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Christmas Clatter Podcast
Todd celebrates the Christmas spirit all year. Join him and his guests for monthly discussions about Christmas news, entertainment, gifts, decorating, and everything else that makes Christmas special.
Christmas Clatter Podcast
I'll Take Two Beef 'N Cheddars And A Wine Glass
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In this video, Ken Smith of The North Pole News Dispatch joins me to discuss the art of collecting. From ornaments to vinyl records to percolators, we'll cover it all. This is the perfect video for anyone who wants to start a collection or add to an existing one. We’ll be giving tips on where to find things, what to look for, and how to get started. Christmas is a great time to start collecting because there are so many different things to collect.
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Hello everybody and welcome back to this episode of Christmas Clatter here where you are. Just a, a Thursday, eight days into December. It's hard to believe. I, I just wish this time would slow down and let everybody enjoy the season a little bit more, but, uh, a lot going on, a lot to get through. Hopefully I don't forget any of the housekeeping cause I've been known to do that and kind of need to take my own advice and make a list. Um, but, uh, yeah. Um, first things first. Today is Thursday. If you're listening to it today, it releases Thursday, December the ninth. Nope, December the eighth because December the ninth is a Friday. And, um, That will be cookie day. And if you're familiar with, uh, Christmas clatter or been here for a while, you know, cookie day. Cookie day, you know, cookie day is the day that, uh, my parents opened up their house as an open house. And, um, my mom corrected me, uh, the other day. I said it was like 23 or 25 different kinds of cookies. She, my mom, uh, politely corrected me as mothers do, and told me it's 33 different kind of, that I learned to talk one of these days. It's 33 different kinds of cookies this year. And, um, you know, so she's, there's probably 5,000 or so into visual cookies she's made. And, uh, uh, her whole house is decorated. They have 25 trees, at least 25. I don't know if she got any more up this year or not, uh, than normal. And, uh, it's just the time to slow down and, uh, Enjoy company, grab some great cookies, you know, grab a cup of coffee, cider, you know, milk. And, uh, just there's people that come to cookie day that I only see them once a year on cookie day and it's like spend, you know, an hour or so just catching up from the previous years. And it's just so much fun. It's like cookie day friends. And, um, our guests today, Ken, uh, from North Pole News Dispatch and faces to places podcasts will be attending Cookie day if all goes according to plan. I don't wanna guarantee it cuz I don't want those, uh, unforeseen to pop up. And, uh, and I'm gonna ask him what he's expecting and then, uh, we'll get his opinion of it. And if you're interested, we will be doing some live streams from, um, cookie day, uh, however. They will be on Instagram. Uh, it's just a little easier to do a mobile stream on Instagram. And, uh, so make sure you head the Christmas clouder over on Instagram and, and follow me over there if you haven't. I know there's some things, you know, YouTube can do, do streams. I've just, on the mobile version, I'm just more comfortable doing them on Instagram and so I don't wanna like rock the boat and try to be learning something new, uh, especially on cookie day when things are kind of happening and, and that kind of stuff. So, um, if you're interested and it, well, there won't be, it won't be long length, lengthy live streams. Um, however, um, there'll be more than one. I'll probably hit one in mid-morning and probably one in the afternoon. Um, and I can't tell you the times cuz I'm, I'm gonna try to hit 'em. When, when, um, Things are full. When I have a chance, if, if, if I can, I will put out, uh, the, uh, Christmas clatter symbol, the signal, you know, kinda like the bat signal, you know, it's just the, uh, reflector ornament logo high in the sky on the socials. Just, Hey, hey, I'll be going live and, you know, 15, 20 minutes or something like that if I, if the opportunity arises. So, so be sure to follow me over on Instagram and, uh, click you want notifications, uh, for that, so when I do go live, it'll pop up on your phone. So, yeah. And, uh, so that'll, that'll be cool. And, uh, then, uh, what else? There was something else I needed to tell you guys about. Oh yeah, I'm planning some cool stuff for next year. Enough of that, for right now. So, uh, um, Looking forward to that. Uh, looking forward to, uh, my 100th episode of the podcast will be on Christmas Eve this year. Well, actually December 23rd. I don't release 'em on Christmas Eve. Um, because people are, people don't need to listen to my podcast on Christmas Eve if, if they don't want to. Uh, I mean, if you want to, you can save it, but it's just, I just like it better on the 23rd. So that will be my 100th episode of the podcast. I can't believe it's been a hundred and I even missed, I think I got one episode out in the first six months of this year. So I, you know, I could have been well over a hundred now, but, you know, thinking back, it's cool that it's coming out right at Christmas, you know, so that just makes me feel good inside. And then also next year of some of that stuff, I'm planning Christmas clatter turns five years old. And, uh, that's another thing that's hard to believe. So lots going on, lots, uh, being planned and, uh, with cookie day coming up, oh, I remember what the other thing was. I'm, I gotta, I'm gonna do a couple other episodes, um, to ensure I get to a hundred. I gotta do a couple that aren't on Wednesday. So, um, um, so I'll be finding a time to do some bonus episodes. That's one reason I haven't done my 10 favorite Christmas songs video yet, because I'm saving that, that's going to be one of the episodes. I'm just gonna jump in, live here on YouTube, do an episode on, on my favorite Christmas songs and, uh, my 10 favorite Christmas songs, and just let the. You know, praise my choices or ridicule me to no end. I'm good either way, I can take it. And, uh, so we'll be doing that as an episode and I'm going to try to, um, time it. I, I have some, some people that, uh, uh, live in, uh, you know, the United Kingdom and stuff and, and they always miss the livestream when it's live. And, but they've been really great about watching the replays and so I wanna try to time it on the weekend sometime where it's good for us here in the States and, and, uh, uh, Dwayne and Mommy Lala over there at the beginning of the world and, uh, and them as well, you know, so, but just pay attention to, to Facebook and Instagram for that. I do have a Twitter account and I know a lot's going on with Twitter, and my choice has nothing to do with any of that. It's just I've. I've never really enjoyed Twitter very much. I just did it because I felt like I need to. So I won't be tweeting a whole lot. And if you send me a message or a tweet on Twitter and I don't get back to you, I'm sorry. I mean, I can't, I can't even get it logged in on my phone because it's so wonky right now. So, um, um, you know, I'm still gonna have the account there, but I'm just not gonna mess with it very much. So, um, if you need to move over to Instagram or Facebook, that's where I enjoy posting the most and it's just a little easier, uh, for me. So, but, uh, let's get into our topic. I think I, I think that's all the housekeeping I have. I have really, really, uh, got all the, uh, taken a lot of the air outta there. I'm just chatting. This is what happens when you just getting very little sleep and you're getting overworked, but, uh, Yeah, gonna bring back a Christmas clatter alum. This is a guy that contacted me, oh, a year or so over a year ago, I guess, two years ago. Just about, uh, said he found, found my podcast in January and was wanting to start one of his own and wanted to know if he had any advice and I gave him some advice. And, uh, now he has two podcasts and, uh, he's become a good friend and, uh, uh, over the past couple years and really enjoy his company. We chat or text just about every day, if not every other, and we both have a collecting bug and, uh, just for starters to, to kind of take any, uh, any pressure off. We are not be all, end all experts of anything. I know you guys saw Alonzo or heard Alonzo last week and, uh, Alonzo is an expert and he was wonderful and really enjoyed. Uh, what he had to say. But, uh, Ken and I, we just love to collect and we have some knowledge of some things. And if you, if you guys are in the chat, if you have anything to add, please do and we'll, we'll get it included in the episode. It's podcasted. If you're listening to the podcast, if you can make it Wednesday nights
8:00 PM Central standard time for the live recording, please do so. We would love to have you there in the chat with us. And, uh, without any further ado, here, is the guy always asking? Are you all coming for scraps? Ken Smith. Hey Ken, how you doing? I'm
Ken:doing great buddy. How you doing tonight? Doing good.
