Merry Christmas by Stephen Leacock

Stephen Leacock was born in England in 1869. When he was six his family moved to Ontario, Canada where they lived on a farm on Lake Simcoe. The farm failed but the family survived by money sent from Stephen’s wealthy grandfather. Leacock’s father was an alcoholic and left his mother. However, his grandfather helped him, and his brothers, enroll in an elite private school in Toronto where he was at the top of his class.

He started writing short pieces of humor and fiction to supplement his income. He became very popular world wide. In fact, it was said that in 1911 more people had heard of Stephen Leacock than of Canada. Between 1915 and 1925 he was the most popular humorist in the English-speaking world.

Comedian Jack Benny was introduced to Leacock’s work by Groucho Marx, and Benny never understood why Leacock’s work was no longer well known in the United States. Leacock married in 1900 and had one son. He died from throat cancer in 1944 in Toronto.

'Merry Christmas' was published on January 1st, 1914, just days after the world had witnessed the Christmas Truce between British and German soldiers along the Western Front on Christmas Eve. The Germans had started to sing Christmas Carols, and then some of the Brits joined in. Peace broke out between the two sides. Soldiers shook hands and shared whatever they could on that frigid Christmas Eve.

Leacock wrote this story about a writer who is trying to write a Christmas Story, but doesn’t feel the Christmas spirit especially during this time of war. The war, even though just begun, had already taken its toll especially on Santa Claus who makes an appearance along with Father Time. Santa is down but, towards the end of the story, it’s clear that the human spirit is resilient. We can and do come back from adversity and hardship.

Merry Christmas!