The Debaucherous History of Merry Christmas

[@AbbyCox]

For all my British viewers who got a jump scare and haven't seen the other comment threads: I did *not* know that one of the guys in the BBC "Happy Holidays" sequence was Jimmy Savile (skip 27:39-27:46), and once I was informed I went to try and delete or blur him using KZbin's little video editor, however, there is an issue. KZbin just recently rolled out auto-dubbing and a bunch of us were automatically opted-in, and it turns out that when you have "multiple language tracks" in a video, their little editing software no longer works. I can't even blur his face out. 🫠 Because the auto-dubbing is new and buggy, I am also unable to delete the tracks because one is still "publishing" and the others are "processing failed" and deleting them does nothing. So yeah, the bad auto-dubbing doesn't even work and i can't get rid of the dude either. 🤦🏻‍♀I do have a contact at KZbin who knows the folks involved with the auto-dubbing and I told him about the issue & bug and he will be passing it along. Until then, I'll keep revisiting the language tab on this video every few hours in hopes that it'll sort itself out. I'm so sorry for the jump scare - I genuinely didn't know who that was 😰

[@helenkemp6468]

@@AbbyCox I utterly love your posts and the rest of this one was fantastic

[@victoriamatthewson8523]

@@AbbyCox Thank you for trying to react so quickly 💚

[@kb-ny3ln]

Hopefully YT gets back to you soon! And thank you for your work to remedy this ❤

[@marikotrue3488]

Not British, but into true crime so it was a definite, whaaaaat??? moment. Guessing if blurring is not currently an option, would throwing another image "on top" might also not work? If it does, my suggestion is a slug (or a Hutt) in a ragged Santa hat. This video was HILARIOUS so please no regrets, no recriminations.

[@stiofanmacamhalghaidhau765]

I'm well aware of the difficulty editing YT after the fact - it's never been easy and is getting more and more messy - but yeah... kinda was a distressing (as opposed to jump scare) moment. it's the voice. not the face. I'm so so sad for you because I you didn't know... and I KNOW you would otherwise never ever... still... J***s F*****g C****t dissociation is my friend dissociation is my friend dissociation is my friend... otherwise a video most merye and I'm (otherwise) loving it

[@sianthesheep]

We've finally got the Abby Cox 'Drunk History' episode we've been waiting for! As a British person, its interesting to know we popularised 'Happy Christmas' though I always use the drunken and debauched Merry Christmas myself!

[@AbbyCox]

you've kept to your roots 💪🏻🍻❤️

[@lizvanwessem2055]

me too (use merry, that is). Got to say tho, that line about "we can't talk about British history without talking about class" ... as a fellow historian, that made me snark. Although certain medieval professors would be glaring and adding the word "modern" before British.... and early modern professors nodding sagely and muttering happily about "sorts" ..... :)

[@greatauntlizbethg9137]

I had to stop watching part way thru. Later, I came back and read the beginning of your comment waiting for my lagging internet, which then served me up a most appropriate 'celebrate with sierra tequila' ad!

[@kirstenpaff8946]

Abby: This punch tastes like Lysol. Also Abby: I am going to keep on drinking it...for science.

[@Kimberly_Sparkles]

My gin is heavy on juniper and 100% would make punch taste like lysol.

[@Amy_the_Lizard]

To be fair, as someone who likes gin, I understand tge sentiment

[@DanielleStJohn]

"We descended from these folks" We descended from the *survivors* 😂😂

[@tarasouthwell6132]

serfs of the 1600's: "this really sucks and we want to own land now" duke-so-and-so-of-such-and-such: "you better not shout, you better not cry, you better not pout i'm telling you why: beef, geese, and plumb pudding for all"

[@AbbyCox]

"here have some ale with eggs in it!!"

[@lajoyous1568]

​@@AbbyCox Yuck 🤮 That sounds like punishment

[@drekfletch]

@@AbbyCox I followed a bunch of mixology blogs at the height of the hipster craze. Eggs in alcohol is a very popular thing. Flips are an entire category! I don't drink so I never tried them, but I know they exist.

