In My Footsteps: A Gen-X Nostalgia Podcast

Episode 96: Edaville Railroad, Top 5 Christmas TV Specials, Old School Kids/Teens Magazines, Shelburne VT(12-8-2022)

• Christopher Setterlund • Season 1 • Episode 96

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Episode 96 dives headlong into the Holiday Season.
It begins with a look at a spot near and dear to my, and many other New Englanders, hearts.  Edaville Railroad in Carver, Massachusetts combines Christmas scenery, cranberries, and trains into one delightful family-friendly park.  Learn the story of how it got started and how it has persevered through nearly eight decades.
Tis the time of year for beloved Christmas TV specials. This week's Top 5 will look at some of them sure to give you plenty of good watching throughout the month. Charlie Brown, Rudolph, and more will bring back childhood memories and create new ones.
As kids when first discovering reading it was fascinating and exciting to find magazines geared toward younger people. From elementary school through high school there were great publications that made childhood fun. Reminisce about some of the beloved kids and teens magazines as we go way Back In the Day.
This week's Road Trip combines a lot of what makes the Holiday Season special. Snow, wide open spaces, a quintessential small town, and of course teddy bears.  The town of Shelburne, Vermont is home to the Vermont Teddy Bear company and is sure to make for a perfect backdrop to December traveling.
There will of course be a brand new This Week In History and Time Capsule looking back at a date that will live in infamy.

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Intro 00:00
Hello world and welcome to the in my footsteps podcast. I am Christopher Setterlund coming to you from the vacation destination known as Cape Cod Massachusetts and this is episode 96.
We're knee-deep in the holiday season and we're going to celebrate it with one of the topics I've been waiting to talk about for a long time and that is Edaville Railroad of Carver Massachusetts and my childhood memories there. We're going to take a road trip way up north to Shelburne, Vermont. Home of the Vermont teddy bear factory. We're going to go way way back in the day and look at some magazines that were created and marketed for children. There's a lot of good ones you'll remember. There's going to be a brand new top five and these are the top five Christmas TV specials. Get ready for some more memories and of course there'll be a brand new this week in history and time capsule all coming up right now on episode 96 of the In My Footsteps podcast.
Have you got all of your holiday shopping done? I know Christmas is just over two weeks away. One good thing about technology is online shopping so if you can't make the time to drive out to shopping centers all you have to do is click a few buttons and it all gets shipped to you. That's pretty much how I handle it now. It's still the same thought put into gifts is just fewer miles on my car.
Thank you all for tuning in here to episode 96. We are getting closer to episode 100 and like I said I'm not sure if it's going to be a best of clip show or a regular episode. I'm going to put a poll up on social media and see what you all think. I will be sure to put a link in the description of the podcast to a new video that just went up on YouTube. I mentioned in passing last week that I went with Frank Durant out to the actual site where the lady of the dunes Ruth Marie Terry was found in 1974. A spot that very few people have seen or at least seen it knowing where they are. I shot a lot of 4K video and I have put together a video on YouTube overlaid with the interview I did with Frank. It's a great video and it's getting a lot of positive reviews so I'm thrilled about that. If you don't have time to go and check the video out stay tuned next week to episode 97 where the audio of the interview will be on the podcast so it's a double dip. I would say within the next few weeks you should be able to watch the Lady of the Dunes documentary either on YouTube video on demand. You know that when I get the link I will share it everywhere I'll put it in the links in the description of the podcast and I know there are DVD copies. I don't know who has DVD players still but I have a few that Frank gave to me. A little piece of breaking news that I will share with you here and have more details on later is that I bought the lady of the dunes.com domain name I am creating a website that will be kind of the epicenter of the case it will have the link to the documentary on it it might even have it just up there streaming it's going to have links to my book on the lady of the dunes and if I'm crowdfunding it to get print on demand information about Kickstarter campaigns I'm also going to record a four part mini series on the lady of the dunes case and those episodes will all be on that website there will be photos news articles I'm hoping to have links to businesses run by people that were associated with the documentary kind of friends of the documentary so I'm really excited about that and you know when it gets closer to it actually being live I will tell you all about the website how to go there I'll have links to it but that is the future this is the now this is episode 96 I've wanted to talk for a while about Edaville Railroad in Carver Massachusetts it's a place that holds an important place in my heart a lot of childhood memories there with the family but Christmas stuff you got to talk about in December so I had to wait until now so what's coming up now is the story of Edaville Railroad its history and some of my childhood memories coming up right now on episode 96 of the in my footsteps podcast.



