Welcome to the Kitschmas Advent Calendar 2024 !!! T - 24 Days ... and Counting !!!

     Welcome to OUR Winter Wonderland! The freshly fallen snow, the bear making its way through the woods, the whole atmosphere here encapsulates the K.A.C.! If you're searching for highbrow entertainment, keep goin' - our entries are of a much lower and stranger variety. And if you're looking for a nice Seasons Greetings card, we've done the heavy work for you! Thanks to Matthew for the image.  

     And so we begin anew with this year's K.A.C. - it's our 16th year (!) bringing you bits of Holiday Cheer and Holy Holly, Santa's gonna need a back brace for all the people who are about to get coal THIS year! But let's not think about that right now - think Happy Thoughts!

      Last year we were taking a daily tour of Christmas through the years, ending in 1975. We pick up the baton today with a look at the years 1976 - 1999, focusing on all the strange, weird, outre' and downright bizarre gifts and news items from those years, as well as the current holiday oddities that cross our desk. Strap yourself in to your sleigh's seat belts and let's take a spin.

     1976 -- Want to be sure to remembered in Grandma's will? Then present her with some Christmas macrame'! Oh, she'll remember you, all right. There will be a special addendum in her will ... "make sure he doesn't get ANYTHING!" 

     Let's take Gran's mind off that woven worry and put the basement den to better use, say with a present of the Ultimate in entertainment, a Montgomery Ward Video World of Sports Video Game console! Choose from three exciting games ... tennis, hockey or handball, all with three skill levels and audio 'beeps' and 'boops' to increase the tension and cause fights for the whole family! Want to wrestle the TV back to watch those holiday specials? Forget it! These things are addictive, not to mention the pinnacle of video gaming - just like the real thing at the arcades. It will never get more advanced than this! *ahem* 

     And speaking of those specials, they were big business for weary eyeballs, with everyone from Johnny Cash to Sonny & Cher (not to mention the Osmonds) doing their best to bring you holiday cheer AND holiday commercials for everything you MUST HAVE to make your year a success! They also had some of the weirdest pairings of hosts and guest stars that one could imagine. Thankfully a number of these have been saved over the years so you can take a look at what passed for entertainment and shake your head in awe (or terror) - below is the Sonny & Cher Holiday Special, with their special guest, Captain Kangaroo! I know some of you youngsters out there have no idea of what or who I'm talking about - perhaps it's just as well, as this will ease you into what's coming for the rest of the month. Enjoy the music, the comedy ... and the '70s outfits!

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J4AbXafW_k

      I think that's a good place to stop for our first entry, especially considering what's arriving tomorrow and the rest of the month as we count down to the 25th. See you soon!