Althouse: "I want a baby doll and a waterproof with a hood and a pair of gloves..."

December 22, 2011

"I want a baby doll and a waterproof with a hood and a pair of gloves..."

"... and a toffee apple and a gold penny and a silver sixpence and a long toffee."

100-year-old letter to Santa, found up a chimney.

37 comments:

Patrick said...: That is sweet. We did a renovation on our nearly 100 year old house, and I was hoping to find something old in the walls. Found only one thing, a scrap of newspaper from 1987. Boring.; 12/22/11, 2:40 PM
Dose of Sanity said...: Those are some specific monetary requests, children!

Toffee and money, you can't miss.; 12/22/11, 2:41 PM
Dose of Sanity said...: @Patrick

Did you leave something for the next searcher? I've always wanted to do that.; 12/22/11, 2:42 PM
Patrick said...: I did. I wrote a "letter to the future" and had my kids make a time capsule. I put the letter in the concrete, so it is likely to be found only under the severest conditions, which should be well, well into the future.

I am going to be off line for the weekend, so I wish Merry Christmas to Althouse, Meade and all of the commenters. All of the best in 2012 and beyond; 12/22/11, 2:44 PM
knox said...: Adorable. But if a kid asks for a coat from Santa, you know she must spend a lot of time cold and wet. Poor thing.; 12/22/11, 2:45 PM
Known Unknown said...: My daughter asked for a workbench and tools. She's 4.; 12/22/11, 2:48 PM
Toad Trend said...: That is very cool. And sweet.

Christmas is the best with kids.; 12/22/11, 2:51 PM
Scott M said...: Is this before mankind had discovered the cure for run-on sentences?

WV - "tribbing" - um...er...ah...nevermind.; 12/22/11, 2:54 PM
Dan in Philly said...: Hanna wrote it, not Alfred. 100 years later my daughter also wants a baby doll more than anything else.; 12/22/11, 2:54 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: When my mom was six years old her family was visiting the old homestead in El Paso (They lived in Santa Monica). Her dad was doing some remodeling in the kitchen, and when he opened up the wall he found an old Winchester rifle that had been his when he was a kid. Probably his mom took it away from him and hid it. My mom and her little brother took it outside to play cowboys and Indians, and a couple of teenagers traded her an ice cream cone for it. Sic transit gloria mundi.; 12/22/11, 3:04 PM
Skipweasel said...: When our daughter was two and a half her Christmas requests were "Some warm milk, a cuddle and a gold sparkly balloon".

She's nine now, but we still try to sneak a gold sparkly balloon into her bedroom on Christmas eve.; 12/22/11, 3:30 PM
KCFleming said...: "a waterproof with a hood and a pair of gloves "

Dublin, 1911?

Makes a grown man cry.; 12/22/11, 3:35 PM
traditionalguy said...: The 1930s were poor with a capital P.

I once saw the receipt copies from a store open in the depression. Many December dated gifts were oranges and other tokens.

But a richer family bought the ultimate gift...a Red Ryder BB Gun.; 12/22/11, 3:45 PM
Scott M said...: My daughter asked for a workbench and tools. She's 4.

AWESOME!; 12/22/11, 3:48 PM
knox said...: Scott M, my husband and 4-yr old daughter are, at this very moment, having a conversation thru walkie-talkies. From about 4feet away from each other. My daughter's handle is "Snuggle Buddy."; 12/22/11, 4:01 PM
edutcher said...: Money and a raincoat. Practical.

A little candy and one doll. Modest.

And I'll bet she jumped for joy if she got all that.; 12/22/11, 4:04 PM
Joan said...: I got my first set of real (metal, with sharp edges) tools when I was about 10. They were sized for kids, though, and enabled me to make even more rickety and unsafe platforms in the trees in the woods behind my parents' house.

Those were the days.; 12/22/11, 4:10 PM
Scott M said...: @knox

My 7-year-old Nichole Kidman lookalike has decided that she wants to be a scientist and maybe an astronaut. Definitely a fighter pilot. She has endless questions about jets and can't understand how I didn't fly any since I was in the Air Force. lol

Her main present this Christmas, at least the one she asked for specifically and talks about a lot, is a Snap Circuit kit. I got her the biggest one, supposedly with 750 projects, a solar power unit, and USB connections. Instead of having to mess with all of the wires and such I remember from my electronics kit, this one just has color coded/shaped pieces that snap together and to a grid. So, if you want to make a circuit, you follow the manual's color diagrams and explanations of what does what and, presto, you've built a tunable radio.

