Before he became known as the father of artificial Christmas trees, Si Spiegel was a valiant Army aviator. In the closing days of World War II, he was piloting his B-17 Flying Fortress in an armada of 1,500 Allied bombers that pummeled Berlin. Struck by antiaircraft flak, two of the plane’s four engines lost power…
The first and only time that Alex Edelman’s family celebrated Christmas, their tree was topped not by a star, but a teddy bear wearing a yarmulke. Mr. Edelman, who was 7 or 8 at the time — he doesn’t remember the exact year — was also wearing a yarmulke. All of his male family members…
As a sprawling winter storm hits the United States and Canada, some people are moving up their Christmas dinner preparations, racing against potential power outages. By late Friday morning, more than 1.5 million customers in the United States and Canada were without electricity, according to poweroutage.us, which compiles data from utilities. And with the storm…
Miles from South Beach and most of Miami’s tourist haunts, Santa’s Enchanted Forest has dazzled locals for decades. WHY WE’RE HERE We’re exploring how America defines itself one place at a time. In Miami, a holiday theme park has for decades embodied the city’s distinct mix of cultures. Dec. 22, 2022 MEDLEY, Fla. — Fake…
In my Indian American family, where no occasion passes without celebration, getting into the Christmas spirit means grooving to Bollywood music. Though none of our elders grew up celebrating Christmas, they’ve embraced it wholly, and when we come together for Christmas dinner at my in-law’s home in Los Angeles, everyone has a task. While the…
Some visitors felt alienated by the park’s traditionalist choices: the holiday shows center on straight family stories, with mostly white actors. “When people celebrate Christmas, they can celebrate in different ways, and families can look very different,” said Zaki Baker, a mother who came often with her young children. “It seems like they have a…
For about a decade now, seeing “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker” at New York City Ballet has been the enchanting kickoff of the Christmas season for my teenage daughter and me. She took ballet when she was little. I took dance classes too in younger years. But that’s not the draw. It’s the joy, the storybook…