He awoke renewed shortstop, unjust, there's, Chuck, there's cherry over there. Let's get jolly because body it is Christmas day and then amazing, it's amazing, it's not to us, but it is to us too now think about it. Why are you a merry Christmas? Everybody, yes and merry Christmas to you and Jerry, and thank you for the lump of goal. We welcome and Jerry. Thank you for the red wagon. Thank you for my Ferrari, Jerry. While I got it wrong red wine, You got a magnet b. I read Ferrari yeah. It's pretty also amazing, thanks again Jerry anyway, since Christmas, Chalgrave Especial Christmas theme short stuff. Indeed, in its about something

the Santa Claus Association, and, if you want ever learn more about Santa Claus, says he should make sure you put those words in quota in your search engine because there's a lot of different Santa associations. This is a specific one that we're going to talk about. The had, also add New York to that search, yes, as ever really narrowed down to really well so the same Cause Association, we're talking about, has its back story in the about the turn of the century. The last century ok and in New York City in the United States. Really, the? U S, postal service had away a technique of dealing with little children's letters to Santa the furnace. They wouldn't they would destroy them, but that's right, they would say, these letters to the dead letter office than they would eventually be destroyed more in the worst case scenario returned to the little sender,

while the awful, and it was even stamped, returned to little sender. Yeah that especial say, eight signing it had the handling of reindeer back with us. Whether I write so the popular press, the media, as we call today and the public said this- is wrong. There's gotta be a better way to do This would have like charities, could get their hands on these letters and they can fulfil these these wishes because Spain is busy. Glitters really have time for letters. Maybe some grown ups could intervene and dumb grownups yeah hurry, and so they said there was great in the postmaster general at the time in nineteen o seven said: that's fine, I'm commanding all post offices in the United States to just hand over letters to say no to any charity that wants to fulfil them. I wonder

Spencer, generals dislike God with these letters like I'm trying to do a job right. Yes, there was the impression that I have now want to be in the sand, a male business any more into a godsend for them. Ok, everything worked pretty well for night. No7 and then in one thousand nine hundred and eight ordering one thousand nine hundred and seven the charitable organization society of New York to COS actually took it upon themselves to start investigating. The backgrounds of some of the letter writers to Santa and they went to their houses unannounced. Is there a little Timmy who lives here? Basically endless see, let's see the crow is that you mention in your letter tonight and they actually determine that some of these letter writers work quite is needy, as they made themselves sound in their letters. They determine that one little girl already had a doll boy anyway. This is enough to to get the postmaster

nl to reverse its decision in nineteen o eight, he said no or sending them back to the dead letter office. That's right that outburst her that outcry, the public outcry. That was even worse than it was before so finally chuck we reach the end of the backstory nineteen eleven leap. Master general the new one said from now on for from end to idiom beyond the United States. Postal service will hand over letters to Santa any charity that wants them, which is great, but in New York no one stepped up for two years and and by the time nineteen thirteen role around it seemed that there wouldn't be a Sanna again to fulfil these children's wishes in their letters to Santa letters to Santa City. Yes, that's right, and it was all over them. Burst headlines like mailmen disown, Santa and Santa Claus is tardy. Saint took over the streets and on December. Eighth of, I guess, nineteen thirteen

Edward Morgan, who is the New York Cities postmaster, who also had more important fish right right. He had a letter from a guy who is a customs broker named John Duvall Gluck Junior, and he said, let me This thing handed over to me, the Morgan said great. He did just get this off my plate. A really happy dinner at the deal with this Gluck had no kids, he was not married in the story was, that he was a kind hearted man who wanted to do something with his life right and this he saw this as an entre into that world. He also had some some pretty impressive credentials for somebody. Steps up and says are all handle the Santa business for the post office. From now on, he said that he was a special representative of newspapers, a famous tariff expert, an investigator.

Member of the secret service. None of those things were true yeah I mean the name of this article that you found was the con man who save Christmas yellows from history extra. So that should tell you kind of where this was headed. Yet the sky was lying to begin with, and the story just gets even more interesting. Should we take a break we should write, must take a break in will tell you about Gluck read after this

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was a fraud he made up all of his credentials and all that, but with the Santa Claus Association he actually did do something genuinely good for once yeah. He did. He started this organization and it was described as a bottom up, which is a good way to describe it because the donors and the people who did this were New York City residence. They were the real people he provided. He created the app basically human rights exact with it got people in touch with other people, got these letters in the hands of folks that had a little extra money in the case of H, Vanderbilt YE only chips and ten dollars, apparently, which is still only like a couple: Hundred bucks did I worked like to seventy five NATO skinflint. I was thinking my. We have a pretty good idea these days after looking at the inflation calculator for so many years and now indefinitely stuck up. So people were volunteering,

