What is Christmas? Well, it is a question I have examined from pretty much every angle over the last two years during Blogmas, but it keeps coming back to one central idea, the accumulation of years of tradition. This is true for the wider celebration of Christmas around the world, and also for the family celebration of Christmas in each individual household. I initially decided to look at some of my own family traditions, but I realised that I had probably covered that in as much detail as anyone could want – and almost certainly more! Therefore, I have decided to look at the reasons why we feel the need to create our own Christmases.
The human need for tradition
We develop traditions as a species to try to find our place in the world. These traditions might be long standing or relatively recent, but when we follow them, we are reflecting our need to belong somewhere. That belonging may be based on a family, a club, an interest or a nationality, but wherever it comes from we are proclaiming ourselves to be part of that particular grouping. When we are with people who share our interests or our upbringing, we have a confirmation that we are part of something bigger. Many years ago, that grouping might have been the church or it might have been your village, but these days the groups tend to be more specific, based perhaps around a social or sports club. However, one unit has been constant throughout the centuries, the family, extended to include friends and nuclear. So how do traditions develop within the family?
Family at Christmas
Now, one of the main ways that any family develops their own traditions is by taking what they enjoyed as children and implanting it in their own Christmas. Just as important, if not more so, is the decision to leave behind those things that they did not enjoy as children. So, for example, their own family may have gone to church on Christmas Day, but that is something that the person didn’t enjoy so it doesn’t make it into their Christmas. For example, the traditional role of the wife and mother in the kitchen all morning may be shared or, as in our case, reversed. The person who grew up with turkey every year, and grew to dislike it, may decide not to let it near their Christmas table. Present opening may have been a free for all in the childhood home, so it is much more structured in their own home, with enough time for each present to be appreciated, at least in theory!
This, of course, can lead to conflict when their parents come to share Christmas with them, or when they go to their parents to re-enact a family Christmas of the past. The parents may miss their familiar patterns when they visit and they may make comments to that effect. The now grown up child may feel like they are trapped in a seasonal nightmare with no control over how the day goes. This can make Christmas a very stressful day for all concerned and contributes to the feeling that many have that they want to ignore the season. In many cases, this extends to all the trappings, all the preparations and all the expectations. Some people go away every Christmas, some put up the barricades at home! Some will simply refuse to spend any part of Christmas with their family in order to put as much distance between themselves and a very intense day or so.
The Two Extremes
The prevailing social media ecosystem, and indeed the way that many people behave in person, means live and let live as a concept has largely disappeared. People who ignore Christmas are Scrooges, people who throw themselves into it are childish or stupid, or so the prevailing narrative would have us believe. The truth is, as ever, far more complex than that. People who hate the season could have been brought up in families where Christmas was a time of argument and fear, people who love it could have grown up in families when it was a time of magic and celebration. Interestingly, the opposite is often true. Someone with bad memories may choose to celebrate Christmas extremely enthusiastically to assuage them. Someone brought up in ‘Santa’s Grotto’ may have had enough of it before they are out of their teens! Make no mistake, though, choosing to ignore the season is just as much of a Christmas tradition as throwing yourself into it. The same people post the same memes of Noddy Holder in November saying ‘Wait for it!’ or ‘It’s not Christmas until I say so!’ to stem the tide of early seasonal cheer. They throw themselves into ‘Whamaggedon’ to proclaim their opposition to all Christmas music which is, to them, inherently shallow. They will post comments below the line in the papers to ridicule those who like Christmas music, Christmas films or Christmas food. This happens every year, and I get the impression that the sheer ‘contrariness’ of their position is very appealing! The ‘opposition’ will join pages on Facebook that celebrate Christmas all year round and occasionally share posts from those pages well in advance of December 25, primarily to proclaim their position as keepers of the Christmas flame. That in itself is part of the Christmas tradition for lovers of the season as they like to think of themselves as the contrary ones, and occasionally seem to enjoy portraying the rest of the world as somehow lacking in magic.
