<lht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1565 
Twenty  Dollars  for  Christmas 
Twenty  dollars  sounds  like  a  lot  when 
you  start  in  to  spend  it,  but  when  you 
divide  it  among  six  children  of  your  own 
and  their  father,  and  grandma,  besides 
knowing  a  number  of  others  whom  you 
would  like  to  reach  with  a  bit  of  Christ¬ 
mas  cheer,  well — -but  here  goes. 
Fortunately  the  brothers,  sisters, 
nieces,  etc.  would  rather  have  something 
which  is  grown  or  made  on  the  farm 
than  anything  else  so  they  are  eliminated. 
The  very  first  thing  I  would  buy  would 
be  “Hope  Farm  Notes”  and  “Adventures 
in  Silence”  for  Daddy,  because  he  would 
be  thoroughly  delighted  with  them,  and 
although  we  have  talked  many  times 
about  getting  them  “next  month”  it  al¬ 
ways  has  been  “next  month.” 
A  thermos  bottle  for  the  high  school 
boy  who  goes  five  miles  to  and  from 
school  would  be  next.  I  should  like  to 
add  a  violin  and  lessons  but  couldn’t 
with  justice  to  the  rest. 
I  think  four  good  sleds  would  be  next 
for  there  are  five  to  slide  and  only  one 
good  sled  among  them.  (No  hope  >f 
getting  that  many  out  of  ordinary 
Christmas  money). 
A  good  book  apiece  for  the  five.  I 
shall  try  to  get  them  each  one  anyway, 
but  could  get  nicer  ones  out  of  the  $20. 
Two  good  dolls  for  two  girls  who  have 
only  one  shabby  one  apiece,  and  three  big 
cuddly  bears  for  the  three  little  ones  (a 
girl  and  two  boys)  none  of  whom  have 
ever  had  one. 
One  of  those  sets  with  steel  parts  with 
bolts  and  burs  for  making  all  sorts  of 
construction  work,  for  eight-year-old,  who 
loves  to  tinker  with  such  things,  and 
needs  something  like  that  to  occupy  him¬ 
self  with. 
For  grandma  something  very  frivolous 
and  unnecessary ;  something  she  would 
like  but  would  never  dream  of  buying 
for  herself.  I  don’t  know  what  it  would 
be,  just  now,  but  I  could  find  it  if  I  had 
the  money. 
Still  another  thought  occurs  to  me.  If 
I  could  get  a  second-hand  Victrola  (or 
similar  contrivance)  for  the  $20  I  would 
put  the  money  all  into  that  for  I  be¬ 
lieve  that  would  do  the  whole  family 
more  good  than  anything  else.  Every¬ 
body  likes  music,  but  none  of  us  can 
play  any  instrument. 
No,  I  don’t  believe  I  would  spend  it 
on  my  own  family  either,  I  have  made 
them  fairly  happy  for  a  number  of  years 
now  without  much  money.  So  I  believe 
I  would  get  four  nice  new  $5  bills  and 
make  pictures  of  four  nice  little  Japa¬ 
nese  girls  with  the  bills  for  parasol  cov¬ 
ers  and  send  one  to  each  of  four  min¬ 
isters’  wives  where  the  salary  is  rather 
short.  Without  letting  her  know  where 
it  came  from  I  would  assure  her  it  was 
for  her  own  personal  use  for  something 
she  most  desired.  I  think  that  would 
be  the  most  fun  of  all.  I  am  afraid  my 
list  won’t  be  very  interesting  or  helpful 
to  anyone  else,  but  I  have  had  a  lot  of 
fun  spending  that  twenty  (over  the  wash¬ 
board  or  dishpan).  w.  E.  B. 
I  was  very  much  interested  in  your 
desire  to  know  how  a  farm  member  would 
spend  $20  for  Christmas,  for  I  have 
been  wishing  I  had  that  much  money — 
and  -more — to  help  bring  comfort  and 
good  cheer  to  those  about  me.  I  have 
a  father,  mother,  two  brothers,  three 
sisters,  two  nephews,  and  two  nieces  to 
remember,  and  a  few  other  friends  be¬ 
sides  ;  however,  the  outside  friends  I 
have  already  provided  for,  with  simple 
gifts  picked  up  during  the  Summer  at 
small  cost. 
