One of my all time favorite movies growing up. It was broadcast on TV annually around Halloween.
Remember when we used to watch broadcast TV as a family? We didn’t have cable and there were three main stations, ABC, NBC and CBS. We had a local channel and PBS. That was it.
During holidays, we’d gather as a family in front of the TV and watch the holiday-themed movies. Mom would make popcorn in a big pot on the stove. If we were really lucky, we’d get to help shake the foil covered Jiffy Pop over a burner. For Halloween we’d watch Wizard of Oz and The Great Pumpkin.
Christmas included movies that my parents liked including It’s a Wonderful Life and White Christmas. I liked Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas and Frosty the Snowman. My parents had us watch A Christmas Carol, but it was way to scary for me with the ghosts of Christmas past. When I had kids, I introduced my kids to my childhood favorites plus Meet Me in St. Louis.
Now that it’s Lent and Easter Season there are more movies to watch together as a family. I admit as soon as cable and streaming came into our lives, we don’t watch movies together very often. We watch TV together more for football games than any movies. My husband and I end up in separate rooms watching TV, reading or listening to podcasts on our laptops.
I wrote about five Easter movies HERE.
This is a movie I remember watching as a family on Easter weekend.
Do you watch movies together as a family?
What were your favorite holiday movies growing up?
So many memories here! I’m old enough to remember watching the Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday night at 7:00. My parents weren’t big tv people but we always made time for that when I was young.
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Oh yes! We got to watch the Wonderful World of Disney, too. My favorite was Thomasina about the cat.
Growing up we had 3 channels too. Plus sometimes, for unknown reasons, we could get a PBS station from a big city far away. We watched holiday movies like the ones you mention as a family while eating buttered popcorn, apple slices, and cheddar cheese chunks. Loved it all.
Weren’t those the days? We got PBS from Seattle which was an hour away. I wish we got the apple slices and cheese!
I remember most of those from my own childhood, also specific TV shows. With my own kids our tradition became A Christmas Story (with Ralphie and the Leg Lamp) & Christmas Vacation (with Chevy Chase). There were many others but those were always the ones we watched over and over again.
It was such a treat to watch a special broadcast movie with the family all together. I miss those days, but cherish the memories.
My parents loved Julie Andrews, and we got special movie nights whenever Sound of Music or Mary Poppins came on. I remember scouring those little TV guide booklets at the beginning of the week. My parents also liked to watch Robert Redford westerns and Barbara Streisand movies. We weren’t allowed to watch much else.
Yes, I remember the TV Guide and how exciting it was to go through it. We loved Julie Andrews, too. Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music were the best. Other than special movie nights, we were allowed two PBS children shows.
I love your picks and memories! We share the same loves from our childhood. Thanks, Elizabeth!
Thanks! I’m sure those were the popular ones for our age. I miss the family nights and how exciting it was to watch a broadcast movie on TV.
Me, too! Those Sunday night Disney movies. 🥰❤️🥰
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I was a young boy “trying to find his way” when we watched the Wizard. The only thing I focused on was Dorothy’s swinging skirt.
That’s funny!
We did a lot of course when the kids were little. I watched Wizard of Oz with our oldest when she was about 4 and she wasn’t scared at all. We have a cute video of her saying, “The trees were windy!” and whenever it is really windy out we say that to each other and laugh. She’s 38 now and still gets a kick out of it.
How cute! I wasn’t afraid of the Wizard of Oz, but my big brother, two years older than me was. I felt so brave!
You make such a great point, Elizabeth. When I was young, we only had one tv and we also watched “M*A*S*H*” as a family. It was great time together.
M*A*S*H was a great show. We only had one TV, too. So we all watched together.
I loved The Wizard of Oz when I was little! Though I have to admit, the tornado scene really scared me.
I loved the Wizard of Oz too and I had bedding from the movie. When my daughter was young, I decorated her room with cardboard cutouts of the characters and got her Wizard of Oz dolls.
OMG! I love all of this!
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We did watch some things together on TV when I was growing up. At a book club meeting last month I posed the question of whether younger generations in the U.S. are more homogeneous because of social media. One person said no, older generations are, because we all watch the same news broadcasts, mostly listened to the same music, etc. Now everyone lives in their own little bubble of bespoke entertainment and news.
I agree with you that we all live in our own bubbles because of news and online entertainment. Good point.
When we were young, we didn’t have cell phones or internet, so it’s true, watching shows together as a family was fun. Miss those days. I remember Wizard being played at Easter though. I Googled, it seems that for different years, they changed when the movie was broadcast. How about Yankee Doodle Dandy for July 4th. Loved that movie.
I have great memories of being together as a family watching movies or our favorite shows. Yankee Doodle Dandy!
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We only watch movies in theaters together now. As kids I remember watching movies with our father and all of my brothers.
It’s strange how times change.
Very true. Now those memories are like a forgotten dream
I often think it was better when we had less choices; like you said, we’d gather together and now, we have such varied interests, we often wander to do our own thing.
I loved the same movies that you did and watching The Wizard Of Oz was a BIG DEAL as you didn’t get to see it otherwise.
Jiffy pop. *Sigh* That’s a big memory trigger—I loved it then and would enjoy it again today. 🙂
Thanks! I do think it was better when we’d gather together for a movie or TV show. Also, there are too many choices today. It’s like going to a huge Sunday brunch and I lose my appetite. There are too many choices.