04:32 Edaville Railroad

For generations, it has been a holiday right of passage for those living in southeastern Massachusetts Rhode Island southern New England. Simple beauty family fun filled with wholesome memories Edaville has been visited by countless thousands of families during its existence developed in the vision of its creator this Massachusetts staple has come back from several tragedies to now be going strong into its eighth decade this is the story of the creation and perseverance of Edaville. Born in 1889 Ellis D Atwood was raised in Carver, Massachusetts he graduated Tabor academy in the nearby town of Marion later on he married Elthea Eldredge of Wareham in February 1919. Atwood made a name for himself in the highly profitable local cranberry growing industry this began by him purchasing three acres of land from his father then when his father died in 1915 Ellis took over all of the family cranberry business. Ellis and Elthea lived in the Murdoch Atwood house near Samson's pond which had been passed down to Ellis by his great uncle Marcus Atwood. The Atwoods connection with the Christmas season began with an elaborate display on their front lawn in 1933 cranberries Christmas and railroads Ellis Atwood's three favorite things would eventually be brought together by another's loss. What would eventually become Edaville railroad was born out of the ashes of a defunct railway the Bridgerton and Harrison railroad had begun operations in Maine in 1883 late in 1941 it was being shut down the rails and train cars were being destroyed. Having taken a blissful trip upon the railroad in August 1941 mere months before it was rendered obsolete Atwood made a trip to Maine to buy what he could. On December 3rd 1941 Atwood purchased one locomotive known as the old number seven in addition he bought eleven box cars 24 flat cars a caboose and a half mile of two-foot gauge track the final and perhaps most important piece was the hiring of former Bridgerton and Harrison conductor Everett Brown. Atwood desired someone who knew the railroad and could teach him how to drive a train the completion of the Atwood property railroad was delayed due to World War two eventually though the man known as the Cape Cod cranberry king soon had a fully operational narrow gauge railway circumnavigating the 1800 acre Atwood property. Atwood's goal was to combine his success in the cranberry industry with his love of railroads the new railway on his property was called the Cranberry Belt Line it was used for sanding spraying and harvesting from the bogs Atwood's cranberry belt line had more than five miles of track there were some rumors in 1945 that Atwood was considering converting his railroad into an active route between Plymouth and Boston but that did not end up happening. Although it did not become an active passenger railroad Atwood's train was used for more than work not long after beginning to take his own train rides around the cranberry bogs Atwood had curious neighbors stopping by for trips of their own in may 1946 Atwood parlayed his cranberry belt line railroad into a local tourist attraction he called it Edaville for Ellis Atwood's EDA initials. By the end of the year more than 25,000 people had taken a ride on his locomotive around his cranberry bog property during this first season all Atwood asked of his customers for a fair was common courtesy and common sense word quickly spread during the first few seasons of the Edaville railroad it was the last narrow gauge railroad in the country. In 1948 Atwood said that more than 35,000 people per month arrived to climb aboard the Cranberry Belt Line the cars and stops along the railway had cranberry-themed names these included cars named Ocean Spray Eat More Atwood special and stops called Cranberry Valley Sunset Vista and Mount your an which was named for Marcus your an who was president of the national cranberry association. Although it was popular during the warmer months due to there being a beach for summertime play it was the Christmas season where Edaville saw its largest crowds. In 1949 alone upwards of 75,000 people came for a ride to see the over 12,000 colorful lights and more than 40 Christmas scene displays lit by floodlights train rides through the season began at 4 30 pm and ran until midnight. Ellis Atwood had created a family-friendly and wildly popular local tourist attraction however tragedy nearly ended Edaville on November 26 1950. Ellis Atwood was late returning home from Edaville his wife Elthea went to check on him she found him face down in the basement of the railroad administration building. The furnace had exploded with the door striking Atwood in the head he clung to life at Wareham's Toby hospital for four days before succumbing to his injuries on November 30. Ellis D Atwood was dead at 61. Cranberry growing had made Atwood a millionaire but Edaville had brought him more love and popularity. His memorial held at Edaville was attended by more than 2,000 people. Elthea carried on the day-to-day operations of the park in Ellis's honor she increased the displays and lights surrounding the Christmas season in particular by creating the Edaville Christmas festival. However it all became too much Elthea sold Edaville to F. Nelson blunt in the spring of 1956. The railroad continued to thrill visitors for decades it was sold a few more times yet each successive owner maintained or even improved upon the park's presentation. The cranberry bogs were highly profitable due to their deep connection to the ocean spray corporation. In 1991 final owner George Bartholomew closed the beloved park most of the equipment was sold off shortly thereafter to a railroad museum in Portland main it seemed as though e to bill was finished after more than four decades in operation the park sat vacant for eight years. In a surprising turn of events the Cran Rail corporation bought the decaying Edaville in 1999. The company poured five million dollars into restoring and renovating the park over five years. Edaville was reopened to much fanfare just in time for the Christmas lights festival in 1999 since its reopening Edaville has enchanted countless thousands of visitors parents and grandparents now bring new generations to enjoy Edaville much like they had. Ellis Atwood had only seen a tiny slice of the impact Edaville was to make on Massachusetts locals and visitors before his untimely death despite that his name is still front and center whenever someone utters Edaville. Edaville is far more than a little train roaming the cranberry bogs of Carver Edaville is a destination for families annually in the day when so much constantly changes Edaville is a throwback to a simpler time and should be experienced or re-experienced by all of those within reach of the park and i don't know how many of you out there have been to Edaville or have even heard of Edaville for me it holds a special place in my heart. I was there a lot from the mid-1980s to maybe the early 90s it became kind of a family tradition and i can just remember going there when we were young my sister and my cousin we were the only kids and taking that little train all around the bogs and seeing all of the Christmas scenes standing out with the floodlights against a black background at night. I can still hear in my head my cousin was crying and so my Nana was trying to get her to stop crying by telling her that her dog Cindy was out in the bog. “Look there’s Cindy out there!” I don't think it made her stop crying but literally 35 years later i can still remember that and hear that in my head and that's part of what makes Edaville special is it gave me memories of my Nana and the rest of the family but my Nana specifically and i think that goes the same for everyone that goes there with their parents or grandparents and then has kids and goes there with their kids. It's the Christmas season and it's the memories that it makes and you want to make those with your kids as well for me on Cape Cod it was one of the closest attractions you could actually go to Carver’s only 45 minutes away. Edaville Railroad is at Five Pine Street and carver it's now called the Edaville family theme park but it's all the same stuff if you went in the 80s it's all the same. If you've never been check out Edaville.com it's got loads of pictures that'll probably bring back memories for you. I had so much fun just researching this and looking at photos because it brought back memories for me of a really great time with some really great people and i think that's the main thing what the Christmas holiday season is all about great times with great people.