Todd:Doing good. So, sorry.
Ken:Sorry. Uh, hammered at work, man. I know how it is. Uh, I worked for an airline for 35 years and ti the season
Todd:tis the season. Indeed. So tis the season. Indeed, man. I do love that background. You're at the North Pole probably right now, aren't you? Yeah.
Ken:Yeah, I'm up here right now. Yeah., it's so those that it's
Todd:snowing outside. Yeah. For those that don't know, the Ken has become the official radio, uh, newscaster for the North Pole, for the North Pole News dispatch. He, he handles all the holiday and festive season news, uh, on, on his podcast. And even the elves, uh, elf Christie gives recipes from the cafeteria and, uh, it's a lot of fun and, and I'm sure you, you enjoy it up there, Ken.
Ken:So, oh yeah, man, it's a, it's a, every day is a new day up here cause it's all new to me. I'm a, I'm a southern boy, , you know, got a job way up here, man, at the radio station and, uh, every, everything's different.. Todd: Yeah, absolutely. You know, I've always, maybe it's cuz of where I'm from here in Missouri, but I've always imagined saying that with like a southern accent and that's probably just cuz where I'm from, , you know, it's just, well, it seems to fit well there. Yeah, well there, there's enough that I met up here and he's from the, he's from the south north Pole and he has a kind of a southern accent. Oh. I think I'm, I'm gonna get him to be on the show for long, so. Oh, that'd
Todd:be great. That'd be great. Won't have to let us know. And Ken's other podcast is faces to places where he, uh, in the, when the weather's, um, allows, he'll, he'll get it on his motorcycle or whatever and he'll drive and he finds all these great like, human interest stories, you know, kind of on the back roads, uh, Americana kind of stories in the. I told him, you better watch out or you, he'll not becoming, uh uh, uh, uh, Paul Harvey, you know, of Christmas podcasts and stuff like that. Yeah. And, uh, another guy that that hit me is a, it's a, was a name that's from a thousand million years ago, but, uh, um, I wanna say Charles Carralt from CBS Carralt. Yeah, from CBS Sunday morning. Is that right? Uh, he was the bald headed guy that would go around to do all those, uh, human interest stories. And they were always wildly fascinating, you know, and, and things. But yeah, you really have that vibe. You've, he had some really great episodes on faces to places and then stuff that's just really cool.
Ken:And, uh, well, thanks Todd. There's a lot of people out there that's, uh, not popular, you know, they're not very well known that have great stories that just need to be told. Man, that's
Todd:kinda what I do. Yeah. It, there's, there was something, some news that's like, everybody's got a story. I think our, our local news did a, a, a for a while. It's like everybody's got a story. They had like a, a map of, of, uh, southeast Missouri and, uh, this part of southern Illinois and, and, um, western Kentucky. And they would like throw a dart board in whatever town that, or throw a dart in whatever town the DART was closest to. They'd drive there and they would just find somebody with a cool story about something. And, uh, it was really, really cool and, uh, and, and things. But we're here to talk about collecting because as we got to know each other,, um, we both get hit by the collecting bug and, and you actually, yeah, you're actually here, uh, a few weeks ago visiting, uh, and we ended up at a antique store, uh, up in Cape Auto and mm-hmm. was digging . Holly was running around trying to find her things, and me and you were like, thumbing through all the vinyl records., they had like a million of them and, uh, and finding them. But, uh, and then we realized how many store records there were and we're like, man, what was up with that? And, uh, you know, like the Firestone and the Good Year and things. Right. But, uh,
Ken:yeah. Yeah. These record, these record labels had have, uh, special marketing divisions that that's all they do. Yeah. You know, that kind of
Todd:stuff. Yeah. Yeah. They,
Ken:they had a, there was stores and singer sewing machine, you know, they had, they had a. Of some volumes of Christmas albums. There's quite a few of 'em.
Todd:Yeah. I think the most popular are the Firestone ones. I think they, they're the most popular. Yeah. And um, they're
Ken:definitely the ones that, that, uh, that I like. And you know, mainly, you know, I remember those from my childhood because mainly because the cover you, you know, you have four right there behind you. Yeah. And they all, they're all very colorful and, uh, they, they look like Christmas presents that are wrapped with the big bow, with big bows on 'em. So visually . Yeah. You know, those are hard to miss.
Todd:Yeah. But they're, yeah, they are. They, well, they're beautiful album. You know, even if you're not a fan of the songs on there, the covers are beautiful. And as it's set, it looks great. And when me and you were talking, we think the reason some of these were so popular, you know, they bring back a lot of memories of, you know, people finding them. But it's because there's only seven. You know? Yeah. And they're not impossible to find, and they're not like crazy expensive.
Ken:Yeah. Uh, musically, man, there's probably nothing better than those Firestone albums if you want some good, uh, Christmas, Americana music, uh, that, you know, because they're, they're inexpensive, like you said, they're easy to find. And because they get played only, you know, for about a, you know, one month a year, the, the album covers maybe kind of, you know, ratted out a little bit. But usually the albums themselves are in great shape.
