The man invented a color organ so that people listening to his music would see the right colors accompanying it. That’s pretty authoritarian, and authoratively pretty.
I’d argue that most traditions we’ve come to associate with Christmas, at least in America, from gift-giving to decking the halls to feasting and drinking, have their origins in Saturnalia.
Also I think decorated trees were borrowed from European Pagan traditions in celebration of the Winter Solstice, and were actually prohibited by the Bible (I don’t remember the passage, someone back me up).
Clif
Something something tree with silver and gold.
StClair
how much of the modern Santa Claus is a (literal) product of the Coca-Cola corporation?
If it weren’t for the Coca-Cola company, there wouldn’t even BE a Grand Unified Santa Claus™
Dleclerc
Watched a video recently about just this! Santa as we view him today, visually at least, comes from a political comic by Thomas Nast from 1881. Coca-Cola wasn’t founded until 1892, and didn’t start using him in ads until the 1920s.
Looks like Nast deserves more credit than he’s given!
As if the origin of Santa Claus isn’t ridiculous enough, I have now discovered that it is a monument to corporate greed ?
Ron
In The Netherlands (that country that has Amsterdam as a capital) we celebrate the birthday of St Nicholas (5th of december), the patron saint of children, with gift-giving and songs. “Sint nikolaas,” is called “Sinterklaas” by practically everyone and that sounds a lot like “santaclaus”. He is usually depicted as a bearded bisschop in red and white robes with one of those bisschop hats. So you give him a big belly and take away the Catholic parts of his clothing and there you have him.
It’s a big thing here, the corona press conferences mentioned him and everything.
eh, whatever
Typo for the 6th.
khn0
Well it’s for Levy-Strauss a syncretism anyway?
Also for an historical reflexion on St Nicholas, I recommend Jochen Gerner’s comics “Le Saint Patron” (but here the celebration takes place on the 6th of december – at least we don’t have the blackface character with it like in some other places).
Shadowsnail
Can we call him “Nasty Claus” then?
Yet_One_More_Idiot
Over here (UK), depictions of Father Christmas (not Santa Claus until muuuuuuuch later, like late 19th/early 20th century) show him in a similar styled suit but with a longer robe instead of a jacket, usually in green or brown rather than red, and riding a sleigh pulled by any even number of deer (not specifically 8, nor specifically reindeer). The name Santa Claus was a later import from the USA, I believe.
Thag Simmons
A pretty solid chunk of him.
Daniel M Ball
yes, yes, put the rotting corpse of the tree in your home and desecrate it with gaudy baubles and strands of dangerous foil strips!!
Johannes
That’s a pretty well-debunked myth. They’re not even at the same time.
Stifyn Baker
Not actually Saturnalia, which was tied to the Solstice. The actual festival the early Christians hijacked was Dies Nates Solis Invictus, the Day of the Birth of the All-conquering Sun, a feast of the God Apollo which fell on the 25th day of December.
I wish a happy Christmas to everyone, even the people who don’t celebrate it, because not following the holiday is no reason to not wish for someone to have a happy day
You can always specify that, like, “Merry Christmas if you celebrate it, happy Saturday otherwise!” If someone doesn’t celebrate Christmas, then, well…why would I target that at them? Now, some people don’t mind, but some do, and I don’t think “Happy/Merry Christmas” is exactly synonymous with wishing someone a happy day.
Jason
This is why I wish people a wonderful day/week(end)/time etc. I once had an argument with someone who should have known better when I said I don’t celebrate Christmas and her point was if someone wished me a happy Christmas I shouldn’t say anything because they were still wishing me a good day. No, they’re specifically wishing me a HAPPY CHRISTMAS. If I though Saturday was someone’s birthday and I wish them a happy birthday I’m not saying “I hope you have a good day on Saturday whether or not it’s your birthday”, I’m saying “I hope your birthday celebrations are good”. And if it turns out it’s NOT that person’s birthday, why wouldn’t they correct me? At which point I’d probably say “then I hope you have a good not-birthday”, except I’d already have avoided that by saying “I hope you have a great time on Saturday” which would be valid even once the lack-of-birthday confusion had been cleared up.
