Certain memories from the past can bring us great joy. At least, it is true for me. I hope this is true for you too.
The thing I’m thinking about now happened on this date, December 9, 1965. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” premiered on CBS in the United States. It was the first Peanuts animated special. I’m sure I watched it with the rest of the family. But I was only 20 months old, so I don’t remember the details. I’m guessing popcorn was involved.
The show has endured all these years, probably because of its wholesome wonder — its plot, its characters, and, more than anything, its music. The entirety of the show captures an authentic feeling in all of us. The holidays can be melancholy and bittersweet. And we try to find the joy and meaning underneath it all. Charlie and his friends, especially Linus, help us through.
But, the date of December 9th doesn’t stop there. It is a good one for remembering other past events.
For instance, Margaret Hamilton was born on this date, in 1902. I didn’t know she was a fellow Ohioan, but she was born in Cleveland. We all know her best as Almira Gulch, or the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. For some reason, I really liked that lady, and I don’t know a thing about her.
As an adult, I named my first cat after her. Hamilton. He was a Manx and, by far, the best cat I have ever known. Although, our current cat, Pepper, is running a close second.
But back to Margaret Hamilton. As I read about her, I learned a bit about the filming of The Wizard of Oz. On December 23, 1938, Margaret suffered a second-degree burn on her face and a third-degree burn on her hand. They were shooting a second take of exit from Munchkinland. It is a fiery scene, and her escape door, a trap door, was somehow delayed in opening.
Margaret got burnt badly and had to recuperate for six weeks after the accident. After healing, she returned to the set to complete her work on the film. But she put her broom down, by god, and refused to have anything further to do with fire for the rest of the filming.
After recuperating, she said she would not sue MGM because she knew how things worked in Hollywood, and she thought if she sued, she would never work again. She returned to the film with one condition — no more stunts with fire.
There’s more. Hamilton’s stand-in and stunt double was a woman named Betty Danko. She also suffered severe burns in an on-set accident on February 11, 1939. Danko got hurt during the “Surrender Dorothy!” skywriting sequence at the Emerald City. They had her sit on this smoking pipe apparatus. But the pipe exploded on the third take of the scene. Danko spent 11 days in the hospital, and her legs were permanently damaged with scarring.
There’s more. The studio hired a new stunt double, Aline Goodwin, to finish the stunts. I’m not sure how she fared in all of this.
When asked how she felt about the Oz movie, Margaret always said the same thing. She didn’t want little kids to be afraid of her in real life because she loved children. He only had one of her own. Margaret married Paul Boynton Meserve, but they divorced not long into the marriage. Yet, they had the one child, Hamilton Wadsworth Meserve, whom she raised on her own.
She died in 1985. Alzheimer’s.
So. A Charlie Brown Christmas and the Wicked Witch of the West, uniting on December 9. Perhaps both give us the same message.
There is goodness to be found under there. Be it a wretched green Christmas tree or a green wicked witch. Underneath it all, there might be plenty of good.
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Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained.
— Lao Tzu
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True religion is real living; living with all one’s soul, with all one’s goodness and righteousness.
— Albert Einstein
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Confidence in the goodness of another is good proof of one’s own goodness.
— Michel de Montaigne
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Chuck? Almira? Oh my goodness. All our goodness.