[@faith2876]

My Grandma told me off one Christmas when I was a teen for saying "Merry Christmas" due to the association with drunkenness, she said it was inappropriate and to use "Happy Christmas" instead! Interesting to see where this lovely linguistic shift has come from, thanks for another wonderful video😊

[@EdieBird]

I have a very stupid story going the other way...my sister used to work at Goodwill and she got some very...interesting...customers. One day she was ringing up some lady and started to say Happy New Year, realized it wasn't Christmas yet, and switched to Christmas halfway through. It came out "Happy Christmas.' This lady went nuclear, screaming at her to get the manager, HOW DARE SHE "take the Christ out of Christmas" and she was so disrespectful and blah blah blah. Sis just rolled her eyes and took her lunch.

[@jacquig1939]

​@EdieBird I worked at a Salvation army in high school and the memorable customers were deranged I swear.

[@hameley12]

Really people forget that there is more than one religion such as Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Samhain and others after December. More than once I have greeted Happy Holidays or Have a Blessed Holiday. Since I don't know which religion that person is practising and I've been taught to be respectful of others' lifestyles, roots, religions, sexual orientation, etc I even replied one Marry Christmas to a guy in university. He laughed it off and it wasn't until later I realized my error. I may have been a bit drunken. Oh well... days later he asked me out. You live and you learn.

[@trashpanda_0605]

The dude turned water to wine, I don't think he would mind us having a little eggnog on his b-day

[@megdecay]

Tiny Tim sippin' on Gin and juice 😂

[@AbbyCox]

BAHAHAHAHHAAHHAAHAHAH

[@ms_it_is]

Sippin' and trippin'

[@carolinavenger]

Laiiiiiiid back

[@thehomeschoolinglibrarian]

I definitely find it funny when all the religious conservatives in the US rant about us non Christians canceling Christmas when the only person to cancel Christmas was the ultra religious and notably blood thirsty Oliver Crowell. Also the Puritans in New England didn't celebrate it either. So no we secular people are not trying to cancel Christmas we are trying to celebrate it as it was originally ment to be as a day of marriment celebrating the return of the sun and a time to gather and feast before the harder days of winter. Also winter was a time of rest for farmers because there was nothing to do but tend the animals, tell scary stories and try not freeze or starve to death.

[@mamazeta906]

I have so many new quips and eye brow wiggles to throw back at the "you mean mErRy Christmas!" crowd.

[@samanthab3292]

The wAr on Christmas: putting a stick in their own bike spokes. ✓

[@hameley12]

If you do not mind me saying this: There is a large community of Pagans as well in the US and around the world. I have been part of the community since my 15th birthday. We have been around since Christianism, Catholicism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Protestantism and many other lifestyles/religious communities. Nobody is trying to cancel each other or undermine someone else's way of life. To us Samhain means do well onto your roots, your family and others [inside and outside your community] while living in peace with the Spirits. Celebrating each day from October 31st to January 7th. Yes, there is time for meditation, chanting and praying, but when that practice is over the party starts by receiving the autumnal equinox and the Spirits crossing over. Not many outsiders are allowed when the real festivities start because there is a lot of personal things happening and families saying hello to their loved ones since their departure. After that sometime between December 29th to January 7th all Spirits return home. And everyone goes back to their daily lives. Edit: I believe Christianism also teaches to do good acts towards your neighbours, family, and culture while keeping your faith alive. I only know of this because I have friends who are Christians, Orthodox and Hindu. We share almost similar takes on the living and the afterlife.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Call me wild but Christmas is just St. Patrick’s Day with less judgment and a better Pinterest board.

[@AbbyCox]

loooollllllll

[@letitiajeavons6333]

More like Saint Nicholas and Saint Lucia.

[@JoaoPessoa86]

less?

[@sianthesheep]

🤣

[@jaded_gerManic]

That's fair 😂

[@melusine826]

Middle of winter...little fresh food.... what else is there to do?? 😂😂

[@AbbyCox]

exactly! lol

[@SugarandSarcasm]

That's a question for (mature) adults.

[@karowolkenschaufler7659]

now I know. Abby makes "unhinged history" that's what this format is. unhinged history. and I love it.

[@erinhowett3630]

I’ve played Snapdragon! The fire isn’t really hot but it is fun! You play it at the end of the night because supposedly it helps warm you up before you leave and go outside.

