Welcome to the Gilded Gentlemen first holiday special, Christmas in Old New York, and a chat with Mr. Dickens.

Celebrating the Christmas season in New York is like nowhere else. The lights, the crowds, and they're coming back.

The excitement for sure, the Rockettes, those sugar plums, and that wonderful tree at Rockefeller Center.

But Christmas in New York wasn't always like that.

In fact, it was during the 19th century that how Christmas was celebrated, or I should say, if it was celebrated at all, changed dramatically.

You may be surprised to find out that another holiday around the same time was, in fact, a far more social event.

And it was the Dutch traditions of the city's original founders that persisted throughout much of the 19th century.

In today's show, I'm joined by New York City tour guide and popular speaker, Jeff Dobbins,

to take a look at the cities and, in fact, America's Christmas traditions.

We'll look at how they changed, like everything else in the 19th century,

and we'll see that by the time we arrived at the glittering gilded age, so much had transformed

into something that we might recognize today. After we take a break, I'll return and I'll be

joined by actor John Kevin Jones, who has been performing a one-man adaptation of Dickens'

famous A Christmas Carol in the 1832 parlors of the Merchants House

Museum. Kevin's performances now in their 10th season are a sought after and cherished

New York holiday tradition. Kevin and I will take a look at the background of Dickens' famous story,

why he wrote it when he did,

and what it really means and how Kevin has deftly woven it into a performance in which he

tells the tale in the guise of none other than Mr. Dickens himself.

So, instead of my usual blue blazer, I'm putting on a woolly sweater right now. I'm still wearing my bowtie,

of course. And instead of my usual cup of tea, just for this special show, I'm having a cup of

eggnog to usher in the holiday season.

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