All Aboard for Christmas [Hardcover]

Christopher Jennison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2004

When we were children-at least in our imaginations-it always snowed at Christmas, the trains were always on time, and at the end of our holiday journeys grandparents always awaited us with smothering hugs and piles of presents. Few childhood images are more enduring than Christmas and trains. This heartwarming book of stories, poems, and pictures brings back joyous memories of holiday train rides, wondrous homecomings, and clicking toy trains beneath the tree.

In the spirit of Norman Rockwell and Frank Capra, author Christopher Jennison evokes the enchantment of bygone Christmases in the era of train travel. Vintage magazine covers from Railroad, The New Yorker, and The Saturday Evening Post; Minnie and Mickey Mouse in Christmas attire aboard a train; and original Lionel Train advertisements dating from the 1950s are only a few of the nostalgia-filled images, many never before published, that illustrate this Yuletide anthology. All Aboard for Christmas is the ultimate gift book and stocking stuffer for lovers of this holiday, its customs, and its collectibles. AUTHOR BIO: Christopher Jennison has written or cowritten seven books on sports, including Yankee Stadium and Pennants and Pinstripes. An avid collector of railroading memorabilia, he is a senior editor at the Guildford Press in New York.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christopher Jennison has written or cowritten seven books on sports, including Yankee Stadium and Pennants and Pinstripes. An avid collector of railroading memorabilia, he is a senior editor at the Guildford Press in New York.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (December 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810956144
• ISBN-13: 978-0810956148
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 9.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #698,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christmas, when everyone liked Ike!, December 29, 2004

By 

David C. Klinger "jacksonnewf" (Martinsburg,, West Virginia USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: All Aboard for Christmas (Hardcover)

What a charming, evocative look at the way Christmases used to be -- people bustling home for the holidays, filled with brightly-colored packages and good cheer, alighting from Pullman cars at snowbound New England railroad stations. Today, we order our products online, grouse about the holiday traffic on choked Interstate highways, and suffer the indignities of overcrowded airports (anyone reading this try to get home for Christmas 2005 via ComAir or US Airways?). I think one of the reasons why we remember the Christmases past of the 1940's and 1950's so fondly is that people remained grounded to the concept of "going home" ... and the chief way they returned home was by being "grounded" to the rails, where an appreciation can be gained for the American landscape, cultural and linguistic differences, and regional distinctiveness. Today, our "big box" stores at a shopping mall in Maine appear little different than those in New Mexico. Yet there was a era when Christmas was simpler, purer, and -- I believe -- more genuine. This simple volume will take you there. I particularly enjoyed the childhood recollections of overnight journeys aboard Pullmans through the snowbound Vermont countryside and the poignant stories of Servicemen who spent their holidays on troop trains. This book seems destined to become a minor holiday classic -- for all of us who still believe in the essential double magic of Christmas and a train trip.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ultimate Christmas Train Book, December 7, 2004

By 

G. Michael Pressley (East Lansing, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: All Aboard for Christmas (Hardcover)

Author Jennison has accumulated many pictures and short tales about Christmas and trains, both toy and real trains. Artistic depictions of railroads in winter and during the holiday season are intermixed with many advertisements that lured customers to the trains at Christmas throughout the 20th Century. Most amazing of all, however, is the text, which is filled with stories about individual's love affairs with trains. I never dreamed that the Lionel train that came out every holiday at my home had such a rich history. If you were enchanted by the Polar Express, you will probably be taken by the many less fantastic stories of Christmas trains that Jennison has accumulated, each of which produced images for the participants as fantastic as any in the Van Allsburg book or the current movie...and the art reproduced in the volume will stimulate many to imagine their own train movies in their mind. A great book for getting in the Christmas mood.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christmas on the Rails, February 9, 2005

By 

L. M Young (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: All Aboard for Christmas (Hardcover)

I am nowhere near being a "train buff" besides admiring the odd model train layout and having ridden commuter trains, but this book is absolutely fabulous. The stories about working on the railroad at Christmas, or riding the train at Christmas, and other train related holiday memories are well-written and make you want to go back to those days. The paintings of trains in the snow are superb and it's great to read those wonderful old advertisements.