Todd:Yeah. And that's, that's one tip I wanna give people. If you're thinking about starting vinyl collection of Christmas or not, and you're at a yard sale or an antique store, or. Be sure to pull the vinyl out of the sleeve for one check to make sure it's the correct record for that sleeve. Because last thing you wanna do is if you're thinking you're taking home Firestone, you know, um, a Firestone Christmas album and you get home and it's, you know, some, you know, acid rock band from the sixties you've never heard of, you'll be, well, you might not be sorely disappointed, but at first you'll be sorely disappointed. And two, look at both sides and look for scratches, especially deep scratches. A little bit of wear is okay, but you know, look at over most of the time, in my experience, collecting Christmas albums, most of them are, um, in like almost mint condition, just mm-hmm.. Instead they just didn't get played much.
Ken:Yeah. And when you pull the albums out, especially the Firestone's, easy to identify cuz the labels are either red or green, you know, you know, if you're buying it from a yard sale or a garage sale or something, you gotta make sure the right album is in the right coverages. So it's not red or green, it's not a, you know, it's not a Firestone. Yeah, yeah. And they made those, those came out from like 62 to 1968. Yeah. And like you said, there were set, there was seven volumes. But there was one thing about those, they, they did put out some in the seventies, but what was weird about 'em is the only place that said Firestone on 'em was on a sticker that was on the cellophane that went around the album. I mean, it went around the album cover, so if the cell phone got torn off, there was no way to identify 'em. So there's a lot of, there's a lot of 'em floating around, but they're just really hard to find just because there's nothing that says Firestone.
Todd:Right. You don't know what you have if you don't know, you know, where it came from or know what it is and, and things. Now tell, tell me this, I know a lot of these stores would like license music, so you would get, you know, a a a Bing Crosby song, but it was the same recording as other records had. Was the music for the Firestone record at just for Firestone?
Ken:Yes. Yeah, it was, yeah. They were, because they were written, uh, they were composed mainly as like a canata, you know, it was these big grand orchestras and, uh, choirs. Firestone had their own orchestra and their own choir that was on every single album, Uhhuh. And, uh, you know, that was on the first two albums, uh, the first two volumes. But then after that, they started bringing on. Solo vocalist and opera singers, or maybe even sometime they would have like Broadway stars to come on there and, uh, and sing. So, you know. Yeah. So it was always different than, you know,
Todd:from another album. Yeah. Yeah. It is. Uh, it is.
Ken:You know, and then I think he got there when there's the biggest, uh, the biggest thing that Firestone ever did with those albums, Uhhuh? Uh, I think it's volume. I can't really say. I think it's volume five. Okay. Uh, they landed Julie Andrews to do a solo album. And the big thing about that, I think that one was 1966, that Volume five Uhhuh, and the, the big thing about that was just the year before in, in, uh, no, that, that album was in 66, the year before in 65, she was all over the big screen with the sound of Music. So at that time she was extremely popular and they were able to land her to do. A
Todd:solo album. Yeah. Yeah. That's the, um, yeah, the gold one. My, my, uh, mother-in-law here. She's, she says it was the gold one. I, I don't know. You can see it up behind me there, the gold one. Now. Um, everybody on the podcast, everybody here in the chat, um, I wanna let you in on something in the link, um, or in the link in the description below is a link, uh, called the Christmas Collection Starter Pack Giveaway or something. And, and Holly, um, in the moderator notes, there's also a link, if you could post it in the chat. Now, you guys on the livestream are getting early access to this, those on the podcast. Um, uh, it's in the description if you, if you want to go there and I'll be posting some on social media. Uh, Ken and I have, uh, teamed up together because between the two of us, we, we have doubles. Um, we only have three of the four, but we were gonna find the other ones to complete the collection, but we thought, well, this episode's about collecting, so we can get you three of the four. And it's up to you to find the other or three of the seven. It's up to you to find the other four. And, uh, and there's, uh, it's Christmas cloud.live/um, collection. And just fill out a form, name, address, and email and we will be giving away those three vinyl records. Uh, it's just gonna be a drawing. Uh, next Wednesday, uh, on, on the episode, I'll have all the names entered in and we'll draw the name live so you know, it's everybody can see. And, um, that'll be a starter pack if you're interested into, in, in these Firestone records, we can get you three of the seven, uh, as some doubles we had and that, that, uh, Get you on your way to, to completing this set, because I'm not a must, I'm not really a must have guy, but if you're really into Christmas and really into Christmas music, this is a, a collection that is almost a must just because it's so, I don't wanna say simple, but it's so obtainable, you know, cuz a lot of times collections, the pieces get ridiculously expensive or way too many, you know, and just seven. And really you can find these, you know, for what, less than 15 bucks usually, you know? Yeah,
Ken:yeah. Usually around $10 or so. And if you're, find 'em on the eBay. But those ones that. Did, uh, that we found whenever I came out to visit, they were two bucks a piece in the antique store. Yeah, they were in great shape.
Todd:Yeah, they are. And the reason I have doubles , it's probably the same reason Ken does, is when you're at the antique store, you can't remember which ones you have and which ones you don't. So Right. So yeah, so you just grab'em anyway, you know? Yeah. So I think it's two, three and six are the ones we have doubles of, so, yeah.
Ken:Yeah. And yeah. Yeah. This is a great way, man. Cause like I said, there's only seven volumes, so, you know, some things you collect, there may be hundreds of 'em, or even 50 or 60. That's just a lot. There's just seven of them and they're inexpensive. And, uh, there, there's something cool about these two is on the back of these albums. So I got show the back, it has the lyric. To, to every song on there. Yeah. So, so I really like that. Cause there was a lot of, the, lot of, a lot of 'em, uh, Christmas songs. I didn't really know the . Right,
Todd:right. Show that to it. Show us that back again there, Ken. I got you a little bit bigger for those here. Yeah. So you see that? Yeah. Yeah. All the lyrics are on there and, and yeah. I don't know which way to turn. That's good. That's good. And so, but, but it's very cool collection. Now. They are the most popular set of these, um, store, um, you know, vinyl records, if you will, but they're not, they're not the first, you know,
Ken:um, right now they're not actually, uh, Goodyear is the, Goodyear was the leader in that.
Todd:It's the, no, that's the grants one there. I'm sorry. Can't, yeah, Goodyear was the, was the first one. Yeah.
Ken:Yeah. Goodyear had came out a year before, uh, Firestone, you know, and that was just a. Brainchild of a guy named Stanley, uh, Arnold Uhhuh. He worked for big advertising agency. He went out on his own just, uh, marketing ideas to large companies. Right. And I mean, when I, when I collect stuff, I like finding out the story behind it, how it got started. And his, his idea was, you know, that everybody likes Christmas. Right? And back in the day, back in the early sixties, you know, people didn't fly like they do now. Mm-hmm., you know, there's most everybody drove. So he knew enough that, uh, he knew that from the fall to the end of the year was the busiest time for tires in the tire stores. So he had this idea and he approached a Goodyear about, uh, creating a Christmas album that would be displayed right there on the counter, cuz you know, they didn't have to have another building or anymore help had to be hired to sell these albums. And they'd be sitting right on the counter like a, you know, almost like an impulse buy. Like when you go to the supermarket or Walmart or wherever, they got all this stuff sitting around, you know, there where you're checking out, you know, and you'll buy this candy bar or, you know, I'll grab that magazine or whatever. It's impulse buy. And that's what these were uhhuh and starting out, they were only a dollar and, uh, they were pretty cheap. And I mean, that was different time back then. A dollar was more than it is nowadays. But, but that's how he got started with those. And, uh, they became a big
Todd:success. Yeah. It, it's funny, it's like the one that starts, it isn't the one that's the most popular, you know? And, uh, even, even, you know, Goodyear, even they started it and they went many more years than Firestone, but for some reason the Firestones just stick out and I think it's cause of the album. Yeah. And the
Ken:marketing, yeah, the artwork
Todd:on it., but, but the store with the most, let me, let me pull this up here so people can see. And I only have one of these, but it's True Value hardware stores. Yep. And uh, and this is just a collection of, of songs. This is from 81, 19 81. You can see the price tag. Dollar 99 on there still. But this is just licensed songs that you would, would find on, uh, any other record. But true value ended up with what? 40
Ken:of these? Yeah, they had, uh, they had 40 volumes, man, 40 years. They was in that business from 65 to 2005. Oh
Todd:man, that's a lot. I don't know if I even want try, you know, to get all those Yeah, maybe some of the earlier ones. I, I might try to see if I can find some of the earlier ones.
Ken:Yeah. Well the thing about the, the first two volumes is, uh, kind of unique. Cause they had seasonal songs on there. They were thinking they could sell it year round uhhuh, but it didn't go over very well, so they. From then on, they just, uh, went from 14 back to 10 songs and strictly Christmas. Right. And it, and so, you know, that was a formula that worked,
Todd:so. Right. Well, you know, it's just kind of one of the things and it caught fire. And I think the Firestone ones, I used the phrase caught fire, then went Firestone was gonna say, roll that again. But, you know, like you said, singer sewing machines. That's one I need to find for my mother-in-law is a singer sewing machine. Vinyl record for Christmas. But then she'll need a record player. Well, she can come over to my house and listen to . Yeah. So, but, uh, um, but other stores start doing, um, Mary Evans, who's been in the chat, you know, she left a comment about, uh, Kmart, 1974, Kmart had one and they played, I guess they played it over their, their in their speakers and their, um, And their stores over and over again, you know, and, and stuff. So, yeah. But, uh, that's, well, they're your employees. I'll have, you know, a second. I have a story on that. Go ahead, Ken. I'm sorry.
Ken:Well, I was just gonna say, uh, before we we're talking about true value, there was, you know, they were pretty cheap too, except there's three volumes. I think it's 18, 20 and, uh, 21 maybe. But all three of those had a cut by Elvis Presley on there. So if you can find one of those, they're worth a little more. Oh. If you can find one of those
Todd:laying around somewhere, so, yeah. Yeah. Mikey here in the chat said he had some of the true value ones on cassette tape, so that's cool. Yeah, that's, that's cool. And then the other stores got into it, like I said, Kmart, then JC Penney's got into. Mm. You know, but
Ken:I have an album here, uh, by Grant's department store. I don't know, let me find it here. Okay. I only have one. And, uh, I didn't even know what Grant's department store was. I had to look it up when I found the album, but it was a variety store, mainly up north, you know, and I'm down south, so I had no idea what it was. Yeah. But this is what it looks like. And, uh,
Todd:I like that. It's pretty cool.
Ken:I like that. It's pretty
Todd:cool. Yeah, I think it did.
Ken:And, uh, but, but they come out with eight volumes, I think.
Todd:Yeah. Yeah. That's a, that's a cool cover with the ornaments and then all the, all the singers in there. Mm-hmm. definitely be hunting that one down for
Ken:sure. Yeah. Yeah. They have kind like some unique, like there's a Kerry Grants on there. Oh, wow. And he does like a, he does like a spoken word, uhhuh, uh, thing on there, and so does, uh, barrel eyes. He does a spoken word on there.
Todd:Oh, that's fantastic. That's it. Yeah. I'll have to hunt that down for sure. It's got Carrie Grant, we, we know about how I feel about him after last week, so,
Ken:yeah. Well, while I'm talking about Bar Lives there, he does a, it's called the, called the Christmas Story. Uh, I never heard it. I never heard it until I got this album. Uh, and Christmas, e Christmas Eve on the North Pole News Dispatch. I'm gonna be doing, uh, just reading some Christmas stories and Christmas poem and stuff. So I'm gonna put this one on there as well. I added it to the list.
Todd:Right. So. Right. But, uh, um, you know, this was a kind of a. Um, dying tradition. And then Hallmark got in the game in the eighties, and, uh, which is, which is hilarious, you know, , because, and I didn't even know until we started, uh, researching for this that I had some, cause usually when I buy Christmas, well one time when I bought some Christmas albums, it was from a record store going outta business, and she had a hope like Crate full of 'em, and she sold me like the whole thing. So, but they came out with these very eighties kind of covers, you know? Mm-hmm. and it's all like, you know, licensed stuff and, uh, you know, got your, this might be closer to the nineties with the Hunter Green and Burgundy kind of thing. So, and look at here, you know, talking about Julie Andrews Hallmark, got into the Julie Andrews game, you know, and whole solo album just to, I guess just to copy, uh, Firestone's success was Julie Andrews. You know, cuz this was well after the sound of music in, uh, 1990 is when that was, you know, so, yeah. But, uh, you know, just, just so much, you know, and then you could talk about, um, products, promotional stuff. I found this thing in my collection, Fresca Soda with uh, um, Mitch Miller . Yeah, it's the 45. And then, uh, this other one, I don't even know how to pronounce this, Bule. It's something, some kind of whiskey. Scotch or something. I'm, I'm not much of a, I don't know, drinks very well, but I didn't even know that was something I had , you know, so there's all kinds of crazy, wacky Christmas albums out there for people.
