The Christmas Story
Readers
"Days of Our Lives" is
famous for its annual hanging of the Horton ornaments at the Horton
House house each year. However, another long tradition in Salem is the
reading of the Christmas Story to the sick children at University Hospital each
year. The children are played by real-life children of the cast and crew. Here's
a look back at who has read the story since 1983:
1983:
Wayne Northrop (Roman Brady).
1984:
[The story was not read].
1985:
Andrea Barber (Carrie Brady) & Brian Matthews (Brother
Francis).
1986: Macdonald Carey (Tom
Horton).
1987: Macdonald Carey (Tom
Horton).
1988: Macdonald Carey (Tom
Horton).
1989: George Jenesky (Nick
Corelli).
1990: Peter Reckell (Bo
Brady).
1991: Richard Biggs (Marcus
Hunter).
1992: Matthew Ashford (Jack Deveraux). (*at St.
Luke's)
1993: Macdonald Carey (Tom Horton) & Frances
Reid (Alice Horton).
1994: Roark Critchlow (Mike
Horton).
1995: [With a majority of the cast in "Aremid",
the story was not read].
1996: Roark Critchlow (Mike
Horton).
1997: Peter Reckell (Bo
Brady).
1998: Roark Critchlow (Mike
Horton).
1999: Frances Reid (Alice
Horton).
2000: Frances Reid (Alice
Horton).
2001: [Special flashback episode; flashbacks of
Tom & Alice are used].
2002: Nadia Bjorlin (Chloe
Lane).
2003: Melissa Reeves (Jennifer
Deveraux).
2004: Melissa Reeves (Jennifer
Deveraux).
2005: Jason Cook (Shawn
Brady).
2006: Stephen Nichols (Steve
Johnson).
2007: Darin Brooks (Max
Brady).
2008: Bill Hayes (Doug
Williams).
2009: Mark Hapka (Nathan
Horton).
2010: Terrell Ransom Jr. (Theo Carver)
& David Shatraw (Father James). (*split reading/not at
hospital).
2011: Bill Hayes (Doug Williams). (*at
Horton Town Square)
2012: TBA.
A
HORTON FAMILY TRADITION:
THE HORTON ORNAMENTS
"Days of Our Lives" celebrates Christmas each
year with the long-standing tradition of the hanging of the Horton Christmas
ornaments on the tree at Alice's house. It was
stated in 1971 that Grandma Horton (Tom's mother) made the original seven
ornaments (Tom, Alice, Mickey, Bill, Addie, Marie, Tommy). Alice then began
making the ornaments for the rest of the family. Since 1983, 68 characters
have been seen at the annual ceremony: 36 Horton family members (which includes the quick marriages of Lucas to Nicole;
Jennifer to Peter; and Mickey to Bonnie) as well as 32 guests
(only Abe, Belle, Billie, Chloe, Emilio, John,
Marlena and Sami have attended more than once as a guest). The least amount of
people to ever attend was 5 in 1983 and 2010.
The most amount of people to ever attend was 21 in 2004. 29 characters (including one erroneously given to Carrie, see note below) have received a
Horton ornament on the tree since 1983, and a total of 52 characters have
had an ornament through the years.
**The votes
are in and 1990 received the most votes from "Days" viewers as their favorite
Christmas.
