CHRISTMAS FORM LETTER GREATEST HITS, PART 1
By Rick Kaempfer & Dave Stern



Tis the season for Christmas form letters, and once again your friends at Half Empty have managed to secure some of the greatest Christmas form letters of all-time. Between now and Christmas we'll feature a few of our favorites.

This week's entry was sent out 99 years ago, just before Christmas 1908.

Dear Friends and Family,

1908 sure has been a big year for the Chance family. Frank and his boys in Chicago managed to win yet another World Series!

I know what you're thinking: Doesn't it get old, winning so much, so often? Frank says he can't get enough of it, but to be honest it has been a little hectic around the house. Maybe next year the boys can let someone else have a chance. (No pun intended…OK, pun intended)

I know a wife shouldn't complain, but have you ever been to the Catskills in October? It's really the best time of year to go, but because Frank has such a booked October schedule every year, we just don't get the chance (yup, another pun) to see it. I was talking to Mrs. Tinker and Mrs. Evers about it the other day and they feel the same way.

In the unlikely event that the Cubs ever don't make it to the World Series some year, maybe our families will go together. That is, if Joe and Johnny ever (yup, another pun) start talking to each other again. Leave it to those Irish boys to tinker (tee hee, OK, I'll stop now) with success.

Hope this Christmas season of 1908 finds you and yours in good health (except for you, Ty Cobb). Oh, and please don't talk about this letter with Heinie Zimmerman. He may be a fairly good backup infielder, but he's not on our list because he's Jewish. They don't celebrate Christmas, you know.

Here's to a healthy 1909, and for that matter, the rest of this "Century of the Cubs."

Love and Kisses,
Mary Chance