Victorian Christmases

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

In the column on Victorian Christmases Cecil mentioned the poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas” “by Clement Moore.”

Cecil’s column is from 1992. This morning on NPR’s Morning Edition they interviewed a fellow who has found evidence that Moore didn’t really write that poem. What’s Cecil’s policy on updating old columns? How much corroboration would he require?

Or does he just let them stand as written, their accuracy (or lack thereof) an artifact of the moment in which they were written?

2

As far as nostalgia dating from the early 19th century, Nestor in The Iliad is constantly pissing & moaning about how the whippersnappers of today aren’t fit to lick the sandals of the badasses he used to ride with…

Not “pastoral” nostalgia, perhaps, but certainly an early example of “things were so much better when I was young.”

3

Can’t answer your question about the policy on updating columns, but here is link to a snopes article with more info about the “A Visit from Saint Nicholas”. The article is really about Donner and Blitzen not being the correct names for two of Santa’s reindeer, but it has some of the history behind the attribution of the poem to Moore.

4

Here is a thread from Comments on Staff Reports that discusses the true authorship of the verse. Did Clement Moore Write ‘A Visit From St. Nicholas’? That thread has a link to a news story.

Cecil has updated columns before running them as “Straight Dope Classics.” The blue-moon column (from the original Straight Dope book) was apparently updated sometime in 1999, but details of the updating procedure remain sketchy.

5

Yeah, zbdb, and I was going to mention Don Quixote, which has some parts concerning nostalgia for the chivalry of the past. But I’m afraid of Cecil, so maybe I should keep it under my hat.

6

It would take some time to locate the quote, so I won’t, but I did have one from ancient Greek days :

To paraphrase, the Greek writer is complaining about the decline of the cities and how they encourage crime, and that when he was a lad on the farm no one had to lock their doors at night. Sound familiar?

(The reason, I believe is that they still don’t have to lock on farms. There are few people who will go a long way in open country to approach a place with lots of people and animals making a fuss at all hours :wink: )