It was Dec. 17, 1933, in the midst of the Depression, when B. Virdot placed an ad in the Canton, Ohio newspaper offering to give $10 to 75 people to help make their Christmas somewhat joyful. The gift was meant for those who might otherwise “hesitate to knock on charity's door for aid.”
Fast forward 75 years to 2008. Ted Gup, a former investigative reporter for the Washington Post, travels to surprise his mother on her 80th birthday. She presents him with a suitcase from her attic that contains family mementos
Among those mementos he finds an envelope with a sheaf of letters dated Dec. 18, 1933, a bank book for a B. Virdot showing a single $750 deposit, and 150 cancelled checks for $5 each, along with some thank you letters and newspaper clippings.
It turns out B. Virdot was Ted Gup's Jewish grandfather Sam Stone – a man who loved celebrating Christmas because of what it represented. At a time when America was descending into the worst economic times since the Depression, Mr. Gup was moved to research the names of the recipients, find their descendants and attempt to learn more about their lives and what, if any, impact this generous gift (equivalent to almost $100 today) had on their lives.
Along the way he also learns much about his immigrant grandfather's early life that was unknown to most of the family and he comes to identify why his grandfather might have done this noble deed.
Reading the letters and moving stories of these families is like opening a time capsule to these times that shaped the characters of our parents or grandparents. It's easy to see why they were so frugal and careful with everything they earned.
Equally interesting to me was the mystery revealed about the “real” Sam Stone – his early persecuted life of poverty in Romania to the new life he created in America with its economic highs and lows.
