The Washington weekly post., 1899-11-21
CHE END.)
CURSE OF THE CALENDAR.
Reason Why IL Is Popular Gift for
Christmas.

From Pearson's Magazine
A careful calculation. based upon the
statistics of the last five years. shows that
during the present Christmas season eight
million four hundred calendars will be re-
ceived by inhabitants of this country as
Christmas presents. OF course, the total
just mentioned is in round numbers, but
IL VIII not vary more than a hundred or
two from the actual number of calendars
given away during the present month.
The reason why so many people select
calendars as appropriate Christmas gifts
Is plain. The calendar is inexpensive; it
cannot hurt the recipients religious, po-
litical, or social prejudices; and it saves
the giver the trouble of selecting any
other sort of present. Moreover. there is
general belief that the calendar is a
useful thing. and. therefore, the giver
does not feel as if he were squandering
money in an unjustifiable way, as he
would naturally feel If he were to give
away cigars, or books, or bottles of wine
all of which things please for the moment
and then either vanish away or cease to
please.
While there are thus reasons why the
giver of calendars should be satisfied with
himself, there is absolutely no reason why
the receiver should be satisfied. In point
Of fact, he never is. The average man,
provided he is not wholly without friends,
receives from six to twelve different cal
endars every Christmas. 1t is just with
in the bounds of possibility that he might
use s single calendar once or twice in
the course of the year, in order to ascer-
tain the particular day of the month.
Even this, however, is improbable, for
when man wants to know the day Of
the month, he either glances at the morn
ing newspaper. or he asks his wife to give
him the desired information. The suppo-
sition that any man would be so insane
as to consult, say, eight different calen-
dars- simultaneously, in order to know
whether a given day happered to be the
5th or 9Th of January. is obviously absurd.
The man or the woman who receives the
usual allowance of Christmas calendars
is naturally indignant at the givers. "Oh.
it's only one of those tiresome calendarsr'
is the remark with which the average wo-
man greets the inevitable Christmas pres
ent The recipient perfectly understands
the motives Of the giver, and despises him
or her accordingly.
The day after Christmas those who
have received calendars begin the effort
dining-room wall, one in the kitchen, one
in the servants bedroom, and, perhaps,
one in the front hall The remainder are
cramned into a cupboard until later in
the year, when they are thrown into the
dustbin, where TIE dustman finds them,
and claims ar extra tip on the ground
that they are garbage which should have
bJeu burned in the kitchen fire.
Inasnuch as everybody knows that no
one ever wants TO receive a Christmas
calendar, why does the custom of send
ing them continue to be so popular? The
answer is that the recipients lack the
courage boldly TO announce on the ap-
prOach of Christmas that no Christmas
calendars will be received under any Cir
cumstances whatever. That nobody has
the courage TO do this is certainly strange.
Most of US have summoned up sufficient
courage TO send the Christmas waits
about their business, the moment they be-
gin their caterwauling under the front
windows