[@AbbyCox]

did your arm hair survive?

[@m.maclellan7147]

​@AbbyCox when lighting alcohol, best to warm it first. This makes slight "fumes" which will light easier. At least, that's what the recipe for Banana's Foster said !

[@lucyj8204]

@@m.maclellan7147 Brits familiar with setting the Christmas pudding on fire with brandy all yelling at the screen "Warm it first!"

[@witchyluck2689]

The higher the "proof"(percentage of alcohol) the easier it is to light. The closer to 100 proof (50%) it is the easier... . Sometimes one can float a small amount of higher proof booze onto a lower proof and light it that way.

[@erinnereynolds]

I always end up playing with friends! The alcohol isn’t actually on fire, just the fumes so it ends up being maybe a bit warm at most, we did basically the same thing in high school when we set our hands on fire.

[@susiemeadows9838]

A) I adore Drinking History Abby. B) that Christmas Carol costume video is an annual re-watch for me and I love it SO MUCH

[@JeffreyGorman-iw7fi]

To play snapdragon you warm the dish to flame the alcohol a bit more. Its also needs to be played with a wide shallow dish so the raisins are more easily grabbed and are more half rested in a scant shallow pool of liquid than submerged

[@therewillbecatswithgwenhwyfar]

Not Abby throwing shade at the bosses she has three years ago. 😂

[@therewillbecatswithgwenhwyfar]

7:23 No. No, Abby. We knew. Why do you think we're here? 😂😂😂😂

[@therewillbecatswithgwenhwyfar]

Hahahahaha Nicole!

[@therewillbecatswithgwenhwyfar]

11:12 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Omg I love you so much.

[@therewillbecatswithgwenhwyfar]

Hahahahaha 33:26

[@Jack-je1zt]

Wassail! wassail! all over the town, Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown; Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree; With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.

[@cassandralyris4918]

Jimmy Saville suddenly wishing me a Happy Christmas ironically made me wish I had a drink...

[@saraquill]

Or strategically placed flaming brandy.

[@Ciara_Turner]

Interesting as a uk person to hear we popularised "Happy Christmas", as I was always taught it was "Happy Christmas" if you say it alone but it was "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" if you combined the two

[@marikotrue3488]

The "historical recreation" with the "historical" character running (aka gamboling) through the back yard followed by a (?) kitchen implement (?) was my fav part. I love how all through history alcohol is fine, alcohol is sinful, alcohol is fine, alcohol is illegal, alcohol is fine and finally our modern version, alcohol is fine but be sure to watch your drink constantly for...reasons. MERRY and HAPPY holidays to everyone, whether celebrating, ruminating, gamboling or just plain hiding beneath a pile blankets on a sofa (I am doing that last one).

[@Kufalk.equestrian]

I love that you put Dominic the Donkey in this! I always feel like I'm the only one who knows about it! I used to listen to it with my Mom on the "oldies" station 😂

[@TheBc99]

Abby gleefully exposing the unhinged debauchery of our sainted ancestors is why I love this channel

[@MsSteelphoenix]

I cackled so hard at the first-person ladle chase. Good stuff all around. Merry Christmas indeed!

[@ultimateskillchain]

Me too! It felt like I was playing a video game 🤣

[@HarlequinMTL]

Mulled wine with beaten eggs?! You just made sabayon (or zabaglioni)! Nice drizzled over strawberries, but I wouldn't want to drink a shot of it 😂

[@dagnolia6004]

our Abby is a delight, drunk or sober. ten thousand years ago (eight thousand years before the baby in Bethlehem) people were having winter feasts on Salisbury Plain. love how Christians tried to 'steal' or rename the midwinter festival/solstice/yule/feast from so many cultures AND YET the human need for SOME relief from the agony of existence in the darkest days of the year keeps raising its drunken head. Merry Christmas to ALL🎄🎄🎄

[@kikidevine694]

You get more converts re-purposing the older festivals than banning them outright

[@Joyride37]

Yeah Christians didn’t really steal anything. Roman converts repurposed the tradition gradually over 3 centuries before their religion was legal. It didn’t exist in a vacuum. People tend to keep their ancestral traditions and file some serial numbers off than take something wholesale that has no basis or familiarity in their culture

