cover image It's a Wonderful Christmas: The Best of the Holidays 1940-1965

It's a Wonderful Christmas: The Best of the Holidays 1940-1965

Susan Waggoner. Stewart, Tabori, & Chang, $16.95 (104pp) ISBN 978-1-58479-327-4

This cozy book bursts with the sweet nostalgia found in such movies as A Christmas Story: think fancy glass Christmas balls, Bing Crosby, tinsel and garlands, toy trains, coonskin hats and glistening roast turkey. Broken down by subject (e.g., the tree and its trimmings, the holiday shopping frenzy, popular gifts for ""kids from one to 92"", celebrations, food, etc.), it addresses the lighthearted and the more serious aspects of the Yuletide season. Waggoner (Vintage Cocktails) gives depth to a seemingly light subject; although the copious photographs and illustrations depict corny Christmas cards and ecstatic children discovering a load of presents under the tree on Christmas morning, the accompanying text is well researched and deftly illuminates how a great number of Christmas traditions originated during the 1940s, '50s and '60s.