YEAR-BY-YEAR ATTENDANCE
AT THE HORTON ORNAMENT
CEREMONY
1983 (5): Tom, Alice, Marie, Hope,
Melissa
1984 (10): Tom, Alice, Mickey, Marie, Hope, Melissa,
Bo; guests: Marlena, Don, Abe
1985 (16): Tom, Alice, Mickey, Maggie, Hope, Bo, Jennifer,
Mike, Melissa, Sarah; guests: Marlena, Chris, Pete, Carrie, Sami,
Eric
1986 (13): Tom, Alice,
Mickey, Maggie, Doug, Hope, Bo, Jennifer, Mike, Melissa, Sarah; guests: Glen,
Ivy
1987 (10): Tom, Alice,
Mickey, Maggie, Bill, Janice, Jennifer, Melissa, Sarah; guest:
Frankie
1988 (10): Tom, Alice,
Mickey, Maggie, Mike, Jennifer, Sarah; guests: Emilio, April,
Julio
1989 (10): Tom, Alice,
Mickey, Maggie, Mike, Jennifer, Sarah, Scott; guests: Faith,
Emilio
1990 (12): Tom, Alice,
Mickey, Maggie, Julie, Melissa, Sarah, Jennifer, Bo, Shawn Douglas, Jack; seen
outside the window only: Carly
1991 (8): Tom, Alice,
Mickey, Maggie, Julie, Jennifer, Jack; guest:
Chip
1992 (10): Tom, Alice,
Mickey, Maggie, Bill, Julie, Jennifer, Jack, Abigail; guest:
Jo
1993 (8): Tom, Alice,
Mickey, Maggie, Julie, Doug, Jennifer, Abigail
(*Scene takes
place in Tom's hospital room)
1994 (11): Alice, Mickey,
Maggie, Julie, Doug, Laura, Mike, Jennifer, Abigail, Peter; seen outside the
window only: Jack
(Gina (an
amnesiac Hope) gets an ornament and places it on the tree in the next
episode)
1995 (8): Mickey, Maggie,
Laura, Mike, Jennifer, Abigail, Peter, Jack
(*Scene takes
place in Aremid)
1996 (8): Alice, Mickey,
Maggie, Mike, Lucas, Jennifer, Abigail, Jack
1997 (11): Alice, Mickey,
Maggie, Laura, Hope, Bo, Shawn Douglas, Mike, Abigail, Jack,
Jennifer
1998 (8): Alice, Mickey,
Maggie, Laura, Mike, Bo, Hope, Shawn Douglas
1999 (10): Alice, Mickey,
Maggie, Julie, Doug, Bo, Gina as Hope, Shawn Douglas, Lucas,
Nicole
2000 (11): Alice, Mickey,
Maggie, Julie, Doug, Bo, Hope, Shawn Douglas, Jennifer, Abigail,
JT
2001 (16): Alice, Mickey,
Maggie, Julie, Doug, Bo, Hope, Shawn Douglas, Jennifer, Jack; guests: John,
Marlena, Belle, Brady, Chloe, Philip
2002 (15): Alice, Mickey,
Maggie, Julie, Doug, Bo, Hope, Shawn Douglas, Jennifer, Jack, Abigail, Lucas,
Will, Zack; guest: Belle
2003 (10): Alice, Mickey,
Bo, Hope, Shawn Douglas, Jennifer, Lucas, Will, Zack; guest:
Belle
2004 (21): Alice, Mickey,
Maggie, Julie, Doug, Bo, Hope, Shawn Douglas, Jennifer, Abigail, Lucas, Will,
Zack, Bonnie; guests: Chelsea, Sami, Mimi, Billie,
Patrick, Rex, Jan
2005 (12): Alice, Mickey,
Maggie, Julie, Doug, Bo, Hope, Zack, Jennifer, Abigail, Jack Jr.; seen outside
window only: Jack
2006 (14): Alice, Maggie,
Julie, Doug, Bo, Hope, Shawn Douglas, Claire, Lucas, Will, Nick, Chelsea;
guests: Sami, Belle
2007
(14): Alice, Maggie, Julie, Doug, Bo, Hope, Shawn Douglas, Claire,
Nick, Chelsea, Ciara; guests: Sami, Belle, Billie
2008
(14): Maggie, Julie, Doug, Bo, Hope, Lucas, Chelsea, Ciara;
guests: John, Marlena, Abe, Lexie, Chloe, Theo
2009
(11): Maggie, Julie, Doug, Bo, Hope, Lucas, Will, Nathan, Ciara,
Allie; guest: Stephanie
2010 (5):
Maggie, Julie, Doug, Jennifer, Ciara
2011
(12): Maggie, Julie, Doug, Bo, Hope, Jennifer, Jack, Abigail,
Ciara, Melanie, Daniel; guest: Chad
HORTON
ORNAMENT DEBUTS:
(There have been a
total of 52 characters to have an ornament)
1971: Alice, Tom, Mickey, Bill, Addie,
Marie, Tommy, Julie, Stephen, Sandy, Mike, David, Laura, Scott, Doug
Between 1972-1982: Hope, Maggie, Jennifer, Janice, Dougie,
Scotty, Jessica, Sarah
1983:
Melissa
1986: Bo & "Baby" (for the yet-to-be-born Shawn
Douglas)
1989: Faith*
1990: Jack & Shawn
Douglas
1992: Abby
1994: Gina (while Hope had amnesia),
Lucas
1995: Peter*
1996: Jeremy
1998: Will
1999: Nicole* &
Carrie**
2000: John Thomas
2002: Zack
2004: Bonnie* & Jack Patrick
(changed to Jack Jr. in 2005)
2005: Chelsea
2006: Nicholas, Joshua &
Claire
2007:
Ciara, Alice Caroline (aka Allie), Johnny Roman (aka
Johnny)
2008: Belle & Chloe*
2009:
Nathan
2011: Victor, Daniel & Melanie
*With the divorces of Peter, Nicole, Bonnie and Chloe, these four
ornaments have been retired. Faith's also has been retired (she had yet
to marry Scott by the time they left Salem in
1990)
**Carrie's ornament has never been explained. It was never stated
that Mike married Carrie, but her ornament was introduced after both had left the show in 1999. It was seen as recently as 2005 in
the ornament box, right next to Mike's, and has been retired since then.