Towards a deeper appreciation
Oddly enough, I have noticed that as I have got older, Christmas has become more important to me, and, I hope, to those I share it with. All but one of my children have left home, so I appreciate their visits more, especially at Christmas. Ironically, this has caused me to relax at Christmas, in an attempt to remove the inherent pressure I mentioned earlier. The day is no longer the big production number it was when the children were younger. That isn’t to say that I take it less seriously, because the opposite is true, but I now endeavour to make it as easy-going as possible, so that they want to come back year after year. They appreciate the fact that we do many of the same things that we did when they were younger. For example, Santa still visits all of us and fills our stockings! One thing I never lose sight of, though, is that we are very fortunate that they still want to spend part of Christmas with us and I will always value that.
Yes, Christmas starts earlier than ever and is way more commercial, although people have been saying this for a while;
There are People who will tell you that Christmas to them is not what it used to be.
We have lost the art of commanding our feelings so as to fit them to the season … Now we have separated very sharply the secular from the sacred part of Christmas.
First Quote – (Dickens, 1836) / Second Quote – (The Times, 1912)
There are undeniable issues with Christmas for many people, but there are undeniable benefits for many as well. How you celebrate the season, or indeed if you choose to ignore it, and what your traditions are, will differ from person to person, family to family, country to country. One thing remains true, however. The mid-Winter festival that probably started with Yuletide is still with us some 6000 years later. It is part of our social fabric and it helps us mark the passing of another year. In that sense, whatever your traditions, it is a chance to take stock, to look back, to look forward or simply to appreciate the here and now and those around you. Whatever you do around December 25 I hope you find peace and contentment.
Maybe, if you feel so inclined you can post a comment below to tell me what the season means to you and how it fits into your life. Do you celebrate wholeheartedly, or do you count down the days until you can get back to normal?
More than any other time of the year, we associate mid-Winter festivals from Yule to Saturnalia to Hanukah and Diwali with feasting. For example, during Yule, it was, paradoxically, a way of saving valuable resources for the long winter ahead. The bulk of the livestock were slaughtered so that food could be kept for the people within the village or tribe. As a result there was, unusually, a lot of fresh meat available so that was what was eaten. Saturnalia saw feasting to thank the deity Saturn, the god of Agriculture, for his bounty. Hanukah and Diwali are festivals that have huge emphasis on the role of light and feasting as celebration. That of course leaves Christmas, a combination of many previous festivals, which so many of us celebrate now, once again has feasting at its centre.
Now, this of course requires a lot of cooking and a lot of preparation and, unfortunately for many, a lot of stress. We can see the Christmas Day meal as the most significant meal of the year, turning the simple acts of cooking and baking into high stakes style tests of our ability. Even if the meal doesn’t go perfectly it doesn’t mean that you are a poor cook, but it means a meal that doesn’t go perfectly is eaten by two or three as many people as usual. So, what can we do to reduce these stresses? Well, the way my wife and I have done it over the years has been to rely on the Christmas Cookbook, so let me introduce you to two of our favourites and the recipes we make year after year.
Delia Smith’s Christmas
We bought this book in 1992, and in the 32 Christmases since then, it has been Janet’s go to for baking recipes. Mincemeat, Christmas Puddings and Christmas Cakes are the central sweet treats of our Christmas seasons and beyond. I haven’t had a shop bought Christmas Cake or Pudding since Janet started making them, and I haven’t had a shop bought mince pie in probably 15 years! One of the small things you notice when you use the same cookbook over and over again are the signs of very well used recipes. For example, on the page for Homemade Christmas Mincemeat you can see the splashes of ingredients on the pages that give the book that character and comfort that I really like to see.
Now, for most recipes Janet follows Delia’s ingredients and instructions to the letter. The only exception is the Mulled Wine. Delia uses red wine, but not being much of a drinker I found that too strong for me, so one year Janet tried Rosé and it was perfect for me. We’ve never gone back since, so if, like me, you find the wine hangover from red a bit too much as you get older, swap to Rosé and see what you think. For the first 10 years or so, I followed Delia’s turkey preparation and timings to the letter. Now, with a little more confidence I am happy to go with experience.
