004 Holiday Show

Bob Smith 0:00
Who knew Christmas cards were originally labor saving devices? What Roman holiday is Christmas partially based on? And how did scientists accidentally create artificial snow in a wind tunnel? answers to those questions plus a lot of nutty holiday novelty music today on the off ramp.

It’s a holiday show. Today is a holiday specials show. On the off ramp. I’m Bob Smith. I’m Marcia Smith with trivia stories and music to wrap presents. Buy it if you’re sitting there looking at everything you got to do and you think signing licking stamping and mailing Christmas cards for example is time consuming? Sure, you’d be surprised to learn why they were invented in the first place to save time. The honor belongs to Henry Cole, who introduced them in 1843. Now he was a distinguished British civil servant. He organized the British postal system designed the first postage stamp published three periodicals. He ran the British archives and led the Royal Society for the encouragement of the arts. In his spare time, he published children’s books and design products, all very useful things. But the most meaningful thing that Henry Cole ever did was to figure out a way to efficiently share holiday greetings. Now back in 1843. People routinely wrote long holiday letters to friends and loved ones. But with everything Henry did well, he had no time for that. But he didn’t want to look like Scrooge. So he came up with a solution a way to reach out to his large circle of friends. He hired illustrator John Cal caught hoarsely to paint a cheerful family scene with the words of Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you. Then printed the graphic on 1000 cards, hand colored them and mailed them out. And they were a sensation. So Henry Cole began selling his Christmas cards via newspapers and a whole new industry was born. So that’s how a very efficient man invented and efficient way to reach out during the holidays. A labor saving device called What is it Marcia?

Marcia Smith 2:41
That Christmas card?

Bob Smith 2:43
Now who thought of that as a labor saving device? 1000 cards

Marcia Smith 2:47
Bob, you’re not gonna get that with postage stamp prices today. No.

Bob Smith 2:51
We used to have a lot of fun with our Christmas cards. Marsha and I and we had our kids and as we I think we were elves one year we were reindeers another year we had Groucho Marx faces. And cigars one year, we did all kinds of things with those. They were fun until the kids decided it was torture. Yes. Especially I think when they became teenagers, one of them said we’re not going to be your props anymore. That was the end of

Marcia Smith 3:18
that posts. Yeah, that was Yeah, but it was it was fun

Bob Smith 3:21
while it lasted. Okay, what famous Christmas song took it’s recording artists just 15 minutes in the studio. Hmm. 15 minutes to record the song.

Marcia Smith 3:31
Oh, okay. So this guy was Speedy Gonzales. And

Bob Smith 3:34
it wasn’t Speedy Gonzalez.

Marcia Smith 3:37
But he thinks all my favorite Christmas songs. All right, I’ll say

Bob Smith 3:43
Nat King Cole. No. Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms. He was just 19 When he recorded that in December of 1957. He said it took 15 minutes in the studio. But the tunes sold 3 million copies the first week it was out and it sold well over 20 30 million records since 1957. Let’s take a listen to it as we bring you some music to wrap presents by.

Speaker 1 4:17
Jingle Bell Jingle bells, jingle bells rain, snow and now jingle bell jingle bell Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle bells, dancing and prancing into bells were in the frosty. Time to rock. Wait. Time is this way. No time to go blind in the one horse dead horse pig Django

Unknown Speaker 5:15
Django and that’s the jingle bell jingle bell Jingle Bell Rock

Speaker 1 5:38
time it’s the right time to rock. We think time is a swell time to go gladden in the one hoarsely guinea pig. The game goes around the fan beat the game. That’s the game. That’s the game go

Bob Smith 6:16
Bobby Helms and Jingle Bell Rock. That’s a great rockin novelty song for the holidays. You’re listening to the off ramp. We’re doing a holiday show today. No interviews, just a lot of fun fun facts, fun trivia, and some fun music. Okay, this holiday came at the end of December, there was gift giving large dinners and people placed trees, usually evergreens in their homes. What’s this holiday called?

Marcia Smith 6:42
My birthday? No,

Bob Smith 6:44
it wasn’t called Christmas. Okay. Do you know what it was?

Marcia Smith 6:48
Ah, well, is this a long time ago.

Bob Smith 6:52
This is a long long long time ago. I

Marcia Smith 6:54
know Christmases more than two more than 2000 years. This is you know, trip even I wasn’t born then. But I do recall that that we got that date because of the Roman tradition. That’s

Bob Smith 7:06
right, there was a Roman Holiday called Saturnalia. It came at the end of December. Many of our Christmas customers actually come from it because people kept trees or other plants inside their homes to placate spirits and they used evergreens because even in the winter, they stayed green symbols of eternal life. Small lamps were often put on the branches to keep evil spirits away hence Christmas tree lights. Okay. They was to worship the gods Saturn. So that’s the answer to your question. Yeah. Was a week long celebration.

Marcia Smith 7:37
How did they know about Saturn? It was the name of their god Marsh.

Bob Smith 7:42
They didn’t know about the planet. Oh, okay, guys, they called their God. Saturn. That was a God. Romans exchange gifts, eight large dinners and war costumes. And there you go. Christians kind of CO opted that. Let’s make that part of our holiday.

Marcia Smith 7:57
Okay, Bob. We owe the existence of one of the world’s favorite Christmas carols to an organ repairman which Christmas Carol.

