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Amazing Christmas Facts With John and Hank

2009-12-23 · John, Hank · watch on YouTube · History & curiosities · curiosity idea

John and Hank, together for Christmas, trade Christmas trivia (Alabama's 1838 holiday, hot cockles, Rudolph's Montgomery Ward origin, Santa's H0H0H0 postal code, Jingle Bells as a Thanksgiving song) with banter, Willy and a closing puff fight.

What is said

00:00:00 — Cold open with Willy; greetings; the holiday season 'preying upon us'; family together for Christmas and the expected first baby

  • ★★ John says he usually hates Christmas but is into it this year: he and his wife expect their first kid, and Hank, Katherine, Mom and Dad are all there. — 00:00:34 · Katherine Green

00:01:03 — Christmas facts: Alabama's 1838 state holiday, national holiday in 1870, hot cockles, Rudolph invented for Montgomery Ward by Robert May

  • ★★ The brothers say Alabama was the first US state to recognize Christmas as an official holiday, declaring it a state holiday in 1838. — 00:01:03 · Christmas
  • ★★ Christmas did not become a US national holiday until 1870, so for almost the first 100 years of the union it was not one; the brothers note there were fewer national holidays then. — 00:01:24 · Christmas, United States
  • ★★ Hot cockles is a game, associated almost exclusively with Christmas, in which a blindfolded person is hit by someone in the room and must guess who hit them. — 00:01:24 · Christmas
  • ★★ Correcting Hank's claim that Woolworth invented Rudolph, John says Montgomery Ward did in the late 1930s: copywriter Robert May, a nerdy small guy, wrote a story about a nerdy small reindeer that became massive. — 00:02:06

00:02:50 — Santa's Canadian postal code H0H0H0; Jingle Bells written for Thanksgiving (fact-checked: 1857, James Lord Pierpont); singing 'Jingle Bells, Batman Smells'

  • ★★ In Canada, Santa's postal code is H0H0H0: Canadian postal codes alternate letter and number, so it reads HO HO HO in leetspeak. — 00:02:50 · Canada
  • ★★★ Hank says Jingle Bells was originally a Thanksgiving song, which is why it never mentions Christmas; a fact check says it was written in 1857 for a Thanksgiving program by James Lord Pierpont. — 00:03:18 · Thanksgiving
    • number check: 1857 — doubtful
  • ★ The brothers close the facts by singing the playground parody 'Jingle Bells, Batman Smells'. (playful) — 00:03:18

Humor (significant)

  • John tries to show a trick with Willy by yelling 'Panic!' at the dog, who flees. — 00:00:00 > «You're gonna be a great father.»
  • The brothers say the holiday season is literally upon them, preying on them. — 00:00:00 > «It is latched on like a zombie.»
  • John explains Rudolph's nerdy author wrote about a nerdy reindeer and the story became massive. — 00:02:50 > «If you're gonna have a reindeer, you want a nerdy one.»
  • A fact check on screen shows James Lord Pierpont, best known for composing Jingle Bells. — 00:03:18 > «But, I mean, to be fair, he should be famous for that beard.»

Threads in this video

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