14:53 Road Trip: Shelburne, Vermont

so i don't know about any of you out there but when it's this time of year December the Christmas holiday season living in New England when i think of the quintessential Christmas spirit Christmas season the places to go to experience that my mind inevitably goes to northern New England Maine New Hampshire Vermont. Maybe it's because winter starts early were up there they've got mountains up there a lot more wide open spaces than in southern new England and then you think about the decorations themselves with the trees and the lights but i also get this image in my head of acute stuff teddy bear maybe with a flannel shirt or a flannel scarf a Santa hat on so for this week's road trip i kind of combined all of that into an ultimate place to go this time of year and that's the small town of Shelburne, Vermont. Shelburne is way up there in the northwest corner of new England it's the next town directly south of Burlington and also sits about 40 miles south of the Canadian border. Shelburne sits right on lake Champlain and is directly across from upstate New York it's about a three-and-a-half-hour drive northwest of Boston for those of you trying to gauge how far it would be for you to get there. It fits the bill as small town quintessential in New England with a population of about 7700 as of 2020. You know back from my episode 77 where i talked about Montpelier Vermont being the smallest state capital population-wise in the country that there aren't really many big cities big towns in northern New England so for me Shelburne checks a lot of boxes small town right on a body of water a lot of wide open spaces but let's go back to what i said a minute ago about the teddy bear with Christmas and such. Shelburne Vermont is the home of the Vermont Teddy Bear Company. The company is one of the largest manufacturers of teddy bears in the country they produce nearly half a million a year they were founded in 1981 by John Sortino who was selling bears in Burlington through an open-air cart and a woman came and wanted a bear mailed to her so he came up with the idea of the bear gram creating a bear and then sending it across the country. The Shelburne Vermont teddy bear factory is a hugely popular tourist destination and going there and getting a teddy bear from their gift shop there is worth it if you're a fan of teddy bears and such or if you have someone that you want to share that with the factory is at 66 55 Shelburne road and you really can't miss it with the huge Vermont teddy bear logo right out by the road and they're also at Vermont teddy bear dot com and they're open most days not Christmas and Thanksgiving but most days you can go get tours go to the gift shop. So that's kind of a number one reason to go to Shelburne Vermont but there is definitely more. One thing that might only appeal to me due to my love of history is the Ticonderoga steamboat which is right on Lake Champlain. It's an old side paddle-wheel steamer. Think back to steamboats you saw in photos or paintings from the 1840s and 50s it's that type of boat. Go to Shelburne Museum dot org and you'll get a more full story of what the steamboat is and why it's important. The museums at 6000 Shelburne Road and that's where the Ticonderoga is you can't miss it. The 220-foot steamboat was built in Shelburne in 1906 and was a day boat on lake Champlain up until 1953 and if you go and take a tour of the boat it's a snapshot of what it would be like if you boarded that ship in 1923 and i love my history so getting to go back in time while also being in present time is kind of a cool mix. If you're not a fan of the actual steamboat Shelburne Vermont is right on Lake Champlain like i said. 490 square miles it's one of the largest freshwater lakes in the country it's 12 miles wide at its widest and although there's an average depth of about 64 feet the deepest point is more than 400 feet and of course no talking of Lake Champlain would be complete without bringing up champ the supposed lake
Champlain monster like a cousin to the Loch Ness monster. That was why i mentioned the depths at more than 400 feet because there are people that say something could live in those depths it would be easy to mask itself. Champ was a legend going back centuries to the Native American tribes saying it was some sort of sea monster that lived in the water. There's been a few eyewitness accounts and even fewer photos that have been credible what scientists seem to lean towards is the fact that Champ was likely a garfish which is a class of fish that includes the lake sturgeon which is still a part of lake Champlain and scientists say that this champ monster could be a garfish that just got way bigger than an average one. But hey who knows maybe you'll go to Shelburne you'll sit along the shore of lake Champlain and there will be champ the plesiosaur or a giant long net comes out and you can feed it some peanuts or something or whatever sea monsters eat. There's lots of places along lake Champlain in Shelburne where you can just sit and enjoy the lake. The Shelburne bay access area on Bay Road where you can put your boat in if you want. There's Shelburne town beach at 407 Beach Road. Obviously, if you're going to the beach in Vermont you're not going to want to go now in December you might want to wait till July and August but who knows maybe you're like me. I go to the beach on Cape Cod in December and January. I just don't go swimming. Another popular spot is the Fiddlehead Brewing Company they're at 6305 Shelburne road and fiddlehead brewing.com. They do tours they do tastings they've got a retail store go to their website they have a tasting menu so you can see what you can get if you go there and want to try all the different brews they have pictures of the brews in case you don't know what they look like just make sure you don't overserve yourself at fiddlehead and then go down to lake Champlain to try to fight champ. Or maybe you bring them a beer who knows. If you build up an appetite from trying to fight a sea monster there are plenty of places to eat in Shelburne. I'd pick Archie's grill to start there at 4066 Shelburne road. If you couldn't tell by now Shelburne road is the main road that goes through the town so a lot of these are right in the same vicinity they're also at Archie's grill.com. It's fresh fast food, burgers and so much more everything there is local and fresh the ingredients for the burgers, in-house made chips local Vermont brews on tap you really can't go wrong. They've also got the scoop ice cream parlor located right next door, handcrafted Vermont ice cream made in small batches. Like I said about the beach maybe you don't want ice cream in December January in northern Vermont but if you're listening to this podcast in the future and it's summer you should go there or go anytime a year really. Being that it's a bit of a hike to get up to Shelburne from most of New England I would recommend spending the night up there you can't get much better than the Shelburne Farms. Obviously, they have a farm they've got lake views they've got a restaurant it really is all-encompassing the in has 24 guest rooms in the actual building as well as four guest cottages. Be sure to check Shelburne farms dot org because I'm not quite sure if the inn is seasonal or if it's the restaurant or both I don't want somebody to drive all the way up to Shelburne Vermont to stay there and then the inn is closed. It would be like the Griswolds going to Wally World and it's closed, but as you can hear based on this segment there's so much to do and see in Shelburne Vermont. Visit the Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce website at lccvermont.org to get a better idea of more
 things to do and see not just in Shelburne but all of the lake-facing towns in Vermont. You start with a trip for a Vermont teddy bear check out Fiddlehead Brewing to sample some of the local brews go to Archie's grill for a burger check out the Ticonderoga maybe go down to the water and taunt Champ the monster and see if he'll come after you. There's really so much to see and do in Shelburne Vermont way up in northern New England stay tuned for the next road trip that will feature another one of the hundreds and hundreds of beautiful cities and towns that you can find in New England and beyond
 