Bob Smith 8:07
I suppose if that song had not been sung, it would have been a silent night. Yes,

Marcia Smith 8:10
that’s it. That’s it, Bob. It was indeed silent night. It was a snowy Christmas Eve in 1818. In Oberndorf, Austria, where father Joseph Moore wrote three short stanza of a verse and he asked the organist Franz guber to put it to music. He did, but it had to be played by guitar because the Oregon had a Mousehole in the Oregon bellows, okay. And we might never have heard silent night after that. But the guy who came to fix the Oregon, heard the song, liked it and asked for a copy of it. He took it home, taught it to his family, and the song was heard by a royal court musician who played the song for the king of Saxony. Good Lord, the King loved it. And he had that Cathedral Choir sing it every year. And before long, Silent Night became a Christmas classic.

Bob Smith 9:06
So a mouse ate a hole in the Oregon bellows. They couldn’t use the Oregon they wrote a song on guitar, the Oregon repairman came fix the Oregon took sheet music with him and from there and eventually went up to the king of Saxony. Yes, that’s amazing. That’s amazing. Yes,

Marcia Smith 9:23
it is. I guess that repairmen had friends in high place.

Speaker 2 9:32
All right. You chipmunks. Ready to sing your song. Okay, Simon. Oh, okay, Theodore. All Okay, Alvin. Alvin.

Unknown Speaker 10:50
Okay, let’s get ready. That was very good Simon. Very good Theodore. Alvin, they were a little flat. Watch it Alvin

Unknown Speaker 11:32
very good boys. Let’s not overdo it

Bob Smith 11:44
Simon Ross Bagdasarian also known as David Seville, he chose that name because that’s a place he was stationed in the military in World War Two. And Alvin Simon theater. These are the names of executives at Liberty records which produced the song. So there’s a David Seville and the Chipmunks. Oh,

Marcia Smith 12:04
see, I love that. See, I started out every Christmas morning with that.

Unknown Speaker 12:10
Okay, maybe like the chipmunks.

Marcia Smith 12:14
gets you in the mood. You know,

Bob Smith 12:15
I got that. I remember my dad went out the night before Christmas in 1958. And the story came back later was that he went out to find this record at the last minute and he went all over town in western Ohio. And finally found it at a drugstore. Where they sold you know, records along with everything else. That was Christmas time. Yeah.

Marcia Smith 12:35
Did he love it? Or did you think you got it because of me and my sister. Oh, that’s pretty cool. Yeah, it

Bob Smith 12:39
was pretty neat.

Marcia Smith 12:40
So you must be what? 8090 95

Bob Smith 12:42
years old, right? Absolutely. Okay. You like that song? And then you start every Christmas with every No,

Marcia Smith 12:50
I don’t. Okay.

Bob Smith 12:52
All right, time to take a break. You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marsha Smith, our special Christmas program. We’ll be back in just a moment. We’re back. You’re listening to the Christmas program, a special show of the off ramp.

Marcia Smith 13:07
What Christmas plant and there aren’t that many so I don’t think you’ll miss this one. What Christmas plant was named after an American diplomat who brought the plant back to the US after he served in a foreign country.

Bob Smith 13:21
That must be the Christmas dandelion Albert dandelions.

Marcia Smith 13:27
There aren’t that many Christmas plants.

Bob Smith 13:28
Obviously the dandelion is not

Marcia Smith 13:31
a crystal that is wrong. We have two plants in the house that are Christmas. We do

Bob Smith 13:37
not the Christmas tulip. Those red plants what are they called that? I never can think the names. Oh, that’s the answer. Oh, the red plant the Christmas red flag. And that was by Albert red and that would be called

Marcia Smith 13:48
the poinsettia plant. Oh, okay. And it came to the US from Mexico via a guy named Dr. Joel Roberts, p o i n s e t t o of South Carolina and he was the American diplomat in Mexico. He discovered the story of red flower in the early 1800s. The Mexican legend associated with the plant involved a poor little boy who went into the church with no present for the holy child. And just before he went inside, he knelt and prayed in tears wishing he had a present to give for the baby Jesus. And when he rose from his knees, he found a green plant with red blooms springing up at his feet. He broke off some of the blossoms and ran into the church to present the flowers as gifts to the holy child. The poinsettia plant I’ll be darned Mexicans must have had a name for that. But

Bob Smith 14:44
they didn’t call it point set. The red flowering plant

Speaker 3 14:51
on the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a Japanese transistor radio

Unknown Speaker 14:59
on the second day A

Unknown Speaker 15:03
green polka dot pajamas

Unknown Speaker 15:05
transistor radio it’s a

Unknown Speaker 15:07
NACA Schumer calendar book with the name of my insurance man was the marked for model that’s the one that’s discontinued a simulated alligator wallet calendar

Unknown Speaker 15:27
book with the name of Japanese transistor radio when

Speaker 3 15:33
it comes in a leatherette case with holes in it so you could listen right through the case a statue of a lady with a clock where her stomach authored

Unknown Speaker 15:49
a book with the name of my insurance man. Japanese transistor radio and

Speaker 3 15:55
it has a wire with a thing on one end that you could stick in your ear and a thing on the other end that you can’t stick anywhere because it’s bent on a hammered over when I’m not cracker and all that other stuff and

Speaker 4 16:09
transistor radio on this understand that.

