Dolly Parton Explains Why She Keeps Her Christmas Decorations up Until Mid-January
Dolly Parton isn’t done celebrating the most wonderful time of year just yet. In a recent interview on Cody Alan’s podcast, the Queen of Country opened up about how she spends the holidays at her home in Nashville, and apparently she likes to keep things festive well beyond Christmas Day.
“I celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving until my birthday on the 19th of January,” she told Alan. “I always make them leave my decorations up until after my birthday, because I am still celebrating.” (Parton will turn 75 in 2021.)
Of course, she always does a gift exchange with her longtime husband Carl Dean, 81, but they keep it pretty low-key.
“He’s a carpenter and a mechanic, so I keep an eye on what he’s missing or what he’s worn out, and I’ll buy him tools or flashlights,” Parton told Red. “He knows I love to cook, so he’ll buy me things like aprons or oven mitts.”
“People laugh when they ask, ‘What did your husband buy for you?’ thinking I’ll say, ‘A diamond ring!’ He just buys me what he knows I really want,” she added. “I also write him songs, and he writes me sweet poems. A poem inside a card is my favorite kind of gift.”
They also have some expected traditions, like making Christmas cookies. “I don’t have kids of my own, but I invite all the children in the family around to my house in the run-up to Christmas, and they come at noon and stay the night, until noon the next day,” Parton said. “I get a few of my friends to come and help with the littler kids, and we eat pizza and make cookies.”
Parton also released her first Christmas album in 30 years, A Holly Dolly Christmas, to spread a little bit of holiday cheer and “make it a more joyful Christmas” amid the pandemic.
As for her upcoming birthday? Parton revealed to BBC Radio 5 Live that she’s considering an opportunity to pose for the cover of the winter 2021 issue of Playboy. “I just might do it,” she said. “If I can do it in good taste, and they want it, I will do it along with a really good interview inside.”
Now that’s something to celebrate!
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