DAILY DIRT: We still have Rudolph, but I wonder whatever happened to Flossie, Glossie, Racer and Pacer?

Daily Dirt for Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024

Not to mention ole Fireball. I bet he was a lot for Santa to handle … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,153 of The Daily Dirt.

1. It’s Christmas Eve, and those of us at The Daily Dirt hope you get to spend this evening and, of course, Wednesday with members of your family.

To continue to get you in the mood for Christmas, here are 10 more facts we hope help you enjoy this time of year just a little more.  We’ll conclude our three-day ode to the holiday on Christmas Day:

• 1. Rudolph — yeah, the famous reindeer — was almost named Rollo (pronounced Roy-yoh) or Reginald, and through the years some of the other reindeer have also been known as Flossie, Glossie, Racer, Pacer, Scratcher, Feckless, Ready, Steady and Fireball. Steve was reportedly a reindeer, too. But that didn’t work out. He was not a fan of heights.
• 2. The longest-running U.S. Christmas parade is in Peoria, Ill., dating to 1888.
• 3. Mistletoe actually means “dung on a twig”. The plant’s name comes from the Angle-Saxon words mistle (meaning “dung”), and “tan,” meaning twig. The name refers to how birds eat the plant’s berries, then pass the seeds through their digestive system and deposit them on tree branches.
• 4. During the Christmas eve feast in Portugal (known as “Consoada”) the table is set for both the living and the dead. The main dish is usually cod, boiled with potatoes, cabbage, carrots, eggs, and olive oil. Other traditional dishes include octopus, turkey, or roasted lamb.
• 5. Egg nog was first made in medieval England, originally called “posset” and made with hot milk, spices and wine.
• 6. Gingerbread houses were first created by German bakers, also in medieval times.
• 7. In Norway, it’s a holiday tradition to leave a bowl of porridge out for Christmas gnomes.
• 8. The modern-day American tradition of leaving out milk and cookies for Santa dates to the 1930s during the Great Depression.
• 9. Mariah Carey earns around $3 million each year from royalties for “All I Want For Christmas Is You”.
• 10. In Sweden, coffee is left For Santa, instead of cookies. The coffee is to provide Mr. Claus with more energy and to warm him up.

2. Did you know (Part 225)

• That In 2008, residents of Bethel, Maine, built the world’s largest snowman, standing an impressive 122 feet, 1 inch. It weighed 13 million pounds. The snow(wo)man was named Olympia in honor Maine senator Olympia Snow and did not melt until July.
• That there have been 733 versions of “Silent Night” recorded and copyrighted since 1978.
• That in Japan, one of the Christmas traditions is eating KFC chicken.
• That dry Christmas trees trigger about 265 housefires each year in the United States.
• That the first White House Christmas tree was put up in 1889 under the guidance of President Benjamin Harrison.

3. The Daily Dirt’s favorite Christmas songs — with an accent on the more modern sounds of the holiday — are:

• 1. “Christmas, Baby Please Come Home,” by Darlene Love: “Love’s barn-burner of a song may be about heartbreak, but it makes us happy to hear it every year,” writes Cameron Jenkins and Marisa Lascala of goodhousekeeping.com.
• 2. “Feliz Navidad,” by Jose Feliciano: Come on, admit it, You’ve been singing along with this classic since it became part of pop culture in 1970.
• 3. “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” by Band Aid:Recorded in the ’80s in response to the Ethiopian famine, this track features superstars Phil Collins, Sting, Boy George, Bono, Bob Geldof, George Michael and more.
• 4. “Last Christmas,” by Wham!: George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley released this song in 1984, but it didn’t hit the top of the charts until 2017 (after Michael’s death).
• 5. “Winter Wonderland,” by Dean Martin: Deano’s 1966 version of this standard still plays well today.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — I’m going to be humming “Feliz Navidad” for the rest of the day.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. He ate all of the cookies that were supposed to be left out for Santa.