tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post1390169177066087006..comments2024-03-27T22:27:16.556-04:00Comments on It's About TV: Christmas greetings, circa 1962Mitchell Hadleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08695771505209080030noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-86462452170843358252012-12-18T20:38:25.890-05:002012-12-18T20:38:25.890-05:00Good feedback on the advertising angle. I’ve ofte...Good feedback on the advertising angle. I’ve often wondered what happened to those Albert Lea businesses as well. It’s on my list (even if it’s a wish list) to do some research on that, along with some of the businesses that advertised things such as TVs and appliances in TV Guide during the 60s.<br /><br />As for the PC police, my outlook is certainly colored by having lived for so many years in Minneapolis-St. Paul, aka Sombertown, aka The Place Where Absolutely Nothing Is Allowed. Case or two in point – in St. Paul, red poinsettias were banned from government buildings due to their connotation with the holiday. And one of the daily newspapers once ran the banner “Happy Holidays” over the masthead – on Christmas Day. Talk about insensitivity!<br /><br />I would expand or amend my comments to say that the public expression of “Merry Christmas” has been either discouraged or stigmatized to the extent that it is far less prevalent than it used to be. While you are correct that one can still privately celebrate Christmas, I think it important that there at least be a public affirmation of Christmas as such, rather than the ubiquitous “Season’s Greetings” type of mush. Out of sight, out of mind – the less people see Christmas, the less they connect it with its religious meaning, the easier it becomes to replace it with a euphemism.<br /><br />I know people who think that within their lifetimes, Christmas will be marginalized to the point where the phrase is never used, it is no longer a public holiday, the government will officially sanction the term “Winter Festival” or the like, and so on. Alarmist? Perhaps, but the larger cultural point is that 50 years ago, even the thought of such an occurrence, except in a science-fiction dystopia, would have been unthinkable.<br />Mitchell Hadleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08695771505209080030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6042603612494762084.post-66745696442896006502012-12-18T18:09:53.242-05:002012-12-18T18:09:53.242-05:00While I don't share your view that "the P...While I don't share your view that "the PC police have ridden Christmas out of town in the name of diversity"--which implies that people can't celebrate it anymore when they clearly can and do--I agree that these ads are beautiful. For many years I produced dozens of their radio equivalents during the holiday season, when advertisers that didn't spend a dime the rest of the year wanted to send holiday greetings. I wonder how many of these Albert Lea businesses were the same way.jbhttp://jabartlett.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com