We did this once before, and it was so popular that we’ve decided to do it again.
In the 1920s, the Akron Beacon Journal published Letters to Old Santa, a daily feature in which children described the gifts they hoped to receive. Thousands of letters poured into the newsroom each December and hundreds were published in the newspaper.
Today, we’re reprinting some memorable letters from 1926. They reveal a lot about the era in which they were written and hint at how much has changed in 85 years.
Take a peek at some of these Roaring Twenties wish lists from “The Greatest Generation.” Maybe you’ll recognize some of the names.
Dear Santa:
Please send me a Flexible Flyer sled, a bicycle, a desk, a tomboy skirt and a book bag. This is about all I want this time. I could ask for more but I want to be considerate. I am 12 years old. Please bring me lots of candy and nuts too if you have enough. But if you don’t, go to the poor children first because I can do without if there is not enough for the other boys and girls.
Lots of love,
Betty Ripley
Dear Santa:
Will you please bring me a 22- caliber gun for Christmas and some bullets for the gun. I am sure our chimney is big enough for you. I want to go hunting for wild ducks and rabbits. If I could only have a 22-caliber gun, I think I would be hunting almost all the time.
Goodbye, Santa dear.
Pete Grecni
Dear Santa:
I want just one thing for Christmas. I have wanted it for many years, but have not got it yet. It is a wrist watch. I would also like to have some candy and nuts. Oh! I forgot! I also want some gifts.
Yours truly,
Anna Riemenschneider
Dear Santa Claus:
Will you please send me a B-flat trumpet, silver-plated, with a gold-plated bell? Bring my brother Andy the same thing. John wants a wagon, Charles wants a big size Erector set. Please bring William a big train that goes on a track, and Julius a big stocking full of baby toys. And bring a cash register and a phonograph and some records. P.S. We are all very good.
Yours truly,
Martin Rosenberg
Dear Santa:
I would like to have a little stove for Christmas. I would be very thankful for it.
Yours lovingly,
Florence Fatiguso
Dear Santa:
Please bring me a little double-deck bus and a dump truck and a train that has lights and a station and a tunnel. I want a little steam engine and a blue streetcar and a little fire department. Also a little iron taxicab, a horn, a pop gun. I want a little desk too and a game of checkers, lights for my Christmas tree, a little hoe and shovel and rake, a steamship, a drum, a Toonerville Trolley, and a windmill and a little airship. Please bring me what you can of these things. P.S. Please bring me some money and a dollar bill.
With love from
Billy Epperson
Dear Santa:
I am glad that you are so good that you give us everything we want when we send you a letter. I am going to tell you what I want for Christmas. Please send me a sled, a doll, a set of dishes and a doll bed.
Goodbye, Santa.
Juliet Krabosky
Dear Santa Claus:
I saw your things in the window the other day. I saw your reindeer in the window at the M. O’Neil store. And I saw some blackboards in the windows. And I want a desk for Christmas.
Love,
Billy Schofield
Dear Santa Claus:
How are you after all this vacation? I have been wanting a manicuring set and a slicker, but I don’t want anything until everybody else has what they want. I am going to color all your pictures and the one that is the best I am going to send. If you have a stove left, will you please bring it to me? A By-lo doll too, but if you don’t have them, I don’t want them. I am going to be good all the time now, although I have always been good, anyway. I will say good-by now.
Your little friend,
Blanche Miller
Dear Santa:
I am well and hope you are the same. Will you please bring me a pair of long pants and a pair of shoes, also a pair of boxing gloves? And if you do, I will thank you very, very much.
Your friend,
William Young
Dear Santa Claus:
Will you please bring me a telegraph set and also a sled for my brother and I? My brother is 9 years old. He also wants a pony and cart, besides the sled. And my mother wants a new dress, a new hat and a new coat and a pair of shoes. I also want a writing desk and a new fur coat.
Yours truly,
Mildred Elliott
Dear Santa:
Please bring me a red pocketbook and new shoes and a new hat. Also a pretty new dress for my doll baby.
Yours truly,
Anna May Sheets
Dear Santa:
I would like for you to send me a soccer ball, a Flexible Flyer, a chemical set, and a bicycle and a sled.
Yours truly,
Charles Egger
Dear Santa:
I am longing so for Christmas to come. I want a slicker and a hat to match. I also want a desk and a nice new hat to wear on Sunday. Please bring me some fruit and nuts, too. Well, I must close now.
Your friend,
Betty Jane Roberts
Dear Santa:
I would like to have several games. And I want a pencil box. I would like to have a box of crayons. I hope you will have a Merry Christmas.
Your little friend,
Nada Domokur
Dear Santa:
I wish you would please bring me a little battleship, a war tank and a dump truck and that is all.
Yours truly,
Michael Hughes
Dear Santa:
Please bring me a bicycle, a mechano set and a tool box, and a suit.
Your true friend,
James Kardos
Dear Old Santa:
Mama says if I’m real nice and write to you and ask for a doll, you’ll give it to me. I am being real good and I want a doll so bad. I would also like to have a little doll dress, a chiffonier, some stockings for the doll and some shoes for the doll.
Your little friend,
Jeannette Crawford
Dear Santa:
I am well and I hope you don’t get sick on Christmas, for I want an Erector set for Christmas Eve. Are you going to bring it Christmas Eve, so I can find it by the fireplace the next morning? I hope my present is the Erector Set and I’d like to have an electric train and a bicycle. And I hope it is here quick. I can barely wait for Christmas.
Yours truly,
Steve Juhasz
Dear Santa Claus:
I am a nice little girl and would like for you to bring me a nice mamma doll and a cedar chest, a little set of dishes and also a little house for my twin dolls. Hope I’m not asking too much. Will be very much pleased if you will bring me this. Also bring my two little sisters something nice. They both are sick.
Lots of love,
Ada Irene White
Dear Santa Claus:
When I met you downtown, I neglected telling you that we have changed our address to 213 Sixth St., Cuyahoga Falls. Also I was so excited that I forgot the most important things. They are Zippers, bedroom slippers, a doll with rubber hands, some books and a toilet set. Please remember my relatives and friends. Also the little orphans.
From your good little friend,
Etta Margaret Hudson
Dear Santa:
Won’t you please come to my house and bring me an Erector Set and an arithmetic book so I can learn my lessons better. And a tool chest. If you cannot give me all these things, I do wish you can give me an Erector Set for Christmas. Goodbye.
Your loving friend,
Henry Reiber
Dear Santa:
Don’t forget to stop at my house Christmas Eve. I want a pair of slippers and a box of paints, and an embroidery set. I would like some candy for mother and all of the family. I forgot I wanted a beautiful dress for Christmas. I am 13 years old.
Goodbye,
Sarah Girlando
Dear Santa:
I would like a doll with curly hair. And I would like to have a new dress and a pair of shoes. I also would like a printing press. I must close now and I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Your little friend,
Gladys Johnson
Dear Santa:
I want an electric train and a book and a bobsled for Christmas. I hang up my stocking every Christmas. I don’t believe the children who say there is no Santa Claus for I know there is.
Goodbye, Santa Claus.
John Crumrine
Mark J. Price is a Beacon Journal copy editor. He can be reached at 330-996-3850 or send email to mjprice@thebeaconjournal.com.