For  my  father,  I  should  buy  an  um¬ 
brella  ;  for  my  mother,  two  granite  sauce¬ 
pans  and  a  clothes  basket,  for  the  old 
ones  will  soon  be  beyond  use ;  for  one 
sister,  I  should  like  to  buy  an  alarm 
clock ;  for  another,  who  likes  to  read,  a 
subscription  to  The  Ladies  Home  Jour¬ 
nal;  the  other  sister  likes  pretty  things, 
and  for  her  I  should  purchase  two  yards 
of  pretty  cretonne  for  an  apron  and  cap  ; 
one  brother  works  in  a  store,  and  I 
think  he  would  like  the  American  Maga¬ 
zine  for  one  year.  The  other  brother  is 
a  farmer,  and  for  him  I  should  buy  a  pair 
of  brown  corduroy  trousers,  they  are 
so  ^varm  for  Winter.  His  wife  should 
have  a  cottage  apron  dress,  and  his  two 
boys  each  a  rain  hat.  For  his  oldest 
girl  I  should  buy  a  felt  hat,  and  black 
sateen  rompers,  Dutch  \style,  for  the 
baby.  And,  since  farms  have  not  been 
over  productive  this  year,  owing  to  the 
drought,  this  brother  and  his  wife  should 
have  some  linoleum  for  the  kitchen  floor. 
There  being  youngsters,  in  the  family, 
the  remainder  of  the  money  should  go 
for  candy  and  nuts. 
Below  is  a  list,  giving  the  estimated 
cost  of  the  various  articles:  Umbrella, 
$1.98;  clothes  basket,  $1.75;  saucepans, 
$1 ;  alarm  clock,  $1.20;  Ladies  Home 
Journal,  $1;  cretonne,  2  yards  at  69c, 
$1.38;  American  Magazine,  $2.50;  cor¬ 
duroy  trousers,  '  ;  two  rain  hats  at  49c, 
98c ;  cottage  „pron  dress,  $1.95 ;  hat, 
$1.25 ;  Dutch  rompers,  $1.05. 
I  remember  now  that  $20  wouldn’t 
cover  the  linoleum.  Leaving  that  out, 
the  list  totals  $19.04.  That  leaves  96c 
for  candy  and  nuts,  without  which  the 
children’s  Christmas  would  scarcely  be 
complete.  L.  I.  o. 
Twenty  dollars !  My  first  thought 
was  of  that  pretty  black  silk  dress. 
Sounds  old-fashioned,  I  know,  but  after 
all,  is  there  anything  prettier,  more  ser¬ 
viceable  and  generally  becoming  and  ap* 
propriate  for  “best”  than  a  black  silk? 
And  a  piece  of  best  quality  without  figure 
and  cut  wisely  in  the  beginning  can  be 
made  over  time  after  time  and  altered 
and  refurbished  a  .d  will  always  come 
out  like  new.  But  there  is  only  one 
thing,  and  it  alone  would  take  the  great¬ 
er  part  of  that  $20,  and  I  would  be  the 
only  benefactor  unless  you  could  include 
those  who  get  a  little  pleasure  from  see¬ 
ing  “Mom”  dressed  well.  So  I  decided 
not  to  get  the  black  silk  with  this  twenty. 
Some  aluminum  for  the  kitchen  would 
not  only  be  helpful  but  would  be  enjoyed 
by  all  who  saw  it.  I  have  wanted  a  nice 
aluminum  coffee-pot  that  would  look  well 
on  the  table.  And  it  certainly  does  look 
good  to  see  the  brown  under  crust  of 
a  pie  in  one  of  the  oven-glass  pie  plates, 
or  a  glass  dish  of  baked  beans.  The  dif¬ 
ferent  brands  of  oven  glass  are  expen¬ 
sive  compared  with  granite  ware  and 
such,  but  they  seem  far  more  durable 
than  one  would  suppose,  and  they  do 
look  nice  and  save  dish-washing.  I  am 
not  so  sure  but  that  I  will  put  something 
of  the  kind  on  the  list.  And  maybe  a 
wire  drainer  for  the  dishes. 
But  it  has  just  occurred  to  me  that 
there  are  a  lot  of  things  I  might  get  and 
enjoy  myself  and  then  pass  on,  and  so 
make  my  $20  do  double  duty.  I  have 
been  thinking  for  a  long,  long  time  that 
I  would  like  a  subscription  to  one  of 
the  magazines  that  come  weekly  and  give 
in  brief  all  the  most  important  doings 
both  of  our  own  country  and  in  foreign 
countries.  They  are  always  well  illus¬ 
trated  and  the  articles  are  so  brief  and 
plainly  written  that  even  the  older  boys 
and  girls  can  enjoy  them  and  profit  by 
them.  And  besides  they  are  made  up  of 
only  that  which  has  been  proven  to  be 
correct,  and  so  often  we  waste  time  read¬ 
ing  things  in  the  daily  papers  to  be  told 
the  next  day  that  it  was  a  false  report 
or  an  incorrect  statement.  I  think  I 
shall  look  up  the  prices  of  such  maga¬ 
zines  and  decide  upon  one.  I  can  keep 
posted  on  affairs  myself  and  others  can 
enjoy  it  as  much  as  I. 
