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'Festivus' Gains Standing Across Country
WLTX-TV NEWS ^ | 12-21-2005

Posted on 12/21/2005 11:36:24 AM PST by Cagey

ALTERNATIVE CELEBRATIONS: Pole for the holidays

Celebrating the holidays with a diverse group of friends can get tricky. That's where Festivus, the "holiday for the rest of us," comes in.

Invented in 1966 by a Reader's Digest editor but made popular through a 1997 "Seinfeld" episode, the fictional celebration has been brought to life by fervent supporters across the country - including Clarkston native Blake Coe.

According to the "Seinfeld" episode, Festivus is celebrated on Dec. 23 and is marked by a tinsel-free aluminum pole, feats of strength - like wrestling - and the airing of grievances, during which followers tell loved ones how they have disappointed them during the year.

Though Coe, 24, also celebrates Christmas, he said Festivus is a welcome break from the holidays.

"With all of the things that now make the Christmas season about political correctness, over-commercialization and greed, it is refreshing that Festivus separates itself from that," said Coe, who has been celebrating the fictional holiday for five years.

Coe recently moved to Chicago, but he'll be home in Clarkston for Festivus. On Saturday, Coe's parents, Sally and Ken, put up the pole. Grandma was there, too.

Coe said he bought the aluminum pole - a centerpiece of Festivus celebrations - a few years ago at Home Depot for $5. However, merchants are now selling them online for almost $40. "I wish we had thought of that at the time," Blake Coe said, laughing.

The term "Festivus" yields more than 20,000 Web sites in monthly Google searches, said Allen Salkin, who tracked the figures for his new book, "Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us," which was released in October by Warner Books.

"Nobody else is writing about it, but it is out there - a very deep and widespread subculture," Salkin said. "I think it has to do with a need for tolerance and a holiday where you don't exclude anybody."

Coe and his friends observe the feats of strength by holding annual billiards and video game tournaments. As for the airing of grievances - "we pretty much go around and talk about each other's less finer moments," said Pat Heber, a Clarkston resident who recently graduated from Michigan State University.

Typically, the feats of strength, or aggression-absorbing activities, are held immediately after the airing of grievances, but there are no hard and fast rules, Salkin said.

That flexibility makes it easy for everyone to celebrate Festivus, he added.

But not everyone will. Elizabeth Zill of Frankenmuth, who is featured in Salkin's book, said one Festivus celebration was enough for her family. A few years ago, Zill strung lights around a metal coat rack and presented it to her teenage daughter as an alternative to the Christmas tree the family never bought.

"Oh, my daughter was ticked at me," Zill said, laughing. "George didn't find it too amusing either," she added, referring to "Seinfeld" character George Costanza (Jason Alexander), who was less than thrilled about his father's idea. "I have a George."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: South Carolina
KEYWORDS: festivus; kwaanza; seinfeld; waronchristmas
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To: Billthedrill

Maybe you substitute some "traditional" Yulestice pork? Mine is going in the oven now...


241 posted on 12/21/2005 1:59:29 PM PST by gnarledmaw (I traded freedom for security and all I got were these damned shackles.)
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To: Protagoras

No, my fiance does. And for him it involves food and gift giving.


242 posted on 12/21/2005 2:00:01 PM PST by Bella_Bru
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To: Bella_Bru
But who is to say those people feel empty? Maybe they don't. This arrogance of, "if you don't believe the way I do and celebrate the way I do, you feel empty" is pure bs.

Who is to say it is "pure bs"? ;-)

People aping the spiritual actions of others certainly appears to be empty. Perhaps these people just don't know any better. Perhaps they gain some kind of benefit. So perhaps "empty" is the wrong word.

But it's certainly not anything like the actual holiday.

SD

243 posted on 12/21/2005 2:00:31 PM PST by SoothingDave
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To: Cagey
Sally and Ken Coe put up their Festivus pole.

If it were me, I'd be installing the pole in the bedroom. And giving Sally a gift certificate for dancing lessons.

; )

244 posted on 12/21/2005 2:00:46 PM PST by Freebird Forever (If they're truly public servants, why do they live in the mansions?)
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To: Sam's Army; wideawake

Added both of you to the Seinfeld ping list.


245 posted on 12/21/2005 2:02:37 PM PST by Rebelbase (Green bean casserole is a culinary curse upon mankind.)
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To: Bella_Bru

> It might be hard for you to understand...

For some (such as he whom you are wasting your time responding to) understanding is so difficult that he has given up trying, and has filled that emptiness with petty jealousy and a *massive* case of pridefulness.

Just recognize that there are some truly stunted minds in the world, and move on.


246 posted on 12/21/2005 2:02:48 PM PST by orionblamblam (A furore Normannorum libra nos, Domine)
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To: SoothingDave

> He wasn't attacking followers of other faiths.

Give him time:

"How come you aren't out shooting up your high school or something like the rest of your Godless brethern?"

