In fact, awful things have been happening, and some of the presents have got spoilt and I haven’t got the North Polar Bear to help me and I have had to move house just before Christmas, so you can imagine what a state everything is in, and you will see why I have a new address, and why I can only write one letter between you both. I am dreadfully busy this year - it makes my hand more shaky than ever when I think of it - and not very rich. There is another letter in a later edition (2001) that is a neat read. The Tolkien Christmas has more elements of violence than the average! It tells of peril, where Christmas was almost lost to Goblin attack. Here is one in the introduction, a letter of 1933. While most of the book is typescript, there are a couple of examples of copies of the original letters. The beautiful cover image is of the Aurora Borealis fireworks that only Santa Claus could keep in his basement. The reference to “letting off all the lights” was 1926, where the Polar Bear set off “the biggest bang in the world, and the most monstrous firework there has ever been.” Chaos ensued in the North Pole. The note from Father Christmas began: “What do you think the poor dear bear has been and done this time? Nothing as bad as letting off all the lights.” Hope I shall arrive in time: the snow is very thick at the North Pole tonight: I am just off now for Oxford with my bundle of toys–some for you. I heard you ask today what I was like & where I lived.
On this page, Father Christmas writes to 3 year old John in 1920: So I will let the work speak for itself, posting a few examples of the artwork and some transcripts. I am thrilled to own this book and wish I had: a) thought of it myself and b) the skill to do it. The children received these letters each year with delight and wonder, finding themselves lost in the myth as long as they could. They include beautiful art, hand-drawn stamps, the hilarious antics of a polar bear, and personal notes in Father Christmas’ shaky handwriting. These letters were carefully delivered to the Tolkien family mantel each year. From his first child’s toddlerhood to the end of his last child’s Christmas innocence, Tolkien wrote letters from Father Christmas each year. If you haven’t completed all your Christmas shopping yet, there are multiple editions around that would make wonderful Christmas gifts for older children or Tolkien fans–though you might need express shipping or the hopsitality of a used bookstore. Tolkien’s The Father Christmas Letters and she was good enough to give it to me. Published by his daughter-in-law in 1976 on the 3rd anniversary of Tolkien’s death, this is a stunning collection of art and humorous writing. What a find! At a yard sale a good friend scored a copy of J.R.R.
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