Go to the grocery store lanes today, if you can find one that isn't self service, and you'll find a number of magazines devoted to a single pop culture subject. A recent trip to a Chapel Hill, NC Harris Teeter saw single-issue publications devoted to Superman, Willy Wonka, and Taylor Swift. It was about a month ago that I purchased this holiday special starring one of the major players of Christmas: Santa Claus.
Just about everything you wanted to know about St. Nick is in this full color 100-pager. His history, both as real and myth, a look at those writers and creators who evolved the character from a Turkish bishop to the billion advertising juggernaut he is today. There's info about Mrs. Claus, the reindeer, his elves, even a look at the rustic homes of the North Pole are included. It also contains tons of facts about movies, books and TV shows that have featured Santa as well as a look at how children around the world receive their gifts from Santa.
The cover promises to reveal the secret as to how Santa delivers toys to all those kids in just 1 night. While they take into account that based on the international date line and going from East to West in a lateral zig-zag pattern in each time zone actually gives Santa about 36 hours to deliver all his presents, they forget one important thing: not every culture has Santa deliver their gifts! Italy has a witch named La Befana. Some Scandinavian countries have the Yule Goat: a man who transforms into a gift giving goat every Christmas Eve. Some cultures get their gifts from Santa a bit before or weeks after December 25th. Add in those lands that forbid Santa or the celebration of Christmas, the lack of kids in Antarctica, and acres of unlivable terrain, in reality, Santa isn't that busy every Christmas Eve.
This publication was released by A360Media. From the cover, it looked like a Time/Life magazine. Instead A360Media are the folks who own the National Enquirer, Star and US Magazine. The Enquirer and Star links explain the lack of 100% accuracy in some of the facts. The US Magazine link explains the focus on pop culture and entertainment.
I really only skimmed the surface of this mag. I think my wife will enjoy reading it next year. There's a life bit of everything for the person who loves Christmas. There's even a couple of recipes! Only thing missing was some kind of fun and games page. I would have appreciated a crossword and a word find. Maybe a hidden picture or other visual activity would have been nice. Still, without those additions, this was a read that while peppered with some inaccuracies, was anything but naughty!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment