy" "White Christmas" by an orchestra conducted by Jackie Gleason on his 1956 album "Merry Christmas" "I Heard the Bells," also from "The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sings Christmas Carols," 1957 A children's choir singing "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night)" in German A French children's choir, Les Petits Chanteurs de Versailles, singing "Les Anges dans Nos Campagnes (The Angels in Our Fields / Angels We Have Heard on High)" from their 1963 album "Christmas in France" An unknown holiday song in Tagalog, the national language of The Philippines o "It's a Small World (after All)" performed by the St. Charles Boys Choir under the pseudonym "The Disneyland Boys Choir" on the 1965 album "It's a Small World" "Good Christian Men, Rejoice" (closing theme) by Percy Faith and his Orchestra from their 1958 album "Hallelujah!" Top   Christmas Eve 1966 Virginia O'Hanlon Douglas  This episode's special guest is (Laura) Virginia O'Hanlon Douglas (1889-1971) whose 1897 letter to "The New York Sun" inspired editor Francis Church (1839-1906), who had been a war correspondent during the Civil War, to pen the response, "yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." While playing their favorite Christmas songs, the program begins with host Dick Bertel asking his daughter Darcy and son Jimmy about what they like to do for fun during the holiday season. He also reads them his original story about fictitious Phillipsburg, "The Town Where it Never Snowed at Christmas" until a minister's comforting words to a dying child lead to the divine fulfillment of God's blessing on the village. Dr. Douglas first appears in the second half of the show. Her comments are excerpted from a half-hour interview Bertel conducted in 1963 at her home in North Chatham, New York near Albany, the seat of the Empire State's Capital District, and broadcast on WTIC for another Christmas Eve radio program that same year. [The raw interview has been catalogued and archived by the Library of Congress with control number (LCCN) 2004654556 since 2003.] In these clips, she recalls what Christmas was like for her as a child, why she asked a newspaper if there is a Santa Claus, and how she and her father Phillip O'Hanlon both reacted when they first read the response. In perhaps the most poignant moment of the broadcast, she explains --- at seventy-four years old and sixty-six years after the editorial was first published--- why she still believes in Santa Claus, now "more than ever." Bertel reads Mr. Church's editorial, published on September 21, 1897 with the title "Is There a Santa Claus?" And as he concludes the program, he reminds the children of all the miracles to celebrate during the holidays, making reference to the 1966 Christmas truce in the Vietnam War. As always, the program ends with the signature closing, "from our house to your house." This episode was broadcast on Saturday, December 24, 1966. The children's dialogue with their father was recorded at their home on Randy Lane in Wethersfield, Connecticut. The rest of the show was recorded, mixed, and produced by engineer Bob Scherago at WTIC's Broadcast House studios on Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford. This edition was sponsored by the Hartford Insurance Group and the Charter Oak Bank and Trust Company. The president and founder of the bank, William E. Budds (1920-2001), offers yuletide greetings. Songs "Good Christian Men, Rejoice" (opening theme) by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra from their 1959 album "Music for a Merry Christmas" "Pat-a-Pam" from the 1963 album "The Wonderful Songs of Christmas with the Harry Simeone Chorale" "Sweet L'il Jesus" from the 1961 album "Christmas with Leontyne Price" "Away in a Manger" by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra, also from "Music for a Merry Christmas," 1959 "Away in a Manger / Come, Dear Children" by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians from their 1966 album "A Caroling We Go" "One Little Snowflake" by Mel Tormé from his 1965 album "That's All" "The Snow Falls Quietly (Leise Rieselt der Schnee)" by Hans Carste and his Orchestra from their 1958 album "Silent Night - Holy Night (Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht)" "O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)" by Domenico Savino and his Orchestra from their 1958 album "Hi-Fi Christmas Party" "Jingle Bells" by Domenico Savino and his Orchestra, also from "Hi-Fi Christmas Party," 1958 "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra, also from "Music for a Merry Christmas," 1959 "A Caroling We Go," the title track on Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians' 1966 holiday album "Medley: Jolly Old St. Nicholas / The Little Drummer Boy" by the Ray Conniff Singers from their 1962 album "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" "Silver Bells," also from "The Wonderful Songs of Christmas with the Harry Simeone Chorale," 1963 "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" by an orchestra conducted by Jackie Gleason on his 1956 album "Merry Christmas" "Silent Night" by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra, also from "Music for a Merry Christmas," 1959 "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" from "The Andy Williams Christmas Album," issued in 1963 "Masters in This Hall," also from "The Wonderful Songs of Christmas with the Harry Simeone Chorale," 1963 "Once in Royal David's City" by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra, also from "Music for a Merry Christmas," 1959 "Good Christian Men, Rejoice" (closing theme) by Percy Faith and his Orchestra from their 1954 album "Hallelujah!"  