Ken:Well, that it's a good way, I mean, it's fun, you know, to hunt 'em down and when anytime you go into an antique mall or you're in a yard sale, just anywhere, you know, it's always fun to thumb through the albums, see what they have.
Todd:Right, right, right. It, it is. And, uh, you know, they're not crazy expensive. Do your homework. Uh, if you're collecting albums, do do a little bit of it. Don't take a lot. Just take, do a little Googling. Uh, there's a website called Disc Cogs that will let you see what a fair market price of an album is, you know, so if you go in there and it feels like it's too much, you know, there's probably a reason why you feel like that. You know, and I, off the top of my head, I do not know. Of a Christmas record that should be more than the most expensive one I've seen. Now, this is just me and I haven't looked at every Christmas album, so there might be some, the most expensive one I ever had to look up to see the price was, um, John Dier and the Muppets that still had the poster insert side. Um, because it came with a, a, a big poster and it was like 30, I wanna say like $32, you know, and you figure if it's John Denver and the Muppets with the poster inside at $32, there's not gonna be a whole lot more. Or, you know, Christmas albums, that will be more than that. Cause that's, it's kind of a, that, that one's kind of a big deal.
Ken:Yeah. Yeah. So, man, man, John Dimmer's, only when he died. I, man, I cried. Oh yeah, I really did. Yeah. Couldn't believe it, but I did. Yeah.
Todd:It's, uh, It's crazy. I've become more of a fan of his than ever. There was a time that, uh, when I would hear most of his songs, I would, I would, uh, I would just kind of cringe. And to tell you the truth, the reason why is because remember the time life commercials, when they would play like a snippets of the songs. Yeah. He had a time life series and, and we only got three channels at the house. And that thing came on like every, um, commercial break. And it's like, when I was a kid, it was like I was sick of hearing Denver songs, you know? And, uh, it's like if I have to hear him singing, you fill up my senses, like walk in the forest or whatever, I'm just like, gonna go nuts, you know?. Ken: Yeah. But that's kinda get back to, you know, Kmart playing their Christmas album. Yeah. Over the, the music. Um, When I was in college, I worked at the local Burger King, and at the time they had a licensing deal with Disney and uh, the Pocahontas movie came out. So they played, um, the soundtrack to Pocahontas over and over and over again. I never seen Pocahontas. I will never see Pocahontas if I have to hear just around the river Bend again. I, I instantly, like Hulk rage out is just, it was torturous to hear it over and over again like that. It's like, guys, don't do that to your employees. Play, get a playlist that's at least 500 songs, you know, . Yeah. So,
Ken:but, but I've never seen Pocahontas.
Todd:Yeah. And either just because I was, uh, I was tired of listening to that. But, uh, you know, there's other Christmas things to collect. Uh, I have one here that you kindly sent me from last year, and it's a coffee cup and it's got cute little waffle guy on there because it's from Waffle House. You know Waffle House? Yep. You guys are close to Waffle House. They sell these Christmas coffee cups. I know Ken's big in the collecting the coffee cups. And he, uh, sweet talks the, uh, the manager there to give him like the, the post stuff too, you know, just to, to have him. So if you guys are next, you know, close to a Waffle House and you enjoy, uh, these are nice heavy cups. I mean, they're the real deal. Holy Field coffee cups, they're great to collect too, you know. And, uh,
Ken:yeah, I drank outta mine year round, you know, Christmas coffee cups. Yeah. Yeah. I have a hookup at the Waffle House. I don't know if that's something to brag about or not, but Hey, but she, but she always calls me when they get the, the cups in and then. Like you were saying, they have posters that hang on the windows. It's just great artwork. You know, they're in the style of the old Coca-Cola Santa and all that, so she saves'em for me and I actually collect those. Yeah,
Todd:see those are, yeah, there's one, those are great. That's just a great piece, you know, to have.
Ken:And, uh, yeah, that's, that's classic American Center
Todd:out there. Yeah, absolutely. And, uh, if you're just listening to the podcast, um, part of this in the description, I'll put a Google Drive link and I'll load up, uh, photos of all the stuff for you guys, take a look at, or hop on over and watch the replay of the livestream. That'll be, uh, a good way to see that too. So, you know, even if you're not close to, you know, a Waffle House, there's probably a, a restaurant close to you that does something like that. I'm not, uh, I'm a little too far west, I think. Waffle House. Um, I don't have to drive very far to get to one, but there's not one immediately here because once you get into Waffle House country, they're at every corner it feels like. Which is, which is wonderful. And, uh, but I need to check. We have a huddle house around here, which is basically the same thing, just a competitor. I need to check to see if they have Christmas coffee cups. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I like to drink out of a coffee cup. And uh, I
Ken:bet they do. I bet. To go in there and ask
Todd:them. I bet so. I bet so. And, uh, you know, you, you can do that. There's, you know, ornaments. I know you've gotten into finding some like, vintage shiny, bright stuff this year.
Ken:Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I've gotten into the shiny brights. Well, the reason I, I went and bought new ones this year. Uh, cause I had four boxes that my mom had given me back when I first got married on my podcast. Uh, I tell a story about when I first got married, we didn't have enough money to even buy Christmas tree, so we went out and. Basically, basically poached one out of the forest and brought it home. Yeah. And, but my mom gave me these four boxes of shiny bright ornaments and I never thought anything about 'em. That's just cause I, we had 'em on our tree when I was a kid. Mm-hmm.. And uh, I just knew they were familiar and as I grew up and got older, I found out, hey, these are, these are pretty cool. And they were actually something. So I had four boxes of those. Yeah. And that, uh, we put that out. We have one tree that just has vintage ornaments, Uhhuh, and so those go on there obviously. Yeah. But then I went this year and bought, uh, three more boxes of the new shiny brights that are out now. And those are on another
Todd:tree. Ah, yeah. Those are cool ornaments. And you can find shiny brights in the original box at like antique malls and stuff. But you know, if you're price conscious, be wary cuz those will attract a higher dollar amount because a lot of the um, Are, um, you know, really sought after by even just not like year round Christmas enthusiasts like we are, but just people that love Christmas and, you know, know what those are and things and, and, uh, yeah.
Ken:Cause you're gonna find a box of vintage shiny brights if, I mean, they come in boxes of six, they have some smaller boxes. And those I've seen anywhere from 30 to about 80 or $90 just for, you know, just for six of 'em. Yeah. I guess depends on the condition and everything, but they're not all quite that expensive. But yeah, they do get up there in price if you're yeah. If you're
Todd:not careful. Right? Absolutely. And another tip for collecting, if you're gonna collect Christmas Smith stuff, if it's November and you're at an antique mall or something, just pay, pay attention to the price. And if you can, Start shopping in February because that's when they really discount and, and ask. If you go to an mall and you don't see anything Christmas, ask and see if they got some in the back. There's a, a used bookstore locally, and I'll go in and ask, you know, outta seasons, like, can I go in the back and look at the Christmas books and they'll let me,
Ken:you know, really? Yeah. I won't have to do that. Yeah.
