‘Tis the night before Christmas,
(That’s Evan with our tree);
Time to wind up our series
With just one offering, not three.
“The Night Before Christmas,” Louis Armstrong, 1971, from “The Stash Christmas Album,” 1985.
It’s an a capella reading of Clement Clarke Moore’s famous poem, which was titled “Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas” upon its first publication in a newspaper — the Troy Sentinel in Troy, New York — on Dec. 23, 1823.
Armstrong recorded this just a few months before his death on July 6, 1971.
As you’d expect, Satchmo makes it his own.
Enjoy.
Oh, and one more thing …
Our Christmas is all the merrier for having rediscovered this classic Miller High Life commercial. It may just be a Midwestern thing, but this used to be a familiar sight at this time of year. It debuted in 1977; this clip is from Dec. 7, 1980.
A friend of ours worked at Miller Brewing in Milwaukee about that time. She told us people so loved this commercial that they’d start calling the brewery in November to try to find out when it was going to air.
… so to all, a good night, and a merry Christmas.
AM, Then FM 
December 7, 1980. If I am recalling correctly, that was the day the Bears beat the Packers 61-7. If so, this Miller ad was probably the only good thing about the game.
Merry Christmas Bub, and sorry about the Packers, but I’m sure they’ll bounce back, well, maybe not the kicker.
I’ll keep my eye on yer page. I’m curious to see what happens after the Holidays.
cheers!
Excellant Christmas related posts. Thank you!
I’m a lifelong Vikings’ fan and can’t understand how a team with so much on the line can blow it.
I meant The Vikings of course.
Steve, if you’re a life-long Vikings fan, you must know that blowing the big game, and blowing the game that leads to the big game, is a certainty for the Vikings. To four Super Bowls (1969, 1973, 1974, 1976)you add Drew Pearson’s push-off and Staubach’s Hail Mary (1975), you add taking a knee at midfield and going for overtime against the Falcons (1998), you add handing the Giants a 41-0 NFC game victory through what seemed like disinterest (2000), and you wind up without question with a game like Sunday evening’s, where the Vikings upheld their proud tradition. Don’t get me wrong — I love the Vikings. But to be a Viking fan, you must expect your raised expectations to be squashed time and again, like Wile E Coyote at the hands of the Roadrunner. (The Vikings don’t run the West Coast offense: it’s the Acme offense.)