Speaker 3 16:17
A pink sample below that says San Diego with fringe all around it and all that other stuff. And

Speaker 4 16:22
Japanese transistor radio on BA

Unknown Speaker 16:30
and indoor plastic birdbath and a Japanese transistor radio with a pair of teak wood shower clock

Unknown Speaker 16:45
radio

Speaker 3 16:52
a chromium combination manicure scissors and cigarette lighter

Speaker 3 17:03
and automatic vegetable slicer that works when you see it on television but not when you get it on

Unknown Speaker 17:11
the radio on

Speaker 3 17:13
the 12th day of Christmas although it may seem strange. On the 12th day of Christmas, I’m going to exchange an automatic vegetable slicer that works when you see it on television but not when you get an old pair of teeth which are clogged by bad pig seven kilos it says San Diego with fringe all around a statue of a lady with a clock where her stomach or to Calendar, my insurance man

Unknown Speaker 17:55
transistor array

Bob Smith 18:09
and there you have the 12 Gifts of Christmas by Alan Sherman. He is a fellow who did all kinds of takeoffs back in the early 60s Hello, Mata Hello. Fatah was a one about going to summer camp. So great comedy there. Speaking of great comedy, here’s a great Christmas skit done by Stan Freeburg, the great Stan Freeburg, who was a great comic and radio artist I would call him and also did advertising. And this one is a take off on the old TV show which a lot of us grew up watching called dragnet which was a procedural they call them today where you take a case criminal case and you walk it all the way through. And that’s what dragnet did. And they did cases based on Los Angeles police records. And one of the hallmarks of dragnet was there was always a lot of small talk just like in real life small talk that never went anywhere, but made people think like, oh, yeah, that’s kind of like when I work talking to Charlie or when Jane asked me questions. Well, Stan Freeburg takes it to the extreme in this as as two detectives talk about Christmas dinner that’s coming up, but the big crime is well you’ll hear it here Christmas dragnet from Stan Freeburg

Speaker 5 19:33
This is the season. My name is Wednesday my partner’s Frank Jones achievers Kevin Kellogg. December the 24th Christmas Eve. They brought in a guy named grudge. When I heard that they booked him on my blood ran cold was a 40963 to five days. Oh 96704 Not believing in Santa Claus. For 30 5pm I was working the holiday watch at a homicide with Frank. Hang up is talking to Joe. Yeah, just for I come down here to Frank.

Speaker 6 19:59
Oh Please do not get up early just in case I have to work late tonight wouldn’t want to miss out when Santa Claus comes, you know? Sure would be a shame. What you’re gonna do tomorrow Joe, what are you going to do on Christmas? You got any plans? Nothing much. Why don’t you come by the house Joe. We’re going to have Christmas dinner. You know all the trimmings, Turkey salary, stuffing, oysters, maybe chestnuts. All the trimmings, cranberry sauce. love to have you. The missus always fixes a plate or relish with a little carrot sticks. You know, olives, pickled scallions. Most folks call them green onions, but they’re really scallions. Do you ever notice that Joe? have noticed what Frank how most folks call them green onions, but they’re really scallions. Scallions anytime after to Joe love to have you. Well, I’ll see love to have you. Well, I’ll see the missus always fixes to play the rubbish with them. Carrot sticks, you know that little carrot sticks? Olives, pickled scallions.

Speaker 5 20:44
Let’s not go through that again. love to have you go through what again, Joe? How most folks call him green onions. But they’re really scallions. Oh,

Unknown Speaker 20:51
you notice that too? Hi, Joe.

Unknown Speaker 20:56
Homicide Wednesday.

Unknown Speaker 21:04
smarter, Joe. Smarter Joe.

Speaker 5 21:06
Bringing a guy in in a 40963 to five dash. Oh 96704. You mean? Yeah. Gotta believe in scallions. I mean, Santa Claus. 6:29pm We questioned the guy who didn’t believe in Santa Claus. A guy named grudge says you’re gonna graduate right? Yeah. Said didn’t believe in Santa Claus. It’s

Unknown Speaker 21:27
hard to believe it. You said Did you really say that? Sure.

Speaker 7 21:29
I said it. How do you know there’s a Santa Claus? You’ve got a picture of him. No, no mug shot any fingerprints?

Speaker 5 21:36
No latent prints. I just know. That’s all. It’s like saying there isn’t an Easter Bunny. That’s another guy that right? No. Well, that’s your story. Mr.

Speaker 6 21:44
Joe. He just said that to make me feel bad, didn’t he? There really isn’t Easter Bunny. Isn’t there? Joe?

Speaker 5 21:49
Let’s grudge tonight pick up three years ago on a 1492 for not believing in Columbus. Yeah.

Speaker 7 21:54
I don’t believe in Cleveland or Cincinnati, either. How about Toledo. Oh, yeah, I ain’t made up my mind yet about Toledo. Okay, Mister,

Unknown Speaker 22:03
I get the picture. Now. You don’t believe in nothing to you? Nothing and you

Speaker 7 22:05
want to know something else? I said, I’m gonna get up and I’m gonna walk right out of this room. Because you guys ain’t got nothing on me. There ain’t no law against not believing in Santa Claus.

Speaker 5 22:15
There is in my book. Let me tell you some mister. I’m gonna prove this a Santa Claus if it takes me all night.

Speaker 7 22:19
Pretty funny. The police department’s got nothing else to do.

Speaker 5 22:22
Let me straighten you out, buddy. This one’s on Frank and me. Right, Frank? Right, Frank? There really

Unknown Speaker 22:28
isn’t Easter Bunny?

Speaker 8 22:29
Isn’t there Joe? You know hippity hop and down the bunny trail.

Speaker 5 22:36
I took grudge over to the helicopter got in flew around the city for hours. I showed him department stores. What’s hurting in and out of those department stores grudge happy

Unknown Speaker 22:43
people. But I ain’t impressed.

Speaker 5 22:47
I showed him stockings. How are those stockings hung grudge by the

Speaker 7 22:50
chimney with care? But I didn’t hang that up.

Speaker 5 22:55
I showed him children nestled all snug in their beds. What’s dancing in their heads grudge visions

Speaker 7 22:59
is sugar plums. But you weren’t selling me the right no Santa Claus.

Speaker 5 23:07
He still didn’t believe there was only one thing left to do my job. Get to the North Pole. 11:45pm We arrived at the North Pole. I set the plane down we walked over to Sandy’s workshop rang the bell. Pardon me sir. Can I ask you a few questions? Why she

Unknown Speaker 23:26
you’re just telling me today?

Unknown Speaker 23:28
What do you do for a living?

Unknown Speaker 23:29
I’m a brownie.

Unknown Speaker 23:30
What are you doing at the North Pole with a southern accent? Well, the

Speaker 8 23:33
ball sort of ran short on help this year. So he had a recruit a few of us Brown. He’s from the South Pole. That figures

Unknown Speaker 23:40
What a waste of time.

Unknown Speaker 23:41
Can you talk to your boss, please? Oh,

Speaker 8 23:43
he’s out. You would come on the one night. He’s out in the whole year.

Unknown Speaker 23:47
What’s your particular job? Mr. Brownie?

Speaker 8 23:50
My boss has a tiny reindeer. My job? Freedom. Yes, sir. What do you feed them? Well, most times I fix up a little plate a relish. Olives, pickles and then carrot sticks. You know, I’m a little carrot sticks. And scallions.

Speaker 5 24:04
Most folks call them green onions. But they’re really scallions. How do you know just a stab in the dark? That it’ll match showed us through the workshop. My boss

Speaker 8 24:15
will be back for the second load pretty soon. say Would you all like the year an interesting story? Yes, sir. Will you see that huge pile of presents over Leia. Man

Unknown Speaker 24:26
Look at all that stuff.

Speaker 8 24:28
Would you believe it? Now? Oh, for the same man been piling up here year after year?

Speaker 5 24:34
Why didn’t the guy ever get him? Yeah. Why?

Speaker 8 24:37
Because he didn’t believe in my boss. You know the rules. Were you know,

Speaker 7 24:42
I don’t suppose there’s no chance that this this guy can still

Speaker 8 24:46
get the presents. Oh, sure. He gets them all the minute he believes but I don’t suppose he ever will.

Speaker 5 24:53
Too bad about that guy. What’s his name? I don’t want to hear it. Mr. Brownie. What’s his name?

Unknown Speaker 24:59
His name grudge

Speaker 5 25:03
brownie sauce to the door wishes a merry Christmas. We’re heading back to the plane what had happened? Hey,

Unknown Speaker 25:09
yeah grudge

Speaker 7 25:09
You know that guy I said I didn’t believe them who was at CES is Santa Claus? Yes, sir. You think I’m too old to change my mind?

Unknown Speaker 25:18
You’re never too old Mr. Grudge. Well, then I,

Speaker 7 25:21
I believe in Santa Claus. And Columbus. How about

Speaker 5 25:26
Cleveland, Cincinnati and Easter Bunny? Yeah, them too. And Toledo.

Speaker 7 25:30
I, I still ain’t made up my mind yet about toys. Oh,

Speaker 5 25:35
look Raj, up in the sky. He’s coming back for the second load. It’s

Unknown Speaker 25:40
Santa Claus. Because

Unknown Speaker 25:44
here’s the only guy know can make everybody happy. And one night,

Speaker 7 25:48
he must have the biggest heart in the whole world. That’s

Unknown Speaker 25:52
about the size of it.

Bob Smith 26:00
You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith, our special Christmas program. We’ll be back in just a moment. We’re back. You’re listening to the Christmas program, a special show of the off ramp. Some of these interesting tunes we’re playing today? Well, I should say selections are from the collection of John Luzerner, who is a gentleman who runs surrounding Sound Studios in Milwaukee. And one thing John used to do and used to do this for years. Every Christmas you’d give your clients a free CD of collections of unusual Christmas recordings.

Speaker 9 26:36
You know, I was brought up in a household that was music was part and parcel every day. We had a record player. And we had a couple of favorite albums, particularly at Christmas. In some of the stuff was, you know, classical stuff. And some of it was kind of oddball. You know, one of our favorites in that in our household was Arthur Fiedler in the Boston Pops, orchestra doing sure, you know, Christmas music and Leroy Anderson who was a composer for them. Oh, a sleigh ride and all of those. He did Sleigh Ride other songs he did were like buglers holiday syncopate flock and things like that. But I think the standout Christmas album in the loop near household is the Packers Singh holiday halftime. Now we’re talking the Green Bay Packers Green Bay Packers. This album came out probably about 1967 68 During the Lombardi era, golden era of the Packers when Bart Starr was playing and, and Jerry Kramer and Ray Netsky and Elijah Wood and all of these, you know, Max McGee, all of these players who we’ve eventually many of them ended up in the, in the Hall of Fame. Yeah, absolutely.