24:55 This Week In History
This week in history we are going back 81 years ago December 7th 1941 and the Pearl Harbor attack that brought the United States into World War II this was referred to at the time by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a date that would live in infamy. This was a surprise attack by the Japanese meant to deal the United States Navy in Hawaii a crippling blow the Japanese trained for about a year for this attack and interestingly the Japanese foreign ministry wanted to actually give the United States a heads-up that the attack was coming so that they wouldn't violate international law but the Japanese military actually blocked that because they didn't want to jeopardize the operation. The Japanese sent six aircraft carriers in 420 planes and they stopped 230 miles off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Oahu on December 6th the day before the U.S. actually intercepted a message by the Japanese asking about birthing positions at Pearl Harbor but they didn't pay attention to it and there was even a radar sighting of a massive amount of planes heading towards Pearl Harbor. It was shortly before 8 am. when the first wave of Japanese planes numbering 180 made their attack. The overall attack lasted two hours and inflicted serious damage on the United States Navy. More than 1100 servicemen were killed on the USS Arizona which was sunk in the harbor. Today there's a memorial above the ship that you can visit, it's one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country but despite being caught off guard the U.S. fought back they ended up destroying 29 Japanese aircraft and killed 129 Japanese soldiers. The losses on the American side were huge 2403 servicemen were killed with 1178 more being wounded six aircraft carriers were sank or destroyed. The next day the United States declared war on Japan and that started their involvement in World War II it is definitely one of the most infamous moments in the battle history of the United States and it's one I remember speaking with my grandpa about I mean he wasn't there but he fought in World War II and you got a feeling for how badly he and the rest of the United States military wanted to defeat Japan for what they had done. That date that will live in infamy occurred 81 years ago this week in history.

Now it's time for a brand new time capsule we're going back 57 years ago this week December 10th 1965 let's see what was popular in the world of pop culture back then the number one song was Turn Turn Turn by the Birds. The song was originally written by Pete Seeger in the 1950s and first recorded in 1959 the birds recorded it for their album also called turn turn turn and it's one of the most enduring folk rock anthems of all time and it became a popular song in concert by the original birds lineup until they broke up in 1973. I'd say the most famous member of the Birds was David Crosby who went on to be a big part of Crosby Stills and Nash and also Crosby Stills Nash and Young. The number one movie is The Sound of music this is a hugely famous musical starring Julie Andrews about the real-life Von Trapp family singers that were one of the world best known concert singing groups in the years leading up to World War Two. It's nearly three hours in length which makes sitting through it in the theater probably a chore, the movie was originally released March 2nd 1965 and spent 29 nonconsecutive weeks at number one throughout the rest of 1965 it was one of the biggest movie hits ever it grossed just over 268 million dollars in 1965 or just over 2.7 billion dollars when adjusted for inflation putting it as number three all time grossing movies when adjusted for inflation. The number one TV show was the Charlie Brown Christmas. You're going to hear a lot more about this coming up in the top five segment but this is the Charles Schultz classic about Charlie Brown and his gang of friends trying to find the meaning of Christmas throughout the commercialism that was coming up in the mid-1960s this was the actual debut for the show and it's been shown every Christmas every year since but like I said we'll hear more about that in the top five. If you were around back then December 10th 1965 it's the Christmas season whether you're a kid or an adult the Beatles band was a huge deal and one of the most popular Beatles items you could get besides albums was the Beatles flip your wig game by Milton Bradley. You can still find these games on eBay but basically you had to be one of the Beatles and collect four cards corresponding to that Beatle. The game actually came out in 1964 but due to the Beatles popularity it was still huge the following year it's a real simple typical board game with different squares with different instructions you'd have ones like take a card from any player get a wig card put back a wig card take a Beatle card roll again. You can see why this game would be popular with the children that love the Beatles back then but I don't know I don't know if the game holds up that well. That's going to wrap up another time capsule another this week in history what we're going to do now is go into the top five Christmas TV specials that you're gonna love so let's tune in and get some warm Christmas memories. 



