Click to go mobile
Search articles from thousands of Examiners
Los Angeles Family and Parenting Motherhood Examiner
 
Find out more about Jeana:

Jeana is a mom of two young kids and writes about the coolest baby and parenting gear; the latest news and trends; and offers fashion, health and wellness tips for the savvy, modern parent. Send any product suggestions or questions to Jeana at motherhoodexaminer@live.com.


 
Subscribe to Jeana's Email Alerts

Get alerts when Jeana submits a new article
Email Address


  Include other special offers from Examiner.com
Terms of Use

Jeana has been added to your favorite examiners
·
Next Article

Happy Festivus! The history behind this inane holiday

December 23, 9:20 AM
Comment
RSS

Get your Festivus poles out (yes, you can actually buy one) because today, Dec. 23 has been dubbed as the official Festivus holiday. The holiday was made famous by Daniel O’Keefe, a writer for the show Seinfeld, but actually originated decades earlier by his father, as a celebration of his first date with his wife.

Here’s some fun facts on the history of the holiday, according to Wikipedia:
Although the original Festivus took place in February 1966 as a celebration of O'Keefe's first date with his wife, Deborah,[2] many people now celebrate the holiday on December 23, as depicted on the December 18, 1997 Seinfeld episode "The Strike".[1][3]
 
According to O'Keefe, the name Festivus "just popped into his head."[2]
 
The holiday includes novel practices such as the "Airing of Grievances", in which each person tells everyone else all the ways they have disappointed him or her over the past year. Also, after the Festivus meal, the "Feats of Strength" are performed, involving wrestling the head of the household to the floor, with the holiday ending only if the head of the household is actually pinned.
 
The original holiday featured far more peculiar practices, as detailed in the younger Daniel O'Keefe's book The Real Festivus, which provides a first-person account of an early version of the Festivus holiday as celebrated by the O'Keefe family, and how O'Keefe amended or replaced details of his father's invention to create the Seinfeld episode.[4]
 
Here’s the hilarious clip from that fateful and iconic Seinfeld episode that introduced this holiday into our lives:
 
Enjoy your “Airing of Grievances” tonight and have a wonderful holiday. I hope each one of you too has a Festivus miracle tonight.
 
To quote Frank Costanza, “A Festivus for the Rest of Us!”

 

Images of Festivus
Author: Jeana Lee Tahnk
Jeana Lee Tahnk is a National Examiner. You can see Jeana's articles on Jeana's Home Page.
Find out more about Jeana:
Jeana is a mom of two young kids and writes about the coolest baby and parenting gear; the latest news and trends; and offers fashion, health and wellness tips for the savvy, modern parent. Send any product suggestions or questions to Jeana at motherhoodexaminer@live.com.
Subscribe to Jeana's Email Alerts
Get alerts when Jeana submits a new article
Email Address


  Include other special offers from Examiner.com
Terms of Use

Jeana has been added to your favorite examiners
More About: Holiday features

Add a Comment

Name:
Comments:
characters left

Sun
Jul
05
Los Angeles Events
Jay Leno
Comedy & Magic Club, The

Write for us

Now Recruiting in Los Angeles
We are now looking for Los Angeles writers to cover hundreds of topics, including: View all available topics »

Follow me on Twitter!