Bob Smith 27:59
And this was a series that was done with multiple NFL teams, right? Yeah. And

Speaker 9 28:05
what they did is they recorded these orchestral tracks and then they herded up all of these professional football players who many of them had never sung outside the unit you know the shower the shower? Yes. Yeah. And and they they did the deck the halls, winter winter wonderland. A version of We Wish You a Merry Christmas, but I have to say my very favorite song on on the Packers Christmas album is all i want for Christmas is my two front teeth.

Bob Smith 28:41
You and I are absolutely in sync there John. Yeah.

Speaker 9 28:45
I actually have the album that I had when I was a little boy it was it was our family. It was our family album. Everybody

Speaker 1 28:54
stops and stares at me these two teeth are gone as you can see I don’t know just you to blame for this catastrophe. But my one wish on Christmas Eve is playing as it can be

Speaker 10 29:17
progressed to from A to C to G if I can only have my to do that I wish you Merry Christmas. So long since I say system

Unknown Speaker 29:49
Oh

Unknown Speaker 29:56
gd p I wish you Merry Christmas dee, dee, dee dee back. And I wish you Merry Christmas. So I’m

Unknown Speaker 30:25
gonna show G our tech behind me and all my best friend says bye find to see my two g and five

Speaker 9 31:03
I was picturing that being sung by Ray Netsky. You know, when I was hearing it, I didn’t know who the player was, who was singing it, but I’d seen pictures of Ray without his teeth. You know, he used playing hard nosed football against, you know, Dick Butkus, and people like that. And so And what’s kind of interesting is many, many years later, I had an opportunity to work with a number of Packer greats from that era, including Ray Netsky. And I never did talk to him about this recording, but it was kind of humbling spending time with him. We were working on some radio commercials for for the Wisconsin State Lottery. And in fact, the the tie in with Ray was he’s sitting at a desk. And he’s talking and reminiscing about what you think is the ice bowl, but he’s actually reminiscing for the commercial sake about something to do with the Wisconsin state lotteries new ice bowl, scratch off tickets. So

Bob Smith 32:12
did you say that your dad used to put that on when you trim the tree? I saw a comment about that. I don’t know if it was yours or not?

Speaker 9 32:18
Yes, we put on that. That was one of the albums that we would put on when were trimming the tree and then it would be played on Christmas day when we’re opening presents as well. And that is a tradition that’s that’s continued in my own family. And now my, my my children are all in their 30s in their 20s and soon to be 30s So you know, it’s become ingrained in them whether they like it or not to

Bob Smith 32:47
Dad’s gonna put that thing on again. Yeah,

Speaker 9 32:50
well, they know it’s Christmas when the Green Bay Packers start singing Christmas carols. So

Bob Smith 32:54
John Loebner from surround in sound studio of Milwaukee thanks again John for spending a little time with us. Well,

Unknown Speaker 33:01
thank you Bob. And you take care Dashing

Unknown Speaker 33:03
through the snow as we go making spirits

Speaker 11 33:20
Jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way it is to write in one person and say hey, jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way Oh, let’s ride in one horse open a day or two a day oh my god I take a ride and so Miss Fanny right by my side the horse was mean and language agency this agency got into I drifted back Jingle bells, jingle bells Jingle all the way. Oh what bond it is to ride in one horse up and stay Hey jingle bells jingle bells Jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride and one horse opens now the ground is Michael Brown is going with by your young girls today. Saying the same song just scared about to gay to 44 his speed. Back you’ll take the lead. jingle bells jingle bells Jingle all the way. Oh my god it is to ride in one punch open. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way to ride and what?

Bob Smith 34:43
What’s your favorite? Do you like eggnog? Did you ever like eggnog? Fudge?

Marcia Smith 34:48
What did you What were your favorite fudge know what were your favorite? Christmas cherries, sir. Right?

Bob Smith 34:53
That’s right. Martius dad was a bartender and actually an owner of a tavern. And he he made a Crazy Great. Tommy’s very

Marcia Smith 35:02
coveted recipe which I hold and will be sold for a million dollars if someone out there

Bob Smith 35:09
just tell a little bit what’s in atomic jewelry for somebody who doesn’t know well, two shots

Marcia Smith 35:12
of brandy and rum, and then eggs and powdered sugar and nutmeg, and, and hot water, right hot water, and you gotta whip it. You got to whip the egg whites and fold it in.

Bob Smith 35:32
It tastes wonderful. Well,

Marcia Smith 35:33
my dad’s process was like, you know, like a scientific experiment. No, no, you got to chill the cups and chill the bowl. Heat the glasses. I know. There’s a whole sequential way to make a perfect time. And let

Bob Smith 35:46
me tell you folks, it was absolutely one they still

Marcia Smith 35:49
are. Yeah, and if I have the energy to make them I do. How do you do it? We put the cold batter in the heated cup and you fold it into hot water which you slowly add before you add the toppings of nutmeg

Bob Smith 36:05
and the alcohol. That’s of alcohol. It does taste greatest sweet taste wonderful. Warming. It

Marcia Smith 36:14
is warms the old timey. Yeah, sure no one does me and not just because they alcohol but this. It’s sweet.

Bob Smith 36:21
The one other tradition did you have in your family that my family? Yeah. Did you open presents in the Christmas Eve?

