I sent this in to the New Yorker Staats Zeitung
They asked for submissions for einem Weihnachten, dass Sie nie vergessen werden.
They accept either English or German and my skills being what they are I elected the former.
My most unforgettable Christmas
The year was 1948 or 49 and we lived in Jersey City NJ. My mother took me to Macy’s on 34th Street in New York City to see Santa. We walked to the Hudson Blvd (today JFK Blvd) and got the bus to Journal Square. From there we took the Tube (today the PATH) to 34th Street. If you have ever seen Miracle on 34th Street you know what it was like because the story takes place in Macy’s of that era. I remember standing in a long line to get to the throne and like any five or six year old I must have been a fidget and plenty for my mother to handle.
In due time I was told I could proceed to Santa and sit on his lap to tell him my wants and desires. Imagine my astonishment when he said to me “Well Alan, what do you want for Christmas.” After that it’s pretty much a blur. You see, I was old enough to question how Santa could be on every corner and at every store at the same time, and Mom had explained how Santa had all these helpers who told him what the children had wanted. I had only expected a helper, but this Santa knew me by name! Mom had heard this whole exchange and when I came bubbling out and expressing my astonishment she explained that this must have been the real Santa. I believed in Santa long after the other kids had given up because I’d seen the real thing.
Years later when, I had children of my own, I asked mom how she had arranged this. She told me that she had not and was just as surprised as I was. When we got home she and my grandmother had looked me over to see if I was wearing a name or some other give away and I was not. My father (who was not there) said Santa had said “what do you want for Christmas pal” and that I heard Al. The only problem with this is no one had ever called me Al, and to this day I don’t like it. I would never have responded to it. And besides we were there. The mystery remained for over sixty years.
Last year I was listening to a program on NPR and someone who had worked as an elf at Macy’s was describing his duties. They included listening to the people on line and giving Santa any information available. A desired gift was good and a name was gold. So now we know. It made the memory of a lifetime. It also gave the movie Miracle on 34th Street a special meaning for me because like in the movie I had met the real Santa.
They accept either English or German and my skills being what they are I elected the former.
My most unforgettable Christmas
The year was 1948 or 49 and we lived in Jersey City NJ. My mother took me to Macy’s on 34th Street in New York City to see Santa. We walked to the Hudson Blvd (today JFK Blvd) and got the bus to Journal Square. From there we took the Tube (today the PATH) to 34th Street. If you have ever seen Miracle on 34th Street you know what it was like because the story takes place in Macy’s of that era. I remember standing in a long line to get to the throne and like any five or six year old I must have been a fidget and plenty for my mother to handle.
In due time I was told I could proceed to Santa and sit on his lap to tell him my wants and desires. Imagine my astonishment when he said to me “Well Alan, what do you want for Christmas.” After that it’s pretty much a blur. You see, I was old enough to question how Santa could be on every corner and at every store at the same time, and Mom had explained how Santa had all these helpers who told him what the children had wanted. I had only expected a helper, but this Santa knew me by name! Mom had heard this whole exchange and when I came bubbling out and expressing my astonishment she explained that this must have been the real Santa. I believed in Santa long after the other kids had given up because I’d seen the real thing.
Years later when, I had children of my own, I asked mom how she had arranged this. She told me that she had not and was just as surprised as I was. When we got home she and my grandmother had looked me over to see if I was wearing a name or some other give away and I was not. My father (who was not there) said Santa had said “what do you want for Christmas pal” and that I heard Al. The only problem with this is no one had ever called me Al, and to this day I don’t like it. I would never have responded to it. And besides we were there. The mystery remained for over sixty years.
Last year I was listening to a program on NPR and someone who had worked as an elf at Macy’s was describing his duties. They included listening to the people on line and giving Santa any information available. A desired gift was good and a name was gold. So now we know. It made the memory of a lifetime. It also gave the movie Miracle on 34th Street a special meaning for me because like in the movie I had met the real Santa.