Todd:I didn't do that. Yeah. And, uh, you know, just go in a few times and kind of build a rapport, you know, with them and, and stuff. But Dan in the chat here in the live chat says his wife has a collection of Christmas wine glasses from Arby's. That's fantastic. Dan . That is, that is fantastic. You know, this, this, this kind of, this conversation kind of take me the, when I was a kid, the Pizza Hut used to have all the glasses, like the ET glasses, you know, you set a whole set of drinking glasses and they were ET or the chipmunks or something like that, you know, so,
Ken:The wine glasses from Mar's. Yeah.. Todd: Yeah. Yeah. I'll take a, that's kinda like the Christmas albums at the, at the tire store. You
Todd:know, I'll take two Beef and Cheddars and a wine glass. But yeah, that, that is great, you know, and, uh, I know a lot of people aren't in the Christmas villages and those are a lot of fun to collect. There's a lot of different forms and variations. Um, you know, you have like the department 56 stuff, which is mm-hmm., you know, the, the price or Here's what I've learned this year about department 56 Christmas villages. When we were at Bronner's, they had several different sets of, uh, those Christmas villages. And my, the best of my recollection, it was like a house. Average house or building for the set was around 120 to$140, which is insanity to me. However, uh, when me and my mom went to a second hand thrift shop just outta town of Brohu, this lady had stacks and stacks of department 56, um, Christmas Village pieces for anywhere from 10 to $35 They were still in box. Still in the box, you know, . Yeah. Wow. And so, you know, if you, if you guys, uh, you know, don't mind, you know, shopping around trying to find it, you know, on the secondary market, you'll, you'll end. Doing your pocketbook a whole lot of good.
Ken:Yeah. Yeah, man, I would love to collect those, but I, I just don't have the room for those. I don't have the, I don't have the room display 'em the way they should.
Todd:Yeah. I don't have the room either. That's why I'm thinking about nailing them upside down on the ceiling.. Yeah. But, uh, yeah, . Yeah. But, uh, you know, um, you know, there's, there, you know, of course snow globes. I know Holly used to collect snow globes, not necessarily Christmas ones. Uh, but when she moved here from California, they all like froze in her, in her trailer or something and, and a lot of'em broke and which was sad, you know, so. Yeah. And you had, that'd be a cool thing to collect. Yep, it would be. And that, you know, I collect Funko pops and all kinds of stuff and, and have some Christmas ones. And, uh, if, if you guys enter the, the giveaway for those records, I'll, I'll throw in a Funko pop. Uh, in there too for you guys. Um, I have one, uh, from the movie, uh, the original Santa Claus. It is, um, it is Tim Allen as he transitioned to Santa Claus. He's wearing the, the gray sweater. And, uh, and I'll throw, I'll throw this guy in there, uh, for you
Ken:guys, if
Todd:that's a good one there. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, so you can kind of, that way it's a full collector's starter pack and if you're not into the Funko pop, then, then you can find somebody who is, and, and that's fine. But you collect of all things. And, and I love your idea of, and it's a Christmas gift, but you collect percolators.
Ken:Yeah. Yeah. There's . I know there's somebody laughing right now or rolling their eyes and saying percolators, but, um, they're really cool. If you get, we got a second. I don't even have a clock in here. What do we have? Time me tell a story. Yeah, we
Todd:got started with these. Yeah, we got
Ken:time. Well, My mom started collecting percolators and she just collected electric percolators, just like the one that you're looking at right there. The glass percolators from the fifties and sixties, Uhhuh. And there's a few from the seventies, but I used to make fun of her cuz she discovered eBay Uhhuh and once, once she discovered eBay, I mean it was home and she had, she had like 50, I think it was 53 of those things. Oh wow. She had 'em all categorized and you know, in a book and you know, telling all the information on 'em. But anyways, I was, I made fun of her all the time. I'm like, what do you need all those percolators for? And then she was getting ready to move and she said, here, I want you to take my percolators . Like, what do you do man?. So I had these big, they were all in containers, you know, they backed away nice and neat. So I took 'em and then after about a year I pulled one of 'em out and I said, see what this is all about. And man, I made a pot of coffee and that's the best coffee. That you that if you're a coffee drinker, right? Uh, that makes really good coffee. A coffee drinker can tell the difference. And what happened was, uh, you know, those, uh, like Mr. Coffee, those drip uhhuh coffee makers, the ones made it plastic is what took these out outta commission basically. And so, you know, it was just a lot more convenient. But these by far make, uh, make better coffee. But, so, so yeah. So then I started getting into it and looking, you know, reading about 'em. And you know, that's real Americana right there. Yeah. They're simple. They're simple. They don't wear out. I mean, you hardly ever see one that doesn't work, you know? Oh yeah. And, uh, you know, you can set the temperature like that particular one there, Uhhuh, if you look down at the bottom, there's a light in the bottom. See where it's lighter colored, that's an actual light uhhuh. And uh, when it's Perkin, there's two lights. Ah, when it gets finished, one of 'em goes out and there's just one light come on in there. So it's pretty cool. Yeah.
Todd:And uh, that's, that's great. And you even just, we was talking the other day, it's like, you know, this would be a great Christmas gift if, you know, if you have a coffee fan, you know, in your family that just loves coffee. Mm-hmm. buy 'em a cool retro, uh, midcentury. Mid century's been popular for a while and I don't, I don't think it ever really go out because it's so cool, you know, kind of a midcentury coffee maker for not a lot of money. A percolator answer, a percolator like this one can, that's all glass. What would you expect to pay if you found.
Ken:If you found one that's in good shape like that, the light runs the cost up, so it's gonna be closer to a hundred dollars. But you can get 'em anywhere from 30 to$60, you know, depending on the shape. Yeah. The condition of them. But you know, if you just, if you just wait and look on eBay, man, you can find 'em 35, $40 all day long. Oh yeah. And they're, they're fantastic presents because I have, uh, gifted a few of those, uh, yeah. To people for Christmas and every time they're like, yeah, make coffee out of 'em all the time now. So, yeah. And they love them. You know, there's another, there's another example right there. Uhhuh just, uh, that's a Chrome one I think that's made by, I dunno if it's Proctor Alx, or that might be Sunbeam, but that's a vintage one. They're kind of art deco Uhhuh
Todd:style. Yeah. You know, and then once they make that great pot of coffee with it, then they'll be sold and they'll thank you for the best gift. They've, they've gotten this here, you know?