She's most interested in the burglar alarm (against her sister) and the lie detector (again, against her sister).

I couldn't be more happy with her.; 12/22/11, 4:12 PM
KCFleming said...: At age 4, my daughter asked repeatedly for Speecha Sparkles, which meant nothing, and no one knew what it was, but she talked about it for weeks on end. Speecha Sparkles!!

Finally we saw the commercial that grabbed her.

PJ Sparkles; 12/22/11, 4:18 PM
KM said...: My 7 year old boy wants an Elvis costume, and he's dead serious....; 12/22/11, 4:20 PM
DaveW said...: Come to think of it I wouldn't mind some toffee...; 12/22/11, 4:33 PM
ricpic said...: Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?; 12/22/11, 4:37 PM
ricpic said...: ...a Red Ryder BB Gun.

You'll shoot your eye out, young man!; 12/22/11, 4:42 PM
KCFleming said...: "Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?"

Newt? Is that you?

I keed, I keed.; 12/22/11, 4:42 PM
Crunchy Frog said...: There's something stuck up in the chimney
And I don't know what it is
But it's been there all night long
Well I waited up for Santa all Christmas night
But he never came and it just ain't right
That there's something in the chimney
And it doesn't make a sound
And I wish you a Merry Christmas

wv: twerthle - I don't know what it means, but it sounds important.; 12/22/11, 5:53 PM
Jose_K said...: My daughter asked for a workbench and tools. try Real Consruction.. that what my daughter ask; 12/22/11, 5:55 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: When I was 8 or 9 I wanted a chemistry set and and erector set. Got both!! I was thrilled.; 12/22/11, 6:53 PM
SCOTTtheBADGER said...: A set of tools for an EMD is gonna be a rather large set of tools.; 12/22/11, 7:26 PM
Browndog said...: Best gift I ever got for Christmas was an "Erector set".

Fancied mechanical engineering ever since...; 12/22/11, 7:35 PM
Browndog said...: Dust Bunny Queen said...

When I was 8 or 9 I wanted a chemistry set and and erector set. Got both!! I was thrilled.

As I say, I don't read the comments before I (initially) post-

LOL- was wondering if anyone even knew what one was...here on Althouse blog; 12/22/11, 7:38 PM
Anonymous said...: 'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free, ..."

I knoww, liiff suxxd n dose days, no antibios, etc., but somehow dis Christmas letter haz somethin dat we hvv losttt 2 our regret; 12/22/11, 8:15 PM
marylynn said...: My three year old granddaughter wants a LARGE gift. I don't think she cares what is in it, it just has to be LARGE. Her mother was exactly the same. Cried for hours the Christmas she was four because her package wasn't the LARGEST. Who would think wanting something LARGE was genetic :-); 12/22/11, 8:16 PM
Browndog said...: marylynn said...

Not genetic-

Taught.....

Merry Christmas; 12/22/11, 9:43 PM
Be said...: Maybe I'm old and have had all expectations beaten out of me, but this sounds pretty rich and nice.

I'd *love* a new raincoat. Instead of silver pennies and gold sixpence, would like my 403(b) to keep steady.

Have always been a much bigger fan of toffee or caramel rather than chocolate.

Thank you for the food for thought.; 12/22/11, 9:45 PM
Charles said...: love those old chemistry sets - you could actually blow yourself up!; 12/23/11, 6:46 AM
marylynn said...: Browndog i know what you are saying, but my other four children never had that obsession with the biggest package. And the five other grandkids dont either. So thats what makes me shake my head and laugh over it.; 12/23/11, 6:49 AM
Nomennovum said...: When I was renovating a bathroom my pre-war (1912) apartment in Manhattan, the contractors discovered many rolled up newspapers from 1912 in the space beneath the floor. Apparently, back then it was common practice to throw in whatever (bottles, newspaper, general construction debris) in the space between your floor and your downstairs neighbor's ceiling. I was fascinating to look at the old ads and little
news items.

Recently, when renovating my old house we found an old Velvet tobacco tin under the kitchen floor, having a tax stamp dated 1910 -- with tobacco still in it!

Must have fallen out of the workers breast pocket.; 12/23/11, 9:57 AM