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Recent Acquisition

Kriss Kringle Chromolithographed

Kriss Kringle on a Wheel. New York: McLoughlin Bros., 1897.

This magnificently chromolithographed shaped book portrays Santa Claus as a modern, up-to-date icon! He rides a bicycle complete with head light, he supervises his trusty brownies, and keeps careful ledger books recording names of children and their gifts. He even has a telephone! This book certainly adds to our understanding of both the timelessness and adaptability of Santa Claus as a cultural hero.
Purchased from John Grossman. Ruth E. Adomeit Fund.

- Laura Wasowicz, Curator of Children's Literature

Recent Acquisitions Index

"One day I am visited by a collector of ordination sermons; the next, by a collector of 4th of July orations; then comes a collector of geography; another wants religious newspapers; another wants every book printed in New York before 1700. I accommodate myself to all; for I want every thing and collect every thing, and I have more zeal than the whole of them: and in this way I am kept very busy."
~Christopher Columbus Baldwin
 3rd Librarian of AAS