A Hazy Shade of Winter

"A Hazy Shade of Winter" Timeline

The truth about "A Hazy Shade of Winter":

A Christmas special? Are you serious? I was never a huge fan of the TV Christmas special. It inevitably ends up cheesing up the series (Dr. Who is a notable exception – for the most part) but I figured it'd be a fun challenge to try to write one and, since this series takes place through the school year, it was only logical that the Christmas season would make an appearance. The previous episode, "Marooned", took place almost entirely in the students' investigation, so I wanted to do a reverse of that and show the investigation as  marginally as possible. I unintentionally stole some ideas from one of my favourite Christmas movies Mixed Nuts so I thought I would give credit here: a disgruntled, painfully human character in a Santa costume, and the overall depressive side of the holidays, are some of my favourite elements in a holiday story. 

What went wrong:

The Great Chicago Fire 

The cause of the Great Chicago fire has been speculated extensively. One theory pins it on a falling meteorite. One man confessed to having been gambling – and winning – in the barn when someone knocked over a lantern. I'm not sure why his confession hasn't been taken seriously. In 1997 a Chicago lawyer looked into the testimony of 'Peg Leg' Sullivan and found some serious problems with it. Based on his evidence Mrs. O'Leary was actually exonerated for the crime in 1997. 

The Santa story was a lot more multi-faceted. There are literally hundred of stories contributing to the tradition. There are at least half a dozen historical or legendary figures wrapped up in the character of Santa Claus. St. Nicholas seems to have been a real bishop in fourth century Anatolia. it's impossible to know what stories about him are true – the maiden's dowries anecdote does appear in some form in texts from as early as the ninth century – but it seems like he was at least a famously generous and inspirational person. To this day there is a St. Nicholas' Church/shrine in Bari, Italy; the pirates, or sailors, are supposed to have stolen Nicholas' bones from Myra and reinterred them in Italy. 

Haddon Sundblom

A Coca-Cola Santa

The modern image of Santa Claus was indeed largely a product of the work of Haddon Sundblom. He didn't, as many believe, singlehandedly invent Santa Claus as we know him. As Sundblom says in the story, he had been used in advertising before (notably for White Rock Beverages). And before that he had appeared in books and magazines. He was drawn by the famous political cartoonist Thomas Nast (the man who first associated Elephants and Donkeys with American politics) in 1872. Haddon Sundblom is also famous for his drawings of Aunt Jemima and the Quaker Oats Man.

If you have any questions or input you can fill in the comment box below.

Sources:

Clark, Josh. "Did Nero Really Play the Fiddle While Rome Burned?" HowStuffWorks. Discovery Network. Web. 25 Feb. 2012. <http://www.howstuffworks.com/ancient-rome/nero.htm>.

Edmonds, Molly. "Did the Great Chicago Fire Really Start with Mrs. O'Leary's Cow?"HowStuffWorks. Discovery Network. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. <http://www.howstuffworks.com/chicago-fire-cow.htm>.

Gibson, Candace and Josh Clark "Re: Did the Great Chicago Fire Really Start With Mrs. O'Leary's Cow?" Audio blog comment. HowStuffWorks. Discovery Network, 8 Aug. 2008. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.

Gibson, Candace and Josh Clark "Re: Did Nero Really Play the Fiddle While Rome Burned?" Audio blog comment. HowStuffWorks. Discovery Network, 8 Aug. 2008. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.

Gyles, Mary Francis. "Nero Fiddled while Rome Burned" The Classical Journal , Vol. 42, No. 4 (Jan., 1947), pp. 211-217,
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3291751.

Parker, Sam. "Haddon Sundblom: The Man Who Painted Christmas." Weblog post.The Huffington Post. 12 Dec. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/11/28/haddon-sundblom-santa-claus_n_1116557.html>.

St. Nicholas Center. Web. www.stnicholascentre.org

Soundtrack: