Hi G. Lee Hearl, I guess you could say that " Santa having the flu" was quite evident in lots of households around the world this year, but who other than the good little old Mrs. could have saved face and pulled him through! Thanks for adding some smiles at a time when thats all one can do..grin and bear it! There must have been lots of times in our ancestor's history when poor old Santa couldn't show and his Mrs. stepped in! Its great to know that the women of this world can be depended upon in a calamity! Looking forward to a Great New Year in Family History for Everyone! In family searching, Florence Friedenstab Griffin

To All: I came up during the Great Depression when times were hard! The Christmas catalogs arrived about the first of October and we had worn them out by December, looking and wishing and making lists to send to Santa Claus.. We gave mama our lists to mail but I suspect now that they never got mailed, because she didn't have the 3 cents it cost to mail a letter at that time... Any way, it seemed that Santa never stopped at our house and I know, my parents felt really bad about.it. One Christmas eve they told us to go to bed and maybe Santa would come! We went to bed but naturally, we couldn't go to sleep! After about an hour, we heard a loud Bang! We jumped out of bed and ran into the front room. Daddy came in the door with his shotgun and said, "That'll teach him to go by without stoppin'!" "What happened?" we asked.. Daddy said, "I saw Santa going over our house without stoppin' so I shot one of his reindeers!" We didn't get any toys that year but we had plenty of deer meat to eat!! G. Lee Hearl Authentic Appalachian Storyteller Abingdon, Va..