If you think that the war on Christmas is something new, think again. This 1911 article tells of a town that had banned Old Saint Nick because he wasn’t mentioned in the bible. Some people like to suck the fun out of everything.
“Good” People of Town Oust Old Santa Claus
Bellefontaine, O., Dec. 23. — Santa Claus has been “blacklisted” by the “good” people of this town.
The eminently respectable churchgoers and the school leaders have officially put the ban on him. He is too much trouble.
It might amuse the children, to be sure, but the church and school societies have no time for such foolishness.
Church leaders think great harm has been done the children by letting them believe there is such a saint as St. Nick. He isn’t in the Bible, and children should not associate their thoughts with anyone not in the saintly “400”, with his name prominently mentioned in the “blue book.”
Bellefontaine is a town of 10,000 inhabitants, and there are 1,500 children here. Every one of them was cherishing in his heart visions of a visit from Santa Claus. But nothing doing, say the “good” people.
The exact reason for his official disbarment is uncertain, but the fact remains. The school authorities wished to avoid the trouble of Christmas as entertainments, it is understood.
If Santa Claus does come here he will have to make his visit by stealth, and call only at individual homes. And the “good” people of Bellefontaine think they have accomplished a great moral work in branding as a myth one of the most cherished beliefs of childhood.
“There is no Santa Claus,” say the grown-ups, but the “kiddies” have not yet figured it out.
Source: (1911, December 23). Good people of town oust old Santa Claus. The Day Book, p. 26.