I started off with two different points to make and I’m not sure I’ve coherently made either of them. Point is- yeah, if there’s any question personally I go with “have a great dayweektime” and it keeps me out of trouble… I think. (Also certain holidays- including birthdays- can upset some people, so for those people saying you hope they have a great day is validating those feelings while still giving them the wishes for their day.)
Daniel M Ball
Kinda missing their point, Yumi. By the time you’ve finished making all the exceptions, clauses, disclaimers, and explanations, the point has been lost and you’re out of breath-all for fear of offending someone who should be enough of an adult to listen for context instead of seeking ways to be offended.
I’m on a tablet so I don’t think I can add adblock.
albi
Firefox mobile browser allows some addons, like uBlock Orgin.
Tenzhi
I had to go into advanced settings on my Kindle’s browser and disable scripts for this site. The ads were making it difficult to even read the comic. The downside is I can no longer view the alt-text.
I remember all the hubbub about the commercial, and for the life of me I couldn’t see it. But for all those who still think this was the case, I say Honi soit qui mal y pense.
That’s now a thing I’ve put into a search engine. Also that was so awkwardly funny and I… I think I should thank you for my seeing that, but maybe I shouldn’t?
I had never seen this or even knew of its existence. But now…yes, now…I have seen this. And now know of this. I shall now think of this the next time I have coffee. Especially Folgers. :O
Headcanon: Galasso, being Galasso, was entirely unaware of the Christian god until Becky talked him up, and she did that so well that she actually scared him.
I would not be surprised if Galasso has somehow managed to be unaware of the concept of the Christian god until meeting Becky. We’re talking about a man who doesn’t understand the concept of gender despite being alive for at least a few decades and having a wife and a daughter.
200 thoughts on “Relinquish”
Ana Chronistic
ugh, I hate blowhards like this, all hot air until an ACTUAL higher authority looms over them
(though curious that “Becky’s God” holds that much sway over Galasso… *popcorn.gif*)
on that note, Happy Birthday to someone in a supremely high position of authority to many around the world… Sir Isaac Newton
Ana Chronistic
(can’t unsee the ceiling closing in on Galasso)
Yumi
Since it’s still before midnight here (thanks, server drift!), it’s also currently my dad’s birthday. He holds relatively little authority.
Decidedly Orthogonal
Happy Birthday Yumi’s dad! To have fathered so Yumi a soul, he must be very tssty indeed!
???
Durandal_1707
And one of my favorite composers, Alexander Scriabin (in the Julian calendar, anyway)
Clif
But how much authority does he hold?
Rabid Rabbit
The man invented a color organ so that people listening to his music would see the right colors accompanying it. That’s pretty authoritarian, and authoratively pretty.
Clif
÷1
Z
Becky’s God sends superheroes and dinosaur girls to take down assholes with guns. I wouldn’t fuck with Becky’s God, either.
Bicycle Bill
Never send a Superboy to do an Amazi-girl’s job.
Daniel M Ball
In-Deed, Z. Becky’s got some powerful mojo on her side for a believer in an invisible sky-friend.
Yumi
Merry Christmas to all (who celebrate it), and to all a good-night!
Thag Simmons
It’s beginning to look a lot like non-denominational holiday
The Wellerman
It used to be called “Saturnalia”, and like the Olympics, any original religious meaning tied to it has all but faded.
Thag Simmons
Christmas has a complex history and many ancestors but Saturnalia is a prominent one!
The Wellerman
I’d argue that most traditions we’ve come to associate with Christmas, at least in America, from gift-giving to decking the halls to feasting and drinking, have their origins in Saturnalia.
Also I think decorated trees were borrowed from European Pagan traditions in celebration of the Winter Solstice, and were actually prohibited by the Bible (I don’t remember the passage, someone back me up).
Clif
Something something tree with silver and gold.
StClair
how much of the modern Santa Claus is a (literal) product of the Coca-Cola corporation?
