Jingle Bells! Jingle Bells! Jingle all the way!

Hope the holiday spirit is creating joy and good cheer for each and every one of you this winter season. One of the best ways to put yourself into a great, jolly mood is by singing your favorite Christmas songs. As Buddy the Elf would say, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is by singing loud for all to hear!”

We all know them—Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls, and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town—however, there’s probably a decent amount about caroling that is unfamiliar, so, because today is National Caroling Day, I compiled a short list of things that you likely don’t know about carols. Caroling is a tradition that goes back so far that the word actually changes meanings!

The Word ‘carole’ in Old French referred to dancing.
That’s right—the word carol doesn’t even mean what it used to. In fact, ‘carols’ used to be dances as well as songs. The word originates from Old French and refers to a dance that’s accompanied by a song. But by the end of the 14th Century, the word was no longer used to suggest any dancing.

Door-to-door caroling was a big party in the 1600s.
It’s no joke! With mistletoe hanging above front doors, there was typically lots of kissing involved. There was also traditionally a lot of drinking from communal bowls filled with spiced cider or ale. They called it ‘drinking from the Wassail Bowl’ after an Old English toast: ‘Wæs hæl’, which means ‘your health’. This explains the title of ‘The Wassail Song’.

Not all Christmas carols were meant for Christmas.
You wouldn’t think it was possible, but it’s true, some Christmas carols weren’t even about Christmas originally. ‘Deck the Halls’ was actually written about New Year’s Eve—which makes sense considering the lyric ‘Hail the new year lads and lasses.’ But if you think THAT’s weird—‘Jingle Bells’ was actually a Thanksgiving song!—originally titled ‘One Horse Open Sleigh’.

In any case, have fun with these holiday favorites from various artists and sing along to put yourself into the Christmas spirit. As always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Ford Fans!

I’m not talking about the car company—I’m talking about Indiana Jones and Han Solo himself, Harrison Ford—recognized the world over for such extremely famous roles. Born in Chicago, Harrison attended summer camp not too far from home (and not too far from Everything Summer Camp) at Camp Napowan in Wisconisn.

Sandwiched between two beautiful lakes in the Pine Woods of Central Wisconsin, the excellent Camp Napowan has offered its campers the beautiful scenery of piney foliage and serene bodies of water for the last 65 years. Harrison’s camp experience focused on outdoor education. He was rather active in the Boy Scouts of America and ended up receiving the second-highest rank there is, Life Scout.

After his time at camp and his education—completed at Ripon College in Wisconsin—he went on to pursue a career as an actor. He moved to Los Angeles in 1964 looking for work. For a long time, he didn’t have much luck, but he collected a slew of bit parts on his résumé.

He was hired by George Lucas, creator of ‘Star Wars’ to read lines with the actors who were auditioning for parts in the original Star Wars films. George Lucas eventually realized the talents in Harrison as well as those auditioning. He was cast as Han Solo.

Starring in each of the original trilogy films of Star Wars, Harrison is surprisingly reprising his role as Han Solo in the new Star Wars movie, ‘The Force Awakens’! Harrison isn’t the only returning cast member from the old movies, though—these films will also star Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), and Anthony Daniels (C-3PO).

But back to Harrison—along with a whole bunch of other films, he also stars as the rugged archeologist, Indiana Jones in the ‘Indiana Jones’ trilogy, a split project between George Lucas and director, Steven Spielberg. While his role in Star Wars declared him a star, his role as Indiana confirmed his superstardom.

Camp did Harrison good. What will it do for you? Enjoy the trailer for ‘The Force Awakens’ below and, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Everything Summer Camp Fans!

Here at Everything Summer Camp I like to post about the people who work for our company so that our Blog readers get a clearer understanding of who we are—not just as a company, but as a group of people.

Everyone around here celebrates Christmas, so I went around the office asking what people’s plans were for the holiday. People around the office here are certainly in full swing of the Christmas season. Their plans are set and their presents are wrapped.

NATE
First, I made a trip over to the printshop to talk to our Graphics manager, Nate. Nate told me that his Christmas plan was driving…essentially. He’s making trips out across the state to see his grandparents as well as his wife’s grandparents on Christmas Eve. It’s a tradition he and his wife look forward to, but it makes for a long day.

