💡 ’Twas the night before Christmas… but who really wrote the rhyme?

This week on Cursed Keepsakes, Kristin & Seleena unwrap a festive mystery involving the world’s most iconic Christmas poem. For 200 years, families have recited A Visit from St. Nicholas — but the question of who actually wrote it remains unsolved.

Was it the scholarly Clement Clarke Moore? Or was it Henry Livingston Jr., a jolly Dutch-descended poet who never received credit?

🎄 Authorship battles, forensic poetry, and reindeer name conspiracies — this is one holiday tale you didn’t know was a mystery.

⚡ And for game time? We write our own twisted Christmas rhymes — live.

🎙️ File:008 – What’s Written Isn’t Certain is now open.

In This Episode:

• The mysterious origins of ’Twas the Night Before Christmas

• Clement Clarke Moore’s claim to the poem — and why some say he lied

• The Livingston family’s fight to restore credit to their ancestor

• Literary sleuthing, rhyming clues, and reindeer name mix-ups

• A poetic battle of Christmas authorship

• Game Time: A rhyming improv showdown 🎄

Keywords:

Beautiful Sunday Podcast, Society of BS, Cursed Keepsakes, Christmas poem mystery, Who wrote Twas the Night Before Christmas, Henry Livingston, Clement Moore, holiday folklore, Christmas conspiracy, anonymous authorship, poem dispute, Santa’s reindeer names, poetry mystery, podcast with games, festive folklore, literary whodunit, Not Your Average Sunday

Episode Chapters:

• 00:00 – Welcome to Cursed Keepsakes

• 01:00 – A Christmas Poem Arrives

• 04:20 – Moore vs. Livingston: Who Wrote It First?

• 08:40 – Forensic Poetry & the Reindeer Name Theory

• 11:50 – Game Time: Rhyming Christmas Tales

• 15:30 – Final Theories & Outro

Resources & References:

• [The Story Behind the Most Famous Christmas Poem of All Time – Columbia Magazine](https://magazine.columbia.edu/article/story-behind-most-famous-christmas-poem-all#:~:text=As%20the%20story%20goes%20(and,book%20of%20his%20own%20poems)

• Henry Livingston Jr. Family Website

• Poetry Foundation – Clement Clarke Moore