The Wellerman
If it weren’t for the Coca-Cola company, there wouldn’t even BE a Grand Unified Santa Claus™
Dleclerc
Watched a video recently about just this! Santa as we view him today, visually at least, comes from a political comic by Thomas Nast from 1881. Coca-Cola wasn’t founded until 1892, and didn’t start using him in ads until the 1920s.
The Wellerman
Looks like Nast deserves more credit than he’s given!
As if the origin of Santa Claus isn’t ridiculous enough, I have now discovered that it is a monument to corporate greed ?
Ron
In The Netherlands (that country that has Amsterdam as a capital) we celebrate the birthday of St Nicholas (5th of december), the patron saint of children, with gift-giving and songs. “Sint nikolaas,” is called “Sinterklaas” by practically everyone and that sounds a lot like “santaclaus”. He is usually depicted as a bearded bisschop in red and white robes with one of those bisschop hats. So you give him a big belly and take away the Catholic parts of his clothing and there you have him.
It’s a big thing here, the corona press conferences mentioned him and everything.
eh, whatever
Typo for the 6th.
khn0
Well it’s for Levy-Strauss a syncretism anyway?
Also for an historical reflexion on St Nicholas, I recommend Jochen Gerner’s comics “Le Saint Patron” (but here the celebration takes place on the 6th of december – at least we don’t have the blackface character with it like in some other places).
Shadowsnail
Can we call him “Nasty Claus” then?
Yet_One_More_Idiot
Over here (UK), depictions of Father Christmas (not Santa Claus until muuuuuuuch later, like late 19th/early 20th century) show him in a similar styled suit but with a longer robe instead of a jacket, usually in green or brown rather than red, and riding a sleigh pulled by any even number of deer (not specifically 8, nor specifically reindeer). The name Santa Claus was a later import from the USA, I believe.
Thag Simmons
A pretty solid chunk of him.
Daniel M Ball
yes, yes, put the rotting corpse of the tree in your home and desecrate it with gaudy baubles and strands of dangerous foil strips!!
Johannes
That’s a pretty well-debunked myth. They’re not even at the same time.
Stifyn Baker
Not actually Saturnalia, which was tied to the Solstice. The actual festival the early Christians hijacked was Dies Nates Solis Invictus, the Day of the Birth of the All-conquering Sun, a feast of the God Apollo which fell on the 25th day of December.
Needfuldoer
[death metal voice]
HAIL SANTA
Zaxares
Merry Christmas to those that celebrate it! 😀 And Happy Free Presents/Capitalism Celebration Day for everybody else! 😉
Clif
Oh, hush and have a Merry Christmas.
brute
no zaxares do not hush
Azhrei Vep
Everyone hush! Let us instead gaze with silent awe as GALASSO is cowed by Becky and her God. But mostly Becky.
Paradox
I wish a happy Christmas to everyone, even the people who don’t celebrate it, because not following the holiday is no reason to not wish for someone to have a happy day
Yumi
You can always specify that, like, “Merry Christmas if you celebrate it, happy Saturday otherwise!” If someone doesn’t celebrate Christmas, then, well…why would I target that at them? Now, some people don’t mind, but some do, and I don’t think “Happy/Merry Christmas” is exactly synonymous with wishing someone a happy day.
Jason
This is why I wish people a wonderful day/week(end)/time etc. I once had an argument with someone who should have known better when I said I don’t celebrate Christmas and her point was if someone wished me a happy Christmas I shouldn’t say anything because they were still wishing me a good day. No, they’re specifically wishing me a HAPPY CHRISTMAS. If I though Saturday was someone’s birthday and I wish them a happy birthday I’m not saying “I hope you have a good day on Saturday whether or not it’s your birthday”, I’m saying “I hope your birthday celebrations are good”. And if it turns out it’s NOT that person’s birthday, why wouldn’t they correct me? At which point I’d probably say “then I hope you have a good not-birthday”, except I’d already have avoided that by saying “I hope you have a great time on Saturday” which would be valid even once the lack-of-birthday confusion had been cleared up.
I started off with two different points to make and I’m not sure I’ve coherently made either of them. Point is- yeah, if there’s any question personally I go with “have a great dayweektime” and it keeps me out of trouble… I think. (Also certain holidays- including birthdays- can upset some people, so for those people saying you hope they have a great day is validating those feelings while still giving them the wishes for their day.)