They’re happy to share the day at home on Christmas morning with their three kids as they tear open their presents from Santa.

ART
Next, I journeyed over to the main building. Art, our maintenance guy was outside on a ladder, replacing outdoor bulbs. He told me about the Christmas party he’s attending with his wife’s family. Pat’s got a big family; roughly 45 of Art’s in-laws attend this shindig at Pat’s sister’s house. They eat and have a gift exchange. His mother-in-law buys something for EVERYbody!

Sounds pretty Christmasy to me!

GUNNAR
Lastly, I went to go see one of our newest faces, Gunnar, our Graphic Artist for the Everything Summer Camp website. He and his family always make a trip to his grandmother’s where they have their Christmas dinner together. Gunnar enjoys his family’s Christmas celebration, but, in a whisper, expressed his superior excitement to go see the new Star Wars movie.

No matter what your traditions are and who you celebrate the holidays with, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and happy times in the company of those you love. And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John 

Hey, Holiday Shoppers!

We’ve had a number of sales going on since the week of Black Friday. In December we began our December Deals sale and last week we announced our sale on all Stocking Stuffers. But the merry madness isn’t over just yet for Everything Summer Camp—we still have a new sale that’s just starting today and going through to Wednesday!

It’s the Everything Summer Camp Last-Minute Trunk Sale!

Celebrate Christmas in style with an excellent C&N Camp Trunk. Camp trunks make awesome presents! Get solid color camp trunks for $20 off and Patterned Camp Trunks for $50 off!

Like the toy factory in the very merry North Pole, Everything Summer Camp too has a happy footlocker factory where all of our C&N brand name camp trunks are constructed. All C&N Footlockers are made with top-of-the-line construction.

Made from 3/8” aspen plywood, we sandwich our solid wooden trunks between a secure steel sheet for the exterior and water, odor, and tear-resistant DuraWrap paper to line the interior. Once we add the hardware, our trunks pop with personality and character. Spacious, C&N Trunks offer ample room for storing holiday decorations, gift wrapping supplies, and whatnot.

You know what’s jolly about being an Everything Summer Camp customer? Well, it’s ALL great, but one notable element is the Lifetime Free Warranty we have on all of our C&N Footlockers. That means we’ll repair any and every damaged footlocker you send us—free of charge. And that’s guaranteed for life!

That’s right! Should your camp trunk from Everything Summer Camp—despite its unquestionably solid construction—somehow meet with some unfortunate accident, we’ll repair any damaged footlocker for you—for free, for life. That’s what you get when you shop a trusted store like Everything Summer Camp. As always, thanks for reading. And happy holidays!

- John

Hey, Gift-Givers!

There’s a lot of effort that goes into gift-giving this time of year; when the time comes for our loved ones to open their gifts from us, we want that moment to be perfect. This moment can be blown, however, through no fault of the gift-giver. It’s crummy, but it happens: orders sometimes aren’t delivered until after it’s too late.

Everyone here at Everything Summer Camp, appreciates the importance of gift-giving and wants to help make sure that your gifting goes off without a hitch this year. There’s nothing more irritating than making sure that you’ve placed your online order well-enough in advance and not receiving it by the time you need it!

You can make sure that this doesn’t happen to you by ordering from Everything Summer Camp!

To ensure no confusion, I’d like to call your attention to the handy-dandy holiday map that we refer to this time of year. Thanks to this helpfully color-coded map, there won’t be any confusion about how early you need to place your order with Everything Summer Camp so you can receive it in time.    Of course delivery times will vary based on where you live in the country. We like the old adage, ‘Better Safe Than Sorry’. That’s why I’m giving you the magic numbers of 1:00pm on December 17. That’s the time and date that everybody in the contiguous United States can go off of for guaranteed delivery by December 24.

This time and date may be early for some of you. Everything Summer Camp is based in northwestern Wisconsin, so if you live in Wisconsin, most parts of Minnesota, or another nearby area, you can get away with placing your order as late as 1:00pm on December 21.

Happy holidays, Everyone. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John