That gem comes from: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1543993/posts?page=1634#1634


247 posted on 12/21/2005 2:06:04 PM PST by orionblamblam (A furore Normannorum libra nos, Domine)
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To: Bella_Bru
No, my fiance does. And for him it involves food and gift giving.

So he's not a Christian? If so, I hope he has fun, but whatever the heck he does, it ain't Christmas. It might be eating and giving presents, but it's not Christmas. Why would he try to attach himself to something that has nothing to do with what he wants?

If I eat your dishes on Hannukah, am I a Jew? Am I celebrating your holiday? Ummm, no.

248 posted on 12/21/2005 2:06:28 PM PST by Protagoras (Many people teach their children that Jesus is story character but Santa Claus is real.)
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To: gnarledmaw

I'm doing my best to keep up with all these here holidays. Would a corn-dog do?


249 posted on 12/21/2005 2:08:23 PM PST by Billthedrill
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To: SoothingDave

I haven't had a problem with others enjoying Christmas however they want but this season has been the saddest for me. I feel like Christians are being excluded as the "outsiders" of their own religious holiday. Kind of like we put up the "big tent" and are now getting booted out.


250 posted on 12/21/2005 2:10:25 PM PST by CindyDawg (No festivus in the spell check. That settles that!)
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To: Cagey

Festivus has equal standing with Kwanza, the black holiday made up in the '60s by a Communist professor at Berkley, I believe. And yet, Hallmark, with a straight face, prints cards for Kwanza. I'm sure they'll do the same for Festivus if they can make a buck off it.


251 posted on 12/21/2005 2:11:59 PM PST by kittymyrib
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To: orionblamblam; Bella_Bru; Protagoras
It's bad etiquette to drag up old disputes from other threads. I was only clarifying what he had said, to help overcome Bella's misunderstanding. That's all.

SD

252 posted on 12/21/2005 2:14:32 PM PST by SoothingDave
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To: SoothingDave

It's also good to know who you're dealing with. And it's "old" only insofar as "yesterday" was a "long time ago."


253 posted on 12/21/2005 2:16:57 PM PST by orionblamblam (A furore Normannorum libra nos, Domine)
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To: CindyDawg
I haven't had a problem with others enjoying Christmas however they want but this season has been the saddest for me. I feel like Christians are being excluded as the "outsiders" of their own religious holiday. Kind of like we put up the "big tent" and are now getting booted out.

Things aren't as bad as some in the media make it out to be. Some organizations thrive and profit from generating controversy and this is their high season. Don't forget that.

As for people being secular and still nominally celebrating Christmas, I don't really have a problem with that. Sure, it's less than ideal, but at least it keeps a vestige of Christianity alive in the hearts and minds of both the individuals in question and society as a whole.

We'd be far worse if people ignored Christmas, or forgot about it completely.

SD

254 posted on 12/21/2005 2:17:39 PM PST by SoothingDave
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To: kittymyrib
I'm sure they'll do the same for Festivus if they can make a buck off it.

Damn straight. Capitalism is good.

SD

255 posted on 12/21/2005 2:18:23 PM PST by SoothingDave
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To: SoothingDave
As usual you expressed it a lot better than I could:')
256 posted on 12/21/2005 2:20:46 PM PST by CindyDawg (No festivus in the spell check. That settles that!)
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To: wideawake

And for my airing of grievances: I am very disappointed in your ability to take a joke.


257 posted on 12/21/2005 2:21:33 PM PST by BJClinton (Mommas don't let your babies grow up to be sheepherders...)
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To: Protagoras

No, he identifies as a Christian. But he's not the church going, talk about his beliefs every 10 seconds variety.


258 posted on 12/21/2005 2:26:25 PM PST by Bella_Bru
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To: Tired of Taxes
My favorite was the subway episode... but all of them - the magic loogie, master of my domain, the virgin (or were they the same episode?), the soup nazi, the airport, waiting at the restaurant...

Don't forget "The Junior Mint" episode.

259 posted on 12/21/2005 2:31:00 PM PST by Spirochete
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To: CindyDawg

"I haven't had a problem with others enjoying Christmas however they want but this season has been the saddest for me. I feel like Christians are being excluded as the "outsiders" of their own religious holiday. Kind of like we put up the "big tent" and are now getting booted out."

I have to wonder if the various pre-Christian peoples -- who all had SOME sort of Winter Solstice celebration around this time -- felt the same way -- that they were alll getting "booted out" of "their" religious holiday when the early Christians decided to celebrate Christ's birthday in late December and basically took over the festivities. : -)

I'm a Christian (Catholic) and I don't feel like an "outsider" at all. I think there has been a great deal of exaggeration and hype being stirred up by media who want us to believe there really is a "war on Christmas".

Anyway, it really does not bother me whether people say Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas, as long as it is sincere. Either way, what counts is "happy" and "merry," the smiles and the good wishes.

Since it is December 21 today: HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE TO YOU ALL!


260 posted on 12/21/2005 2:46:37 PM PST by EdJay
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