Top Christmas Eve 1967 Mark Twain House & Marian Anderson This year, Dick Bertel, daughter Darcy, and son Jimmy spend “Christmas in Connecticut” with legendary opera star Marian Anderson, a Danbury resident, and Serie Larson, the curator and assistant director of the Mark Twain Memorial in Hartford.  They also introduce baby Susan who was born in September. Room by room, Serie Larson (1907-1984) describes how the Samuel Clemens (1835-1910) family ---Mark Twain, his wife Livy, and their daughters Susy, Clara, and Jean--- enjoyed Christmas in their house in the Nook Farm neighborhood from 1874 to 1890.  Making reference to the Apollo space program, she shares enchanting details from the letter that Santa Claus sent the girls from the Palace of St. Nicholas in the moon. Next, Bertel introduces the children to Marian Anderson (1897-1993), the contralto who became an enduring icon of the civil rights movement in 1939 when the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) denied a request from Howard University to permit the world-renowned singer to perform a benefit concert at Constitution Hall, its Washington, D.C. headquarters, simply because she was black.  This led first lady Eleanor Roosevelt to resign her DAR membership and help organize a public Easter concert by Anderson on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, a recital that was witnessed by a crowd of 75,000 people and that was broadcast nationwide by NBC's Blue Network. When asked what Christmas was like during her childhood, she deflects the question, saying she can only think of a sad one.  (She is probably referring to Christmas 1909 when she was a 12-year-old in Philadelphia.  According to her 1956 autobiography "My Lord, What a Morning," while her father was bedridden and dying, a neighbor made a thoughtless remark about her belief in Santa Claus that “clung to [her] and spoiled that Christmas.”)  Instead, she pivots to telling how she spent Christmas 1933 in Dalarna, Sweden, juxtaposed between a sleigh ride through a forest in the cold winter night and a festive old house where a large roaring fire and hot mulled wine kindled warm feelings of kinship.  Concluding her remarks, she offers a benediction: “I would only hope too that the spirit of Christmas could last a little longer in the hearts of men …  because we are, after all, our brother’s keeper.” A holiday tradition on WTIC Radio in Hartford, Connecticut from 1962 to 1976, Dick Bertel would host a program of Christmas music at 8:00 p.m. each Christmas Eve.  This episode was broadcast on Sunday, December 24, 1967.   Bertel interviewed Serie Larson at the Mark Twain House and Museum and talked with Marian Anderson at WTIC's Broadcast House studios on Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford where the rest of the show was later mixed and produced by engineer Bob Schearago.  The children’s dialogue was recorded at their home on Randy Lane in Wethersfield, Conn.  The president and founder of the Charter Oak Bank and Trust Company, William Budds (1920-2001), offers yuletide greetings. And on behalf of the Hartford Insurance Group, Bertel describes how “a huge evergreen tree bedecked with bright Christmas lights” on the grounds of its Asylum Avenue headquarters “serves as a colorful holiday greeting to neighbors in the Greater Hartford area.” Songs • “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” (opening theme) by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra from “Music for a Merry Christmas," 1959 (FCO, MMC) • “Here We Come A-caroling” by the New Christy Minstrels from “Christmas with the Christies," 1966 • “Trois Anges Sont Venus ce Soir” from “The Christmas Album” by Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra, 1967 (PMO, CA) • “The Holly and the Ivy” by the Norman Luboff Choir from "Songs of Christmas," 1956 • “Away in a Manger” (FCO, MMC) • “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” from “Roger Williams Plays Christmas Songs,” 1956 • “Greensleeves” (FCO, MMC) • “It was a Night of Wonder” by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians from “A Caroling We Go,” 1966 • “Il est Né, le Divin Enfant” (PMO, CA) • “Patapan” by the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by George Szell, from "The Great Songs of Christmas (Album Seven)," 1967 (GSC7) • “White Christmas" (PMO, CA) • “’Twas the Night before Christmas” by Steve Lawrence (GSC7) • “Once in Royal David’s City” (FCO, MMC) (repeats) • “Silent Night” from "The Original Music Box Medley of Christmas Songs" from the A.V. Bornand collection, 1960 • “Love is a Christmas Rose” by Perry Como, 1967 single • “Christmas Is” by the Harry Simeone Chorale (GSC7) • “The Snow Falls Quietly (Leise Rieselt der Schnee)” by Hans Carste and his Orchestra from “Silent Night – Holy Night (Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht),” 1958 • “The Sleigh” by Hugo & Luigi with their Children’s Chorus from “The Sound of Children at Christmas,” 1960 • “The First Noël” by Marian Anderson from her 1962 album “Christmas Carols" (MA, CC) • "Angel's Song” (MA, CC) • “Ave Maria” (MA, CC) • “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” (closing theme) by Percy Faith and his Orchestra from “Hallelujah!,” 1954 Top Christmas Eve 1968 Sailing