Letters to Santa
Jackie’s letter to Santa with his enclosed cut out of
a Red Ryder BB gun. (Robertson family papers,
Mss1 R5495 b 6809-6813)
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"I want an official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200 shot range model air rifle!"
Ralphie from A Christmas Story
Perhaps you've seen A Christmas Story and remember Ralphie, a young boy in the 1940s, who asks for a BB gun for Christmas but is told by his parents, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."
Imagine my surprise when, going through a collection of Robertson family papers, I found a letter to Santa written by a boy named Jackie, presumably Ralphie’s age, requesting Santa to bring him a Bird bicycle and an air rifle. And just so Santa would know what kind of rifle Jackie wanted, he enclosed a picture of a Red Ryder BB gun. But perhaps my favorite part of the letter is the simple, yet heartwarming drawing of Santa’s head in profile at the top of the page. If only we knew if Jackie received his coveted Red Ryder BB gun!
We have more letters to Santa on the next page.
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