The only source cited in the script for this episode was: Restad, Penne L. Christmas in America: A History. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996 [1995].
For more information on the history of Christmas and traditions discussed in this episode, I refer you to the following sources:
- Mike Duncan did an episode of his Revolutions podcast entitled “The War on Christmas” on the Puritans’ attempts to ban the celebration of Christmas in England.
- Colonial Williamsburg has a section of their site devoted to information about Christmas in colonial America.
- The Wikipedia article on John Canoe gives some more information on that tradition which we touched upon and is still celebrated in coastal North Carolina as well as in the Caribbean to this day, and a YouTube video of a John Canoe dancer in Belize gives you a visual glimpse into the tradition.
- To get a taste of Penne Restad’s research, she did an article for History Today entitled “Christmas in 19th Century America” which covers some of the ground in her larger work.
The instrumental version of Jingle Bells utilized for this episode is on Wikipedia under a Creative Commons license, and its creator was Kevin MacLeod of incompetech.com.