Ken:And a lot of people don't know how to use a percolator, so there's plenty of stuff on YouTube, but man, there's nothing better than when it starts perking. And it, I mean, it, the aroma just, just floods the whole house, you know?
Todd:Yeah. It's great. Like I said, I don't drink coffee, but I'm gonna have to pick up one, uh, because we do Christmas breakfast, uh, here at our house, and my, my dad is a coffee junkie and, uh, I need to pick up one so I can percolate him a pot of coffee for Christmas morning, you
Ken:know, so. Well, I tell you what, if you do that, you'll probably go move up a few notches on the totem pole because he's a real coffee drink. Cause Yeah. Cause there, it, there is a big difference. Yeah. You
Todd:know? Yeah. I definitely, Holly likes to drink a good cup of coffee, so she might enjoy that too. I just, uh, I just never, never got into coffee for whatever reason, but yeah. It's funny what, what people gravitate to and something like this, it just kind of, you know, it reminds you of your mom, it reminds you of a, um, you know, um, you know, being a kid and, uh, growing up. And then now that you're, you're a coffee fan and, uh, now you're like, you just collect them because you just like a good cup of coffee, Ken: you know? Yeah, yeah. Oh yeah. And it's like, those are all electric, percolators, Uhhuh, but they make stove type as well. Oh, yeah. And I don't know if you, I don't know if you had that, did I send you a picture of that white one? No, no internet, but it's Corning wear, and I know everybody's seen them. They're white with the light blue corn flour on 'em. Yeah, with the, you know, and they make casserole dishes and everything too. But, but those are really cool because the, uh, the material that they're made from came from a, it was an accident. They discovered it a. They were making some, some kind of cookware, and they ran the temperature from 600 to 900 and it turned milky white, which is the color of those. Right. And they, and they found out that it could withstand, uh, temperature change, like thermal change, uhhuh. And so they ended, they ended up using that, uh, on the nose cones or like missiles and rockets and aircraft. And, you know, they put 'em on the bottom of the, uh, uh, I forget what it was, where they went into outer space and they come back through the atmosphere uhhuh, because it could withstand going from cold to hot. Oh. Like the Apollo missions?
Ken:Like, yeah. Yeah. And so, and so that made good cook wear because you could put something, you could actually free come outta the freezer or the refrigerator straight into a heat preheated oven and it wouldn't break. Oh wow. So that's what's cool when, whenever I see those percolators, uh, the CorningWare, that's what, that's what I think you think
Todd:about is I, I love CorningWare. I, I didn't really think about it until just now, but my mom's got like a set of square ones from, you know, small and deep to big and shallow, all white. The the blue little flowers. Flowers that shin and that. It's like, that is cool. That just cause it just reminds me of being a kid and, and things. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I wonder if the, do you know if, um, those stove top percolators, will they work on a electric stove that has like the glass top or do you need the
Ken:heating element? Oh yeah, no, no. They work on a glass top. Yeah, they work on a fire. They'll work on anything. Oh. You know, like the old cowboy coffee pipes, you see the, the little metal ones, you know, works on the fire. Yeah. Those same ones would work on a stove top. Oh, so it doesn't have to be gas or have a heating element. It could be the glass top. Yeah,
Todd:absolutely. But, uh, so what. Tell me this, let's dig into your being a kid. When you was a kid, what was probably the first thing you were, were collecting?
Ken:Uh, baseball cards. Yeah. I used to collect baseball cards and man, I had, I had some that I'd give anything if I still had 'em. Oh, yeah. You know, from, you know, from back then. But yeah, we used to, whenever I, I'm showing my age cuz, I mean, when I started collecting them, there was, they were black and white. Oh. I think there was color too, but I remember mostly black and white. Oh,
Todd:nice. From, from back, from back then. Yeah. The first thing I remember collecting was, um, Football cards, not baseball, football. And I wish I could go back cause I didn't realize it at the time, but I had, I had three Jerry Rice for key cards in the fourth grade. Oh.. You know? Yeah. I saw one the other, I saw one a few years back and I looked at it like, I remember having three of those, and I don't even know what happened to him or where they went or anything, I mean, they're not like insanity expensive. But, um, uh, you know, they had like a hundred bucks a piece that's worth something, you know, so.
Ken:Oh, yeah. You know? Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Yeah. I think that, and then I got into collecting antique fishing lures at one
Todd:time. Oh. That's, I don't know why,
Ken:but
Todd:I did. Yeah, yeah. Holly's into collecting, um, the Golden Rule books, or the Golden mm-hmm. books. Little Golden Books. Oh yeah, those are a lot of fun too, to find.
Ken:And uh, oh yeah. Yeah, I saw her looking at those at the, at the antique store. Yeah. I didn't know what that was about though.
Todd:Yeah, she likes collecting those, especially any of the Christmas, um, themed ones. So his hand dad's dropping a brag on me. He's got one of the Jerry Rices, so Thanks buddy.. . Ken: You had three? Yeah, I had three of 'em. I don't know what happened. And then I've collected basketball cards and GI Joe's and all kinds of stuff and, uh, but it's, it's a lot of fun. And the biggest thing when you get into collecting, make sure it's something that you're doing cuz you love it, you know? Mm-hmm. and Please, please be, be budget conscious because it's too easy to get too carried away. Especially if you get into something that's can be a little bit price heavy because that, you know, it's like the wor it's like, uh, when you get car fever, You know, new car fever, you know, you make a bad decision and it's the same thing. You're at a store and it's like, you know, you just need to, you know, breathe a little bit and, and think about it. And, and really, yeah. The best way to combat that is just to know what you're looking at. If you're the guy that can look at something and know exactly what it is and about what it should be worth. And that really helps kind of calm those anxieties and those pressures to, to act now, to, to feed that dopamine hit when you collect something.
Ken:Yeah. And there's something good just about, um, you know, if they, if what you're collecting reminds you of. For me, those Firestone albums reminds me of my childhood. Right. And so when I'm just thumbing through'em, it's just comforting to sit there with them and look at 'em and read Yeah. On the backs of 'em and, you know, listen to 'em. Cause. One of my earliest memories, uh, I remember, I distinctly remember, I know those were, they said they were sold in tire stores, Uhhuh. But I remember going to a gas station, and maybe it's because this gas station sold tires that they had some, but I remember my dad asking for one and he, uh, and I was back whenever they come out and feed your tank up. Yep. And he went inside and, and got one and brought it back out, was a Firestone. And I, you know, I just,
Todd:yeah. You know,
Ken:childhood memories.