Delia Smith’s Christmas is obviously out of print, but you can still pick it up from sellers on Amazon or eBay, or you might want to look at the more recent Delia’s Happy Christmas which will no doubt be just as good.
Christmas Gordon Ramsay
This is a superb book for anyone looking to add a little bit of variety to their Christmas Dinner. For many years, since the first Christmas in Australia in 1998 in fact, I have changed the traditional Christmas Dinner for the Australian style turkey and salads for two reasons. First, it is lighter and you don’t get that post Christmas Dinner discomfort that the traditional British style dinner gives you. Second, with salads you can obviously prepare them on Christmas Eve, thereby giving the Christmas Day cooking a less chaotic feel. However, in the last few years, at Janet’s request, I have started to add some hot dishes as well.
One of the recipes I have taken from Ramsay’s excellent book is the Potato and Celeriac Dauphinoise. As celeriac is often difficult to find, I use celery and leek instead and it seems to work extremely well. What I love about this particular book is that it is written for the everyday cook looking to do something different. As long as you follow the instructions, you will find the recipes straightforward, but the tastes are a real lift for any dinner at Christmas, or, indeed, at any other time. The dauphinoise in particular tastes absolutely delicious and is a perfect accompaniment.
There are some excellent desserts and other sweet recipes in this book, including a shortbread recipe that is easy to follow, and tastes lovely, but which I haven’t quite been able to crack in terms of texture. I will definitely try it out again and again until I am happy with it. The turkey is non-negotiable as far as I am concerned, but I am aware that for many of you, the turkey is not a popular choice. Ramsay also realises that and has included four other dishes that you can build a Christmas feast around, including Beef Wellington and pan-fried sea bass. As with the Delia Smith book, it is full of fantastic ideas and a great tasting meal is similarly attainable as long as you follow the recipe carefully.
Christmas Gordon Ramsay is very hard to get hold of now, so you might want to keep an eye on eBay or charity shops, although you certainly wouldn’t find mine in a charity shop as it’s so good!
Jamie Oliver
Now, I don’t have any Jamie Oliver cookbooks, but what I do have are two recipes that I copied down from Christmas programmes that he hosted. The first is Italian Style Stuffing which you can find on his Christmas Eve programme repeated every year. Now, this stuffing, as I make it, doesn’t include apricots or sultanas as shown on the show, because, as I may have mentioned before, I don’t do sweet and savoury on the same plate. I have never taken to it, because it is, to me, the taste equivalent of nails down a blackboard! The stuffing is so good when you cook it that you will never want to use the powdered stuff ever again! The second recipe, the Yorkshire Pudding Showstopper, just looks amazing but is so easy to make. The difference with this one, compared to a normal Yorkshire Pudding, is that it is given room to rise and ends up serving six people very easily! To make both recipes easy to find, the Italian Style Stuffing is stuck in to the back of the Delia book, while the Yorkshire Pudding Showstopper is stuck into the front of the Ramsay book!
Final Thoughts
As I said at the start, we put an awful lot of pressure on ourselves at the start of the Christmas cooking to make it ‘perfect’, I know I did. Some of my kitchen meltdowns were spectacular! I am better, but I would see myself as a work in progress! Try to take it easy on yourself. If you have put a dinner on the table that has been enough for everyone, and if your diners have enjoyed your food, then that’s success, isn’t it? If there are some issues and if the food isn’t as good as you would like it to be, just learn, adapt your recipes and try again next year. You will not remember the individual components of your Christmas Dinner next year, but you will remember the company of those you love. Take that thought away with you, and you may find the whole process at least a little easier.
Gregorian Chant can split music lovers down the middle. For some, it is restful, profound music, for others it is anything but restful. To quote Ruby from the Butterflies Christmas Special in 1979 when she finds Ben listening to it while she is on her cleaning round,
I’ve switched them moaning fellas off while I’m working!