31:31 Top 5 Christmas TV Specials

You want to talk about the highway to Christmas spirit this week's top five is gonna get you there. The best Christmas TV specials it was such a shame that I had to watch some of these to research them for this segment what a shame this was an easy list to come up with but also a hard one because there are so many Christmas specials that give me great memories of being a kid. So as always with these top five lists there's some honorable mentions and as I always say they're in no particular order your top five might be different from my top five but I guarantee you some of these are on your list out there so let's get in the spirit with the honorable mentions for best Christmas TV specials. They include a Christmas Carol any of the ones that came out from any year, Twas the night before Christmas, the Star Wars Christmas special, and Bugs Bunny’s loony Christmas tales. I'm sure those got you primed and ready if while you're listening to this podcast you feel the need to pause in between numbers and go watch each special go ahead and do it it's it's worth it but let's get into the actual top five starting with number one the Charlie Brown Christmas this came out in 1965 and has basically been a right of passage for all kids in the last 60 years. It centers around Charlie Brown and the entire peanuts gang trying to figure out the true meaning of Christmas while putting together a commercial Christmas play. It's got that famous Christmas lights contest that Snoopy wins and Charlie Brown is the director of the play and then he gets the Christmas tree that's that little tiny one that's half dead I think this is one that we all can agree on is a classic Christmas TV special there are just so many memorable scenes that bring me back to childhood that I watch it every year even in my 40s and that goes the same for number two a Garfield Christmas. I was and still am a huge fan of the Garfield comic strips I will at some point do a back in the day segment about Garfield and my love of those comics. This came out in 1987 so it's actually 35 years old now. I remember it being must watch when it premiered back then I was 10 years old where Garfield's owner Jon takes Garfield and Odie to his parents' farm and Jon's all about the 
 family Garfield's more about presents and food but he gets this bond with Jon's grandmother and she kind of wises him up to the fact that Christmas means more about family than about food and gifts. This is another one I actually have the book or it's all basically the same but still I liked it so much that I asked for the actual book version. Number three is Frosty the snowman. This came out in 1969 and follows the story of the titular Frosty the snowman how he comes to life with magic Christmas snow and the magic hat from that mean magician professor Henkel who keeps trying to get the hat and every time he gets it frosty goes back to just being a snowman. Jimmy Durante the famed actor is the narrator so that adds a lot of nostalgia to it and the entire half hour is overlaid with a lot of renditions of the Frosty the snowman song. I know they made at least one sequel cartoon with Frosty but it's the original from 1969 with famed voice actress June Foray as Karen the little girl that's the star besides Frosty. It's crazy nostalgia watching it. Number four is Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. This is the classic stop motion animation it's an hour-long special from 1964 with burl Ives another golden era star as the snowman who's the narrator. There's hermie the elf there's the island of misfit toys Yukon Corneleus and the abominable snowman that he calls the Bumble. This is another it's like a warm blanket it's comfort food for the soul having grown up with it and seen it basically every year since I've been alive and again it centers around the Rudolph the red nosed reindeer Christmas carol but this has been so popular they've been trying to milk sequels and offshoot spin-offs of this forever. I'm thinking of that Olive the other reindeer one which I'm sure it was great for kids of recent times but i just thought changing the lyrics of Rudolph to then create another character was kind of lame. But what's not lame is coming to number five on the list of top five Christmas TV specials and that is how the Grinch stole Christmas. This is based on the classic Dr. Seuss book about this furry green creature that hates Christmas and hates the Who's in Whoville. The show itself came out in 1966 and it stars legendary actor Boris Karloff as the voice of the Grinch and how he goes into Whoville and steals all the toys and food and decorations but then the who's come out and they still celebrate Christmas even though they don't have any of those things and it shows the Grinch that Christmas is so much more than toys and food and it is a great message especially now as i get older i see it as Christmas in the holiday season more about the family and the times and the memories you create rather than any gifts that you get. That's why all of these in the top five just give me warm feelings because i can remember being eight nine ten years old my formative years seeing these shows the old CBS special presentation logo that would like spin into the screen and I'd be freaked out with excitement when i saw it. Those are just memories you can't put a price tag on and i hope that this top five gives you at least a little bit of that memory because i think any one of any age has seen at least one of these top five Christmas specials. The charlie brown Christmas, Garfield Christmas, frosty the snowman, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, and how the Grinch stole Christmas. To me these are just perfect shows to watch at this time of year and i hope you go and watch at least one of them and I'll be back next week with a brand new top five that I'm sure will have some more holiday spirit involved.