Marcia Smith 36:28
We went to church Christmas Eve. My wait. We did both when we were older. We did Christmas Eve when we were younger. We did a Christmas morning. It’s kind of hard to remember. She went to church the night before. Yeah. And once I was in the Christmas play and played one of the wise men and I stepped on Baby Jesus and that was my older brothers just were howling.

Bob Smith 36:54
How did you how did you spell on being out?

Marcia Smith 36:56
They put him in the hay instead of in a manger was a baby doll. Okay. And, and well, you know, it’s kind of vague now. But as I recall, maybe I tripped over the crib, the baby rolled out and then I kind of stepped on it.

Bob Smith 37:14
This is the woman who was kicked out of brownies. All right, not Girl Scouts brownies for being a ringleader. Oh,

Marcia Smith 37:21
that’s their loss. Apparently it was I Yes. All I wanted to do was be a Girl Scout and go to camp. I never went to a camp. Okay, back maybe give me that perk back to the family.

Bob Smith 37:35
Back to the holidays. Any other fun things you did?

Marcia Smith 37:38
We I sang in the choir for a little while I had not a really good voice. And now we go to my aunt and uncle’s house for Christmas Day dinner. Thanksgiving was at our house on a ping pong table decked out in white linens. Which we would rent it was very cool. This

Bob Smith 38:00
was actually your dad kind of rented the restaurant linen that he would have like for his bar, but he would he would rent the finest just like it would be a fine dining experience.

Marcia Smith 38:08
And we put the ping pong table in the tavern because it was so big and then we’d set it up all fancy. Like that was fun. That’s pretty cool. That was how about you?

Bob Smith 38:18
Some we’d open some presents Christmas Eve. And then everything else was Christmas morning. And always together as a family. And I don’t know I just loved Christmas. And then my sister and I fought over which of the two Santa Claus ornaments for the tree that we like. Well, I

Marcia Smith 38:36
know what you won because it’s still on the tree downstairs. Santa’s

Bob Smith 38:41
on the rocket ship love it. Yes. And my sister even into our 50s She we were still fighting about fighting over which one because the other one was just Santa holding a bag. Yeah, beggar.

Marcia Smith 38:52
Anybody can have that. But riding a rocket had the space

Bob Smith 38:54
in the space age. Absolutely. That was a very important. Oh,

Marcia Smith 38:58
it’s super cool.

Bob Smith 38:59
So it’s still on our tree. I want I want

Marcia Smith 39:03
and you’ll notice it’s front and center on the tree.

Bob Smith 39:06
What was the best present you ever got? Well, I

Marcia Smith 39:08
can’t remember maybe one or two things you got that you

Bob Smith 39:11
thought were so cool the

Marcia Smith 39:12
dollies until I wanted a stereo and I got another dolly and that’s instead of a stereo Dad, I’ll always remember looking for that little, you know that stereo, something that could play 40 fives. You know, I had 30 threes then bought albums. And, and I thought well that’s a big box over there. And it was a nother big doll. But I faked it. I don’t want to hurt my mom’s feelings. She said I just wanted you to have one more year I was 12

Bob Smith 39:47
That reminds me of my sister and I my sister would want Chatty Cathy and she’d get a doll that was like Chatty Cathy but wasn’t sure what not the brand, whatever the brand was when Hannah’s mom and dad’s and always find oh this is almost like that other one but it’s cheaper so they buy that instead of the Mattel you know racing cars I’d get something else and but you know it’s kind of funny to look back on that now but my favorite present I ever got was a tape recorder.

Marcia Smith 40:13
Oh, of course and that still in your life today? Yeah, that

Bob Smith 40:18
was a that was a life changer for me eventually went to radio and then well that’s work and here we are still it’s in your bones. X number of years later, I think it was 64 when I got my year first

Marcia Smith 40:29
of a parade of recording devices that Aquila up this room today. Yay. That’s very nice, Bob. Well, we still have wonderful Christmases every year, we are blessed with our children come home and spend time with us a lot of time and it’s always wonderful.

Bob Smith 40:49
Absolutely. And then usually every year we do a little interview with the kids and try to ask them questions, a good time capsule questions you can ask every time you do this. Who are your friends now? What’s your favorite color? What do you like to do when you’re not working? What is your job? Basic things plus a lot of other stuff. What was the year like what went on, you know, but who’s your best friend right now. And it’s interesting to see those changing. And the people there their interests, changing what they like to do, how they spend their time. And then the things that always remain the same are interesting, too. So anyway, so I think Christmas is a good time. As you know, my sister and I used to my late sister, we every Christmas we sat with a book with questions and we talked to ourselves it was primarily looking back on our

Marcia Smith 41:39
childhood. Yeah, we did make a Fonzie to love doing we did that for like

Bob Smith 41:43
14 years in a row so and so we have at least two hours from each year from Yeah, so thanks amazing

Marcia Smith 41:49
capsule of your life growing up.

Bob Smith 41:52
Lots of fun. We’re hoping that people spending their time listening to this or finding this somewhat interesting. Let’s move on.

Marcia Smith 41:59
Let’s play a song.

Unknown Speaker 42:00
Okay, let’s do

Speaker 12 42:03
Okay, good day is Christmas part of the album and you can play this at your Christmas parties. Or to yourself on Christmas eve if there’s nothing else to do

Speaker 13 42:11
good day. Yeah. In case you thought like I wasn’t on this part.