In 2001, "Days" aired a
special Christmas episode. As part of the episode, ten special ornaments were
hung to honor the memory of the many lives lost on 9/11. The ten ornaments shown
were: FDNY, NYPD, EMT, Father Mychal Judge, Larry Virgilio, Joe Sacerdote, Susan
Pollio, Sal Zisa, Steve Schlag, and a picture of the American flag. Here are
links to tributes from CNN.com: Father Mychal Judge, Susan Pollio, Joseph Sacerdote, Steven Schlag, Lawrence Virgilio, Salvatore Zisa.
Alphabetical listing of the 52 characters to have had a
Horton ornament on the tree: Abby, Addie, Alice, Alice Caroline
(Allie), Belle, Bill, Bo, Bonnie, Carrie, Chelsea, Chloe, Ciara, Claire, Daniel,
David, Doug, Dougie, Faith, Hope, Jack, Jack Jr., Janice, Jennifer, Jeremy,
Jessica, John Thomas, Johnny Roman, Joshua, Julie, Laura, Lucas, Maggie, Marie,
Melanie, Melissa, Mickey, Mike, Nathan, Nicholas, Nicole, Peter, Sandy, Sarah,
Scott, Scotty, Shawn Douglas, Stephen, Tom, Tommy, Victor, Will,
Zack.
HORTON ORNAMENT
CEREMONY ATTENDANCE BY CHARACTER:
MAGGIE: 26
years
Suzanne
Rogers: 85-02, 04-11
ALICE: 24 years
Frances
Reid: 83-94, 96-07
MICKEY:
22 years
John Clarke:
84-03
John Ingle:
04-05
JENNIFER: 21 years
Melissa
Reeves: 85-94; 00-05, 10-11
Stephanie
Cameron: 95-97
BO: 18
years
Peter
Reckell: 84-86, 90, 97-09, 11
HOPE: 18
years
Kristian
Alfonso: 83-86, 97-09, 11
JULIE: 17
years
Susan
Seaforth Hayes: 90-94, 99-02, 04-11
DOUG: 15
years
Bill Hayes: 86, 93-94,
99-02, 04-11
ABIGAIL:
11 years
Meghan &
Michael Nelson: 92-93
Paige &
Ryanne Kettner: 94-97, 00
Megan
Corletto: 02
Ashley
Benson: 04-05
Kate Mansi: 11
JACK:
11 years
Matthew
Ashford: 90-92, 01-02, 05*, 11
Mark Valley:
94*-96
Steve
Wilder: 97
SHAWN DOUGLAS: 11
years
Scott Groff:
90
Collin O'Donnell:
97-98
Jason Cook:
99-04
Brandon Beemer:
06-07
TOM: 11 years
Macdonald
Carey: 83-93
MIKE: 9
years
Michael
Weiss: 85-86, 88-89
Roark Critchlow: 94-98
LUCAS: 8 years
Bryan
Dattilo: 96, 99, 02-04, 06, 08-09
MELISSA: 6 years
Lisa Trusel:
83-87
Camilla
Scott: 90
SARAH: 6
years
Lisa
Brinegar: 85-88
Shana
Lane-Block: 89
Aimee
Brooks: 90
BELLE: 5 years
Kirsten
Storms: 01-03
Martha
Madison: 06-07
CIARA: 5 years
Dakoda & Danica
Hobbs: 07
Lauren Boles: 08-11
WILL: 5 years
Darian
Weiss: 02
Christopher
Gerse: 03-04, 06
Dylan Michael Patton: 09
CHELSEA: 4 years
Mandy Musgrave:
04
Rachel Melvin:
06-08
LAURA: 4
years
Jaime Lyn
Bauer: 94-95, 97-98
MARLENA: 4 years
Deidre Hall:
84-85, 01, 08
Jessica Davis:
85
Alison Sweeney: 04,
06-07
ZACK: 4
years
Garrett
& Spencer Fraye: 02-05
ABE: 2 years
James
Reynolds: 84, 08
Christopher
Stone: 87
Edward
Mallory: 92
BILLIE: 2
years
Julie Pinson: 04,
07
CHLOE: 2
years
Nadia Bjorlin: 01, 08
CLAIRE: 2
years
Ava & Olivia White:
06-07
EMILIO: 2
years
Billy
Hufsey: 88-89
JOHN: 2
years
Drake Hogestyn: 01, 08
MARIE: 2
years
Lanna Saunders: 83-84
Blake Berris:
06-07
PETER: 2
years
Jason
Brooks: 94-95
1 year only:
ALLIE (Campbell & Carolyn Rose):
09
APRIL (Lisa Howard):
88
BONNIE (Judi Evans):
04
BRADY (Kyle Lowder):
01
CARLY (Crystal Chappell):
90*
CARRIE (Andrea Barber):
85
CHAD (Casey Deidrick): 11
CHIP (Jay Pickett):
91
