Merry Christmas to all and best wishes of the season–I’m thankful for the whole Rule Forty-Two community of readers and commenters, and wish you all the best for 2010.

But that’s not why I posted this screen-capture from the Rudolph TV special. My question, which I ask myself every time I see the show, is this: What the hell is going on in the background here? I mean, it looks like a weather map to help plan Santa’s itinerary, fine, but then why are there these huge letters all over the place, and the grid, and the ladder? Is this a parody of something that would have made sense to viewers in 1964? I really want to know–please contribute your best thoughts in the comments section, and if you’ve got a relative of appropriate age within shouting range, ask them!

I’m going to ignore the absence of Europe on the right side of the map, just the way I ignore how the misfit airplane that can’t fly somehow jets off Santa’s sleigh during the closing credits.

posted 18 December 2009 in Photos and tagged Rudolph, Santa Claus. 1 comment