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Marianne Clay |
No time offers better mail than now, when Christmas cards overshadow bills.
And when these cards contain notes, so much the better. Karen Miller of West
Olive, Mich., sent a poem from an old children's anthology, Big Talk and
Other Stories. "There is no publication or copyright date on this book
published by Hubard Bros. of Philadelphia," Karen writes. But, she notes,
the original owner inscribed the book, "Presented to Nina B. Van Ostman by her
sister Mami as a Christmas present Dec. 25, 1891." And the poem?
"Dressing Mary Ann," by Mary Mapes Dodge; the big name in children's
literature during her lifetime (1831-1905), she's best remembered for her 1865
novel, Hans Brinker: or, The Silver Skates, still in print and widely
read. But Mary contributed more than this beloved tale about an impoverished
Dutch boy who saves his country by sticking his thumb into a dike. In 1868,
she joined Hearth and Home as associate editor with Harriet Beecher
Stowe. In the middle of a depression in 1873, she became editor of what
became the leading children's magazine, St. Nicholas. While she attracted
work by Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bret Hart,
Frances Hodgson Burnett, and Rudyard Kipling to its pages, she also wrote some
of the content including, in the December 1879 issue, the poem Karen
enclosed.
Please enjoy "Dressing Mary Ann" by Mary Mapes Dodge.
She came to me one Christmas day,
In paper, with a card to say:
"From Santa Claus and Uncle John,"
And not a stitch the child had on!
"I'll dress you; never mind!" said I,
"And brush your hair; now, don't you cry."
First, I made her little hose,
And shaped them nicely at the toes.
Then I bought a pair of shoes,
A lovely "dolly's number twos."
Next I made a petticoat;
And put a chain around her throat.
Then, when she shivered, I made haste,
And cut her out an underwaist.
Next I made a pretty dress,
It took me 'most a week, I guess.
And then I named her Mary Ann,
And gave the dear a paper fan
Next I made a velvet sacque
That fitted nicely in the back,
Then I trimmed a lovely hat,
Oh, how sweet she looked in that!
And dear, my sakes, that wasn't all,
I bought her next a parasol!
She looked so grand when she was dressed
You really never would have guessed
How very plain she seemed to be
The day when first she came to me.
Happy holidays,
Marianne Clay
Editor
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