[@ArrowOdenn]

I really enjoyed this video! I didn't know that "merry" was specifically in reference to getting drunk, but it makes perfect sense - we eat, drink and make merry. As someone from the UK, I do use Happy Christmas and Merry Christmas interchangeably and never really thought about it. I've played Snapdragon although the dish we used was much shallower and it's been almost completely replaced with pouring brandy on the Christmas pudding and setting that alight. I loved your microphone on the holly and your Muppet Christmas Carol sweatshirt - I see the t-shirts advertised all over Facebook and didn't know they did sweatshirts! Maybe if I find one now it will get here in time for seeing it at the cinema on the 19th! This was a very informative and fun video, well done, I love these.

[@StellaMariaGiulia]

To wish you all a boozeful merry Christmas I'd like to share how we make mulled wine over here: (you don't really measure quantities, you throw everything in a pot according to taste) - Red wine, like chianti or sangiovese - sugar - orange and lemon peel - cinnamon stick(s) - cloves - juniper - cardamom - star anise Bring to a boil, then add a generous pour of grappa. Merry holidays ❤

[@AbbyCox]

this is much more in keeping with how i like to make mulled wine too! the eggs - bleh 🤣

[@goldwithy]

​@@AbbyCox putting eggs in mulled wine sounds like a terribly Presbyterian thing to do. Horrible!

[@lisahoshowsky4251]

Loving all the different mic holders in this!☕️🥄🌿

[@CrocutaLily]

Aa a Brit who has moved around Britain (ie it's not a purely local thing) "Merry Christmas" is every bit as common, if not moreso in my experience, as "Happy Christmas". Happy is an accepted form but it's not the dominant version that I can tell

[@cosmicgirlzz9]

1:12 The Rizzo sweater! I need one! 😍😍😍

[@JustanotheranonEmess]

Same! Came to the comments looking for a link.

[@brookles95]

Also here looking for one!

[@ZaydaFleming]

Loving the sweatshirt. The Muppets Christmas Carol was a staple of my childhood and “God Bless My Little Broken Body” is my fav quote.

[@sariahmarier42]

The game of Snap Dragon as described in multiple books and literature typically consists of soaking the dried fruits in brandy until they become plump, strain them and heap them in a cone shaped pile and then set alight. This allows oxygen to circulate around the burning fruit. The fruit will burn for a good long time. The goal being to snap it up and extinguish the flame by putting it in your mouth. *Burns, injuries, and house fires can occur. Exercise extreme caution. This game fell into history for a reason.

[@pattheplanter]

Alcohol is easier to light when wicked up by the fruit and nuts.

[@persiswynter6357]

I tend to say Happy Holidays. Well, there's the 4 Sundays of Advent, St. Nicholas, Ste. Lucy, Christmas Eve, the Twelve Days of Christmas, St. Stephen (or Boxing Day), St. Sylvester (or New Year's), Twelfth Night, and Epiphany. And that's just the Christians.

[@lizzaturnbull]

Abby - sweetie - you have included a clip of Jimmy Saville 😖 As you are in the US you may not be aware of the EXTREMELY problematic revelations that have come out in the last few years 😱. It absolutely did not take away from how much I enjoyed your wonderful drunken Christmas lecture ! 😂😂😂🥰🥰🥰

[@ArrowOdenn]

Abby is trying to edit it out, KZbin is being difficult. Outside of the UK, no one knows who he is.

[@Aquariuspeg]

@@ArrowOdenn Not really true, I'm Polish and I immediately recognised him. Maybe he is not a widely known outside the UK, but people are not completely clueless either. I read Abby's pinned comment, and even before that I'd suspected that hadn't been intentional to put his clip though.

[@creepyspookyicky]

Sadly, lots of ppl outside of the UK know who he is & what he did. I came to try to DM Abby but couldn't figure out how to do it. Looks like that feature isn't on KZbin anymore? This is a lovely, merry, fun video, I didn't want to crap it up by bringing him up but I didn't not want to say anything either. Thankfully, someone took that bullet already. Happy holidays✨♥️🎄♥️✨

[@JirosWorld]

@@ArrowOdenn I am Dutch. We all know. Such monumental amounts of abuse do not go unnoticed, and rightfully so.

