The title makes this sound like a cheerful Yuletide story, but the holiday is not the focus of this book. The focus is a man called John Duval Gluck, who started out trying to make sure poor New York City children had at least one gift for Christmas, but at some point, his goals shifted. In 1913, he created a volunteer organization that received all of the mail addressed to Santa Claus that was posted in New York City. His volunteers would read the letters, check to make sure they were genuine, and find a well-off individual to actually purchase and deliver the gifts. No money was supposed to go through their organization. This was so successful that other similar groups were started in other cities.
There is also a broader story within this book, about how the celebration of Christmas evolved through the early twentieth century in NYC, and to some extent, in the rest of the country as well. Gluck crosses paths with several notable individuals, at least notable at that point in time. Some of the things we take for granted now, evolved in this time frame. It also describes the organization called United States Boy Scout, an early competitor with the Boy Scouts of America. What do they have to do with Christmas? The short answer is that the Scouts helped confirm the veracity of the letter writers, but there was more to it than that.
At some level, you have to give Gluck credit: he DID get gifts to many poor children during this time frame. However, let’s just say he did not suffer financially while he was managing the program. He started out criticizing many other charities, stating that they did not give enough of the money they took in to the people they were supposed to be helping. However, he gradually started becoming more like the people he criticized. Well, maybe. One thing he was not very good at was accounting and keeping track of income. By the late 1920’s, Gluck had lost the support of the US Postal Service (and access to the letters to Santa), the local press, and public opinion. A sad fall from grace.
If this was your family, how would you research them? Alex Palmer was fortunate to be related to such an interesting character, and even more fortunate that he was able to speak with relatives that had actually known him. And at least one that had a box of papers! Someone without those connections would have to use the newspaper articles and other sources that Mr. Palmer also utilized. While Palmer’s questions about Gluck might have been more focused, there are several websites that give suggestions for more general questions for your older relatives. These include https://familyhistorydaily.com/free-genealogy-resources/family-history-interview-questions and https://www.creativefamilyhistorian.com/researching/genealogy-interview-yourself.