From the Lawrence Daily World for Dec. 23, 1910:

• “Lawrence parents are certainly shopping this week. They weren’t exactly waiting at the doors to make a rush for the counters when the stores opened each morning, but they didn’t dally long after the bars were let down. The little lads who open the big front doors for the steady streams of customers go home with weary arms each night…. It wasn’t mere window shopping or an I’m-just-looking-around-and-I’ll-be-back-later crowd. Not it. Up and down the streets moved big armloads of mysterious and wonderful packages of all descriptions…. And when the handle of a little red wagon stuck out and side-swiped a passer in the ribs, the assaulted one did not get mad and growl. He did not even glare. It was all in the cause of Santa Claus and he just smiled indulgently…. Now that the lid has been pried off, the shopping will be fast and furious and the loads the mail men carry will grow bigger and bigger. Lawrence clerks have been promised a holiday Monday [Dec. 26], and shoppers have not found them as cross and irritable as in former seasons.”
• “A shortage of funds will not prevent the Salvation Army from giving its usual Christmas dinner to the poor of Lawrence. The kettles have been on the street every day for more than a week…. Purchases for the baskets are already being made. They will contain a chicken, potatoes, coffee, sugar, bread, celery and cranberries. Each basket will contain enough provisions for a dinner for four.”