38:37 Old School Kids/Teens Magazines
When I was a kid i have vivid memories of being so thrilled that there were actual magazines geared toward me whether it was in the library at school or the dentist's office or the doctor's office. Because let's face it if you're seven eight nine years old you don't want to read Time or Newsweek. You want something with bright colorful pictures text and stories that's easy to read if you can read at all at that point but mainly something that can keep your attention when i started looking back and doing research for this subject about magazines that were geared towards kids I was shocked at how many there were and how many i remembered and how many more I didn't remember. So what we're going to do right now is we're going to kind of do a quick run-through of a lot of these magazines. If you want me to do a deep dive into any of these in particular later just shoot me a message because I thought about doing a two-part series or something like that but decided i do a quick rundown and then if anyone is interested in hearing more about any of these you can always get in touch. The funniest thing for me was when doing research what others considered magazines geared towards kids and i guess kids can be considered anyone from the baby to getting out of high school because when i was 17-18 being in high school i didn't think of myself as a kid but i think that's how the rest of the world sees you. So let me just start from my own world my own perspective when i think of magazines that i read as a kid and maybe it goes the same for you people that are of my generation i go right to the Highlights for Kids magazine. Highlights for Children first came out in 1946 and was created by husband and wife Cleveland and Caroline Mires from Honesdale, Pennsylvania. I have vivid memories of this specifically at the dentist's office having these on the table in the waiting room it always has bright colorful images on the cover it's got stories and puzzles inside and i guess it says it's geared towards kids aged six to twelve and that would make sense that was kind of when i remember reading it. It became definitely the most popular children's magazine in the country with the subscription count jumping all the way to 2.8 million in 1995. I remember it being a fun and simple quick read that kept you engaged which I'm sure at the time I didn't think that it's just looking back now I just remember being totally enthralled with Highlights for children. The next magazine I think of would my own childhood is not necessarily one that was geared towards children but the childish and sophomoric humor and images in it often made it something that I gravitated towards and that's MAD magazine. Those looking for a deep dive into MAD magazine you're in luck way back in episode 61 i did a full segment on MAD magazine and its influence on me and children of my generation and the generations before to sum it up there was a main character Alfred E. Newman that was always on the cover typically spoofing something in pop culture movies TV or some kind of world event and inside the magazine would have many stories that spoof movies they'd have spy versus spy comics they'd have the back cover that was the mad fold in were was one image and then if you folded the page i think in thirds it would make a different image. The first issue of MAD came out in the October November months of 1952 so literally seventy years ago last month. The magazine was shelved in 2017 but has been rebooted and you can go to MAD magazine dot com and see all the stuff there so it's still around i think print magazines are kind of a dying industry anyway so it's smart if they've got digital versions but check out episode sixty-one to learn more about MAD. I really go into it. Another magazine that was definitely not geared towards kids but in my generation late 80s and early 90s i always was reading Fangoria. If you go back to episode 41 of the podcast i talk about Fangoria magazine there. This was another reason why I didn't really do a deep dive here into these magazines in this segment because i knew i already had a couple. Fangoria would often have bloody gory covers featuring movies that were out at the time and not just Freddy Krueger Jason Voorhees Michael Myers it would be lesser-known monsters and killers and such. I think it was just a different time back then because in the late 80s i was watching Halloween and Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street movies and i was 11-12 years old. It's not that my mother didn't care that I