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No doubt, this deep into the holiday season, you’ve already had a few nostalgic moments, remembering and planning some of your favorite Christmas traditions.
Your family probably has several unique things you do throughout the Christmas season that stem from the long, sacred traditions of the early settlers of our country.
At the end of November each year, I always approach a shelf of my bookcase to gather several small coffee table-style books that help me prepare my mind and heart for Christmas. Some of them I do as personal studies, others remind me of traditions, and a handful are children’s books we read together as a family.
Among that collection is a series of books by the same author, Ace Collins. While I have come to read several other books he’s written, my first introduction to this Arkansas-born author was around Christmas. No book has struck a chord with more people to understand and explain the origin and historical context of many of our American cultural Christmas traditions than “Stories Behind the Traditions of Christmas” by Ace Collins.
The Christmas Author
Collins has penned many books. He is a writer of fiction and nonfiction, of biography and belief, of wonderment and reality. And, as many authors will tell you, with the experience of writing, pitching, and rewriting comes a level of disappointment.
As he expanded his ideas for new books, Collins submitted the “Stories Behind” series several times. The obvious first topic was Christmas, which resonates with many in our country and worldwide. But other holidays, song collections, events, and individuals graced his lists over the years.
However, the idea for the Christmas collection was rejected seven times.
It wasn’t until he worked on a book with the Cathedral Quartet for Zondervan Publishing that he came on the radar of a literary agent and production team. Following their satisfaction and the book’s success, they approached him to see if he had any more ideas. During the phone call, Collins faxed a copy of his latest rejection letter for the concept of Christmas traditions.
He heard a chuckle on the other end, followed by a request to re-pitch the book.
It was a smashing success! At one point, it was No. 3 on The New York Times bestsellers list, publicly endorsed by Dolly Parton and Louise Mandrel, and received access to morning news shows like the Today Show on NBC. It was a hit!
The publishing company called him back and said, “Well, are there any more book concepts we rejected that we should talk about?!”
Since they had already been thought through and outlined, Collins presented his ideas for the “Stories Behind the Best Loved Songs of Christmas” and a second book to expand the topic. Later, a personal devotional book called “25 Days, 26 Ways” walks readers through ways to celebrate and experience the Advent season through Bible readings and personal reflection.
More Than A Christmas Author
Collins expanded his seasonal collection with a historical fiction book surrounding a box of letters that heal the heart of a World War II soldier, an April Fools joke gone awry with a murder mystery involving a fruitcake, and multiple series and standalone books beyond the Christmas topic.
One of my favorite rainy-day reads from summer vacation this past year was “Farraday Road,” set in North Central Arkansas, where the author was raised. Names and places throughout the book are familiar to Arkansans, who know a few things about the region. It provides a restful place to mentally escape and help resolve the difficulties of a widower and community leader.
Resting in Nostalgia
If Collins does anything for his readers, he offers a respite for the heart and mind. Exploring a historical timeframe, mostly dreamt about through Gilded Age movies, or challenging us and our understanding of gratitude or Christian faith, or taking us back to the core of the Christmas traditions we hold sacred, Collins challenges his readers to reflect, to remember and to restore their hearts.
Quintessential Christmas moments for the Collins family each year:
- It’s not Christmas until… “I hear Bing Crosby sing White Christmas and Elvis sing Blue Christmas.”
- A decorated home
- A festive front yard
- Gathering with family
- Including others around the table
- Lots of presents, because that’s the way grandma did it
- Piles of paper and ribbons after opening presents
- Being on the radio, recalling and answering callers’ questions about traditions
- Attending Christmas Eve service at church
- Moving beyond the circumstances of the year to allow the magic to happen still
When asked “what it is about Christmas that makes his collection so magnetic,” Collins replied, “Christmas is a time machine. It’s something we celebrate each year and have, just for a moment, glimpses of the past pulled from our memory simply from a specific scent, recreating a sacred tradition, or hearing the lyrics of a familiar song.”
He is not wrong. There is something about Christmas that is understood worldwide and something about understanding that helps us better see the world.
Part of the gift of understanding tradition is realizing that you are participating in something grander than yourself, greater than your perspective, and once you know the secrets, you get to share them with others.
If we pause and think about it, the concept of Santa was established from European tradition in America in the 1840s, and the commercialization of Christmas in the 1940s and beyond gave way to church services and celebrating a holiday developed to bring magic for children in a hard winter season.”
This is the gift of reading Collins’ collection: when we lift our eyes from ourselves, we gain meaning in what is happening around us. And being pulled back to a time from the past creates significance in our present celebrations.
So, this year, Ace Collins and our family here at Only in Arkansas challenge you to pause, reflect, remember, and restore your heart with a new understanding of tradition, the stories behind the songs we love, and maybe even the distraction of a fruitcake mystery, if for no other reason than nostalgia itself.
Images throughout the story were proved by Arkansas author, Ace Collins.
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