CHRISTMAS REFERENCES
IN THE ERB BIO TIMELINE
Christmas 1901
ERB creates his first complete unified works - three booklets dedicated
to Harry's young children, five-year-old niece Evelyn and seven-year-old
nephew, Studley: a humorous booklet about family members, a collection
of children's poems and drawings, "Snake River Cottontail Tales," and a
booklet of recipes and cartoons, "Grandma Burroughs' Cook Book"
1903
December 25: Ed and Emma spend Christmas in Parma, Idaho.
Christmas letters go out on the letterhead of the Sweetser-Burroughs
Mining Co.:
Geo.T. Burroughs, Jr. Pres., Walter S. Sparks, Vice-Pres., Lewis H.
Sweetser, Sec'y., Henry S. Burroughs, Treas., Minidoka, Idaho.
They receive a mounted Gila monster from Bert and Margaret in Beatrice.
1907
December: Ed sends out personally-drawn Christmas cards with a picture
of himself as Santa being treed by a snorting reindeer with the typed greeting:
"Uncertainty as to the movements of a certain stock has decided Santa Claus
to remain where he is for an indefinite period. We are therefore sending
you only our best wishes for A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year. A
poor excuse is better than none. ~ Emma and Ed"
1908
Ed writes the poem "Poverty!" and pawns Emma's jewelry.
Ed receives a warm Christmas letter from his father in which he reports
that he has paid off Ed's debts to Coleman. Business apparently has turned
sour for all of the Burroughs clan.
1909
Lack of funds results in Ed creating the drawings and verses for home-made
Christmas cards.
1919 January 4: Ed, residing at 325 North Oak Park Avenue,
Oak Park, receives a bill from the Yellow Cab company for damages
of $9.10 for repair to the cab involved in the Christmas Day accident --
repairs to a broken tire shaft and side panel. Ed replies on January
13 that he will not pay as the accident was unavoidable and he was not
at fault.
1920
August: Joan enters the Ramona Convent in West Alhambra, but withdraws
before Christmas
1927
"We ceased sending Christmas cards last year. It grew to be a meaningless
gesture. We had a list of names in a book, we ordered the Christmas cards
a month ahead of time, some one else addressed the envelopes -- that is
Christmas sentiment for you. All our friends were vying with each other
to outdo everyone in the expense and elaborateness of their Christmas Greetings.
We decided that it was vulgar, shoddy and bunk. Therefore, we cut it out."
1934
December 25: Ed and Florence announce their engagement during a special
Christmas breakfast at the Gilbert home on Lexington Avenue
1935
December 25: Lee receives a large mechanical train set from Fred Mandel.
Virginia and Charlie Farrell and Katherine and Ralph Bellamy visit at 8:00.
The men spend much of the evening playng with the kids' mechanical toys
-- while Lee watches.
Ed writes a Christmas letter to Joan and family thanking them for the
gift of cologne and the telegram. He misses them very much. "Perhaps some
day we can be together again. We might, if we could all forgive the other
fellow's mistakes; but that is almost too much to ask of human beings."
December (late): Ed returns to Palm Springs to recuperate.
1939
December 23: Ed, Florence and the children drive to Yosemite for the
holidays. The got reservations after being on a two year waiting list.
The special Christmas Eve party for children is held at The Ahwahnee.
1940
December 27: Ed and family move to a three-bedroom cottage - part of
the Niumalu Hotel on Kapiolani Boulevard.
1941
December movies include: Adventure in Washington with Herbert Marshall
~ When Ladies Meet with Joan Crawford ~ Hold That Ghost with Abbott and
Costello ~ The Devil and Miss Jones with Jean Arthur ~ Here
Comes Mr. Jordan with Robert Montgomery
December 1: LETTER home to Joan. Ed has quit smoking and drinking and
is down to 183 pounds. He is preparing three Christmas packages for the
kids. He's forwarding another letter from Sgt Shonfeld for ERB, Inc. files.
December 3: LETTER
letter home to Joan. Gearing up for Christmas and playing paddle tennis
with Hully every day
December 5: LETTER home to Joan. Cold weather. He is interested
in Jim's proposed Aviation business: "I may take it up again myself - if
I get rich." . . . "Hulbert joins me in love to you all, and a VERY MERRY
CHRISTMAS!"
1942
December 24: Ed and twelve passengers board a DC-3 Marine transport
and fly out at 5:15. They arrive at Sydney's Mascot Field at 12:00 Australian
time after a rough trip: many hours, no food, no smoking, and not enough
seats. Ed's new portable typewriter falls off the roof of the navy bus
transporting them into the city. All the hotels are packed but he and Ham
Freeman get rooms at Usher's Hotel. Ed expectes a letter from Ralph with
information that would help him pick up ERB, Inc. frozen Australian royalties.
He spends Christmas Eve with three girls, Ham and an Australian captain.
Ed spends Christmas day writing stories, chatting with a P-38 fighter
pilot from Guadacanal and finally going out for a late-night steak supper.
1944
Ed spends his first Christmas in 11 years with his family. He later
meets with Florence and her new husband, Dr. Alfred Chase, and Caryl Lee.
After Christmas Ed undergoes surgery for a hernia which is followed
by a month in convalescence.
1945
January 10: LETTER from Tarzana to Thelma Terry: "My son got a 30 days
leave in November and the Army gave me 45 days travel orders and shipped
us both to the Mainland on the same plane. I spent the first Christmas
in eleven years with my three children, with four grandchildren thrown
in. It was a wonderful Christmas for me. Then I had to have an abdominal
operation, and the Army gave me a thirty day extension for convalescence.
I expect to be back in Honolulu about February 1st."
Ed receives a card from old friend, Ham (Lt. Col. Hamner Freeman).
1949
December 23: Fifty-seven-year-old nephew Studley Burroughs dies of
an embolism following an operation for a hiatus hernia.
December 26: Ed moves into his new home at 5465 Zelzah Avenue, Encino.
He pays $14,000 for a two-bedroom house on 1/2 acre. Still weak from his
overexertions in the Pacific, Ed now spends much of his time resting. Some
of his favourite times are spent playing with grandsons, Mike, Johnny and
Danny (Danton).
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A BURROUGHS FAMILY CHRISTMAS 
