THE MICHIGAN DAILY
TUESDAY, NOV. 24, 1942
I I
3iryirganD all
WOMEN'S STAFF
BARBARA deFRIES, Women's Editor
NIGHT EDITORS:
Frances Triestram
Shirley Raskeyr
Phyllis Present
Alice Fretz
Betty Harvey
g fp
ISSUE EDITOR: JANET VEENBOER
Solitary Confinement?
Dear Santa Claus: I want a new
"job." That shouldn't be hard to ar-
range For a talented man like you,
getting me a new "place of business"
should be about the simplest thing
you have to do for Christmas. I would
prefer a nice deserted desert island,
with nobody around. (As you can see
I am trying to get away from people,
all kinds of people.)
I haven't asked for anything for
many years and I hope that you will
see fit to grant my one unselfish wish.
ERWIN ROMMEL
Field Marshal, Germany Army
North Africa
Donder Or Blitzen?
Dear Santa: I'm not asking you for
a diamond bracelet (you can save it
for scrap) or a streamlined car (it
would slowly rust in my garage), or a
mink coat (war bonds are better), or
a Flying Fortress (even if you threw
in the pilot.) I'm not even askingyou
for coffee, or sugar, or a gallon of
gas; no, not even for rubber lifts for
my black shoes so I won't fall down-
stairs again. I don't require you to
leave a stocking to put my presents
in.
You can keep all these things, San-'
ta; I've no use for them. But I have
one request, or do you know? Puleese
Santa, give me one of your reindeer
to ride down 5th Avenue.
DOROTHY PARKER
Letters
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Students Recall Past Christmases
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Who's Muscling In?
Dear Santa Claus: I am told that
you give people what they want for
Christmas. Some baby needs new
shoes, but Benito needs a new boss.
All I do all day long is talk to Hitler.
One day I go to Brenner Pass, the
next to Munich. What he tells me to
do, I do.
He promise that nothing happen to
my Empire. England take Ethiopia.
Now she take Libya. ?Hitler say he
send help as soon as he takes Stalin-
grad. I cannot wait that long. Today
the Americanis have landed on Africa.
Hitler can do nothing about it. Please
SantaClaus, send me a new boss.
And Santa, if you can will ydu
please send me a new toga and a new
jaw. Last week I tell Hitler that I
cannot send him a million soldiers.
Adolf get mad and I need them.
BENITO MUSSOLINI
P. S. If you tell Hitler that I tell
you this Imay not be dictator of Italy
soon, so let's keep it a secret between
us just you and me.
Merry's Missing
Dear Santa Claus: It doesn't prom-
ise to be a very "Merry Christmas"
for most of us this year. Of course,
there will be little things that will
contribute to our happiness-maybe
a letter from home, a picture, or some
small gift-but not until this war is
over and our job is done can we really'
look forward, to a "Merry Christmas"
again.
If we ever want to know another
Christmas just like the ones we used
to know, or any Christmas at all for
that matter, we must come out on
top. The Army, the Navy, and the Ma-
rines are all.doing. their part, but
they cannot do it alone. They need
the'help of-every single person in this
country of ours.
That is the best Christmas gift any
of us could receive, Santa-to know
that every person in the country is
behind us and is doing his part. We
don't want to hear about any more
petty.quarrels on whether poll taxes
should be abolished or not, or whether
negroes should be allowed to work
with or be segregated from whites in
war industries.'
Negro or white, northerner or
southerner, Christian or Jew, we are
all in this together. So keep those
ships, guns, tanks, and airplanes com-
ing, and when the war is over we will
all celebrate.
A PETTY OFFICER
Eloise Requests
Dear Santa Claus: Here it is Christ-,
mas again and my little head is just
bursting with ideas on what you can
put in my nylons this year.
Before I tell you, I want to file a
complaint on the scrap collection you
left in the middle of my floor last
Christmas. In the first place that
history book you left was all wet. The
Whiskey Rebellion was not the Era
of Good Feelings and the Boston Mas-
sacre is not a women's hairdo.
Then there's that paragraph that
says George Washington was an acro-
bat because one book states, "Little
George Washington went upstairs and
sat on his chest." And while I'm men-
tioning books, that thick one "Dic-
tionary" by Webster ... well the guy's
got a damn good vocabulary but where
is the plot to the story????
And, please, Santa, don't send me
any more Orphan Annie dolls. The
one I have now won't let me butter her
nose until I drink some Ovaltine and
eat the box tops. Zowie, that was
some rocket ship you gave me though
but don't send me another one.
I was tearing through the house one
day and hit Dad between . . . the
kitchen and the parlor.
All I want this Christmas is a new
Dick Tracy badge with the Mole and
Pruneface attached, an oxygen tent
and other camping equipment, a C gas
ration card, one ton of sugar and Hit-
ler, Mussolini and Tojo dolls garbed
in baby blue diapers Please don't
send me any women. . . blonds, bru-
nettes, redheads or plaids. But send
me a strait-jacket, size 36, with lapels.
SAMMY SENIOR, '43
Stars Want Glitter
Santa, Darling: We two girls have
a rather outstanding problem with
which we feel you might be able to
help. We have heard that you ae
sympathetic and generous in nature
and interested in the cares that beset
young people, and indeed, after nine-
teen hundred and forty-two years
(though one would never believe them
to look at you, Santa, darling) you
should be able to figure out the situa-
tion.
Would you believe it, we can't look
a sheep in the. eye any more? But
nobody seems to have any scruples
about looking at us. So Santa, you
cute old thing, how about whipping
us up something a little different
this year. Give the sweaters back to
those little college girls and leave us
a couple of sequin-trimmed Mother
Hubbards.
RITA AND LANA
Sugar, Daddy?
Dear Santa Claus: They laughed at
you for continuing to ride 'in your
sleigh when you could have bought a
car. Now they are walking. They
called you a back number when you
didn't listen to the impassioned pleas
of oil furnace salesmen. Now when
you come home you can take off your
overcoat instead of ptting on another
one as they do. When you refused to
give up drinking reindeer milk for
coffee, they said you didn't know what
you were missing. Now you aren't the
one who is missing it.
Yes, Santa, I take back all these
remarks I made-and by, the way,
could you drop a pound of coffee and
a tire at my house when you go by?
JUST ONE IN A MILLION
Christmas supplements on The Daily, oddly enough, always bringt
thoughts of the Christmas Vacation train ride home.
We might say at the outset, that vacation home-treks are not what theyc
used to be when we were a girl. No longer need the quivering maiden norc
even the shaking male-the latter, incidentally, being in much more actualv
danger than the former-approach his or her coach with the steeled chin,c
the bitten lip and the "carry-on" straightness to his or her shoulder blades.
No more need the standard equipment for the New York Central Christmas
Express include a pair of concrete-reinforced steel knuckles, a side-saddlec
tied to a buzz-saw, and some odd and assorted hat pins and tear-gas bombs.e
Yes, the Express has changed, and we feel, as we sit here nodding overz
the tea cozy we are knitting for our granddaughter's trousseau, that thel
change is not for the best. Somehow there is a tinge of youth's decadence
in the ritual of the Christmas homecoming these days.
As we knew it, the Express tip was a combination of a two-day en-z
durance game of postoffice, an intensive decathlon match and a six-weeks'I
run of Ten Nights in a Barroom. Our friends dedicated the entire trip toE
physical improvement, throwing themselves about in a commendable exhi-
bition of brisk bodily exercise.
But now, now what does the youth of America, homeward bound for
a joyful Christmas vacation do? First of all, everybody arms himself with
tremendous volumes of "Information Please, Starring Oscar, John, F. F., ands
Clifton";:"Twenty Questions"; "The Encyclopedia Britannica"; "A World1
Guide to Symphony"; "A World Guide to Opera"; and "Bartlett's Quota-
tions."
Once on the train, the entire passenger body settles down to an hilarious
evening of batting his brains against the fellow's in the seat opposite him
and whistling his mouth to a pulp trying to stump the goon-girl across
the way on a sub-transition passage of a forgotten symphony.
Some may call it intellectualism but we of the older generation cannot
but feel that this is the sort of thing that Hitler might be writing up in
the Volkische Beobachter as symbolic of the putrescence of American youth.
As a precaution against your Christmas reading of newspaper features,
affectionately known to us as the Horror-From Hunger features, we are
recomposing the two stock stories which are run every holiday in every rag
from sunny coasts of Maine to the rock-bound shores of California. If writ-
ten as they really happened and without the imaginative embellishments
of newspapermen who have taken their opium pipes in hand, they would run
as follows:
L Patrolman O'Shaugnessy, patroling his beat in the stormy, bitter cold
of Christmas Eve, twirled his club and occasionally rapped it on the bricks
of the buildings he passed as he thought about the warm fireplace of the
home he would soon go to, of the spicy smell of Christmas goodies and the
happy shouts and screams of his kiddies'as they gathered about the Christ-
mas trees. Wrapped as he was, in his thoughts, he almost stumbled over
the figure of a little girlstanding in front of the brilliantly-lighted toy store
on one of the side streets of his beat.
Her little nose was pressed against the window, and her eyes were full
of longing as she eyed the life-size doll, which was placed in the center of
the display. It was.a beautiful doll, dresssed in ruffled silk and with long
curls of real hair. She looked up at him with a pitiful little smile as he
stopped before her. "I've never had a doll in my life." she said.
Patrolman O'Shaugnessy's hard Irish face became tender as he looked
at her. He reached in his pocket. "Here's a penny for you kid," he said
*warmly. "Dolls are foolishness for little girls."
I. Nick Patrelli walked home on Christmas Eve whistling. He had good
reason to whistle. For the first Christmas in five years, he.had a job. He
had just gotten it yesterday, and he fingered the ten dollars advance in his
pocket and thought of the gift he would buy for his wife.