read these types of magazines she probably didn't know half the time but it was also I think that she knew that me reading Fangoria wasn't going to make me a serial killer which you know it just the basic shred of intelligence to know that just seeing blood isn't going to make you want to kill someone but sometimes that's lacking today. How about Nintendo Power magazine, like the original gamer magazine it first came out in the summer of 1988 when Nintendo was really at its peak, the original Nintendo. It would review games but it would also give you tips and cheats on how to do better in Mario and Legend of Zelda, Metroid. The very first issue had Super Mario Brothers 2 on it so that'll kind of date when it's from. At the time me being 10 going on 11, i think the idea of a video game magazine was just new and exciting and I'm sure people of my age around my age back then video games were an accessory to your life, not the end all be all like it is for a lot of kids today. So I'm sure the magazine was popular but it wasn't the greatest thing on earth because there was still outside to enjoy. It was discontinued at the end of 2012 having produced 285 issues, I don't know if any of them are collector's items did any of you out there when you were reading magazines buying them in your teenage years did you save them? I've got a couple of boxes of magazines from the early 90s that i think i was just too lazy to throw away and now I wonder if they've got any value although they probably don't. Old sports illustrated, old pro wrestling magazines, so obviously you've noticed I've gotten quite deep into this segment about children's magazines and i haven't mentioned any of the teenage girl magazines. For a reason. but obviously growing up with three sisters I was quite familiar with some of those and I'm going to share a few without any knowledge of them. You know I'd never read them, nice I sort of winked when I said that. Do you remember 17? I'm talking to the girls out there. 17 and Tiger Beat or Bop maybe kids growing up in the later 90s might remember Cosmogirl Gen X kids might remember Sassy. They have different names but they're all the same basic premise they're geared towards teenage girls the covers would feature some teen boy or at least young looking boy stud on the front cover. Maybe a famous female actress or singer sharing their tips on beauty and life and all this stuff. Those of you out there who read these magazines what did you think about how they depicted i guess life as a teenage girl or even in your young twenties? I don't know what the end of the demographic was for them i think my sisters were more into 17 and Tiger Beat but i don't know. These were the days when you'd get the teenage heartthrobs that would become the big sensations because of being on these magazine covers there was teen and teen beat. It's amazing when i started researching this segment just how many magazines there were that had basically the same premise just with different names. I'm finding a lot of them were from the same family of magazines so you talk about trying to fleece your audience. I know they always had the pin-ups you could pull the pages out and hang them like posters on your wall i did that with sports illustrated ones i had the 8 1/2 by 11 inch page pictures of people like Larry Bird and Michael Jordan and Barry Sanders on my wall, straight from the pages of magazines ghetto posters because I was didn't have enough allowance to go buy the nice big posters. For those of you longing for those days of those teen magazines if you go to archive.org you can find the archives for teen magazine from 1968 to 2002. So you can reminisce about your teenage years and just pick any month from that time period and see who is the big hot star coming up, laugh at some of the popular trends that they were pitching to you. Just looking at the covers of these magazines it definitely hearkens back to a different time and just a fun time in childhood and teenagehood. The days of print magazines though i think is getting close to being over when digital is so much easier. So if you out there have old copies of some of these hold on to them or check eBay you never know. I've got deep dives into MAD magazine and Fangoria in previous podcast episodes but if you want me to do deep dives into these or look into other children's magazines teen magazines that i might have missed just let me know. Otherwise, crack open one of these old magazines put on some 80s or 90s pop maybe pour a glass of red wine and remember being a kid all those years ago. 


