People have their favorite Christmas stories. For many it's Dicken's A Christmas Carol which pretty much established the modern traditions of the holiday. Some are devoted to the animated tales of the Grinch or Charlie Brown. But for me, my favorite Christmas story is The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry.
The story is quite simple. A husband and wife are struggling to make ends meet. Hubby wants to buy his lovely bride a comb for her luxurious long hair. Wifey wants to buy a gold chain for her man's beloved pocket watch. In order to buy the items, the man sells his watch and the wife sells her hair. In the end both end up finding out that the best gift for the season are each other. There's been dozens of variants on this story. Perhaps the best known is from the 1950s short lived series, The Honeymooners.
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| This episode is not to be confused with the Honeymooners Christmas Special that aired on ABC December 1978. |
The Honeymooners was originally a skit on the Jackie Gleason Show. The show was about the misadventures of bus driver Ralph Kramden played by Gleason and his best buddy Ed Norton (Art Carney.) The two guys were married to Alice and Trixie, who often poo-pooed many of their harebrained schemes. Despite being hugely popular, the show only lasted 39 episodes.
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| Merry Christmas from the Kramdens and Nortons!!! |
I didn't realize that this episode surpassed the I Love Lucy Special by almost a full-year. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' aired on December 24, 1955. In this episode, filmed before a live audience, Ralph buys his wife a gift that he learns is pretty stupid. So he sells his beloved bowling ball to buy Alice something better. On Christmas Day, Alice surprises Ralph with a bowling ball bag to which Ralph has to admit what he did. Ralph finalizes the episode by making a huge speech about how Christmas is more than presents and Alice's heart melts realizing that despite his faults, Ralph loves her more than anything.
Really, I don't think I can give this episode justice. So my Advent gift for you today is the episode in it's entirety. Enjoy... and until tomorrow- Merry Christmas!
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