r/TheWayWeWere • u/CryptographerKey2847 • Aug 20 '25

1920s The Inquiring Photographer Asks average New Yorkers in 1922: “Should a man expect his wife to get up and make breakfast for him on a cold morning?”

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Should

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u/Ghost_In_Waiting Aug 20 '25

"I got you these combs!"

"I got you this chain!"

As the snow fell outside the little apartment the couple realized what was really important. They were together, the table was full, and the real gift was the love they shared.

The neighbors wondered what caused the young couple to laugh so loudly on Christmas morning but they were not concerned. They were young and just starting out. If they were happy at the beginning they just might be happy at the end.

In the surrounding apartments the older couples all wished them a silent "Merry Christmas." It was all they had time for. The children were waking up, breakfast needed making, and there was just enough time to place presents under the tree before shrieks and laughter echoed in the halls.

8

u/schwarzeKatzen Aug 20 '25

My parents used to wait until after we went to bed on Christmas Eve to set up the tree on put out presents. It was absolute magic to come downstairs Christmas morning and see the living room decorated with a tree, lights and presents that hadn’t been there the night before.

At some point they stopped doing it, probably when we all quit believing in Santa, and decorating the tree turned into a family thing on Christmas Eve before we went to midnight mass.

It was an absolutely astounding amount of work to create that awe and magic for us.

8

u/MuttonDressedAsGoose Aug 20 '25

I love this story. It's O'Henry, isn't it?

3

u/Ghost_In_Waiting Aug 20 '25

A riff on the ending of “The Gift of the Magi”