49:17 Closing

That's gonna wrap up episode 96 of the In My Footsteps podcast. Thank you, everyone, for tuning in this week i hope whatever you celebrate your holiday season is going amazing and it's just filled with so many fun memories. Don't worry there's still time to get your shopping done i know that little bit of panic sets in one idea could be to go to zazzle.com and visit the Cape Cod Living store that is owned and run by me. I've got a brand new calendar for 2023 just a few of the photos that I've taken throughout the year. There's also podcast merch that i don't talk about much, bumper stickers, keychains, there's a tote bag there's all kinds of stuff. It's one of those projects that i started and I occasionally add stuff to but there's so many other things i do and those other things include social media find me on Twitter Instagram YouTube. Check out like I said my newest Lady of the Dunes video it's titled Goodbye Lady of the Dunes Goodbye Ruth Marie Terry. I'm very proud of that video if you're on YouTube also go and find the full show audio for the podcast I've got the first six episodes up there now. I'm trying to add one every few days. It's a real simple way for me to get more eyes on the podcast and kind of repurpose my content. Also as we go forward let me know if any of these episodes are kind of easier to find and what I mean by that is that i started transcribing the episodes meaning there's text to go with the episodes. It's something that can be time-consuming but i did a free business trial on this audio-to-text transcription service and i just banged through all the episodes so there's now going to be 95 episodes that are transcribed. Tune in next week to episode 97 of the podcast, like i mentioned at the top of the show the interview i did with Frank Durant as we walked out to the actual site where the lady of the dunes Ruth Marie Terry was found will be on that show. So if you haven't seen the video you can listen to it next week but the video is just as good so you could watch it twice. There's gonna be some major laughs as we get into restaurant story time five, lucky to be alive. Yet another true story i don't want to give too many spoilers away but trust me it's another one of my favorite funniest stories from my years of working in the restaurant industry. We're gonna go way way back in the day and look at some obscure trading cards from the 1980s. This is back when basically anything could be put on a trading card and sold to foolish kids like me. There is gonna be a new top five that are the top five weirdest unusual breakfast cereals that are no longer around, and of course, there'll be a brand new this week in history and time capsule all coming up next week on episode 97 of the in my footsteps podcast. If you're stuck for Christmas ideas i have several that you can check out they're all gonna be linked in the podcast so go to the links and click on them. KeeKee's cape cod kitchen cookbook, Cape Cod & the Islands A Drone's eye view, a book of spectacular photography by Chris Seufert and handcrafted crocheted accessories jewelry and so much more at Kiwi’s Kustoms both spelled with K's at etsy.com. Or you could also get a gift certificate gift card to mind-body Spine Chiropractic for training with either myself or Maggie or put it towards an
 adjustment to help your spinal health, red light therapy, lymphatic health, brain training with the brain tap which is amazing, massage chairs, nutrition, wellness. It's a one-stop shop for wellness, mind body spine so you need to check that out even if you're not going to get a gift card just come in. As i wind this down i always want to make sure that i tell everyone focus on your mental health. This time of year it's my favorite time of year but it can also be filled with stress and sadness depending on your place in life and if you don't want to talk about it it's important to lean into the things that make you happy. Try to offset the bad as best you can whether it's favorite foods, favorite YouTube videos, going to a favorite place and just meditating, or a favorite podcast. Hold tight to the things that make you happy take care of yourself look after yourself. I know i have to take that advice myself sometimes I am my own harshest critic and i know if I treated others the way that i treat myself sometimes I would not have a good life so be good to yourself enjoy the holiday season and above all else remember that in this life don't walk in anyone else's footsteps, create your own path enjoy every moment you can on this journey, because you never know what tomorrow brings. Thank you all for tuning in to episode 96. This has been the In My Footsteps podcast I have been Christopher Setterlund, and I will talk to you all again soon.

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Christopher Setterlund

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