Speaker 12 42:15
I guarantee you’d be on. Okay, so Good day. This is the Christmas part. And we’re gonna tell you what to get your true love for Christmas.

Unknown Speaker 42:24
Look out the window. Where?

Speaker 12 42:28
What are you doing? Snow? Well, it’s a great way north and it’s snowing because it’s Christmas time. Hey, Poser. Wow. Here’s a quiz. Quiz for duck. Okay, I have my thinking took off. Yeah, right. What are the 12 days of Christmas? Figured out right? Christmas is when? The 25th right and what’s the 24th? Christmas Eve? Right? That’s two. Then what’s after that? By wrestling day, Boxing Day. Yeah, that’s three. Then what’s after that? Nothing. New Years. Four. And what New Year’s Eve five. Okay, where do you get 12

Speaker 13 43:05
There’s two Saturdays and Sundays in there. That’s four that’s nine and three other days, which I believe are the mystery days.

Speaker 12 43:16
Okay, now, this is our Christmas song. In case you don’t know what to get somebody for Christmas. There’s lots

Speaker 13 43:22
of ideas in here. So listen, and don’t get stuck. By the way, that’s me on the Oregon

Speaker 12 43:33
USTAR on the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me there.

Speaker 13 43:41
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me to turtleneck and a beer. On the third day was my true love gave me three French toast to turtlenecks and a beer. And to be more than a fourth day of Christmas my true love gave me four pounds up back bakery french toast to turtlenecks and a beer in tree seat. A fifth day Christmas my true love gave to me. Five gold to four pounds up back make the three French toast to turn on x and a beer and tree

Unknown Speaker 44:24
on the six to go to Christmas.

Speaker 13 44:26
gave me six taxa to four four pounds of back very French oh two turtleneck and a bear and three day cruise was

Speaker 12 44:41
my true love gave me savage back swallow six

Speaker 13 44:49
four pounds back bakery French Oh, so turn on and appear and create. This should just be the two days of Christmas. It’s too hard. For us he gave me a comic book to smoke cigarettes a two four by

Unknown Speaker 45:14
three

Unknown Speaker 45:21
okay

Unknown Speaker 45:23
well Good day and welcome to day 12 For panda family tree French goes to turtle neck

Unknown Speaker 45:37
three

Marcia Smith 45:44
to do that

Unknown Speaker 45:48
Merry Christmas Merry Christmas and good day Good day

Speaker 12 46:00
okay you know what you left out? We’re gonna be doing tonight but Merry Christmas everybody on the 12th A for the guy who doesn’t go to go on to the down get some new residents it’s like good donut shop where if you buy it doesn’t mean you have another one free has been 13 for 13 days of Christmas.

Unknown Speaker 46:25
Next Christmas chainsaw That’s a beauty

Speaker 12 46:36
Yeah, I think it ranks up there with Stairway to Heaven.

Bob Smith 46:42
You’re listening to the off ramp with Bob and Marcia Smith our special Christmas program. We’ll be back in just a moment. We’re back. You’re listening to the Christmas program a special show of the off ramp. I want to play this record what is wrong with me? It’s animals it must be what chipmunks know the barking dogs

Marcia Smith 47:07
Oh golly. I forgot about that. Let’s

Bob Smith 47:09
see what this sounds like.

They are the singing dogs I should say the singing dogs were created in Denmark in the 1950s by Believe it or not a self taught bird expert. His name was Carl Wiseman. And so he used to go all over Denmark, and he would record birds. But dogs often chased Wiseman from private property during his field recordings, leaving the days results marred by angry barks. So on a lark, he took a razor blade to tape and he edited out the parks and then he started experimenting with them. He he spliced them together he tweaked tape speeds to correct the pitches and put together a number of songs that were featured on a children’s TV program in 1949. This is very, very early magnetic tape. And interestingly enough, this recording was considered one of the very first recordings that wasn’t reproducible, in real life. Prior to this time, all recordings all songs and everything. Were basically people just getting in front of microphones and recording. But with the advent of tape, they were able to create sounds that had never been heard before in a musical formance and that lead all the way up to the Beatles doing Sergeant Pepper’s same kind of thing, but it began in 1949. So you can credit the barking dogs, and Les Paul and people like that with modern recording techniques. Oh, my goodness. Well, I think one of your favorites has to do with an accident, doesn’t it? What are your favorite Christmas songs? Napoli songs has to do with an accident.

Marcia Smith 50:24
Oh, the reindeer ran over grandma. Yeah.

Bob Smith 50:29
Somehow you find that you’re such a kind of warm person. I don’t know why you’d like that. Well,

Marcia Smith 50:33
you know what I like it for because my mother liked it. And it absolutely floored me. I came home one day and I said, Mom, did you hear this song? It’s so funny. And she said I did. I did. I love it. And I was just amazed that she didn’t think it was appalling. And so that’s why I like it. I can’t believe she liked it. I can’t either, but it was it made her laugh. I didn’t know she had that kind of sense of humor oddballs till that moment.

