Holiday Season Resources at SUNY Broome

It's a quiet Christmas Eve. The snow is fresh and white, the kids are tucked in and dreaming, and even the mice are snug in their homes. But wait--what's that clatter? This classic Christmas poem was first published anonymously in a newspaper 1823, and it later appeared in an anthology of poetry from the American author Clement Clarke Moore in 1844. This unabridged version from a 1912 edition includes color illustrations from American artist Jessie Willcox Smith.

The 'Psychology of Santa' examines decades of psychological research, as well as studies in sociology, communication, history, and advertising, all of which deal with Christmas. The book examines what research can reveal to us about how psychologists and others view these customs and what they represent to our culture. A number of aspects of Christmas are explored, and this book offers an intriguing interpretation of our lives and customs. Topics covered include how Christmas is celebrated during wars, a history of selected customs and whether families today still engage in them, how different traditions of psychologists view Christmas, Christmas and stress, Christmas and depression and suicide, children's letters to Santa Claus, and children's beliefs in Santa and how they change with age.

The true story of John Duval Gluck, Jr., who in 1913 founded the Santa Claus Association, which had the sole authority to answer Santa's mail in New York City. He made the myth of Santa a reality to poor children, until a crusading charity commissioner exposed Gluck as a fraud.

With his rosy cheeks and matching red suit--and ever-present elf and reindeer companions--Santa Claus may be the most identifiable of fantastical characters. But what do we really know of jolly old Saint Nicholas, "patron saint" of Christmastime? Ask about the human behind the suit, and the tale we know so well quickly fades into myth and folklore. In The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus, religious historian Adam English tells the true and compelling tale of Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra.

A fascinating look at the state and fate of caribou in North America, along with the millennia-long practice of reindeer herding in Finland, Russia, and Mongolia. Within a few days of his arrival from Kenya to the western Canadian prairie city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, wildlife veterinarian Jerry Haigh discovered that caribou and reindeer are one and the same species: wild caribou in North America, wild reindeer in Eurasia. In time, Jerry's interest and research into this dynamic species grew beyond the borders of the northern boreal forests of North American, and he became fascinated with the way they were tamed by ancient peoples and the folklore about the animals' origins, including that of the modern Christmas story about Rudolph and his red nose. Reindeer Reflections recounts Jerry Haigh's travels and research in the arctic tundra and northern forests of North America, working among the Sami of Finland, and getting to know the nomadic Tsaatan herders in the foothills of the Sayan mountains of Mongolia.

The reindeer herders of Aoluguya, China, are a group of former hunters who today see themselves as "keepers of reindeer" as they engage in ethnic tourism and exchange experiences with their Ewenki neighbors in Russian Siberia. Though to some their future seems problematic, this book focuses on the present, challenging the pessimistic outlook, reviewing current issues, and describing the efforts of the Ewenki to reclaim their forest lifestyle and develop new forest livelihoods. Both academic and literary contributions balance the volume written by authors who are either indigenous to the region or have carried out fieldwork among the Aoluguya Ewenki since the late 1990s.

Ronald D. Lankford has written the definitive history of this iconic and much-loved Christmas character. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was the creation of Robert May, a staff copywriter who wrote the original poem as a Montgomery Ward Christmas giveaway in 1939. More than 2.4 million copies were printed and given away that holiday season. Thus the legend began. Johnny Marks adapted the poem into what would become the Gene Autry hit "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," which instantly became--and still remains--one of the most popular Christmas songs of all time. The legend of Rudolph soared even higher with the Rankin/Bass stop-motion television special in 1964, which has gone on to inspire a cottage industry of toys and decorative items. In this festive and informed look at the most famous reindeer of all, Lankford discusses all of Rudolph's iterations, including comic books, sequels, advertising tie-ins, movies, and much more. Lankford has produced the first complete history of Rudolph that both celebrates and explains the undying popularity of Rudolph and his friends. The result is both a glowing tribute and a rigorously researched biography that will appeal to fans and lovers of classic American holiday culture.