First published in The Troy Sentinel on December 23, 1823, “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clark Moore helped shape modern conceptions of Santa Claus and many of our familiar holiday traditions. For our latest episode we invited Kathy Sheehan, Executive Director of the Hart Cluett Museum and the city of Troy and Rensselaer County historian, to explain the story behind this iconic piece of American holiday lore, the more recent debate over authorship, and the poem's two-century connection to the Collar City.

Happy Holidays from Troy Story! See you in 2025!

Episode Notes:

• Hart Cluett Museum
• How 'The Night Before Christmas' got its start in Troy (Times Union, Dec. 2020)
• 'A Visit from St. Nicholas' (Wikipedia)

Additional Credits:

• "07 Twas The Night Before Christmas Story" by Grantyny is licensed under CC BY 3.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/?ref=openverse.
• Episode artwork: https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14563542937/ available via Public Domain (CC0 1.0 Universal).

Credits:

Produced, edited, and hosted by John Salka
Theme music by Steven J. Goldman, Four Legs Records

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