[@SunnyMorningPancakes]

You have to warm the brandy first to get it to light. It won't go from cold. It's the same as if you want to pour flaming brandy over your Christmas pudding 🙂

[@AbbyCox]

it was room temp?? 🫠

[@nixxie2390]

also the thing you have the 'snapdragon's in has to be warm or hot for it to properly go up in flames. (UK person here who has played this). same with flaming your Christmas pudding - the plate needs to be seriously hot, plus the liquid, before you pour it over the pudding & then you set the light to the plate so the flames rise upwards. (& snatch your hand away quickly!!). My Mum owns an old plate specifically for putting the pudding on that doesn't matter if the glaze on the plate gets crackled!!

[@kikidevine694]

Fyahhh?

[@lizvanwessem2055]

as someone (Brit) who flames the Christmas pudding every year, I concur. I usually pour a little in a mug, and stick it in the microwave, heat for 10 seconds at a time till the mug is hand hot. You can also put the brandy into a soup ladle and warm that in a gas flame on the cooker if you cook on gas, then pour it over the hot pudding. Make sure you turn the lights off when you light either the plate or the pudding as the flames are blue, you won't see them otherwise. For people of other cultures who don't know what British Christmas pudding is: it's a dried fruit steamed pudding, with spices nuts, treacle, sugar etc. It is very very sweet and one of those things you really don't want a lot of in one go. It's often served with brandy butter and rum sauce - and just to add grist to your mill, Abby, I have a recipe for xmas pud that features brandy, port and rum. I used to cook it in a pressure cooker every year and for 3 hours while cooking it the kitchen would smell of wonderfully of booze. :)

[@66kandFrends]

@@AbbyCox I think the issue here is that all the people giving you complicated advice didn't 'feed' the Christmas pudding enough. You are supposed to pour shots of brandy into it for several days until you set it on fire. The secret your grandma tells you when you have children of your own is that there is a second Christmas pudding that isn't 90% proof in the kitchen and that's the one you actually eat because the fire makes it taste nasty.

[@mmasmaza123]

Oh boy Abby did you intentionally include Jimmy Savile in the section on British saying "Happy Christmas"? 😂 Look him up you'll be horrified

[@AbbyCox]

👁️👄👁️ uhhhhhh

[@Bexahlia5933]

​@@AbbyCoxyeah....I was just thinking the same. Anybody from British TV in the 70s or 80s is suspect, either as an enabler or perpetrator

[@nixxie2390]

yikes!! I have terrors about that bloke as he was on telly so much when I was a kid. He's been edited out of All the TV shows he was on in the past.

[@lizvanwessem2055]

Just posted the same, then saw this and deleted it.

[@nicolawebb6025]

​@@AbbyCoxto be more specific, his name is Jimmy Saville. He was hugely popular on TV and radio up until his death in the 90s (?). It was then revealed that he was a sexual predator to the extreme. The public saw a 'saint' who raised money for disabled and vulnerable people, who he then had access to and abused, for decades. And the BBC knew and turned a blind eye. He was a monster.

[@segbaillie2824]

So true, I grew up with Happy Christmas (in the UK). Merry Christmas only if followed by Happy New Year - merry being an old fashioned word. Nowadays, I use Merry Festivities as being ecumenical and preferable to festive greetings or happy holidays.

[@HiSummerWasHere]

It’s the mic on the bar spoon with a pitcher of booze in the other hand for me

[@werewolfsam5]

Dude - I have never been kissed until my ears cracked. New goal for 2025

[@fixxundfertig]

Great video. I cackled so hard at the archive footage of you and Nicole re-enacting A Christmas Carol. BRB, rewatching that video lol.

[@The-Raven-Witch]

Im just at 5:12 and already got 3 KZbin ads about alcool lol

[@AbbyCox]

☠️

[@jenn-k-h]

Your reindeer holiday sweater is absolutely divine 🙌❤️

[@AbbyCox]

there is a vintage clothing dealer in our local antique mall who has single handedly fueled my obsession with 80s and 90s clothes - the sweater and the turtleneck are both from them lol

[@jenn-k-h]

​@@AbbyCox Ooohh, that's wonderful 😊❤

[@nicolawebb6025]

A fantastic look at the old ideas and practices of Christmas, thank you. The Puritans tried to squash the fun out of it, but British drunkenness will always win out🍺🍺🍺

[@66kandFrends]

Raise your hand if your boomer parents had a Stella fridge in the garage full of all the booze they'd brought back from France.