CHRIS (Josh Taylor): 85
DANIEL (Shawn
Christian): 11
DON (Jed Allan): 84
ERIC (Jesse Davis):
85
FAITH (Mindy Clarke):
89
FRANKIE (Billy Warlock):
87
GLEN (Rob Estes):
86
IVY (Holly Gagnier):
86
JACK JR. (Jacob & Micah
Reeves): 05
JAN (Heather Lindell):
04
JANICE (Elizabeth Storm):
87
JO (Joy Garrett):
92
J.T. (Jacob & Joshua Rips):
00
JULIO (Michael Bays):
88
LEXIE (Renee Jones): 08
MELANIE
(Molly Burnett): 11
MIMI (Farah Fath):
04
NATHAN (Mark Hapka): 09
NICOLE (Arianne Zuker):
99
PATRICK (Brody Hutzler):
04
PETE (Michael Leon):
85
PHILIP (Jay Johnson):
01
REX (Eric Winter):
04
SCOTT
(Rick Hearst):
89
STEPHANIE (Shelley Hennig): 09
THEO
(Terrell Ransom Jr.): 08
*: seen
outside window only
Christmas Notes:
1983-Present
1983: An undercover Roman, as Santa Claus, sneaks into a
comatose Carrie's room and reads her the Christmas story, helping her to wake
up...Liz sings many songs: "The Christmas Song", "White Christmas", "Have
Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", "Jingle Bells", and "Deck the Halls."
1984:
On the Christmas Eve episode, the cast sings "O Little Town of Bethlehem" as a
Christmas wreath is featured over the "Days" credits. On the Christmas Day
episode, the Hortons sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", "Deck the Halls",
"Silent Night" and "Joy to the World." At the end of the episode, the rest of
the cast featured in the episode (Andrea Barber/Carrie, Jolina Collins/Jasmine,
John deLancie/Eugene, Leann Hunley/Anna, Thaao Penghlis/Tony, Arleen
Sorkin/Calliope, and Herschel the dog) arrive at the Hortons as the cast wishes
everyone a Merry Christmas. Macdonald Carey and Frances Reid address the
audience directly, and look straight into the camera as they say "Merry
Christmas, to each and every one of you."
1985: Liz plays the piano and sings "Have Yourself a Merry
Little Christmas", "Jingle Bells", and "I'll Be Home for Christmas"...The
cast sings "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Joy
to the World."
1986: The only "unnamed"
ornament ever appears on the tree. Alice gives Bo and Hope an ornament which
says "Baby." It's for the yet-to-be-born (and
yet-to-be-named) Shawn Douglas...The cast sings "Angels We Have Heard on High"
and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."
1987: The cast sings "Joy to the
World"...The Bradys sing "Silent Night"...Justin sings to
Adrienne.
1988: The cast sings "Joy to the
World"...The Bradys sing "Silent Night."
1989: Emilio sings "Jingle Bell
Rock" to the kids at the hospital...An instrumental version of "Silent Night"
plays as many Salemites are featured in the final
act.
1990: Mickey, Maggie, Julie,
Jennifer, Sarah and Melissa present a very special version of Tom and Alice's
song "Always"...The Bradys sing "Silent
Night"..."Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" plays over the final act as
various Salemites are seen.
1991: The Bradys sing all 3
verses of "Silent Night"...Charlayne Woodard (as Desiree McCall) sings a
wonderful a capella version of "O Holy Night"...Alice
and Tom end the show by wishing each other Merry
Christmas.