(Lane, 1979)
Whether you are a Ben Parkinson, who loves it, or a Ruby who can’t stand it, a little bit of background will probably be useful.
Gregorian Chant
Gregorian Chant is named after Pope Gregory I who became the Pontiff in 590 and oversaw the Catholic church until 604. He was the first person to codify it and make it an integral part of worship. However, the music we would recognise as Gregorian Chant nowadays probably dates from a few centuries later when Charlemagne, the King of the Franks, a Germanic people, combined existing Gregorian Chant with Gallican Chant to create a new style of worship. Even allowing for this, which has the recognised version of Gregorian Chant dating from the very start of the 9th Century, it is perhaps remarkable that this style has endured for over 1200 years and, in its original form, for 1500 years.
It is sometimes referred to as plainsong and it consisted of Latin worship set to very simple music and sung in monophonic style. This simply means that there is only a single line of melody which is sung in unison. It is at its most effective in churches and large halls, where the acoustics bring out its full power. There were different chants for different times of day, as they followed the cycle of the eight prayer services, Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline. In addition the chants varied across the year according to the seasons. As you might expect, then, there are chants which are only heard during Advent and Christmas. They were obviously not Christmas carols as we know them today. Incidentally, the word carol actually referred to a dance performed in a circle in Roman times, and celebrated all kinds of festivals. They only became inextricably linked with the Christmas season much later on, particularly after their revival in Victorian times.
Gregorian Chant has been used in a number of films, especially the ‘Dies Irae’ chant used for funerals, which pops up in films as diverse as Star Wars, The Lion King, The Shining and It’s A Wonderful Life. This is extremely well covered in this YouTube video from Vox if you want to go into more depth. Gregorian Chant even reached the UK Number 1 slot the week before Christmas in 1990 when Sadeness by Enigma used a Gregorian Chant by The Kapelle Antiqua Choir as the background to the track. Unfortunately, Enigma didn’t ask permission to feature the track, so the choir sued the group (!) who settled very swiftly out of court.
So, how does Gregorian Christmas music sound to my modern ears? Let’s find out!
The Music
The Responsories of Matins at Christmas
The first 12 tracks on this disc are titled The Responsories of Matins at Christmas. Matins is the canonical hour sung at midnight and this group of songs are generally used following the reading of lessons, in the same way as King’s College Cambridge have the famous Nine Lessons and Carols, alternating between the two. These are responsories that vary with the seasons but which, by virtue of coming at midnight, must have been incredibly significant in marking Christmas. The haunting refrain is, quite naturally, an acquired taste purely because we are no longer used to hearing music like this any more. However, if you can learn to appreciate as I have been able to, after some effort I must admit, it is uniquely atmospheric. These twelve tracks are sung by the Choir of the Monks of Montserrat Abbey, and the sound of many voices coming together as one is powerful, and the quality of their voices makes the limited musical palette bright and colourful. Though there is nothing, to modern ears, particularly festive, the sleeve notes for the CD includes the full responsories in four languages including English. It includes the familiar bible story of the Virgin Birth and the Angels’ tidings to the shepherds together with the meaning of the birth in spiritual terms. Whether you believe in the story or not, you can sense the importance of these words to the monks in the way they are sung.
I find it to be a piece of social and musical history that is incredibly interesting. These songs whisk you back a millennium or more to times when only the monks themselves and the wealthy, whose family could afford and wanted to give their children an education, could read the words. The rest of the population would have been reliant on listening to the words in songs like these to follow and understand the story of the birth of Jesus. In an oral tradition, they would have been incredibly significant as a way that the clergy could communicate with those outside. Although I am a teacher now, I realise that I would certainly not have been one in those days because I am not from the ruling and monied classes. I too would have been reliant on these responsories to understand what happened that first Christmas. I can picture myself in a monastery in the 12th or 13th Century listening to these words and committing to memory as far as possible. Perhaps I would have been inspired to join the monastery in those days where it was seen as a step up the social ladder that allowed you to access the world of education. These voices and words of the past carry me back to my ancestors and their much harder, more uncertain, and shorter lives, lives that were enriched by a simple belief that, in some ways at least, is still central to the season.