Daniel M Ball
Kinda missing their point, Yumi. By the time you’ve finished making all the exceptions, clauses, disclaimers, and explanations, the point has been lost and you’re out of breath-all for fear of offending someone who should be enough of an adult to listen for context instead of seeking ways to be offended.
AKP
What
Kyrik Michalowski
Fuck this fucking site until it is dead. Everytime I try to post a comment, the site switches to an ad and deletes my comment.
Mr D
I don’t normally recommend this for sites I whitelist but…
Have you tried an Ad-Blocker?
Kyrik Michalowski
I’m on a tablet so I don’t think I can add adblock.
albi
Firefox mobile browser allows some addons, like uBlock Orgin.
Tenzhi
I had to go into advanced settings on my Kindle’s browser and disable scripts for this site. The ads were making it difficult to even read the comic. The downside is I can no longer view the alt-text.
Michael Haneline
I also had this site green-listed for year but I kept getting adds that blocked the actual comic so…
Blibdoolpoolp
I need to know a lot more about that guy in teh background immediately. He looks like some sort of miserable gerbil.
Yumi
The other person at the table just said that exact thing to him. Right after he proposed.
King Daniel
It’s the Folger’s Coffee Incest Siblings™
Yumi
Oh shit, it is. Their hair color here vs hair color in my mind threw me off.
The Wellerman
HOLY CRAP YOU’RE RIGHT! ?
And that alt text… ?
Tan
I am so happy that this knowledge has become relevant for you so quickly after learning about it.
(for anyone confused, see https://www.dumbingofage.com/2021/comic/book-12/02-ill-leave-you-a-phantom/throuples/#comment-1598634 )
Thag Simmons
Haha, glorious
Bicycle Bill
I remember all the hubbub about the commercial, and for the life of me I couldn’t see it. But for all those who still think this was the case, I say Honi soit qui mal y pense.
StClair
I… I thought they were people Willis knew, or won a contest or something.
Kamino Neko
… That explains the alt text.
Keulen
I read the hovertext and understood the refernece, and I still didn’t recognize those two until I read your comment.
Jason
That’s now a thing I’ve put into a search engine. Also that was so awkwardly funny and I… I think I should thank you for my seeing that, but maybe I shouldn’t?
Regalli
Wait is that… is that actually the Folgers Incest Christmas Commercial siblings? Is that what the alt text is referencing?
*Checks Youtube*
Yep, clothes match, he has the little ribbon she stuck on him… WILLIS.
(Oddly enough, it’s the girl’s outfit that tipped me off first and not the ribbon.)
Steamweed
I had never seen this or even knew of its existence. But now…yes, now…I have seen this. And now know of this. I shall now think of this the next time I have coffee. Especially Folgers. :O
drs
I had not heard of these. Now I have seen the original ad and the parody. In reverse order. Hee hee.
Azhrei Vep
Oooooh, that’s the ribbon. I totally thought that was some kind of red christmas cookie or something she was feeding her brother boyfriend.
Savail
His eyes terrify me.
Kyrik Michalowski
Becky’s god? Does that mean Galasso believes or is he just hedging his bets?
Madock345
Headcanon: Galasso, being Galasso, was entirely unaware of the Christian god until Becky talked him up, and she did that so well that she actually scared him.
RassilonTDavros
Galasso is like an atheist from a Chick Tract.
Kyrik Michalowski
I like your take on it, until Willis says otherwise(or someone comes up with a better explanation) this will be canon in my head.
Regalli
Seems plausible.
The Wellerman
Think he has money on the Hoosiers or something?
Jamie
It’s Galasso. This is quite plausible.
Keulen
I would not be surprised if Galasso has somehow managed to be unaware of the concept of the Christian god until meeting Becky. We’re talking about a man who doesn’t understand the concept of gender despite being alive for at least a few decades and having a wife and a daughter.
Thag Simmons
I assume he’d have similar feelings about a lot of gods. Ishtar, Tengri, Zeus, best keep them all happy.
Although… how old is Galasso again?
Regalli