I decided that continuing my Christmas theme this month is important.  I spent a few minutes yesterday just reading nothing but the headlines from the Drudge Report and if that doesn’t depress you, you’re a better and stronger person than I.  I’ve been reading that site for years and I have to admit it’s a real downer most of the time.

In recent days I’ve slowly been developing a little of the good old kind of Christmas spirit I had as a kid.  The tree has been decorated and the lights strung and my better-half has covered every surface of every piece of furniture in the house with Santa statues and assorted Christmas knick-knacks.  We’re shopping hard, wrapping presents, and preparing packages for shipment to various family members located around the country.  It takes a while for me to get with the Christmas program but eventually I do.

It’s meant to be a happy time so with that in mind here’s a little Santa humor to start your day.

* * *

It was coming up to Christmas and Sammy asked his mother if he could have a new bike. She told him that the best idea would be to write to Santa Claus. But Sam, having just played a vital role in the school nativity play, said he would prefer to write to the baby Jesus. So his mother told him that would be fine.

Sam went to his room and wrote, ‘Dear Jesus, I have been a very good boy and would like to have a bike for Christmas.’

But he wasn’t very happy when he read it over. So he decided to try again and this time he wrote: ‘Dear Jesus, I’m a good boy most of the time and would like a bike for Christmas.’

He read it back and wasn’t happy with that one either. He tried a third version: ‘Dear Jesus, I could be a good boy if I tried hard and especially if I had a new bike.’

He read that one too, but he still wasn’t satisfied.So, he decided to go out for a walk while he thought about a better approach. After a short time he passed a house with a small statue of the Virgin Mary in the front garden. He crept in, stuffed the statue under his coat, hurried home and hid it under the bed. Then he wrote this letter.

‘Dear Jesus, If you want to see your mother again, you’d better send me a new bike.’

* * *

Are you smiling?  Good!  Now I’ll pass along a selection of kid’s letters to Santa that should keep that smile on your face for the rest of the day. I have to admit I have no memories of writing letters to Santa as a kid but I wish I had. Being able to read them after so many years would have been great fun. Here we go.

• Dear Santa,
  Please give me a doll this year. I would like her to eat, walk, do my homework, and help me clean my room.
  Thank you, Jenny
• Dear Santa,
  Thanks for the race car last year. Can I have another one, only this time one that is faster than my best friend’s race car?
  Ricky
• Dear Father Christmas,
  I wish you could leave a puzzle under the tree for me. And a toy for my sister. Then she won’t want to play with mine and I can have it to myself.
  Merry Christmas, Cassie
• Dear Santa,
  You can send me one of everything from the boys’ section of the Sears catalogue. But nothing from the girls’ section. I can’t wait for Christmas to come.
  Kent
• Dear Pere Noel,
  Could you come early this year? I’ve been really super good, but I don’t know if I can last much longer. Please hurry.
  Love, Jordan
• Dear Santa,
  I lost my list of toys, so please just send me the stuff that you forgot from last year.
  Todd
• Dear Father Christmas,
  What should I leave for your reindeer to eat? Do they like cookies, too? My mom won’t let me bring hay into the living room.
  Your friend, Sandy
• Dear Santa,
  I need a new skateboard for Christmas. The one I got now crashes too much. Band-aids would be OK too.
  David
• Dear Santa,
  Would you rather I leave you cookies and milk or pizza? Dad says you’d probably like the pizza. Write back right away to let me know.
  Love, Lisa
• Dear Kris Kringle,
  Please give me a tank, a jet fighter, 20 green soldiers, and a bazooka gun. I’m planning a surprise attack on my brother. So don’t tell anyone.
  Thanks, Danny
• Dear Santa,
  How will you get into our house this year? We don’t have a chimney and my father just installed a very expensive security system.
  Julie
• Dear Santa,
  Mommy says that you only bring presents for the good little boys. That isn’t fair.
  Brian
• Dear Santa,
  How old are you? How did you meet Mrs. Claus? Is your first name really Santa? Can I be an elf next year? Who is your favorite kid? How do you fit all those toys in your sleigh? I have more questions for later.
  Your pal, Pauline
• Dear Father Christmas,
  My mother told me to write to you and say thanks for the train set. My dad plays with it all the time.
  Mike

I’m not sure when or where the tradition of writing these Santa letters began. The following article was released to the public  in 2011 after being written in 1910. The list of items reveals the age of the letter and I’m still not totally sure what some of these items actually are.

* * *

Hannah Howard’s Christmas letter was hidden and lost in a chimney for years. The ghost of Christmas 100 years past arrived early for a County Down, Northern Ireland man when he discovered the “Santa letter” his late mother wrote when she was a girl.

The scorched letter was dated Christmas Eve 1911 and had been up a chimney in a Dublin house for decades. Victor Bartlem’s mother, Hannah Howard, had written her Christmas wish list when she was just 10 years old.

It was first discovered in 1992 when the current house owner John Byrne installed central heating. He came upon Hannah’s letter in the chimney and decided to keep it as a memento of times past. He made it public in 2011 in the Irish Times and it was there that Victor – living more than 100 miles away in Bangor, County Down, read about it.

Here is  that list written over a hundred years ago.

A baby doll.
A waterproof with a hood.
A pair of gloves and a toffee apple.
A gold penny and a silver sixpence.
A long toffee.

Hannah was born on Christmas Day 1900 and she died in 1978.

* * *

The items requested then appear to be very basic and far less demanding than our modern day equivalents.  If you have young children or grandchildren, take a few minutes and let them write a letter to Santa.  Then hide them away for twenty or more years.  What better gift could you give the authors than a look back to their childhoods.  They’ll love it.