Earlier this year, the Taste of Home website ran a fun vintage feature that included 60 years worth of vintage Christmas images, one for every year between 1940 to 2000, which demonstrate visually how the holidays have changed over time. Check out this fun feature, which includes the 1965 circa Christmas photo you see above.

Go to our "Vintage Christmas" archive to see all our vintage holiday photos.

With his 100th consecutive sell out at Madison Square Garden, CBS special, and current tour with Stevie Nicks, Billy Joel has been in the news a lot lately. What you may not know is that he wrote a Christmas song, which appears on his Nylon Curtain album. "She's Right on Time" was written around Christmas time and Bill Joel has stated more than once that it's one of his personal favorites from his lengthly catalog of tunes. The song was an uplifting love song that acted as a counter weight to some of the more serious songs on the album, such as Allentown and Goodnight Saigon, which were dealing in very heavy themes. Joel considered Nylon Curtain to be "his Sgt. Pepper's" and said it took him the longest of any of his albums to record.

Listen to all our seasonal recommendations
by clicking here: Holiday Song Spotlight archive!

2024 Capitol Christmas tree coming from Alaska!

Somewhere in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska sits a tree that will be delivered to the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol later this year to act as the official Capitol Christmas tree. It will be only the second tree from Alaska to act as the Capitol's official Christmas tree, the first being in 2015. According to a Forest Service spokesperson, about eight to 12 trees will be selected before it is narrowed down to one in July. Once selected, it will make a series of stops along the way to the Capitol, where it arrives on November 22.

The ideal height they're seeking is between 65- to 80-feet tall with Capitol Christmas trees only being selected from U.S. National Forests on a rotating basis. The tree is commonly referred to as "The People's Tree," reflecting the nickname for the House of Representatives (the "People's House.). You can learn more about the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree, and follow the progress of this year's Tongass tree, by clicking here.

Go to our holiday highlight archives!

Since 1973, Hallmark has been manufacturing Christmas ornaments as part of its Hallmark Keepsake Ornament collection. That first year, they introduced a small line of six glass ball ornaments (see one example above) and 12 yarn figures representing their initial collection. Since that modest entry into the ornament pantheon, Hallmark has produced more than 8,500 Keepsake ornaments and more than 100 ornament series with over 500 active local chapters of the national Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Club in the United States and Canada.

Go to our "Did you know" archive to see all our fun facts!

Our latest review!

Nominated for numerous Oscars, including best picture, Miracle on 34^th Street garnered Gwenn a win for best actor in a supporting role, Valentine Davis for best writing, original story, and George Seaton for best writing, screenplay. That should tell you all you need to know about the film itself, which was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 2005 by the Library of Congress.

Read our full review of this movie and its accompanying music soundtrack, as well as all our mini movie and soundtrack reviews, by clicking here!

Our latest review!

One of my favorite holiday-themed book has become quite the Christmas classic in David Sedaris’ short story collection called Holidays on Ice. Featuring hilarious travails of his time as a Macy’s Department Store elf and other brilliant holiday humor, Sedaris brings his unique narrative style to the holiday season in this must-read book.

Read our full review of this book, and our growing list of mini book reviews, by clicking here!