As sure as Charlie Brown, the Grinch and Frosty the Snowman come rolling around this time of year spreading Christmas cheer and baby boomer nostalgia, electric cooperative mascot Willie Wiredhand reminds us that the REMC “Ringing Everyone a Merry Christmas” gift records from the 1960s are on YouTube. These 45 rpm records were distributed by Indiana electric co-ops each holiday season from 1964-68 and in 1970. They told sweet tales of farm kids anticipating Christmas, sleigh rides into the woods, Santa and elves and the special gift of electricity. A wacky and corny edit of just the catchy Christmas jingle is also available.

New this year is a video of Willie playing guitar and singing the glorious history of rural electrification — to the tune of the old Johnny Horton hit “Battle of New Orleans.” “The Battle of the RECs” celebrates the 80th anniversary of Indiana’s REMCs and the Rural Electrification Administration in 2015 as historical, nostalgic and whimsical images go zipping by.

In addition, a video featuring the Electric Consumer’s Christmas ornament contest winners, 1996-2005 is also available.

You’ll also find a variety of kids’ crafts, art contest interviews and other videos we’ve posted over the years. You can visit our YouTube channel by clicking here.