First Mass of Christmas
The tunes and words in this section, sung by the Benedictine Abbey, Munsterschwarzach in Bavaria, are believed to date from around the 9th Century, right at the start of the Gregorian Chant we know today. You can hear differences in this mass, with the words being sung, not by all the monks all the time, but in different sections and perhaps combinations. These songs are also structurally different with longer chants like the Gloria having a very similar purpose to the Collect in the modern church as far as I can tell. In both cases, the congregation are encouraged to reflect on the central message of the religion. There is also a more musical flavour to them, in modern tones, with more variety in the tones you can hear. In its understated way, this is a more expressive piece of choral singing.
It is interesting that the chant seemed more modern and accessible, given its very early derivation, mentioned above, but it is clearly recognisable as the forerunner of choral and religious singing in more modern times. Again, as with the responsories, there is nothing recognisably festive in these tunes, but their overall effect is to invite contemplation that can move in religious or more personal directions. If you are not inclined to think about the former, you can, perhaps, consider your own life and relationships and listen to that still small voice of calm that the reflective music may help you to hear.
Final Reflection
This was a really interesting experience for someone who is fascinated by the development of music through the ages. Did I feel as though I really understood it? No, I didn’t. Quite apart from the content, I couldn’t pick up the variations and intricacies that I am always listening for in modern music. Did I find it an easy listen? Actually, yes, because it is so relaxing and so different from anything else I have ever listened to that I lost myself in it. My thoughts turned to my ancestors, as I remarked above, and by weaving a narrative I was able to immerse myself in the music.
Should you be interested in trying this new field for yourself, you will be able to find this CD from your usual stockists. Read the sleeve notes, because they will help to put things in context, but have an open mind. Who knows, you may find a new appreciation for something incredibly different as I have started to through this aural experiment.
After John Esmonde and Bob Larbey wrote The Good Life, they teamed up with Richard Briers once again in a series called The Other One. I must confess that it is a series that has left no impression on me at all. Briers was playing opposite Michael Gambon in what sounds like a riff on The Odd Couple if the synopsis is anything to go by. However, nothing comes to mind where that series is concerned. Whilst successful enough to stretch to two series, from 1977 – 1979, it is one of those comedy series that has sunk without trace in the wider public consciousness. Apparently, Briers was playing a fairly obnoxious character, but his role in The Good Life perhaps made it very difficult for the public to accept him as anything other than the bumbling but affable Tom Good. A similar fate befell Felicity Kendal when she tried to move away from Barbara Good into portraying more flawed and arguably more interesting characters. Five years later, however, Esmonde and Larbey once again struck gold with a vehicle for Richard Briers entitled Ever Decreasing Circles.
The Programme
Ever Decreasing Circles was probably designed to be a Richard Briers centred comedy, but what Esmonde and Larbey ended up with was a comedy with three actors at the centre giving sublime performances and playing off of each other superbly. Briers was Martin Bryce, a very organised man, and that’s putting it mildly! He would no doubt be diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum today, but in those days he would have just been seen as weirdly obsessed. Martin organises everything in his close, from the extremely unsuccessful football team for boys to the residents committee and, from there, the social events for everyone. When we see him at the start of the series, he is the unquestioned leader of the close. His wife, Ann, played by Penelope Wilton was alternately irritated and amused by his hyper organised approach to everything, but she gave him her wholehearted support because she saw that what he was doing came from a place of goodness. She is sometimes frustrated that her wishes take second place to whatever Martin is organising, but she accepts that it is just the way things are.
