The other day, my dear room mate Caroline received a DVD from her mother. ‘Twas not a movie or TV program; ’twas a fireplace. With optional Christmas music and several different fire intensity settings.
Ah, the fireplace video! A classic piece of Americana! This thoughtful delivery prompted me to look a bit further into this cultural artifact, and what I found was a rich and interesting history with interesting contemporary developments.
The origins of these ambient videos and DVDs can be traced back to 1966. Apparently, the original filmed fireplace featured the burning of a Yule Log (and was appropriately titled The Yule Log) and was aired on Christmas Eve on WPIX-FM in New York City.
Below is the original footage:
This video from Slate further explains the TV program’s origins:
Just FYI, B.S. Swartz, Jr of Ball State University has it that the Yule Log is a burning rite that can be traced back to twelfth century Germany and was also practiced throughout Europe. In the 17th century, the ceremony became associated with Father Christmas. Hence, this television program is propagating continued celebration of a centuries old tradition, despite the growing obsolescence of in-home hearths.
Our beloved televised yule log has an official site, has become a beloved Christmas tradition amongst many, and consistently gets great ratings. You can read more about the famous fireplace movie here.
Today, several variations exist, and Comcast and Shaw even offer special channels / video on demand services that provide cozy fireplaces in HD at your convenience.
As the Slate video points out, fireplace footage has also forged bravely into the computing world- indeed, one can download fireplace screensavers and iPhone apps and choose from a litany of fireplace videos online, both legitimate and satirical.
What I find to be particularly amusing is the growing number of amateur fireplace footage people have started to post online. Everyone wants to share the crackling, smoky joy!
Overall, the evolution of and interest in fireplace footage reflects a yearning for the warm, cozy, traditional feeling offered by a hearth as the architecture feature becomes increasingly rare. Even those who do have fireplaces often don’t use them, and some have suggested we just mount our TVs in the now vacant hearth.
MODERN VARIATIONS
Modern variations of the original Yule Log fire have branched out from the fireplace to include a wide range of ambient slide shows and landscapes. Here are two examples:
Ambient Fire: the “Ultimate Video Fireplace,” is only one of the Ambient Series DVDs, which include ambient footage of water, flowers, kittens, parties, “sleepscapes,” and puppies.
Plasma Window: “the ultimate accessory for your tv,” offers DVDs that showcase anything from the traditional fireplace to classic art slideshows, aquariums, color schemes, and panoramic landscapes.
These developments reflect an overall shift in television use. No longer strictly limited to entertainment, televisions have evolved into ambient mood setters- like another form of wallpaper or adornment. We have become so accustomed to televisions that we simply leave them on in the background to keep us company or set a mood. With this being the case, it’s only natural that we should want products that are specially designed for such purchases!
I can only imagine what kind of offerings await us in the decades to come. Once screens become cheap enough to plaster over entire walls, perhaps we’ll have programmable wallpaper complete with add-on software to provide anything from the appearance of rococo-inspired wall panels to fully animated panoramas of famous landscapes. Excited for that? Me too. But in the mean time, I’m pefectly content to cozy up to my roomie’s fireplace DVD!
