His Plot to Overthrow Christmas was pure delight: first heard Dec. 25, 1938, on Words Without Music, it told of a scheme by the demons of Hell to assassinate Santa Claus. "Did you hear about the plot to overthrow Christmas?" the narrator began: "Well, gather ye now from Maine to the Isthmus/Of Panama, and listen to the story/Of the utter inglory/Of some gory goings-on in Hell." In Hell, the listener met as motley a crew of villains as history and literature had yet devised: Ivan the Terrible, Haman, Caligula, Medusa, Simon Legree, and Circe {Mercy!}. Nero was fiddling, as was his wont, while Borgia thought of the North Pole jaunt: "Just think how it would tickle us/To liquidate St. Nicholas!" But the plot failed as Nero, sent to do the deed, turned into mush at Santa's feet. House Jameson starred as Santa, with Will Geer as the Devil and Eric Burroughs as Nero.
( John Dunning )
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