A Christmas Tale

It's very difficult to convince children that, once upon a time, a piece of fruit, some sweeties, a shiny new coin and, maybe, a small wooden toy was all that children of my parents' generation could expect to find in their Christmas stocking on a cold December morning - and that was if they were lucky. In fact, there is one story from my Great Aunt Elsie that brings home the harsh realities of working class family life. She died in 2006 in her 101st year so I am guessing that this tale of woe originates from around 1910. Anyway, she never quite thought of Father Christmas the same again...

When Elsie was 5 or 6 years old there were two beautiful but expensive dolls in the local shop's window. She and her older sister fell for them immediately and asked their father if Father Christmas might give them the dolls for Christmas. He was only a tradesman and didn't have much spare money so asked the shopkeeper if he could reserve the dolls and pay instalments until he had the full amount saved up. The shopkeeper agreed and he made regular payments each week until he had almost paid the entire amount.

Unfortunately, the week before Christmas he lost his job and had no option but to cancel the order for the dolls and to spend the money on rent, groceries and fuel until he could find another job. He didn't know what to tell the girls and fretted about this until Christmas Day.

On Christmas morning he came downstairs to find the two girls in tears. He thought that they were disappointed about not getting the dolls until he saw that the family dog was lying dead in front of the fireplace. He thought quickly and then found an explanation...

He told them Father Christmas did it!