This situation is turned on its head by the arrival of Paul Ryman, who moves in next door to him. Paul Egan played Paul, the ultra confident, effortlessly charming, utterly charismatic businessman in a performance that is amongst the best in the history of sitcoms. Paul from the start was seen to be sending up Martin’s role as close leader, but it was never done unpleasantly. You could tell that he actually liked Martin, and the fun Paul had at his expense was always tempered by an admiration for someone who was putting himself out for others. However, all Martin could see was someone who was trying to replace him in the affections of all his friends. Often, when Martin had problems, the incredibly well connected Paul was able to call in a favour from someone who he knew from his business, his school, his university or the army. You didn’t always know if Paul was teasing him with the sheer range of his connections, but he was clearly very well ensconced in the upper echelons of society. He was also supernaturally talented at just about anything he turned his hand to, most memorably in the cricket match where Paul, a Cambridge Blue who played at Lords manages to lead the team to a miraculous win. The only thing that Martin didn’t realise, luckily enough, was the growing attraction that Paul was developing for Ann, one that was very much reciprocated. Their flirting was an absolute joy to watch, particularly when you realised that the affection of both of them for Martin would always stop them from taking it any further.
Along with the three central characters, there were two supporting roles that became just as well remembered. Howard Hughes and his wife Hilda were a couple so in tune with each other that they always wore identical jumpers! Even now, when my wife and I inadvertently dress in very similar colours, we refer to it as a ‘Howard and Hilda’! Stanley Lebor played Howard, initially as comic relief, but increasingly, as the series progressed, became a more complex character who was given the confidence by Paul to come out of Martin’s shadow and show steel and occasional anger. This was brilliantly showcased in Snooker, the episode that really introduced Howard as a different man to the one we were used to. He was often irritated by Martin’s brusque nature, but he had never directly challenged him until the final of the snooker tournament, where Martin’s certainty that he was better than Howard riled him like nothing else had done previously. Geraldine Newman’s Hilda was an uncomplicated character, driven totally by love and admiration for her husband. When Martin dismissed Howard’s abilities and contributions she was tigerish in his defence, calling out Martin’s unkindness in a way that no one else would do. With their closeness and their growth during the four series, and the superb comic timing of Lebor and Newman, Howard and Hilda became very important elements of the show.
The Party
From the start this is a classic episode. Martin comes in from work with a scarf wrapped tightly around his head. Ann sees him in the hall and immediately asks why. Eventually, Martin removes his scarf to show ‘confidential’ stamped twice on his forehead and ‘urgent’ stamped on each cheek! This was retaliation for him trying to stop the Christmas party at work from starting before the designated time of 4 o’clock! When he is washing off the stamps, Paul rings up and invites them to his party. Martin, naturally declines and suggests a night in for Ann and himself. She agrees until he tells her he’ll only be two hours servicing his minibus! At that point she heads round to Paul’s on her own. The following morning, a very disgruntled Martin sees a shape in the bed next to him and he proceeds to make his displeasure known to Ann, except it isn’t Ann! The reveal and the subsequent exchange are an absolute delight and a comic highpoint in an episode full of them. When Martin gets down to his lounge he finds Howard and Hilda on the sofa bed! It turns out that there were so many people at Paul’s party that they spent ages working out where everyone could fit and Howard and Hilda let 8 people have their house and ended up in his front room. Later on, Paul arranges a girls v boys football match with about 20 a side. Martin refuses to consider joining in, making a very 80s comment about Women’s Football along the way. Paul comes in to see Martin, saying how sorry he is for the situation and how he wishes he had organised things more effectively. Martin steps straight into the trap and spends the next three hours arranging sleeping quarters, meals and bathroom rotors. Ann comes back after the game to inform him that the girls won 83 – 69! With everyone staying until the day after Boxing Day, Ann admits that she is missing Martin and Martin has a brainwave.
This is pretty much the perfect episode of Ever Decreasing Circles with Briers, Wilton and Egan on top form, and clearly having a marvellous time filming it. It is, in my opinion, Richard Briers’ crowning comedic role, making a character that would be simply annoying in any other hands, into a very flawed hero whose reaction to life brings pathos to the mix as well as humour. Peter Egan is just as good as Paul, mining laughs with every scene and often making himself and his co-stars laugh in the process. I get the impression that some of the lines may have been ad-libbed, but I can’t be sure. All I know is that both actors are at the top of their game, scripted or otherwise. Wilton is the mostly calm centre of the piece. She loves Martin but she also loves the flirtatious relationship she has with Paul, and as a, mostly, straight woman she is peerless.
