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Story
December 28, 1908
Lewiston Evening Teller
Lewiston, Nez Perce County, Idaho
What is this article about?
A family without a Christmas tree uses a novel gift hunt: packages hidden in rooms, announced by a herald boy hourly, turning the day into prolonged merry excitement.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
CHRISTMAS TREE SUBSTITUTE
Problem of Gift Giving Solved In
Novel Manner.
One family who was over the stocking hanging age decided last Christmas that they could not have a tree.
The children were disappointed and feared a stupid day.
An ingenious sister solved the problem of gift giving in a somewhat novel way. She asked all the members of the family to wrap their gifts for each other into neat packages, direct them plainly and leave them in the library on Christmas eve.
No one was told what was to be done with the packages, and each member was sworn to secrecy, so that she did not know that the others' presents were to go into the library also. The girl divided them into groups, having one gift for each member of the family included in a given lot. The separate collections were then taken into different rooms of the house and hidden in such a way that they could not be found without considerable searching.
On Christmas day a small boy of the family, dressed in a costume of a Christmas herald of Elizabethan days, went through the house every hour during the day, blowing a trumpet and proclaiming that a Christmas hunt would be held in a certain room.
The family had a merry time until all the gifts were found and opened and enjoyed them in a leisurely way until the next visit of the herald an hour later. As the family was a large one, the excitement was prolonged well into the evening, and all voted it a much more interesting way of giving presents than to have them all in the morning stockings or hung on the Christmas tree.
Problem of Gift Giving Solved In
Novel Manner.
One family who was over the stocking hanging age decided last Christmas that they could not have a tree.
The children were disappointed and feared a stupid day.
An ingenious sister solved the problem of gift giving in a somewhat novel way. She asked all the members of the family to wrap their gifts for each other into neat packages, direct them plainly and leave them in the library on Christmas eve.
No one was told what was to be done with the packages, and each member was sworn to secrecy, so that she did not know that the others' presents were to go into the library also. The girl divided them into groups, having one gift for each member of the family included in a given lot. The separate collections were then taken into different rooms of the house and hidden in such a way that they could not be found without considerable searching.
On Christmas day a small boy of the family, dressed in a costume of a Christmas herald of Elizabethan days, went through the house every hour during the day, blowing a trumpet and proclaiming that a Christmas hunt would be held in a certain room.
The family had a merry time until all the gifts were found and opened and enjoyed them in a leisurely way until the next visit of the herald an hour later. As the family was a large one, the excitement was prolonged well into the evening, and all voted it a much more interesting way of giving presents than to have them all in the morning stockings or hung on the Christmas tree.
What sub-type of article is it?
Curiosity
Personal Triumph
What themes does it cover?
Family
Triumph
What keywords are associated?
Christmas Substitute
Gift Hunt
Family Ingenuity
Holiday Tradition
What entities or persons were involved?
Ingenious Sister
Small Boy
Family Members
Where did it happen?
In The House
Story Details
Key Persons
Ingenious Sister
Small Boy
Family Members
Location
In The House
Event Date
Last Christmas
Story Details
An ingenious sister solves the problem of no Christmas tree by having family members wrap and hide gifts in groups around the house. A boy dressed as a herald announces hunts hourly, prolonging the excitement throughout the day.