Stuff Kids Asked from Santa in Tyler’s 1909 Newspaper Shows How Good We Have It Now
Honestly, reading some of these 'letters to Santa' that were sent to Tyler's Newspaper back in the day - Tyler Courier Times - made me feel like a privileged, spoiled brat. But you know, sometimes we need to be reminded how much better we have it because it's easy to get caught up in all of your issues.
The Facebook group Past Glimpses of Tyler, Texas shared photos of clippings from the late Tyler Courier Times dated December 18, 1909. Over 100 years ago, children in Tyler wrote to the editor and some would get to see their letter to Santa! And now, we have a handful of their letters, which is surrounded in our history.
A couple things I noticed before I send you off to read these clippings:
- Every child asked for fruit and candy. Never in a million years would I have asked for apples and oranges for Christmas.
- A handful of kids asked for a desk and chair.
- A lot of boys asked for fire crackers and Roman candles.
- Some of these letters really illustrate how difficult it was to live (let alone be a kid) 100 years ago.
Check out the rest by clicking the Facebook link. There are a handful of very sad stories and others that will make you laugh. If you have a kid who's being naughty but is expecting the world for Christmas, maybe you need to read some these Christmas lists to them from back in the day.