A lot of people were from clubs and organizations, but many just regular, ever new Yorkers. You didn't have a lot of money themselves. Sometimes right so imagine if you're New Yorker and you feel like you're city, is literally turned its back. Almost literally turn its back on needy children by ignoring their letters to stay in that, even though anybody could take him fulfill having Gluck step up and say, we can do this and create the Santa Claus Association, it just filled the with prize. You re started, throwing money at the Santa Claus, association faster than it could use. It yeah. They think that first year they answered the request of twenty eight thousand children. This astounding, that is super astounding, and they. Doing this for another like fifteen years or so, and he kept asking for a little bit more money, my cave at first, it was like when you cover the stamps sure just the same My second point that it was our beloved justice

few amble in that it was about some money for the gifts you know, and then she said about this. Around the Middle Manhattan. Let's build a Santa Claus building yeah. He said that the like that The unusual nature of our work can demand. That we have our own space to work in yet I mean: was this just sort of being rubber stamped? The whole time could seems. I keep just kept getting more and more funds either way that this history extra article puts it, is there The optimism, the postwar war, one an jazz age, optimism, really kind of created the sense of like wig. Do anything everybody's great of, of course, the guy who's running Santa Claus Association is fine. Have you heard jazz exact afflict indefinitely, but paper Ozanna caught her building heavy traded jazz cigarette to try one of those that, like what Brad Pitt smoked in once upon a time in Hollywood. Probably was that the owner ass, it did cigarette is just pot,

marijuana. Cigarette, I think, is what they called today gotcha and there like have you seen as new movie reefer madness for me you're gonna want to jump out a window, you'll be so excited. So eleven years in is when the first Macy's Christmas braid happens, which would eventually become the Thanksgiving Day parade, and it was all the sort of coalescing with catalogues and things like that and every ones Everyone's notion of Christmas was just getting more and more commercial. And more in the news, and it was just a big big deal. Yet Christmas became huge like the Christmas there. We understand it today that right it happened during this time. And it happened during the time that Gluck Santa Claus Association was handling answering the needy. Children of New York's Christmas wishes that right, but enter bird Collar New York's commissioner public welfare. His motto was: hey, I'm not the bad guys

probably so he was charged with going around to the unregulated charities of New York City and closing them down. I asking to see their financial records, including what chuck, while including the Santa Claus Association, BS but ink in addition, Santa Claus Association, he

investigate block party. So right there were raising money for the neighbourhood because they hadn't registered as charitable organizations. He was that guy got to make sure that the money is going in the right place. Yet so he said the Santa Claus Association Signal real sitting here, I'm going after me, Gluck said go here: he did because he didn't keep great records which turned out the can save him, because he didn't have much documentation. He could not be convicted of a crime when they found tens of thousands of dollars. Just unaccounted for basically gathers nineteen twenty dollars by the way. That's right, that's no! Ten dollar donation. I think I d give away that their this might have been officially operation. Was that the Hague court, the same causes Osage and was in the back of a stake house in Manhattan. I tried to find out what state house it could not find it. I did to the closest I could find was it was in the war worth's buildings Allah to, but that's it. There is no new

Ford or anything like that, I wanted to know, has no in New York City. It's still there, it's not bad enough. It was like a king Is there something no there's a through the Woolworth's building is still there, but I'll bet. It's somebody's like trillion dollar apartment right now, right and still think of dead beef, so I, like we said, could not be convicted but they said you are definitely not in charge of this Santa Claus. Association anymore. They took away his letters He left for Miami Emmi witches. I mean talk about a sure fire way to cement yours, the car is like I'm off to Miami, but the Good NEWS is they didn't starts any letters back to the dead letter office. Pretty soon the? U S, postal service would undertake operation. Santa Claus, which we talked about in a previous Christmas addition, ironically not based on necessarily, but I think Gluck system was

sort of an inspiration closely following a four year. Yet there are like ok, the guy went to Miami. We understand who he is now tried, but it was a pretty good idea. Sorgen a stick to it and still to this day, rather than the Santa Claus Association handling things at the Committee of postal employees. Are now the the app that connects children in need and the donors that want to help them out on Santa Claus. Behalf, wonderful and yet hats off to Alex Palmer for that history. Extra hum article among one of several well merry Christmas, buddy does it for the short stuff short stuff away with slavery. Stop you should know, is the production of Iheart radios? How stuff works for more podcast? My heart ready is it that I heard radio apple podcast

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