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Amazing Christmas Facts With John and Hank

2009-12-23 · list · John, Hank · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: History & curiosities (also: Personal life) · mode: Curiosity & trivia · tags: calendar ritual, guest or collab, community lore

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

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

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

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

  • ★★ both: 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 · also in: John and Hank Hanging Out but they Keep Getting Younger and More Pixelated

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'

  • ★★ both: 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, Leet
  • ★★★ 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 · Christmas
    • a number in question (doubtful): "1857" — check against the recording
  • ★ both: The brothers close the facts by singing the playground parody 'Jingle Bells, Batman Smells'. (playful) — 00:03:18

00:03:53 — Sign-off: happy holidays and a puff fight

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

Mentioned

Central: Christmas · Jingle Bells

Also: People: James Lord Pierpont · Katherine Green · Mike Green · Robert L. May · Sydney Green

Works: Hot cockles · Jingle Bells, Batman Smells

Organizations: F. W. Woolworth Company · Montgomery Ward

Terms: the Puff

Places: Alabama · Canada · United States

Events: Thanksgiving

Characters: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Myths: Santa Claus

Memes: Leet

animal: Willy

Only in the description or credits: Ray William Johnson

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