Ever Decreasing Circles is one of the jewels in the comedy crown and bears comparison with any other comedy before or since. If you haven’t seen this yet, then do yourself a favour and find it on Gold, because every single episode is a gem.
In 1988, a programme made its debut on US Television just after the Super Bowl. It wasn’t widely trailed and it didn’t contain any household names in the cast, but with a huge audience still sitting in front of their televisions it made a huge impact. It featured the Arnold family specifically Kevin, whose adult reflections on the process of growing up was by turns funny and sad. Although The Wonder Years was a programme whose backdrop was the many US social and political upheavals of 1968 to 1974, it’s themes were universal, friendship, family and first love. If you want a comprehensive look at the programme, here is an article I wrote for h2g2.
The Wonder Years was an incredibly important programme for me, developing a significance that went beyond my love for the programme itself. For the vast majority of its run, my Dad and I would ring each other on the Sunday night after it was shown on Channel 4 in the UK, and discuss the episode. It was one of three programmes we really bonded over, the other two being M*A*S*H and Yes Minister/ Yes Prime Minister. I credit the show with giving me insight into my Dad’s character, thoughts and motivations that I would never otherwise have got.
The Programme
The Wonder Years was, in essence, the story of one abiding relationship, that of Kevin Arnold played by Fred Savage and Winnie Cooper played by Danica McKellar, and it is this relationship that takes centre stage in the episode I am going to reflect upon. Kevin and Winnie were childhood friends who grew up together, and when we first see Winnie, she has glasses and pigtails, seems shy, and is very much the girl next door. When the first day of Junior High School arrives, Winnie has contact lenses, long hair and is very much the object of any 12 year old’s dreams. That first episode takes the Vietnam War as its background and brings it front and centre in an incredibly shocking way. We learn that Winnie’s brother, Brian, has been killed in action. At the Cooper’s house after the funeral, Winnie feels overwhelmed by grief and the amount of people there and she and Kevin slip away to Harper’s Woods where they used to play as young children. It’s there that Kevin and Winnie share their first kiss as Kevin tries to comfort her. It’s a moment of innocence and tenderness which is one of the most beautiful in any series. The way that the programme confidently trod that line between humour and drama hooked huge numbers of viewers who were watching straight after the Super Bowl. It certainly hooked me a few months later when I first tuned in, and I watched every single episode from then on.
The Arnold Family were familiar to most of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s, even those of us who weren’t from the US, with the lower middle class nature of the family’s situation making it universal in a time that still saw many trying to bridge that divide between the working class background they came from and the middle class lifestyle they craved. Jack Arnold, played by Dan Lauria, worked for Norcom where he became a middle manager through hard work and making the most of his abilities, traits he tried to pass on to his children. His wife Norma, played by Alley Mills, was a housewife when we first meet the family, but she was, like many women at the time, trapped by social expectations and wanted much more out of life. Karen, the oldest of their children, played by Olivia D’Abo, represents the counter culture of the time. Her generation are pushing against social expectations, in a way Norma cannot, and she is destined to clash with Jack who has doted on her since she was born. Wayne, played by Jason Hervey, is, initially at least, spiteful and bullying to Kevin who has to share a room with him until Wayne is about 16. I can imagine that many brothers would react badly to that kind of enforced closeness, and lashing out at Kevin is probably the only way he can express himself. Winnie comes from a much more well off family, who are able to give Winnie the type of lifestyle that the Arnolds are unable to give their children. However, the death of Brian makes her family situation more pressurised as she is carrying all the hopes and dreams of her parents, and they clearly expect an awful lot from her in terms of school and life achievements. Kevin’s best friend, Paul Pfeiffer, played by Josh Saviano, is initially Kevin’s geeky sidekick, but over the course of the series he develops in ways that surprise both Kevin and the audience. The final piece in the puzzle is the voiceover of Kevin’s adult self, played by Daniel Stern, who comments on the events in front of us with the benefit of experience and more understanding of those involved. In a sense, nearly all of us have that tendency towards reflection when looking back, with our own internal monologue filling in the gaps and giving us new insight. It is, almost certainly, that voiceover which turned a nice but potentially unremarkable story of growing up in small town America into a phenomenon. It spoke to that person inside many of us who constantly tries to understand their upbringing and how it led to their place in the world.
