Of Christmas, Books, and Fireplaces

Growing up, I shared a frigid over-the-garage bedroom with my two sisters, Patty and Kay.  Patty, the oldest by 18 months, had a twin bed.  Kay, the filling in the sister sandwich, took the bottom of the trundle bed and I took the top.  For those of you unfamiliar with the glories of the trundle, the lower bed is on wheels and slips under the upper for storage in tight spaces.  The upper bed was not as high as a bunk bed; I clambered up the side sans ladder.

This time of year one of my favorite memories is of my sister Kay reading Twas the Night Before Christmas to me on the night in question.  The youngest by more than five years, I had to go to bed first on this night-of-nights when waiting for Santa et. al. to arrive.

No doubt The Yule Log was playing on the TV downstairs.

For those of you unfamiliar with the glories of The Yule Log, it was three hours of commercial free television of Christmas music, backed by a continuous (seven minute) loop of a fireplace with, you guessed it, a burning log.  It was an annual event on New York's WPIX, one of the six stations that broadcast in our area.  This paragraph reads like kitsch sci-fi fantasy, but it is true.  Really!

Wikipedia provides a still photo:

A fan site has a video, which you can link to here:  The Yule Log  This is insane, but I'm getting a little choked up watching it.

In many parts of the world, one of Beatrix Potter's books, The Tailor of Gloucester, is the Christmas Eve story of choice.  In part, this is due to the winter setting, and Potter's sumptuous watercolors:

And in part it is due to the story itself, where industrious mice save the day for the old tailor. The Tailor of Gloucester, published in 1902, was Beatrix Potter's favorite among her many productions.  You can see digital versions of the illustrations, such as these two at the website for the Tate by following link:   Beatrix Potter's Illustrations for the Tailor of Gloucester

Here is the tailor himself, by his soporific hearth with its coal fire:

Luckily the mice were hard at work that night.

If you want to know how the turns out, you must read the book.  Or better yet, ask your sister to read it to you.

In honor of CyberMonday, BP=?

My sister Kay appears to be the font of all things unique where Beatrix Potter is concerned.  Last week she showed up with a copy of The Tale of Jeremy Fisher dated 1990 with a most unusual back cover.

Yes, readers, this BP equals Beatrix Potter and British Petroleum.  A brief web search yielded a photograph of the entire set, and in case you are in the market, let me give you the link to the seller's page: BP Box Set on ebay

The design features of the packaging are intriguing.  The truck looks less like a gasoline (petrol) tanker and more like a bookmobile.  I am puzzled by the ethnicity of the driver who, if I may be so bold, does not appear to be Anglo-Saxon in ancestry. He is driving on the grass rather than on the road, which will surely infuriate Mr. McGregor.  I'm trying to imagine the discussion at the table when art director presented this design. What messages was British Petroleum (or its ad agency) trying to send?

Reading various posts about this collection, there is expressed outrage about oil-covered Jemimas in connection with this and the 2010 Gulf of Mexico accident.   To be fair, that was two decades after this promotion was launched. Unless British Petroleum had a crystal ball, it is hard to blame them for finding the parallel of their initials and Miss Potter's irresistible.

BP was not alone in appealing to children to market its fossil fuel.  I grew up on dinosaurs, and fondly remember Sinclair Dinoland at the 1964 New York World's Fair.  Here's another ebay item, sadly already sold:

This sign sports Dino, the Flintstones' pet brontosaurus (yes, I know they've been renamed Apatosaurus, sigh), happily pumping gas and reminding us (especially our Mom) not to forget the S&H Green Stamps.

And if you think this sort of thing was is entirely retro, think again.  For cyber-Monday, you can buy the 2013 Hess truck to drive under a Christmas tree near you.  Buy your Hess Toy Truck here.