[@mojosbigsticks]

Abby, I just saw yo on Tom Scott's quiz with Matt Grey. Two worlds collide!

[@AbbyCox]

i had *sooooo* much fun doing Lateral! Matt, Tom & Iszi are AMAZING people - i hadn't laughed that hard in a long time!

[@mojosbigsticks]

@@AbbyCox I am so envious! I take it you have gone back and binged watched 'Citation Needed', especially the Jack Churchill episode and The Rods From God. Good luck with getting that mo-fo out of your video.

[@ileanaendom]

Amazing and well researched as always. Thank you!

[@charlotteroberts]

I wait all year for Abby's Christmas upload... I was not disappointed ❤️ Merry Christmas from London

[@slytheringingerwitch]

I must admire you Abby on your fabulous Christmas cardigan. Its lovely. An early Merry Christmas from Cornwall, UK.

[@maranutt775]

These historic educational videos about the holidays are up there with my favorites of your videos. Incredible job!

[@Heyreneesews]

Your videos are so well done and fun!❤

[@chesneymigl4538]

I get so much joy from the fact that you love The Muppet's Christmas Carol as much me! I've watched it ever year since it came out, and no other Muppet's tops it. Fight me, Whoopi!

[@Torus2112]

Your Muppet Christmas Carol video came up on my feed and I was so impressed with it that's when I subscribed. I was impressed with your knowledge and absolutely floored by the effort the costume people put into that movie for sure. I'd recommend to anyone who hasn't seen it to go watch it.

[@kathylee1261]

Thank you so much. Great episode. Merry Christmas to you and yours

[@MononokeLynn]

Abby, your Rozzo the Rat shirt is chefs kiss! 💜

[@nixxie2390]

I'm from the UK & have never heard about 'the war on Christmas' so I presume it is a USA thing. Come live over here if you want a Happier Christmas! & yes we say Happy Christmas usually.

[@kikidevine694]

The Gammon (our equivalent of MAGA) whine about it every year.

[@AndersWatches]

No, it’s very much a thing here. Even though “happy holidays” is a rare thing to hear. They just like inventing shit to play victim about.

[@Ace-Lee]

Appreciation for the editing and sound bites. As always, an excellent production.

[@laurenh2333]

I love calling the week between Christmas and New year "couch week", in Australia I've always known it as "Bush week" because everyone buggers off to the country, or at least out of the city and the cities are practically dead

[@SandraL489]

It's called "between the years" in Germany. You're getting work done every working day of the year, but certainly not between years. Those days don't exist, so of course you can't work then, right?

[@splendidcolors]

Thank you for explaining why the holiday parties at my apartment building feel icky. It's affordable housing, and most of the people who are available for a 3PM party on a weekday are disabled/unemployed, so the class and power differential were larger than you might imagine between Landlord and Tenant.

[@aliciat.9167]

I am IN LOVE with the Rizzo shirt! I must have one! Love this episode. Merry Christmas!!

[@robinwhite-underwood467]

Loved this! May you have a MERRY Christmas, dear Abby, and a happy whatever else you want to celebrate! A little story about kids and booze: Apparently, my parents had a New Year's Eve party when I was very young, less than 6 years old. The next morning, there were brown glass bottles on the floor in the living room, each with 1/2 to an inch of beer still inside. Also apparently, I liked beer, even as a 4 or 5 year old, because I went around the living room, drinking those last bits of beer. And no, I have absolutely no memory of New Year's Day! 😀

[@sarah-phillips]

This is hilarious! For us, we have our beautiful Christmas services but also absolutely honor the 12 Days of Christmas which start as Dec 25 as Day 1. Historically it was a pretty wild time. Twelfth Night was no joke. Today, I just enjoy my drinks.

