Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: WOR Jean Shepherd 1975-12-24 - Pole Line Christmas
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio
Air Date: December 18, 2025
Featured Speaker: Jean Shepherd

Episode Overview

This episode presents a Christmas Eve radio broadcast by the legendary Jean Shepherd, originally aired on WOR in 1975. With his signature wit and nostalgia, Shepherd recounts his experiences of Christmas in the U.S. Army, focusing on a particularly memorable (and miserable) holiday spent at a remote training camp. Blending humor, irony, and vivid storytelling, Shepherd explores themes of camaraderie, longing, and what it means to be away from home during the holidays.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Melancholy of a Radio Christmas Eve

• Shepherd jokes about the loneliness of being on air during Christmas Eve, suggesting that "nobody's listening" and poking fun at the quirks of holiday broadcasting.

  "Gee, it would be real sad to see somebody on a Christmas Eve sitting around listening to the radio. That would be sad." (04:32)

2. The Ubiquity and Importance of Holidays

• Shepherd waxes philosophical on how every culture has holidays similar to Christmas, underscoring the universal human need for moments of communal celebration, regardless of religious significance.

  "There is a parallel to Christmas in every conceivable tribe... It's a moment of curious communion between people." (08:45)

3. Army Reflections – The Christmas That Stayed With Him

• Shepherd shares a vivid, detailed account of the time he spent Christmas in an Army camp far from home—a place so isolated in the Ozarks that "you might as well be on Mars" in terms of contact with humanity.

  • Orders come down: One third of each company must stay on base for the holidays.
  • The tension of waiting to hear who can go home and who gets stuck.
  • Those not chosen drown their sorrows in GI humor and glum resignation.

  "Out of every bunch of guys standing in front of the orderly room, at least one out of three was going nowhere, period." (13:50)

4. The "Pole Line Christmas" – Training in the Elements

• Recounts being assigned miserable outdoor training on Christmas Eve—climbing icy, wind-blown telephone poles with cumbersome gear.

  • The camaraderie emerges as soldiers break into singing "Jingle Bells" at the tops of swaying poles, despite their predicament.
  • The small acts of defiance and gallows humor that help them cope.

  "All of a sudden, for no reason at all, I started to sing: 'Jingle bells, jingle bells...'" (25:43)
  "And all three of us then started to sing this thing." (26:06)

5. The "Haves" and the "Have Nots"

• The contrast in morale between those granted Christmas leave and those left behind:

  • The "haves" are jubilant, the "have nots" resigned.
  • Shepherd observes how a simple order can sharply divide people's fortunes and moods.

  "Curious how you begin to have the feeling of the haves and the have nots just by a simple order that comes down out of some mysterious headquarters someplace." (31:47)

6. Christmas Day On Base: Quiet, Food, and Guard Duty

• After the departures, the remaining soldiers are given an unexpected reprieve:

  • Free time, quiet mess hall with "anything you want" from the cooks.
  • The bittersweet treat of army coffee and seven fried eggs—a celebration, Army-style.
  • The sense of anticlimax: Shepherd spends Christmas night on guard duty, isolated at the end of the rifle range as rain whips around him—lamenting and finding kinship in the shared misery with the officer of the guard.

  "That's the great thing about nobody's in the mess hall. Just a couple of cooks back there...and they're cooking up anything you want." (36:52) "And all the rest of that night I stood guard down at the end of the rifle range. With the rain coming down, the wind howling around the shacks..." (38:30)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Army Solidarity:

  "This is a soul searing experience. It's a basic experience, it's one you can't forget. And anybody who's been in has a bond with anybody who's ever been in. And anybody who's in at this minute has a bond with all other ex yardbirds..." (06:22)

• On Christmas Eve In New York:

  "I like New York, I repeat. In fact, I more than like New York. I dig New York, which is a terrible... Especially this time." (11:09)

• Christmas Eve In Training:

  "Five minutes later I'm up at the top of a 60 foot pole, slowly edging my way up...wind blowing, the rain pouring down over the top of your steel helmet..." (21:14)

• The Coping Mechanisms:

  "GI humor. So 20 minutes later, we are marching out to the pole line practice construction yard, and we're completely in our equipment, totally in the pole line construction equipment." (17:25)

• On Finding Humanity in Shared Misery:

  “Somewhere, someplace, he too is probably saying, it’s Christmas Eve. Thank God I ain’t in the army.” (40:00)

Timestamps for Major Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|---------| | 02:12 | Shepherd begins, sets Christmas Eve scene, holiday reflections | | 06:22 | On the unbreakable bonds of Army service | | 13:01 | The Army's Christmas leave policy and unlucky draw | | 17:25 | Humorous resignation and heading to the pole line yard | | 21:14 | Describing pole line practice in miserable conditions | | 25:43 | Breaking into "Jingle Bells" atop the poles | | 31:47 | Reflections on morale, the haves vs. the have-nots | | 36:52 | Empty barracks, generous cooks, quiet mess hall | | 38:30 | Christmas night: lonely guard duty in the rain | | 40:00 | Epilogue: finding some solace in not being in the Army this Christmas |

Tone & Language

Jean Shepherd’s tone combines wry humor, self-deprecation, and affectionate reminiscence. His colloquial, engaging storytelling style pulls listeners into the sights, sounds, and sensations of his Army Christmas, highlighting both the absurdity and warmth found even in adversity.

Takeaways

• Shared hardship breeds camaraderie: Even under duress, humor and song can momentarily transform misery into connection.
• Holidays magnify belonging and longing: Christmas, wherever it’s celebrated, sharpens the ache of separation but also the value of small comforts and companionship.
• Storytelling as solace: Shepherd’s tale is at once uniquely his and universally resonant—a tribute to resilience and finding meaning, even up on a windswept telephone pole.