holidays Archives - Storyweek

A Snapshot at the President

February 18, 2019 By O. Henry in Old Stories Tags: O. Henry, holidays, politics, presidents

(It will be remembered that about a month ago there were special rates offered to the public for a round trip to the City of Washington. The price of the ticket being exceedingly low, we secured a loan of twenty dollars from a public-spirited citizen of Austin, by mortgaging our press and cow, with the additional security of our brother’s name and a slight draught on Major Hutchinson for $4,000. This is not quite a story, but instead an editorial O Henry (William Porter) published in an Austin, Texas weekly he founded called the The Rolling Stone. The copy presented [Read More]

Valentine Day

February 14, 2019 By John Hartley in Old Stories Tags: holidays, young love, love, John Hartley, romance, dialect

Ha monny young folk are langin for th’ fourteenth o’ February! An ha mony old pooastmen wish it ud niver come? Sawr owd maids an’ crusty owd bachelors wonder ‘at fowk should have noa moor sense nor to waste ther brass on sich like nonsense. But it’s noa use them talkin’, for young fowk have done it befoor time, an’ as long as it’s i’th’ natur on ‘em to love one another an’ get wed, soa long will valentine makers have plenty to do at this time o’th’ year. Ther’s monny a daycent sooart of a young chap at thinks [Read More]

Reginald on Christmas Presents

December 10, 2018 By Saki (H.H. Munro) in Old Stories Tags: public domain stories, christmas, holidays, gifts, Saki

There ought (he continued) to be technical education classes on the science of present-giving. No one seems to have the faintest notion of what anyone else wants, and the prevalent ideas on the subject are not creditable to a civilized community. Reginald’s views on Christmas gifts (and Christmas in general, if you look close enough) are from H.H Munro’s Reginald, which collects satirical pieces of cutting social commentary Munro had previously published in newspapers. This copy is from the edition available at Project Gutenberg. There is, for instance, the female relative in the country who“knows a tie is always useful,” and [Read More]