But when he went into the grocery store near his home to buy some
cigarettes, he noticed an old woman, thinly shawled, in the store arguing
with the grocer.
"But we must have bread," she was saying. "I can pay the bill next
week, perhaps, but now my little grandchildren are starving." When the
old woman went out, Nick ordered ten dollars worth of groceries sent to her
home.
He told his wife about it as soon as he got home. "It means you won't
have a Christmas present, dear, but we've made those poor people happy."
His wife knocked Nick cold with one swing of a flat iron.
Merry Christmas
IS SHE CASUAL?
.gn
IS SHE SMOOTH?
IS SHE FEMININE?
IS SHE A GADABOUT?
These are a preview of some
of the lush things MIMI is
featuring for Christmas.
Her gorgeous collection of
lingerie, jewelry, sweaters,
evening purses, and oh so
many pretty things that are
perfect for gifts. Incidentally,
Christmas! When we were young it
was a magic word that brought visions
of Santa and his reindeer, stockings
hung on the mantle, and gifts piled at
the foot of a glittering tree, to say
nothing of the huge turkey that fa-
ther had such a time carving.
It was one thing that we, as Ameri-
can children, had in common with
others of our own age all over the
world, even though the young people
of other lands celebrated in ways
other than ours. This year Christmas
will be forgotten or modified in mgst
countries of the world; children are
separated from their parents and in
many places are being drilled to make
better future soldiers.
Christmas in Cina
Sui Tsung Chen, '45, of Shanghai,
recalls the days "back when." "Christ-
mas is not very well known in China
except in the cities," she said, but
added that in places where it is known
schools used to give one week holi-
days. Santa Claus is knovxi in China,
too, she pointed out, and he wears the
same clothes and does the same things
as in this country, the only difference
being that his face is Chinese. The
Christmas atmosphere used to. be
shown there, as here, in the beautiful-
ly decorated windows and by the spe-
cial cartoons in the movies
"However, now," Miss Chen con-
cluded, "the Chinese people docnot
feel like being too gay at Christmas..
There are very few parties, for most
of the celebration consists of giving
money and gifts for the relief of the
poor."
Germans Celebrate Early
Moving across the' world, one stu-
dent told of the Christmas she had
seen years ago in Germany. Christmas
Day is a religious celebration, she
said; it is on St. Nicholas' Day earlier
in December that they celebrate as
we do. Then St. Nicholas comes to
each house and leaves a gingerbread
man for each good child and some
faggots tied on a stick to whip those
who have been bad.
The Christmas tree as it is, known
in America is not used in Germany,
although they do decorate a small
evergreen with candles and .cookies:
for the pleasure of the children.
Mercy Cornelius, Grad., from Vel-
lose, South India, told of Christmas
in her home land. "India Christians
do not make much of Santa Claus,"
she said, and then pointed out that
there is, of course, no snow in Decem-
ber in her country. Outstanding in
the Indian celebration is the caroling;
which continues from DXcember 1.
through Christmas Day. This native
music fills the air during this holiday
season, when the weather is 'usually
bright and clear.
IndansaHelp Poor
School children, in their holiday
dress, are brought to see the gayly
decorated shop windows, and, villagers
make their yearly visit to- a town
church to worship there at Christmas.
Here the altars are piled high with
gifts for the poor, and even family
servants are presented with presents.
Outstanding is the Indians' 'spirit in
giving to those less fortunate thah
themselves, for Miss . Cornelius said
that she had seenh people go out to
tle villages in carts laden with gifts
for the indigent. In her opinion, she
stated, Indians have come very near
catching the real Christmas spirit.
All people, Allied and Axis, have
memories of their own "White Christ-
mases." It's one bond that shouldn't
be broken in spite of the strife today.
The University of Oregon was the
first school in the country to use
War Stamps as admissions to social
functions.
REAR YE! HEAR YE!
A Toast to you all-
for the Merriest, Happiest
Christmas Season.
BEAUTY SHOPS
"Above the Parrot"
338 SOUTH STATE - $878
Phone 3414, 1133 EAST HURON
<0from Santa -
NITWEAR!
START to spin your Christmas
yarn now. Your friends will love
to receive a present that you have
made yourself.
Bey some good yearn and let us help you with the directions.
FOR THE KNITTER: Buy her some yarn and let her knit
herself something of her own choice. A wide selection!
Van Akkeren Knit Shop
U
,-
FOR MAN OR WOMAN, boy or girl, there is no
nicer Christmas gift than a pair of Daniel
Green slippers. They're practical. They're
good-looking. They come in all sizes. And
when you give Daniel Greens you know that
your thoughtfulness in~ selecting the best is
bound to be appreciated.
Come in soon and see our special Christmas
selection of these famous slippers.
BOBO."
Ciel Blue and Dubonnet.
tMAJORETTE."
Red and Black, Royal Blue.
$4.50
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WARM on her shoulders and
lovely, too. These bed jackets
make delightful gifts-They
come in 'a variety of styles
and colors. We know that
she'll be pleased with one.
.,~ ~A"