Todd:Yeah, it does. So that's one reason that I, I'm not a heavy collector like I, I would like to be, but I've really leaned towards, um, Christmas blow modes, um mm-hmm., I have three of the 68 empires and I, I have a nativ, you know, like a big outside Nativ set from Empire, uh, and a few others. I don't have a lot, I have, you know, very few. I, I would like to have more. But tho those are one of those things that can be a little bit pricey, especially right at Christmas time. Uh, but they just remind me so much of being a kid and, you know, cuz my mom and dad had a few, and, and especially my, my grandma, my dad's mom, she had several. I don't know what happened to 'em. I wish I did. I wish I did. But you know what, it, it just, you know, just makes me happy to have'em, to have 'em lit up, you know, to um, you know, try to repair 'em, which there's no repairs to 'em. All you have to do is buy new cord and little light, you know? Yeah, sure. And, uh, and stuff and, and, and things and, and just, just to see'em, you know, just brings, just takes me back to being a kid. Those, those blow
Ken:malts. Oh yeah. The, those snowman. I
Todd:like that snowman. One of these, one of these years I'm gonna get, I'll end up with a pair of those tall candles, Noelle Candles. And, uh, and, uh, you know, so mm-hmm.. Ken: Yeah. Yeah. I remember those, man. I went, you know, but you gotta have room to collect those things because last year after Christmas, everything went on sale and I went to, uh, see where was it? I think it was Walmart I went to. They had these, uh, big candy canes and Uhhuh and I went and got two of 'em and got home. Man, they're giant. I mean, I can't even put 'em up anywhere. They don't fit anywhere. They're, they're giant. And my wife was like, what are you gonna do with those? I'm like, well, I don't know , but they're so that kind. So that kind of taught me right there. Yeah. Blow modes is probably not a good thing for me to collect. Cause they take up so much room. They do. And that's why I'm kicking kids outta the house to make room for my stuff, you know?, Ken: hurry 'em, get out. We have blow modes. Yeah, we got blow modes that need those bedroom, you know.
Ken:So been here long
Todd:enough. Oh yeah. Ken, I appreciate you hopping on here to talk about collecting and Christmas collecting. I know you're avid Christmas, uh, fan. Just, just like, uh, all of us here. Let everybody know where they can, uh, contact you or, uh, follow you and, and in your podcasts.
Ken:Yeah, I'm just anywhere you listen to podcast and, uh, it's the North Pole News Dispatch on Facebook and Instagram, and you can message me or you can send me an email. It's a north pole news dispatch gmail.com. All right,
Todd:and that's it for me. All right, and guys, um, thanks so much for listening to Christmas Clatter Again. If you, if you're able to make a, a, a live stream, a live recording of the episode, we'd love to have you there.
It's on Wednesdays at 8:00 PM uh, central Standard time.
That's nine, uh, 9:00 PM Eastern and six uh, pm Pacific. And, uh, we'd love to have you and we're gonna have a little q and a with Ken, talk with the, the people in the chat and, uh, when this is over. And remember if you're interested in that, uh, um, Christmas, uh, collection Starter Christmas collection. I forgot how I named it. Christmas collection Starter Pack. Please go to Christmas, clater.live/collection and uh, and just put your name in the hat. It's just gonna be a random drawing. Um, the form will be up until next week on, uh, the 14th. Uh, I'll close it down about, uh, right at start time of the recording and, um, and, uh, um, and then we'll just do the drawing live here on the episode. And, uh, and we'll get that off, off to you. I about forgot, Ken, before we wrap up, you're coming to Cookie day and I wanted to get what? Yes, sir. What, what are your expectations of? Ken: Man, my expectations is to leave. Not wanting to see another damn cookie for weeks., we could probably fill up all man, sorry, I didn't mean to that slip. You're, but I wanna, I expect to eat more cookies than I've ever eaten before in my life. So that, and all the Christmas, the Christmas trees. I'm looking forward to seeing all those. Yeah,
Todd:yeah. We'll have good time. We're gonna, we're gonna run it, uh, I don't know if you know this or we're gonna, me and you and, and, and Holly are gonna run a 10 of cookies out to Joanie and the girls at, at the cabin and Oh, that'd be great. Yeah, so we'll get to go out there and visit with them for a minute and kind of cruise through there for We won't be able to stay for very long cuz I don't wanna leave my mom without much help And uh, cuz she'll ring both our next. You know, she's . You know, she may be getting up there, but she'll still ring our necks, Oh yeah. You know? Yeah. So yeah, you'll tell a story on Ken, like, you sure it's okay if I come? He is like, I don't want to get in the way. And I said, don't worry, if you get in the way, my mom will put your to. Ken: Yeah. I need to watch out for that. She'll, I'll be cleaning something or p something up, I'm sure. Oh, be, uh, go in the back to get more cookies. To fill up the, the plates with would be the thing. Oh,
Ken:okay. And then, then, well, I can do that now.
Todd:Oh yeah. And then, uh, and then she'll probably try to get you to memorize all, all which kinds they are. She no . I struggle with that still to say, but, uh, yeah, it's
Ken:like, uh, I have to make cheat notes. Cheat, cheat. I
Todd:usually label 'em and, uh, must eat, uh, eat. Seconds. You know, eat, thirst, uh, if there's nothing else left, eat these. You know? Yeah. So, nah, but they're all,
Ken:well, that's what I expect, you know, I expect to leave there. Not wanting to see another cookie for a good while.
Todd:Well, you will, because once it's over, we're kind like, you know, we will eat, we will eat cookies, but it's kinda like, yep. Got our fix. But, uh, just a reminder, guys, uh, follow Ken on, uh, faces to places on Facebook and also North the North Pool, the North Pole News Dispatch on Facebook. And both podcasts are available wherever podcasts are found. And, uh, also for cookie day, we will be live streaming on Instagram. A couple times during the day on Friday, December the ninth. And if you're interested in joining the, uh, chance for winning the Christmas collection starter pack, uh, just head to Christmas, clatter.live/collection. Just fill out a form. It's just name, email, address, and uh, and we'll get you entered in and that drawing will be live here next week. So everybody, thank you so much for joining us and, uh, make sure you slow down and enjoy this Christmas season. I know it's a hectic time. But, uh, get your things done, but take time to to slow down and enjoy it until we meet again, guys, remember, keep Christmas Hope alive every day.