There  is  another  magazine  I  want  al¬ 
most  as  much  as  the  current  event  maga¬ 
zine  and  it  does  not  cost  quite  so  much. 
It  is  one  that  gives  accounts  of  travel 
in  foreign  countries,  of  exploration  ex¬ 
peditions  into  little  known  lands,  of  re¬ 
search  into  the  ruins  of  ancient  times 
both  in  our  own  country  and  abroad. 
Sometimes  it  takes  up  some  important 
industry  in  our  land  and  explains  it  in 
detail.  Always  it  is  wonderfully  illus¬ 
trated  with  pages  and  pages  of  pictures 
from  actual  photographs  some  of  which 
.  are  beautifully  colored.  I  have  never 
seen  a  more  interesting  book  and  the 
best  of  it  is  that  it  is  truly  educational, 
and  the  children  learn  almost  as  much 
from  the  pictures  as  the  rest  of  us  do 
from  the  reading.  I  am  going  to  have 
that  magazine  and  after  I  have  read  it 
and  passed  it  around  I  am  going  to  keep 
it  and  have  it  bound. 
I  had  almost  forgotten  that  dollar  for 
the  Red  Cross  that  I  did  not  have  when 
they  came  around.  I  have  read  of  the 
awful  suffering  in  some  of  the  foreign 
countries,  and  especially  of  the  pitiful 
condition  of  the  children  until  I  would 
almost  be  tempted  to  put  the  whole  $20 
into  the  hand  of  the  Red  Cross.  But  I 
think  I  would  pay  the  dollar  and  then 
put  whatever  I  have  left  away,  in  the 
bank  or  some  safe  place.  I  cannot  think 
of  anything  that  would  give  me  more 
genuine  happiness  than  the  consciousness 
that  I  have  a  bit  of  money  where  I  can 
put  my  hands  on  it  when  I  want  it.  I 
cannot  think  of  a  nicer  present  to  my¬ 
self  than  a  little  fund  to  draw  upon  in 
emergencies.  To  want  to  do  something 
for  another  and  to  be  without  the  means 
is  a  real  hardship.  I  think  perhaps  I 
may  get  some  of  the  other  things  I  have 
thought  about,  at  another  time  and  this 
time  put  quite  a  bit  of  this  twenty  into 
a  “help  others”  fund  and  so  keep  my 
Christmas  present  going  all  through  the 
year.  mbs.  e.  e.  l. 
i 
Not  expecting  to  have  the  pleasure  of 
really  spending  $20  for  Christmas,  I 
shall  at  least  enjoy  telling  how  I  would 
do  it  if  I  had  the  sum.  First,  one-tenth 
as  always,  for  Him  whose  birthday  we 
celebrate.  Next  if  I  were  going  to  be 
selfish,  the  kitchen  floor  would  have  linol¬ 
eum,  but  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest 
number  is  a  better  motto  for  the  holiday 
season,  so  the  remainder  would  go  for  a 
basket  of  fruit  for  the  frail  little  widow, 
a  half  dozen  red  roses  for  the  young  girl 
who  is  ill,  a  pair  of  skates  for  another 
who  enjoys  the  best  of  health  and  re¬ 
joices  in  all  Outdoor  sports.  A  year’s 
subscription  to  a  magazine  for  the  good 
neighbor.  A  library  table  for  the  living 
room  to  take  the  place  of  the  small  one 
that  is  always  in  a  state  of  overflow. 
Then  if  there  was  any  remainder  I  would 
love  to  buy  a  hammer  for  the  housewife 
so  she  would  not  have  to  use  the  ax  to 
drive  a  carpet  tack.  a  beadeb. 
Twenty  dollars  to  spend  for  Christmas 
presents !  To  those  of  us  who  have  to 
keep  within  a  five-dollar  limit  that  seems 
a  fortune,  while  to  others  it  probably 
seems  pitifully  inadequate.  But  with 
much'  thought  and  a  little  work  it  will  go 
a  long  way.  When  we  consider  the 
amount  we  have  to  spend  we  may  wish 
for  a  moment  that  we  ilid  not  have  so 
many  friends  and  could  remember  just 
our  immediate  family,  but  on  second 
(Continued  on  Page  1567) 
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