1992: The Bradys sing "Silent
Night"...Jack quips to his mother, Jo: "Apparently if you get your name on a
ball, you're in for life"...Joy Garrett (as Jo)
hangs Abigail's new ornament (she dies 7 weeks after the episode
aired)
1993: The Bradys sing "Joy to
the World"...Lisa Rinna (as Billie) sings a chilling version of "Oh Holy Night"
at St. Luke's (just as a kidnapped baby Belle is
reunited with mom Marlena)...Tom and Alice read the Christmas story together to
the hospital kids (Macdonald Carey dies less than 3
months later)...for the only time ever, a "Merry Christmas from Days of Lives"
tag airs just after the episode
ends
1994: Alice states that "All the
people who keep Tom Horton in their hearts are Hortons."...The Bradys sing
"Silent Night" at St. Luke's...this episode features
the most unusual Christmas episode ending ever: a shot of a possessed Marlena
floating above her bed
1995: Alice's only Christmas
episode ever missed...The kids in Aremid sing "Away in a Manger"...The 3 verses
of "Silent Night" are beautifully split between the
three groups: The Bradys sing the first verse; the Hortons sing the second
verse; and the kids in Aremid sing the third
verse.
1996: The cast sings "Silent
Night" a capella, with the scene ending on Frances Reid's face...The Bradys sing
"Joy to the World" at St. Luke's, and it blends right
into The Hortons singing "O Come All Ye Faithful", with Alice flashing back to
her memories of Tom from Christmas 1991...The episode
ends on a picture of Tom and Alice from Christmas 1991 and the words "Merry
Christmas Mac, We Still Miss You" appear on the
screen.
1997: A various portion of the
cast sings "Oh Holy Night" at Salem Place in mid-December...The Bradys sing "Joy
to the World."
1998: An instrumental version of
"Silent Night" plays over various scenes of
Salemites.
1999: Chloe sings "Away in a
Manger" and "Silent Night" to awaken Nancy in her hospital bed...The Bradys sing
"Hark the Herald Angel Sing"...As mentioned above, an
ornament for Carrie is seen on the tree (this is the only time someone not
related to a Horton by marriage is seen with an
ornament).
2000: Alice sees Tom's ghost
through the use of flashbacks of Tom being edited into the
show.
2001: A very special
out-of-character episode, the first ever in "Days" history...Airing just several
months after the 9/11 attacks, this episode looks
back over "Days" of Christmas past with many flashbacks being shown, and the
actors (as themselves) speaking directly to the
camera...special 9/11 ornaments are seen on the tree along with the Horton
family ornaments...in the final act, the actors turn
back into their characters and Chloe and Brady are seen singing the full version
of "Silent Night."
2002: "The Christmas Song" is
played during the final act.
2003: The Brady/Chloe "Silent
Night" duet is featured in the final act as various Salemites are
seen.
2004: In a comedic scene,
Bonnie's ornament is so huge it topples the tree...baby Jack Patrick gets his
first ornament (by next year, his ornament has been
changed to Jack Jr. as Patrick was phased out of Jennifer's storyline by
then)...The Bradys sing the first verse of "O
Come All Ye Faithful" at St. Luke's, blending right into the Hortons singing the
next verse at the hospital...the episode ends with
Alice alone and she speaks directly to the camera.
2005: The episode ends with a
repeat of 2004's final scene, where Alice speaks directly to the camera. An
unsual occurence, since Frances Reid did appear in
new scenes during this episode.
2006: Clay Aiken sings
"Everything I Have" as various Salemites are shown. Mickey's absence is
explained with him delivering donations to shelters.
Alice speaks directly to the camera as Clay Aiken's song
ends.
2007:
The ornament hanging is intercut with scenes of Max reading the Christmas story
at the hospital (where Nick is playing an elf)...Jeremy Horton's ornament is
broken...Bill Hayes (Doug) leads a sing-along of "Have Yourself a Merry Little
Christmas" as other Salemites are shown...the episode ends with Stefano and Rolf
injecting a needle into a mysterious patient (who would turn out to be
John).
2008: Chloe's ornament breaks. As Doug plays the piano,
Chloe sings "Silent Night."
2009: Alice and Mickey are said to be in the
kitchen...the ornaments are hung in one brief instrumental scene..."Silent
Night" is sung at the hospital...As Nathan reads the Christmas story, Maggie has
a flashback of Tom reading the story.
2010:
At St. Luke's Church, the gang sings "Silent Night"...the episode ends with an
instrumental version of "Silent Night" playing as Julie hangs Alice's ornament
next to Tom's...then, there is a shot of Alice's empty chair and her picture as
the show fades to black.