Christmas
This episode starts off in an electrical shop where colour televisions are starting to be advertised as must have items for any family. Kevin, Wayne, Karen and Norma are entranced by the sight and the salesman moves towards them scenting a sale. Norma, who wants one as much as her children, informs the salesman that she will have to ask her husband, at which point the possibility of getting one for Christmas recedes very quickly! Jack shows off his apparently Scrooge like tendencies, in the next scene, by complaining about the cost of a Christmas Tree which is $8 for an 8 foot tree or, as Jack disbelievingly puts it, ‘a buck a foot’! Kevin wants to butter his Dad up by helping him carry the tree to the car, favouring a subtle approach. Wayne characteristically spoils this approach by asking his Dad directly if he is going to buy a colour TV or not! Throughout the episode, his tendency to complain or demand at inopportune moments derails the family’s charm offensive, a fact remarked upon by Kevin’s older self. We see Jack and Norma at the kitchen table after the kids have gone to bed, and Norma is clearly trying everything she can to persuade Jack to buy the television, but it looks ever more unlikely.
Kevin’s last day of school provides a very agreeable surprise when Winnie comes up to him in the corridor and gives him a Christmas present. He immediately says that he has got a present for her, even though he hasn’t, and must now decide what the perfect gift will be to show Winnie how much he loves her. The trouble is that 50 cents a week in allowance doesn’t stretch very far and he only has $6 left to spend on perfection! He is given a hint by the perfume that Winnie is wearing. Kevin and Paul go to the store to buy that perfume, but there’s a problem, namely that Kevin doesn’t have a clue what it’s called! Paul, ever practical, suggests a skater in a snow globe, but Kevin is determined to find that perfume if he has to stand at the perfume counter all day.
By the time Christmas Eve night arrives, the family are at loggerheads due to Wayne’s constant moaning and Karen’s determination to go out with her boyfriend rather than go carol singing with them. Kevin wraps up his present for Winnie and goes to her house to give it to her, dreaming of her reaction when she sees him. The evening doesn’t quite go to plan, on either front, but it isn’t disastrous either. Why? You’ll have to find out by watching it. The full episode doesn’t appear to be on YouTube, but there are a number of clips including the ending if you want to search for it.
Final Reflection
This episode encapsulates, for me, the appeal of the show, from its reflections on the social and economic realities of a family like the Arnolds, to its beautiful portrayal of Kevin and Winnie’s developing relationship, still in that area between friendship and romance, and the difficult task in getting those early presents just right. The reveal of Winnie’s present is beautifully done, and the gift itself is absolutely perfect.
One thing I haven’t mentioned so far is the music, which played such a central role in fixing time and place. It is this music that meant The Wonder Years would remain unreleased on DVD for about three decades, as copyright permission had to be sought for each piece of music for the release. However, it had to be like that, because without that music The Wonder Years would not have worked. The music in this episode was, interestingly, much less of a focus than usual but the use of River by Joni Mitchell is beautifully done. She is not an artist I really know very much about, but the lyrics and tune fit perfectly with Kevin’s situation, as indeed it pretty much always did. Yesterday was the first time I had seen this episode since the original UK broadcast, and it is simply magical, which makes me wonder two things. One, why have no reruns of The Wonder Years been shown since it finished? Two, why, when I have the DVD of the entire series have I waited until now to watch any of it?! I have decided to watch the entire six seasons next year, so watch this space as I am certain to be blogging about it!
David Pearce - Popular Culture and Personal Passions 