Father Time is an elderly bearded man who carries an hourglass or other timekeeping device (not unlike the Grim Reaper or Chronos). On New Year’s Eve, this personification of time passes his duties to an allegorical Baby New Year. The annual ritual is depicted in the stop-motion children’s special Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1976.
Note: After the passing of a few more grains of sand we shall have a Happy New Year!
An American rhythm and blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He was known as “The Originator” because of his key role in the transition from the blues to rock & roll. His driving rhythms and hard-edged guitar sound were highly influential. His trademark rectangular guitar is one example of his technical innovations. He was born on this day in 1928.
The name of the mummy of a warrior and ruler found in Sipán, an archaeological site in northern Peru, in 1987. The Lord of Sipán tomb is a Moche culture site and important archaeological discovery because the main tomb was found intact and untouched by thieves. The Moche Empire’s refinement of art and technology rivaled the Maya Empire.
The wife of Santa Claus, the North American Christmas gift-bringer. Santa Claus emerged in the 1820s from a number of European folklore traditions, but Mrs. Claus had no such precedent. She is a literary creation of James Rees (1849) and was popularized in a poem by Katharine Lee Bates (1889). Also see The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974).
A plump, jolly figure in North American culture that emerged in the 1820s. He reflects an amalgamation of the Dutch Sinterklaas, the English Father Christmas and Christmas gift-bringers in other traditions. The contemporary Santa Claus was modeled after historic 4th-century saint and gift-giver Saint Nicholas (AKA Saint Nick), a Greek from Asia Minor.
Note: Merry Christmas from Kris Kringle!
A fictional reindeer with a glowing red nose. Known as Santa’s ninth reindeer, he is depicted as the lead of Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve. Rudolph first appeared in a 1939 booklet written by Robert L. May and published by Montgomery Ward. He stars in the stop-motion Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1964.
Hope you have a nice Christmas Eve! I will be spending mine in a dirty Amazon jungle town in Peru.
A fictional character created by Dr. Seuss. He appeared as the main protagonist in the 1957 children’s book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! and the 1966 TV special. The devious, anti-holiday spirit of the character led to the usage of term “Grinch” to describe a person opposed to Christmastime celebrations. He is an icon of the winter holidays.
A sprite-like character with roots in Viking lore. Jack is a variant of Old Man Winter and is held responsible for frosty weather, autumn colors and fern-like patterns on cold windows. Though unconnected to Christianity, he is sometimes hijacked for modern secular Christmas entertainment, such as Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, a 1976 Rankin/Bass production.
Welcome to the winter solstice (the original reason for this holiday season). Today is the shortest day of year.
A hero-king of Sparta who was believed in mythology to be a descendant of Heracles. Leonidas is notable for his leadership at the Battle of Thermopylae during the second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC. In one of history’s most famous last-stands, Leonidas led 300 Spartans against an invading Persian army of 100,000+ led by Xerxes I.
In the midst of all these holiday characters, I chose Leonidas for today because I wanted him to be my 300th 8-bit character. This. Is. Caketown.
The nine-year-old protagonist of the 1983 holiday classic A Christmas Story. The film was based on the stories of author and raconteur Jean Shepherd. Ralphie wants only one thing for Christmas: a Red Ryder BB Gun, with a compass in the stock and “this thing which tells time” (a sundial). Every adult tells him the same thing: “You’ll shoot your eye out.”
I was tempted to create an 8-bit Adam Sandler for today, since we all know Sandler is the modern spiritual figurehead of Hanukkah, but I could not resist Ralphie in his pink bunny suit.
Yukon Cornelius is a character from the stop-motion children’s Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1964. He is an eccentric arctic prospector who leads the audience to believe that he’s searching for either gold or silver, but is actually seeking peppermint.
The Abominable Snowman of the North (AKA Bumble) is a character from the stop-motion children’s Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1964. He is a gigantic white-furred yeti/monster with long fangs and a hairless blue face, lips, hands and feet.
Hermey is a character from the stop-motion children’s Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1964. Hermey the Misfit Elf prefers studying dentistry to making toys, making him a social outcast among the other elves.
This character is based on “Frosty the Snowman” – a popular song first recorded by Gene Autry in 1950. The most famous version of Frosty is the animated children’s Christmas special Frosty the Snowman, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1969. Frosty comes to life and says “Happy Birthday!” when a magical top hat is placed on his head.
Walt Disney is an American film producer, animator, entrepreneur and international icon, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. He co-founded The Walt Disney Company, which has become one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world. He died on this day in 1966.
The dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He was the unanimous choice to serve as the first President of the United States (1789-1797). Washington is universally regarded as the “Father of his Country.” He died on this day in 1799.
Note: This completes my 8-bit Mount Rushmore series. So far, I have drawn nine of the 43 U.S. presidents.
Heat Miser is a character from the stop-motion children’s Christmas special The Year Without a Santa Claus, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1974. Heat Miser is a blustery hothead who controls Earth’s hot weather and possesses the supernatural power to melt objects at will. His arch-nemesis is his stepbrother Snow Miser, and their mother is Mother Nature.
Who is Heat Miser’s father? See yesterday’s Snow Miser commentary on this important paternity case.
Snow Miser is a character from the stop-motion children’s Christmas special The Year Without a Santa Claus, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1974. The icicle-covered Snow Miser controls Earth’s cold weather and possesses the supernatural power to freeze objects at will. His arch-nemesis is his stepbrother Heat Miser, and their mother is Mother Nature.
Since the Miser Brothers are identified as stepbrothers, did Mother Nature adopt one or both of them? Or, if she is the biological mother of both (making them half-brothers), then how promiscuous was she? I figure Snow Miser’s father has to be either Father Winter or Jack Frost. And I can’t think of a likelier paternal option for Heat Miser than the Devil; Mother Nature might be more hardcore than we thought if she’s into sex that kinky. In 2008, Warner Bros. exacted some Rankin/Bass revisionism with A Miser Brothers’ Christmas by portraying the naughty Miser Brothers as fraternal twins who have a malevolent brother North Wind.
Louis Pasteur – No. 306
A French chemist and microbiologist remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. He created the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax and is best known for inventing a method to stop milk and wine from causing sickness, a process now known as pasteurization. He was born on this day in 1822.
When I was a kid, a memorable book for me was The Value of Believing in Yourself: The Story of Louis Pasteur (1977) by Spencer Johnson. I refuse to believe that Louis Pasteur did not look like a bizzaro Uncle Sam.