Ships of Mystic & Essex, CT In this edition, Dick Bertel and his children Darcy, Jimmy, and Susan listen to stories of Christmas during the days of sailing ships as told by B. MacDonald Steers, who retired in 1960 as the educational director at the outdoor living history museum Mystic Seaport, and Alfred P. Knapp, a booster of the Sailing Masters of 1812, a fife and drum corps founded in 1963 in Essex, Conn. (Bernard) MacDonald Steers (1896-1979), a U.S. Army veteran of World War I, relates several tales of the 19th century Connecticut shipping industry including • sailmaker Charles Mallory (1796-1882) who settled in Mystic in 1816 and became one of the state’s most prosperous shipping magnates by the 1860s; his son Charles Henry (1818-1890), the founder of the New York and Texas Steamship Company; and Charles Henry’s fraternal grandsons Clifford (1881-1941), the first chairman of the maritime museum’s board, and Phillip (1885-1975), the current chairman • the diverse crews on whaling ships including South Pacific islanders known as “kanakas” whom Steers likens to the character Queequeg in Herman Melville’s 1851 novel “Moby Dick” • an account of a Christmas Day spent on the Malay Peninsula in the port of Penang by a teenager named Barnard • the burning of the three-mast Mystic ship “Robin Hood” which pioneered American whaling in the Sea of Okhotsk off Japan before meeting its fate as one of twenty-four vessels purchased by the U.S. Navy to be deliberately scuttled in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina in December 1861 as the infamous Stone Fleet to inhibit blockade running during the Civil War • the 1870 unexpected encounter of the Mystic ships “Dauntless” and “Thomas Dana” near Cape Horn, respectively captained by brothers Robert and John Wilbur Fred Knapp (1909-1991), a metallurgist who founded his own company, Knapp Mills, and invented lead-sheathed containers for the transportation of radioactive materials for the development of the American atomic bomb and the containment of nuclear fuel rods and waste, introduces performances by the Sailing Masters of 1812 who are accompanied by soprano Frances O’Dell, the choir director at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic church in Essex. • “Yankee Doodle Dandy” • “I Saw Three Ships (Come Sailing In)“ • “Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing“ • “The Huron Carol” (a.k.a. “’Twas the Moon of Wintertime“), a song originally composed in the native Wyandot language of the Huron Nation circa 1642 by Jean de Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary to Canada, to teach about the birth of Jesus This episode was broadcast at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 24, 1968.   Dovetailing with this theme of nautical voyages, at 9:30 p.m. the major American radio and television networks will carry a broadcast by the crew of the Apollo 8 as it orbits the moon in the first spacecraft to ever to do so. The children’s dialogue with their father was recorded at their home on Randy Lane in Wethersfield, Conn.  The rest of the show was produced by engineer Bob Scherago at WTIC’s Broadcast House studios on Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford. This edition was sponsored by the Hartford Insurance Group and the Charter Oak Bank and Trust Company.  During his yuletide greetings, the president and founder of the bank, William E. Budds (1920-2001), appeals for peace after a particularly tumultuous year. SONGS • “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra from their 1959 album “Music for a Merry Christmas” (FCO, MMC) • “Masters in This Hall” from the 1963 album "The Wonderful Songs of Christmas with the Harry Simeone Chorale" • “Greensleeves” (FCO, MMC) • “Away in a Manger,” sung by an unknown children’s choir • “Away in a Manger,” (instrumental, FCO, MMC) • “Mary’s Boy Child” by Harry Belafonte from his 1957 album “An Evening with Belafonte” • “Once in Royal David’s City” (FCO, MMC) • “Jolly Old St. Nicholas” by the Ray Conniff Singers from their 1962 album “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” • “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella” by Percy Faith and his Orchestra from their 1958 album “Hallelujah!” (PFO, H) • “Some Children See Him” by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians (Jim Wheeler, soloist) from their 1966 album "A Caroling We Go" (FWP, CWG) • “A Caroling We Go" (FWP, CWG) • “The Snow Falls Quietly (Leise Rieselt der Schnee)” by Hans Carste and his Orchestra from their 1958 album “Silent Night – Holy Night (Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht)” • “Medley:  Jingle Bells / Sleigh Ride” by Henry Mancini, his Orchestra and Chorus from their 1966 album, “A Merry Mancini Christmas” • “Noël We Sing” from the 1968 album “What Child is This” with performances by organist E. Power Biggs, the Gregg Smith Singers, the Texas Boys Choir of Fort Worth, and the New York Brass and Percussion Ensemble • “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” Top Christmas Eve 1969 Beecher Stowe House, Wadsworth Atheneum Recalling the Gilded Age, Dick Bertel’s 1969 Christmas show was recorded on location at the Nook Farm home of Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) and inside the Goodwin Parlor at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, both in Hartford, Connecticut. Joseph S. Van Why (1927-1997), the director of the Stowe-Day Memorial and Historical Foundation (renamed “Harriet Beecher Stowe Center” in 1994), conducts a tour of the 1871 house that the author of the 1852 anti-slavery novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” purchased with her husband Calvin in 1873.  (It was first opened to the public in 1968.)  He describes how the abolitionist first returned to Connecticut in 1864 (making reference to the Underwood typewriter factory in Hartford which closed in 1969), her close relationships with her family and her neighbor Mark Twain, and a china tea set with a violet design that Mrs. Stowe created herself.   While explaining why she celebrated Christmas despite being a Calvinist, he reads a passage from her final book, “Poganuc People:  Their Loves and Lives” (1878), which she based on her childhood in Litchfield, Conn. At the Wadsworth Atheneum, the curator of textiles and costumes, J. Herbert Callister (1913-1980), details the Victorian Christmas decorations inside the Goodwin reception room.  Originally a part of the Goodwin Castle, an Asylum Hill mansion built on Woodland Street 1871-1874 but razed 1939-1940, it was first installed at the Wadsworth in 1944 before being incorporated into the new James Lippincott Goodwin Building which opened in 1969, a major renovation project that closed the entire museum for much of 1968 and the following year.  (The parlor will be renovated in 1990.)  Mr. Callister also reviews the medieval origins of the Christmas tree and relates why Christmas wasn’t celebrated widely in New England until the 1870s. This episode was broadcast on Wednesday, December 24, 1969.   Bertel’s dialogue with his children Darcy, Jimmy, and Susan was recorded at their home on Randy Lane in Wethersfield, Conn.  The rest of the show was mixed and produced by engineer Bob Scherago at WTIC’s Broadcast House studios on Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford. This edition was sponsored by the Hartford Insurance Group and the Charter Oak Bank and Trust Company.  The president and founder of the bank, William E. Budds (1920-2001), offers yuletide greetings.   Songs • “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” (opening theme) by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra from their 1959 album “Music for a Merry Christmas” (FCO, MMC) • “Happy Holiday” by Percy Faith, his Orchestra, and Chorus from their 1966 album “Christmas Is...” (PFOC, CI) • “Once in Royal David’s City” (FCO, MMC) • “O Holy Night” by John Davidson from his 1969 album “My Christmas Favorites” • “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” by the Johnny Mann Singers, the title track from their 1967 holiday album (JMS, WWYMC) • “Away in a Manger” (FCO, MMC) • “Greensleeves” (FCO, MMC) • “Old Toy Trains” by Glen Campbell from his 1968 album “That Christmas Feeling” • “Here We Come a-Caroling” by the Ray Charles Singers, the title track from their 1956 holiday album • “Deck the Hall with Boughs of Holly" by the Cleveland Orchestra (George Szell, conductor) from the 1967 compilation album "The Great Songs of Christmas (Album Seven)" • “Trois Anges Sont Venus ce Soir” from “The Christmas Album” by Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra, 1967 (PMO, CA) • “We Three Kings of Orient Are” by Andre Kostelanetz from his 1964 album “Wishing You a Merry Christmas” • “The Snow Falls Quietly (Leise Rieselt der Schnee)” by Hans Carste and his Orchestra from their 1958 album “Silent Night – Holy Night (Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht)” • “Joy to the World” from the 1968 album “What Child is This” with performances by organist E. Power Biggs, The Gregg Smith Singers, the Texas Boys Choir of Fort Worth, and the New York Brass and Percussion Ensemble • “Douce Nuit, Sainte Nuit” (PMO, CA) • “Angels from the Realms of Glory” by Julie Andrews with the orchestra, harpsichord, and arrangements of André Previn from their 1967 album “A Christmas Treasure” • “The First Noël” from the 1960 album “The Holly and the Ivy:  Christmas Carols by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir” • “The First Nowell” (FCO, MMC) • “O Christmas Tree” (JMS, WWYMC) • “The Toy Trumpet” by the Radio City Music Hall Symphony Orchestra as conducted by Raymond Paige from their 1965 album “Music Hall Bon Bons” • “Petit Papa Noel” (PMO, CA) • “Jolly Old St. Nicholas” by the Ray Conniff Singers from their 1962 album “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” • “Rin, Rin” (PMO, CA) • “Silver Bells” (PFOC, CI) • “Adeste Fidelis” (PMO, CA) • “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” (closing theme) by Percy Faith and his Orchestra from their 1958 album “Hallelujah!” Top Christmas Eve 1970 Different U.S.A. Customs From New England to North Carolina, Dick Bertel and his children are taken on a tour of “many different and beautiful” Christmas celebrations along the eastern United States by humorist Bill Stockdale (1918-2009), a motion picture photographer and lecturer who writes travel columns for “The New York Times,” “The Boston Globe,” and “The Worcester Telegram.”  (In 2004, he will be awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Travel Adventure Cinema Society.) • The Moravian people of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania who hang handmade twenty-six-point stars and display a putz which tells the complete Christmas story, far beyond the manger scene depicted in a traditional crèche • The Swedish traditions observed in Worcester, Massachusetts at the Hartford Road home of Clarence (1905-2000) and Ingrid (1916-1994) Flodine which include serving seven kinds of cookies (with specific mention of the pepparkakor), signage wishing “God Helg,” and the observance of St. Lucia’s Day • Experiencing a Finnish bath (i.e., a sauna) at the Canterbury, Connecticut home of Otto (1901-1980) and Helmi (1902-1995) Ruuskanen where coffee cake, prune tarts, and ham are served along with a dinner of lipeäkala (whitefish treated with lye) with white sauce, cold boiled potatoes, fruit soup, and lingonberry relish • The Syrian traditions of baking ma’amoul, Middle Eastern shortbread cookies, and baklava as demonstrated in a film of a Mrs. Haddad in Willimantic, Connecticut • A fireworks celebration in Williamsburg, Virginia to commemorate the 1842 introduction of the Christmas tree to the United States by Charles Minnigerode (1814-1894), a German dissident who emigrated to America in 1839 and taught Latin and Greek at the College of William & Mary before being ordained in 1847 as an Episcopal priest • The making of peppermint patties at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester, Maine by Sister Mildred Barker (1897-1990) who will be best remembered for her efforts to preserve Shaker musical traditions While joking about celebrating Christmas at his home with Afghani yak flambée and marinated elephant trunk, Stockdale reminisces about sharing his honeymoon with his wife Connie (1923-2014) by walking 3,525 miles “across America afoot” from his native Putnam, Connecticut to Los Angeles, California with their dog, a boxer named “Taj Mahal,” and a miniature covered wagon from September 1949 to March 1950.  Over their sixty years of marriage, together Connie and Bill will visit more than sixty-five countries on six different continents and share their experiences with public presentations of their travelogues. This episode was broadcast on Thursday, December 24, 1970.   The interview was conducted at WTIC's Broadcast House studios on Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford where the show was mixed and produced by engineer Bob Scherago.  Bertel’s dialogue with his children Darcy, Jimmy, and Susan was recorded at their home on Randy Lane in Wethersfield, Connecticut.  This edition was sponsored by the Hartford Insurance Group and the Charter Oak Bank and Trust Company.  The president and founder of the bank, William E. Budds (1920-2001), offers yuletide greetings. Songs • “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” (opening and closing theme) by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra from their 1959 album “Music for a Merry Christmas” • “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella” by Percy Faith and his Orchestra from their 1954 album “Hallelujah!” (repeats) • “Here Comes Santa Claus (Down Santa Claus Lane),” recorded by Doris Day in 1949 and selected from the 1954 album “First Christmas Record for Children,” a compilation of music by various artists • “Silent Night, Holy Night” from the 1961 album “A Music Box Christmas” from the music box collection of Rita Ford • “Away in a Manger” by an unknown artist • “The Star of Bethlehem” by an unknown orchestra • “Deck the Halls” by an unknown artist • “Winter Wonderland” from “Snowfall:  The Tony Bennett Christmas Album,” 1968 • “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” recorded by Bob Hannon in 1954, also from “First Christmas Record for Children” • “I’ll be Home for Christmas” by an unknown artist • “O Christmas Tree” by an unknown jazz ensemble • “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” by the Boston Pops Orchestra as conducted by Arthur Fiedler from the 1959 album “Pops Christmas Party” Top Christmas Eve 1972 "Rudolph" Composer Johnny Marks Johnny Marks (1909-1985), the composer of "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" and many other popular songs, is interviewed by Dick Bertel from WTIC Radio and Television in Hartford, Connecticut with his children Darcy, Jimmy, Susie, and Dougie. The story of how the Tin Pan Alley songwriter conceived, composed, revised, and perfected "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" is the focus of most of the conversation. Marks relates how it started with him jotting the title in a diary in 1939 after seeing it on a coloring book written by his brother-in-law Robert L. May and published by the Chicago-based retailer Montgomery Ward. After serving five years in the Special Services entertainment branch of the U.S. Army during World War II, Marks began composing it in 1946. He didn't like it, however, and moved on to other projects before returning to the song in 1949. On his office piano, he demonstrates how he discovered then that reversing the original melody revealed the song's charming tune. Later, he turned his energy toward improving the lyrics, sharing examples of how "pretty bad" they were at first. When he finally finished it, he began shopping it to performers like Dinah Shore, Guy Lombardo, Eddy Howard, and others. He shares how RCA Victor turned down the song for Perry Como, believing that the final line, "you'll go down in history," was inappropriate for a fictitious reindeer. Undeterred, Marks presented the song to Gene Autry who, Marks learned later, was ready to pass on it before his wife Ina implored him to do it as a favor for her. After being the first to record it, Autry found that it was a huge hit by the tremendous audience response it received at live concerts. Johnny Marks himself encountered the enduring global appeal of "Rudolph" in 1968 while touring U.S. military hospitals in Japan with the USO-ASCAP entertainment unit. He mentions that a bandleader on WJZ Radio in New York (WABC since 1953), Vincent Lopez, was one of the first to perform it live on the air. He also recalls rewriting Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Civil War-era poem "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" as a song, composing "Rockin' around the Christmas Tree" anonymously, developing "A Holly Jolly Christmas" for the "Rudolph" TV special, and naming his company "St. Nicholas Music Inc." This program was broadcast on Sunday, December 24, 1972. Dick Bertel interviewed Johnny Marks in his office on the sixth floor of the Brill Building at Broadway and 49th Street in Manhattan. [The raw interview was catalogued in 2000 by the Library of Congress with control no. (LCCN) 2006655103.] The children's dialogue was recorded at their home on Randy Lane in Wethersfield, Connecticut. (In a rare cameo appearance, Dick's wife Jean tells their children to don their coats and gloves.) The rest of the show was recorded, mixed, and produced by engineer Bob Scherago at WTIC's Broadcast House studios on Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford. This edition was sponsored by the Charter Oak Bank and Trust Company whose president and founder, William E. Budds (1920-2001), offers yuletide greetings, and the Hartford Insurance Group which reminds the listeners to drive safely during the holidays. All of the music played during this program was written by Johnny Marks. Most of it was recorded for the soundtrack album for the 1964 Rankin/Bass stop-motion animated network television special "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer." The instrumentals on that album were performed by the Decca Concert Orchestra as conducted by Herbert Rehbein. SOUNDTRACK SONGS "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" instrumental  "Silver and Gold" instrumental; vocal version sung by Burl Ives as narrator Sam the Snowman "There's Always Tomorrow" sung by Janet Orenstein as Clarice; instrumental "We are Santa's Elves" sung by the Videocraft Chorus; instrumental "Jingle Jingle Jingle" sung by Stan Francis as Santa Claus; instrumental "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year" sung by the Videocraft Chorus as the Misfit Toys; "Christmas Medley: The Night before Christmas Song / A Merry Merry Christmas / When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter / Rockin' around the Christmas Tree" "A Holly Jolly Christmas" sung by Burl Ives as Sam the Snowman "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" instrumental OTHER SONGS "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" by Gene Autry and the Pinafores, 1949 single "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" by Bing Crosby, 1956 single "Rockin' around the Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee, 1958 and 1959 single "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" from Stanley Black and his Orchestra's 1954 album "Christmas Holiday for Romance" "A Caroling We Go," the title track on Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians' 1966 holiday album Top Christmas Eve 1973 Norman Rockwell, Leroy Anderson, and more “Let’s go back to the beginning” Dick Bertel remarks as he plays excerpts of interviews from past programs.  He starts the show by observing that “there are no outside lights” to help celebrate the holidays, a consequence of the national energy crisis caused by OPEC nations placing an oil embargo on countries that supported Israel during the October 1973 Yom Kippur War. First, we hear from painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) in his Stockbridge, Massachusetts studio in 1962.  Famous for drawing 321 “Saturday Evening Post” magazine covers between 1916 and 1963 that nostalgically depicted modern American life, the artist relates the challenges of repeatedly depicting Santa Claus and yuletide scenes.  He also describes his childhood in upper Manhattan and recalls the Christmases he experienced in rural Arlington, Vermont. Also shared from the 1962 episode is an interview with light orchestral composer Leroy Anderson (1908-1975) at his home in Woodbury, Connecticut.   In addition to relating how he wrote “Sleigh Ride” (1948) with lyricist Mitchell Parish (1900-1993), he talks about his medley “Christmas Festival” (1950) and songs “Fiddle-Faddle” (1947) and "Serenata" (1947) as well as his own Christmas memories and Swedish family traditions. Next is an interview of (Laura) Virginia O’Hanlon Douglas (1889-1971) whose 1897 letter to “The New York Sun” newspaper inspired editor Francis Church (1839-1906) to respond with his classic essay “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” which Bertel reads during the program.  She also reminisces about Christmas during her childhood and asserts her abiding belief in Santa Claus.  He interviewed her at her North Chatham, New York home in 1963 and used it for both his 1963 and 1966 Christmas Eve shows before replaying it tonight. Lastly, opera star and civil rights icon Marian Anderson (1897-1993) recalls spending Christmas 1933 in Dalarna, Sweden and shares her perspective on the personal work needed to maintain the spirit of Christmas throughout the year.  Bertel interviewed the Danbury, Connecticut resident in downtown Hartford at WTIC’s Broadcast House building on Constitution Plaza in 1967. This program was broadcast on Monday, December 24, 1973.  The dialogue with Darcy, Jimmy, Susie, Dougie, and their mother Jean was conducted at their home on Randy Lane in Wethersfield, Connecticut.  The rest of the show was recorded, mixed, and produced by engineer Bob Scherago at Broadcast House. This edition was sponsored by the Charter Oak Bank and Trust Company whose president and founder, William E. Budds (1920-2001), offers yuletide greetings while referring obliquely to the effects of President Nixon’s Watergate scandal, and the Hartford Insurance Group which reminds the listeners to drive safely during the holidays. SONGS • “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra from their 1959 album “Music for a Merry Christmas” • “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” by the Ray Conniff Singers from their 1959 album “Christmas with Conniff” • “Once in David’s City," also from "Music for a Merry Christmas" by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra • “Jolly Old St. Nicholas” by the Ray Conniff Singers from their 1962 album “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” • “Trois Anges sont Venus ce Soir” from “The Christmas Album” by Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra, 1967 (repeats) • “Jingle Bells” by the Voices of Walter Schumann from their 1951 album “Christmas in the Air!” • “Away in a Manger,” also from "Music for a Merry Christmas" by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra • “Sleigh Ride” by the Boston Pops Orchestra as conducted by Arthur Fiedler on their 1959 album “Pops Christmas Party” • “Sleigh Ride” by Mitch Miller and the Gang on their 1961 album “Holiday Sing Along with Mitch” • “A Christmas Festival,” also from "Pops Christmas Party" by the Boston Pops Orchestra • “Mary’s Boy Child” by Harry Belafonte from his 1957 album “An Evening with Belafonte” •  “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” by an orchestra conducted by Jackie Gleason from his 1956 album “Merry Christmas” • “Pat-a-Pam” from the 1963 album “The Wonderful Songs of Christmas with the Harry Simeone Chorale” • “The Holly and the Ivy” by Ronnie Carroll from the 1968 compilation album “Christmas with the Stars” • “The Snow Falls Quietly” by Hans Carste and his Orchestra from their 1958 album “Silent Night – Holy Night (Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht)” • “The Sleigh” by Hugo & Luigi and their Children’s Chorus on their 1960 album “The Sound of Children at Christmas” • “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” by Percy Faith and his Orchestra from their 1958 album “Hallelujah!” Top Christmas Eve 1975 Puppets & Marionettes - Frank Ballard This year, the director of the puppet arts program at the University of Connecticut's School of Fine Arts, Dr. Frank W. Ballard (1929-2010), tells WTIC Radio personality Dick Bertel, his wife Jean, and their children Darcy, Jimmy, Susie, and Dougie how puppets and marionettes have been used for several centuries to portray Christmas stories by many cultures around the world. A theory that marionettes, which may have been named after the Virgin Mary, were invented in the early 13th century by St. Francis of Assisi to illustrate the story of the birth of Jesus The 19th century Polish tradition of carving an elaborately structured nativity scene called a "szopka," animated by puppetry, many of which have been curated by the Historical Museum of Kraków The Ukrainian "vertep" in the shape of a Russian cathedral, which dates back to the 16th century, in which puppets placed into slots on three levels representing heaven, earth, and hell are operated with musical accompaniment The 1975 national convention of the Puppeteers of America in St. Louis, Missouri and Prof. Ballard's work to coordinate its 1976 convention in New London, Connecticut The backstage challenges of blocking "The Nutcracker" for the Salzburg Marionette Theatre in Austria o The religious origins of ancient cultures using masks and puppets to tell stories How children and adults perceive puppetry differently Why robotic characters in storefronts and stop-action figures like those in the 1964 Rankin/Bass "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" TV special do not meet the technical definition of puppets During the program, Professor Ballard performs the voices of Santa Claus, the Beast character from the French fairytale "Beauty and the Beast," and Rosina Daintymouth, the witch from the Engelbert Humperdinck opera "Hansel and Gretel." This episode was broadcast on Wednesday, December 24, 1975. Dick's dialogue with his wife Jean and their children was recorded at their home on Randy Lane in Wethersfield, Connecticut. The rest of the show was recorded, mixed, and produced by engineer Bob Scherago at WTIC's studios on the 19th floor of the Gold Building at One Financial Plaza (i.e., the southwest corner of Main and Pearl Streets) in downtown Hartford. This edition was sponsored by the Charter Oak Bank and Trust Company. The president and founder of the bank, William E. Budds (1920-2001), offers yuletide greetings. SONGS "Good Christian Men, Rejoice" (opening theme) by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra from their 1959 album "Music for a Merry Christmas" (FCO, MMC) "It's Christmas Again" from the 1963 album "The Wonderful Songs of Christmas with the Harry Simeone Chorale" (WSCHSC) "Trois Anges sont Venus ce Soir" from "The Christmas Album" by Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra, 1967 (PMO, CA) "The Holly and the Ivy / Here We Go A-caroling" by Percy Faith and his Orchestra from their 1959 album "Music of Christmas" "God Rest ye Merry, Gentlemen / Whence Comes this Rush of Wings / The First Noël" from the 1964 album "Christmas with the Norman Luboff Choir" "Alpine Sleigh-ride" (FCO, MMC) "O Little Town of Bethlehem" on "A Christmas Album" by Barbra Streisand, 1967 (BS, CA) "Away in a Manger" (FCO, MMC) "Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a - Miniature Overture" by the New York Philharmonic as conducted by Leonard Bernstein from the 1972 "Great Performances" album "Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Suite, Swan Lake Suite" (NYP, TNSSLS) "Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a - Waltz of the Flowers" (NYP, TNSSLS) "Once in Royal David's City" (FCO, MMC) "Ding Dong! Merrily on High" by the Choir of King's College Cambridge as directed by David Wilcocks on the 1962 album "On Christmas Night" "Entre le Boeuf et L'âne Gris" (PMO, CA) o "Rin, Rin" (PMO, CA) "Silent Night" (FCO, MMC) "Sleep in Heavenly Peace (Silent Night)" (BS, CA) "Il est Né, le Divin Enfant" (PMO, CA) "Silver Bells" (WSCHSC) "Vive le Vent (Jingle Bells)" (PMO, CA) "Medley: Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer / Jingle Bells" by Andre Kostelanetz and his Orchestra from their 1963 album "Wonderland of Christmas" "Good Christian Men, Rejoice" (closing theme) by Percy Faith and his Orchestra from their 1958 album "Hallelujah!"  Top Christmas Eve 1976 The Big Book of Christmas Stories For the first time since 1965, Dick Bertel conducts his entire WTIC Christmas Eve radio show without a guest and just with his children Darcy, Jim, Susan, and Doug instead.  This episode, the 15th in the series, will turn out to be the last edition because Bertel will leave WTIC in April 1977 after twenty-one years of service there. The program opens with the family returning from church services to their home at 63 Randy Lane in Wethersfield, Connecticut.  (The family attended First Church of Christ in Old Wethersfield.)  Once everyone agrees that everything is ready tonight for them to enjoy Christmas morning together, between musical selections Bertel reads from a “great big book” of Christmas stories. • A fictionalized tale of how watching his old Dutch handyman Peter drive a sleigh through a dark, cold, snowy afternoon inspired Clement Clarke Moore to compose his 1823 poem “A Visit from Saint Nicholas,” better known today by its opening line, “’Twas the night before Christmas” • An accounting of all of the magic and miracles Santa Claus performs during his appointed rounds each Christmas Eve, authored by Dick Bertel • An original story about fictitious Phillipsburg, “The Town Where it Never Snowed at Christmas” until a minister’s comforting words to a dying child lead to the divine fulfillment of God’s blessing on the village, authored by Dick Bertel • The origin story of the Christmas carol “Silent Night,” composed by Franz Gruber with the lyrics of Father Josef Mohr and first performed in 1818 at St. Nicholas Parish Church in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria This episode was broadcast on Friday, December 24, 1976. The children’s dialogue with their father was conducted at their home in Wethersfield. The rest of the show was recorded, mixed, and produced by engineer Bob Scherago at WTIC’s studios on the 19th floor of the Gold Building at One Financial Plaza (i.e., the southwest corner of Main and Pearl Streets) in downtown Hartford. This edition was sponsored by the Charter Oak Bank and Trust Company.   The president and founder of the bank, William E. Budds (1920-2001), offers yuletide greetings. SONGS • “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” by Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra from their 1959 album “Music for a Merry Christmas” • “Masters in This Hall” from the 1963 album “The Wonderful Songs of Christmas with the Harry Simeone Chorale” • “Trois Anges sont Venus ce Soir” from “The Christmas Album” by Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra, 1967 (repeats) • “Winter Wonderland” by Hans Carste and his Orchestra’s 1958 album “Noël Noël - A Musical Christmas” • “Jolly Old St. Nicholas” by Frank DeVol and the Rainbow Strings from their 1960 album “The Old Sweet Songs of Christmas" • “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” by Domenico Savino and his Orchestra from their 1958 album “Hi-Fi Christmas Party” • “Come Hither, Ye Children (Ihr Kinderlein Kommet)” by Hans Carste and his Orchestra, also from “Noël Noël - A Musical Christmas” • “What Child is This (Greensleeves)” by Percy Faith and his Orchestra from their 1958 album “Hallelujah!” • “Pat-a-Pam,” also from “The Wonderful Songs of Christmas with the Harry Simeone Chorale” • “The Snow Falls Quietly” by Hans Carste and his Orchestra, also from “Noël Noël - A Musical Christmas” • “O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fidelis)” by Domenico Savino and his Orchestra, also from “Hi-Fi Christmas Party” • “Entre le Boeuf et L'âne Gris,” also from “The Christmas Album” by Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra • “Silent Night / Jingle Bells (Medley)” by Hugo & Luigi and their Children’s Chorus from their 1960 album “The Sound of Children at Christmas” • “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” by Percy Faith and his Orchestra, also from “Hallelujah!” Top

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