[@carlyblack42]

I'm feeling like Mr Knightley in "Emma" probably hosted the best ranger for his tenants. Just the vibe I get. Mr Bennet, too.

[@user-te2vz5re1o]

The "Hallowe'en Party" tv episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot (PBS/BBC) has a plot point involving/showing the kids playing Snapdragon.

[@RozenGermain]

We need to bring back rowdy Christmas!

[@lizzy12173]

I love when you do these holiday history videos. I would love to see you talk about new years and see how different or similar traditions were back then to now.

[@julietrik4873]

The Rizzo shirt! I just watched your analysis of The Muppet Christmas Carol video so this is perfect. And of course, I love Rizzo.

[@MissFreyja]

Wonderful video abby, though a trigger warning for Jimmy Saville would have been nice lol! Also that Bastard Cromwell did manage to cancel Christmas in Scotland until 1958, we just bumped Xmas to Hogmanay before that, because folk still worked on Xmas and the 2nd of Jan was a holiday throughout Scotland in that time. Anyway, Merry Christmas to all and Happy Holidays too.

[@ArrowOdenn]

Abby is trying to edit Saville out, KZbin is being difficult. Outside of the UK, no one knows who he is.

[@amytuite7449]

Fascinating as always Abby!!!! I always thought gambolling was dancing so I learned from the video. ❤❤❤❤

[@HandmadeByHessie]

Club to clerb is an example of the same vowel shift that changed many old English words into what we use today

[@madebymaryssa]

This is a wild ride of linguistic evolution. That poem going "what will the pagans think of Jesus if they see Christians getting drunk?" prompted two thoughts: 1, Jesus *did* make wine at least once, pretty famously. (He was at a wedding and they ran out of wine, so he transformed some water into new wine, and everyone was like "wow this is the best-tasting wine ever", and somebody commented to the host that *usually* the good wine comes out first and cheaper wine is served after everyone is already a bit drunk, "but you have saved the best for last", which according to my Sunday School teacher is where the saying 'save the best for last' comes from.) 2, The joke/theory that the song 'Wonderful Christmastime' is actually about a solstice party where a random Christian walks in and they hastily cover it up: "The moon is bright, the spirit's up, we're here tonight, and that's enough - Simply having a wonderful Christmastime! Simply having a wonderful Christmastime!"

[@christiethacker2715]

What a fun episode! Thoroughly enjoyed! Merry/Happy Christmas to you as well 🙂

[@s.r.nulton9480]

Abby, you made a wonderful weather woman. Also, good job not slurring too badly!

[@LaRocheSews]

The tradition of landowners throwing a party/meal for the people that worked for them/lived on their land actually goes back to Roman Saturnalia traditions too! Saturnalia was the pagan holiday in late December that the church rebranded as Christmas Io Saturnalia!

[@SimpleDesertRose]

It wouldn't be a Christmas video without Abby drinking 😂😂 good video with plenty of shenanigans 😊

[@nancywhite2014]

Abby Cox is always so adorable in her interpretations of historical events 🥹. Thank you Abby and have a superfine holiday season 🎉🪅💃🕺🏻⛄️🎁🥂🎄🍾🍹

[@Strunktopia]

Love the xmas sweater, and the holly is the perfect mic stand! Thank you for all you do! You brighten my day. 🙂

[@angelicaeagles9627]

Not the clip of Jimmy Savile, I think I'm gonna need a mug of that gin after that 😂😂😂

[@AbbyCox]

yooo i didn't know who that was (if you scroll you'll see other comments)🫠☠️

[@beagleissleeping5359]

​@@AbbyCoxin case you don't know, avoid a guy called Gary Glitter as well......🫣

[@creative_thimble560]

Your Muppets Christmas Carol video is truly a masterpiece. 🥰🥰🥰 I use it as a gauge for other content even- is it better/worse in relation to Abby Cox’s MCC video? Hint: it’s rarely better.

[@atorres8760]

Brilliant as always. ❤ I learn, I laugh, and I love it!

[@PokhrajRoy.]

14:15 Reminds me of that SNL Sketch (1950s Guide on Party Planning) where the lady of the house says “…and a dash of gin.” 14:16 A major plot point in Agatha Christie’s ‘Hallowe’en Party’

[@glazdarklee1683]

Thank you for including the Mr. Magoo version of "A Christmas Carol." This was the first version I ever saw, and am, therefore, partial to it.

[@beefrick9957]

I’ve never heard of cheese or couch week! Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a fantastic new year!

[@skycreeper0173]

That was a super awesome video! I really enjoyed it!

[@gadgetgirl02]

THANK YOU! Merry and Bright FTW

[@StragProductions]

In the part of the UK I'm from, we still say "gambol" to mean forward roll. Also a lot of the Christmas carols we sing here (not sure about how international some of them are) are explicitly about drinking and/or wassailing.

[@CassiBlack]

I thank the ghost of Christmas past that no one in my family ever heard about snapdragon 😅 A bunch of overly competitive pyros after a night of drinking would have led to a family reunion in the burn ward! (And honestly the drinks would have had very little impact, besides some pain numbing)

[@elizabethbanks6076]

I had the joy of doing a production of Scrooge the Musical this year. I was Mrs. Fezziwig and this brings me so much joy. She, in fact, was very merry!😂

[@tiffytattoo2450]

As a christmas enthusiast, this was jolly entertaining :) happy holidays!

[@brl6002]

I'm concerned that you know what Lysol tastes like! 😬🤣

[@festivalkyrie]

I demand a "Milkmen , milkmaids and milk folk" ball around Christmas RIGHT NOW.

[@Ben-kv7wr]

My parents are from the UK we’d light Christmas puddings on fire every year 14:51 you need to heat the brandy first. Rum is encouraged too, or maybe that was just my dad 😁

[@vickiferguson6542]

OMG! I love your sense of humor! You make me laugh every time I watch your videos. Have a great holiday season.

[@margarethall1625]

I have such delightful memories of seeing A Muppet Christmas Carol in the theater with my family the year it came out. It's my sister's favourite Christmas movie. I love your Bah Humbug sweater. After your "Thanksgiving" history rant, I was just waiting for this one to appear. I make my own eggnog and prefer it booze free. I use the proper term of "Merry Christmas" and I come from a very religious background. I also studied History in college so I love learning about history.

[@janetfoltz9090]

As usual, loved the video. Merry Christmas!

[@66kandFrends]

The United Kingdom has a traditional Christmas morning breakfast drink, 'Buck's fizz' (Not the Eurovision winners), it's Orange Juice and champagne, yeh.

[@coor0kun]

That's called a mimosa in the USA, very popular brunch drink!

[@ms_it_is]

That is what you water champagne (or similar sparkling wine) down with in Germany. If champagne is served at a restaurant or at a party, it's very common for about a third of the glasses to be filled halfway with orange juice. No one calls it a mimosa or something else, that is just an option how to drink your champagne

[@frankm.2850]

The Victorians were an honestly fascinating combo of way more and way less chill than we are

[@imayoukitsune]

I recently watched the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol and you see Bob Cratchit ladle the punch out to all his kids! I really liked this version, and Fred was nicer when talking about Scrooge in it than Fred in The Muppet's Christmas Carol. And they had a Figgy Pudding that was set on fire! Also, Our Changing Climate has made two videos about Christmas with similar themes, including one called "Why We Need a War on Christmas"! 😂

[@cassmacdonald-perfectlyimp2486]

Appreciating the sweatshirt very much. I still sing some of the songs and quote some of the lines, “light the lamp, not the rat…” etc for obvs reasons. Currently reading a short book on Christmas history and I really need to get a much longer and in depth one. People forget that the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas holiday for all was largely eradicated by the Puritans’ ban on Christmas and never really came back. Whch is a shame.

[@piperevelyn2446]

Since Christmas is one of the times with no work, I would hate to spend it with my boss and coworkers, which is probably why in Finland we have what is called "pikkujoulut" ("little Christmas") where you can get drunk on company's dime but it happens before Christmas (ours was in early November). Drinking and singing dark Christmas songs on karaoke is definitely a way to spend a Saturday night 😅

[@lesleyharris525]

Can I just wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year, from England 😂. ❤

[@courtneystewart8006]

The party pooper scene from Father of the Bride really got me when applied to the man who tried to ban Christmas. Hahaha