Speaker 14 51:04
Grandma Got Run Over By rain. They’re walking home from our house. You can say there’s no such thing as sand. Lads for Me and Grandpa, we believe she’d been drinking too much eggnog and we begged her not to go. But she forgot her medication. And she staggered out the door into the snow. When we found her Christmas morning at the scene of the attack she had hoof prints on her forehead and incriminating claws marks on her back. Grandma Got Run Over By rain. They’re walking home from our house Christmas. You can say there’s no such thing as sanda. But as for me and grandma, we believe. Now we’re all so proud of grandpa. He’s been taking this so well. See him in there watching football, drinking beer and playing cards with cousin now. It’s not Christmas without grandma. All the family’s dressed in black. And we just can’t help but wonder. Should we open up her gifts or send them back? Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer walking home from our house.

Unknown Speaker 52:58
You can say there’s no such thing

Speaker 14 53:00
as Santa. But as for me and Grandpa we believe. Now the goose is on the table. And the pudding made of fish. And the blue and silver candle that would just have matched the hair and grandmas way I warned all my friends and neighbors better watch out for your soul. They should never give Eliza to a man who drives a sleigh and plays with L Rand Paul got run over by a reindeer walking home from our house Christmas Eve. Or you can say there’s no such thing as Santa Clarita as for Me and Grandpa.

Unknown Speaker 54:00
Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer walking over my house.

Unknown Speaker 54:08
You can say there’s no such thing

Unknown Speaker 54:13
as grandpa

Unknown Speaker 54:22
bird restless. Oh,

Bob Smith 54:25
and there’s Elmo and Patty singing. Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer. I can’t believe Martius mom thought that was such a funny thing. But then again both of our moms had that he senses the humor. My mom loved Ernie Kovacs crazy, experimental television and Martius mom like that song. Well, here’s something that we associate with winter not necessarily Christmas, but it was an accident. The accidental discovery of artificial snow. Ever wonder what happens when you spray water on a cold running jet engine in a wind tunnel. Well that’s what happened just

Marcia Smith 55:02
the other day happened to you. In the 1940s Canadian scientists Dr. Ray Ringer was trying to replicate conditions that caused icing on planes. He

Bob Smith 55:14
and his colleagues tried spraying water into the air of a lower temperature wind tunnel directly in front of a jet engines intake. The

Marcia Smith 55:22
objective was to create ice, but instead they got snow. Lots and lots of it.

Bob Smith 55:28
They got so much snow that Dr. Ringer and his researchers had to stop the experiment to repeatedly shovel snow out the back of the wind tunnel. They could have just went and got some sleds. But now you think at some point someone would say we’re making snow. Think of how much money we can make doing this for ski slopes. But No they didn’t. They were scientists so they kept shoveling Yeah, over and over again.

Marcia Smith 55:51
Dr. Ringer had no interest in creating a snowmaking machine. Neither he or his lab patented the work but they did publish their results in scientific journals and

Bob Smith 56:01
surprise commercial folks picked up on it in 1949. And

Marcia Smith 56:05
over the next 60 years, scores of commercial snowmaking systems were built all over the world using Dr. Rings discovery he could have been one rich dude. Yeah,

Bob Smith 56:15
he was just trying to replicate the conditions that cause icing on airplanes. And he accidentally invented artificial snow. Now can you imagine that? It’s like lovely made snow. Let’s go on to the next experiment. You know,

Marcia Smith 56:28
that’s that’s lack of imagination. Well, yeah. But it took people

Bob Smith 56:31
who ran ski resorts to go hey, we

Marcia Smith 56:35
just think and it’s constantly is now more than ever,

Bob Smith 56:38
you know, it’s funny, I think now you think about all the startups and all the entrepreneurs, people today who are inventors automatically think how can I make money with this? That’s just the way people have changed their minds about this. Like, hey, here’s something we could use. Here’s an app we could use. So the artificial snowmaking app, okay.

Marcia Smith 56:58
Yeah, that well, that’s down the road yet.

Bob Smith 57:00
Let’s close out this holiday edition of the off ramp, music and trivia to wrap presents by with another Stan Freeburg golden moment, his version of I’m getting nuttin for Christmas

Speaker 15 57:21
I broke my back on Johnny’s hand, somebody snitched on me. I hit a frog in sister’s bed. Somebody snitched on me. I spilled some ink on mommy’s rock. I made Tommy eat up Buck bought some gum with a pen nice luck somebody snitched on me so

Unknown Speaker 57:44
Daddy

Speaker 15 57:56
attack on teachers chair. Somebody’s next on me. I tied a knot in Susie’s hair shop. Me my dad dance on mommy’s plants climbed a tree and tore my pants failed the sugar bowl with ants somebody snitched on me

Unknown Speaker 58:20
me and daddy

Unknown Speaker 58:30
bye bye

Speaker 15 58:38
I won’t be saying Santa Claus. Somebody’s next on me. They won’t come visit me because somebody’s next on me. Next year I’ll be going straight next year. I’ll be good just wait. I’d start now but it’s too late. Somebody who is not coming down the chimney with a bag over his shoulder. It’s him it’s him I thought he wasn’t coming where’s the silverware a little boy in a dining room like I told you and a jewelry same places last time I bought my cut the usual Theo’s you will join me on a chorus okay, why not?

Speaker 15 59:20
Daddy are mad. I

Unknown Speaker 59:30
have a good season. Excellent.

Bob Smith 59:38
Well, that’s it. That’s our holiday show here on the off ramp. Thank you, Marcia.

Marcia Smith 59:43
Thank you Bob.

Bob Smith 59:47
The off rip is produced in association with CPL radio online and the Cedarburg Public Library Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai