Christmas in New York

New York is seemingly the center of the universe during the Christmas season, beginning with Santa's arrival in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and culminating with the dropping of the ball in Times Square on New Year's Eve. And why not? After all, New York is the birthplace of electric Christmas tree lights, Lionel trains, F. A. O. Schwarz, "White Christmas," and, of course, Santa Claus.
In Christmas in New York, Daniel Pool takes the reader on a tour of present-day New York Christmas attractions (the Rockefeller Center Tree, the store windows, the shows, the songs, the smells.) He tells little-known facts and stories about the history of Christmas in New York (how Maurice Sendak's career started designing F. A. O. Schwarz windows; how Guy Lombardo's "Auld Lang Syne" became the official New Year's song; a complete "Santology"). And finally, there is a section on "The Ghosts of Christmas Past"—long-time New York Christmas traditions that have fallen by the wayside. A marvelous mingling of the now and then, Pool's book, with fifty unique photographs and a characteristic biting wit, conveys the true New York Christmas spirit.

In Christmas in New York, Daniel Pool takes the reader on a tour of present-day New York Christmas attractions (the Rockefeller Center tree, Fifth Avenue holiday windows, the shows, the sidewalk Santas...). He also tells little-known stories about Christmas in New York (how Maurice Sendak decades ago worked on F.A.O. Schwarz window displays; why - via Guy Lombardo - "Auld Lang Syne" became the official New Year's song; and the history of that venerable Manhattanite, Santa). And, finally, there is a section on "The Ghosts of Christmas Past" - New York Christmas traditions of years ago. A marvelous mingling of the now and then, Pool's book conveys the true New York Christmas spirit.

New York Times Book Review

[L]ike a festive shot of eggnog, with the history of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons and other New York holiday traditions.

DANIEL POOL has spent most of his adult life teaching and practicing law in New York City. His first book, What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew (Simon & Schuster, 1993), was an alternate selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, Quality Paperback Book Club, and the History Book Club, as was his second book, Dickens' Fur Coat and Charlotte's Unanswered Letters (HarperCollins, Spring 1997). He lives in New York City.