If you were a kid in the 1960s, December meant one thing above all. Your family gathered around a television set the size of a small icebox and waited for the special that came on only once a year.

Here are 7 Christmas traditions that kids of the 1960s remember, from the family TV to the thick toy catalog. Facts come from Mental Floss, Wikipedia’s entries on the Yule Log and the Sears Wish Book and other published sources, and a few of them look very different today.

Rudolph Sold Network Executives On A Famous Voice

Mental Floss reports that Johnny Marks wrote the song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” in 1949. He was the brother-in-law of Robert L. May, a Montgomery Ward copywriter who created the story for a department store coloring book.

Sam the Snowman was not in the early drafts. General Electric wanted a “name” to sell the production to a network, so Burl Ives was brought on, and Mental Floss says the special has aired annually since 1964.

Here is a fun detail from the same article. Hermey the dentist-wannabe was named after one of screenwriter Mario Muller’s real-life friends.

CBS Nervous About A Charlie Brown Christmas, Then 15.4 Million Tuned In

Mental Floss says Lee Mendelson filmed a documentary about Charles Schulz and Peanuts in 1963. It never sold, but Coca-Cola executives saw it and asked about an animated Christmas special.

CBS executives were uneasy, citing slow pacing, real kids as voice actors, no laugh track and Linus reciting from the Gospel of Luke. The special aired December 9, 1965, drew 15.4 million viewers, and ranked second that week behind Bonanza.

Schulz and Mendelson accepted an Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Program a few months later.

The Grinch Cost $315,000 And Turned Green Because Of Chuck Jones

Mental Floss says Boris Karloff, known for Frankenstein, won a 1967 Grammy in the spoken word category for the LP release. Thurl Ravenscroft sang “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” and he was also the voice of Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger.

Dr. Seuss’s 1957 book showed the Grinch in black and white with touches of pink. Director Chuck Jones decided he should be green.

The $315,000 budget was extravagant for 1966, and Variety ran the headline “The Grinch – It Not Only Stole Christmas But Picked CBS’ Pocket.”

The Little Drummer Boy Came With A Gas Company Sponsor

Mental Floss says The Little Drummer Boy debuted in 1968 from Rankin-Bass, based on the Katherine Kennicott Davis song and expanded to fill 30 minutes of airtime. Greer Garson, who won an Academy Award for Mrs. Miniver in 1942, was the narrator.

The sponsor was the American Gas Association, whose bumpers read “Holiday Wishes from Your Local Gas Company!”

That kind of single-sponsor special is hard to find on today’s crowded channels.

Frosty The Snowman Arrived In 1969 With Old-Fashioned Cartoon Animation

According to Mental Floss, Frosty first aired in 1969, and it was the first Rankin/Bass special to use traditional animation instead of stop-motion. Paul Coker, Jr., a long-time MAD magazine illustrator, drew the main character and backgrounds.

Jimmy Durante was the narrator. Mental Floss says Durante turned down a performance fee at the Eagles International Convention in 1961, saying “Help da kids.”

The song itself dates to 1950, when Jack Nelson and Steve Rollins wrote it to capitalize on Gene Autry’s “Rudolph.”

The Yule Log Began In 1966 And Is Five Hours Long Today

Wikipedia says WPIX president Fred M. Thrower created the Yule Log in 1966 as a gift for New Yorkers in apartments without fireplaces. It debuted December 24, 1966, and about $4,000 in advertising was canceled for the broadcast.

It was filmed at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s residence. In 1966 the original ran 3 hours with Percy Faith’s “Joy to the World” opening and closing the telecast.

Today it looks very different. Wikipedia reports it grew to a 5-hour broadcast by 2019, and it was streamed online by WPIX in 2013. In 1990 the station canceled it because of cost, hundreds of protest letters followed, and WPIX revived it after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

The Sears Wish Book Was A Toy Catalog That Shrank

Wikipedia says the first Sears Wish Book was published in 1933, separate from the annual Sears Christmas catalog. Earlier editions ran over 300 pages, plenty of room for a child to dream about presents for weeks.

In 1993, Sears discontinued its big-book catalogs in the US, and the Wish Book began to shrink noticeably. By 2007 it had about 100 pages, and half were devoted to Christmas toys.

The Wish Book went mobile in 2010 so customers could see it on smartphones. In 2017 Sears Holdings announced its return in online, mobile and print editions.

Kids of the 1960s had limited choices on the dial, so these shows became shared family memories. Sitting down together was the whole event.

Gather the family this year and watch one of these classics the way you did as a child. Pull out the blanket, pop some corn and let the grandkids see what a real holiday special looked like.

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