Christmas

Christmas is a Christian celebration observed in on December 25 to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Several related and often interchangeable figures, known as Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Saint Nickolas and Christkind, are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season and have their own body of traditions and lore.

History

"The closest thing to Christmas joy, in the midst of all this, is our little friend's laughter. As we attempt to celebrate the season, as we cross this country, we leave a trail of corpses in our wake."

―Indiana Jones during an eventful Christmas in Africa

In 1829, a seven-year-old Heinrich Schliemann was gifted a book about the Trojan War by his father, leading him to grow obsessed with Troy and the treasure it contained.

While visiting Austria in November 1908, Helen Seymour remarked, "Is it always this cold in Vienna?" Emilie replied that "it was colder at Christmas."

Indiana Jones spent Christmas 1913 in England, learning about British Christmas traditions from Mr. Muller and exploring the ruins of Stonehenge with his son Herman.

On Christmas Day 1914, during the height of World War I, the British and the Germans were said to have stopped firing at each other and came out of their trenches to play football.

In 1916, Indiana Jones was serving in the Belgian Army and spent his Christmas on a trek in German East Africa to Cape Lopez to pick up a shipment of weapons. Captain LaFleur tended to the sick on the expedition, however he himself was taken ill with the disease and died on Christmas Day. He was buried in a mass grave in the jungle, the first of the Belgians to die on the expedition.

In October 1917, while working for French Intelligence in the Middle East, Indiana Jones worked to support the British plan to take Jerusalem by Christmas.

In 1934, the Adventure Society marked the Christmas season with their own "West Pole Adventure" searching for the bag of Saint Nickolas and celebrating the "12 Days of Advent-ure" with holiday decor and gifts at their Base Camp (including giving of a monkey in a banana tree, two jaguars, three log traps, four green snakes, five "golden things", six flames-a-flaming, seven rams-a-ramming, eight sloths-a-milking, nine spiders biting, ten whips-a-swinging, eleven blocks-a-pushing and twelve spikey traps).

By 1936, Harvey Pondexter had become bitter over his job at the National Museum, stating that all he was getting from his job was a bad back and a twenty dollar bonus every Christmas. Later that year, when Indiana Jones rescued Marcus Brody from imprisonment with a bear, he remarked, "Okay, Marcus, looks like you get to send out your Christmas cards this year after all!"

During her marriage to Colin Williams around the late 1930s, Marion Ravenwood was said to have settled down to raise Mutt, celebrating the holiday with Christmas trees and long winter nights with Colin to hold her.

Jock Lindsey often decorated his Hangar Bar in Florida with festive holiday decor to celebrate Christmas.

Behind the scenes

Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull - Wrapped and Ready for Christmas DVD (2008)

The Christmas holiday serves as the central backdrop for Young Indiana Jones and the Circle of Death and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles episode "German East Africa, December 1916".

An unproduced teleplay for The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles entitled "Havana, December 1919" would have seen Indiana Jones and his father visiting Cuba for Christmas.

The holiday is occasionally invoked indirectly through various expressions and turns of phrase. In "Chapter 7: One Happy Little Family" of The Adventures of Indiana Jones role-playing game, Solomon Black's goons are about to beat Indy and are said to be really enjoying themselves – described as "they're like kids at Christmas". In the "Paris, May 1919" episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, T. E. Lawrence dismisses Woodrow Wilson's lofty rhetoric as "a Christmas card motto parading his wisdom".

Over the years, Hallmark has produced various Indiana Jones holiday ornaments and Keppsake ornaments for Christmas trees. The Indiana Jones All-Colour Christmas Special was released in the UK in 1984 and the Indiana Jones Winter Activity Annual was included in Christmas bumper packs in 2008. For the 2008 holiday season, Paramount Home Video produced special "wrapped and ready for Christmas" packaging for the DVD release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

For the Christmas season, Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar has featured a festive overlay as "Jock Lindsey's Holiday Bar".

Appearances

• Young Indiana Jones and the Circle of Death
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: The Day of Destiny (Mentioned only)
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: The Secret Treaty (Mentioned only)
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – "Vienna, November 1908" → The Perils of Cupid (Mentioned only)
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – "German East Africa, December 1916" → Oganga, The Giver and Taker of Life
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – "German East Africa, December 1916" comic
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Trek of Doom
• Young Indiana Jones and the Attack of the Hawkmen (Mentioned only)
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – "Palestine, October 1917" → Daredevils of the Desert (Mentioned only)
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – "Paris, May 1919" → Winds of Change (Mentioned only)
• Indiana Jones Adventure World (2011 "West Pole Adventure" holiday event)
•  The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones – "Demons" (Mentioned only)
•  The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones – "End Run" (Mentioned only)
• Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings novel (Mentioned only) (Cancelled)
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull novel (Mentioned only)
• Jock Lindsey's "Holiday" Bar (Seasonal overlay)

Sources

• The Adventures of Indiana Jones
• The World of Indiana Jones

External links

• Christmas on Wikipedia