Chamber Chatter – December 3, 2020

The spirit of good will in the holiday season is alive and well in Marlow as our local churches, organizations, schools, businesses and individuals are sharing with those who might be having rough patch in this uncertain year.

Let’s see how Marlow handled rough economic times when “rough economic times” were REALLY hitting hard – with no hope of any “stimulus package” or any other Uncle Sam safety net. This article from the December 17, 1931 Marlow Review gives us a window to look through. “Christmas Spirit Proves ‘Catching’ As Annual Holiday Draws Near. Only seven more days before Christmas! Days, hours and minutes can be announced in record time ‘till Christmas’ by most of the hundreds of children in Marlow and community.”

“Disappointments this year will be kept at the minimum possible. The efforts of churches, schools, the Good Will Society, fraternal organizations and communities as a whole reveal that the spirit of Christmas is as strong as ever and that even though many sacrifices have been made this year, the holidays will be observed in a fitting manner. In town all churches are planning appropriate observance of Christmas, either on Christmas Eve or at regular Sunday services.”

“Christmas shoppers who have put off their shopping or who did not intend to buy much this year, are expected to be busy during the remaining six shopping days before Christmas, making out gift lists and doing their bit toward giving and bringing happiness with the annual coming of Santa Claus.”

“Including Friday, only six shopping days remain before Christmas. Marlow stores have planned schedules to accommodate the late Christmas shopper. Many of the firms are now remaining open during the evenings until Christmas. Local stores have on hand an ample supply of Christmas merchandise to accommodate the people of Marlow and the surrounding communities. The colored lights, hung across Main street, and the small Christmas trees that have been placed in front of each store, have given the city a true Yuletide appearance.”

As a “commercial” of sorts, 1931 Marlow Review was helping local businesses draw in shoppers.

As we are treated to the commercials and catchy jingles of this 2020 shopping season, we learn from brandingstrategyinsider.com that the world’s very first singing commercial aired on the radio on Christmas Eve, 1926 for Wheaties cereal. The four male singers, eventually known as the Wheaties Quartet, sang the jingle. The Wheaties Quartet, comprised of an undertaker, a bailiff, a printer and a businessman, performed the song for the next six years, at $6 per singer per week. According to history, the Wheaties Quartet is the reason we still have Wheaties today!

For a little more Christmas season trivia from okcfox.com: “You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall the most popular Christmas carol of all? Verizon looked at 23 Christmas songs people are streaming the most on iHeart Radio and Spotify. From there they analyzed each song's Google search volume by state. Oklahoma's top Christmas jingle was Jingle Bells. With sixteen states backing ‘Jingle Bells’ as their favorite Christmas carol, the classic won by a landslide.”

And apparently sprinkled with a bit of holiday magic for over l60 years, that favorite -- around since 1857-- was originally composed for a Thanksgiving church service.

But every Okie knows Oklahoma’s own B C Clark Jingle, written and produced in 1956, is the hands-down signal of Christmas around here. As we all know, “It’s just not Christmas without the B C Clark Jingle!”