This is part of our Take a Closer Look series. This regular feature offers a behind-the-scenes view of some of our hidden treasures in our library and what they reveal about our shared past.
"In the Beginning, all America was Virginia."
Perhaps you've seen A Christmas Story and remember Ralphie, a young boy in the 1940s, who asks for a BB gun for Christmas but is told by his parents, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."
Imagine my surprise when, going through a collection of Robertson family papers, I found a letter to Santa written by a boy named Jackie, presumably Ralphie’s age, requesting Santa to bring him a Bird bicycle and an air rifle. And just so Santa would know what kind of rifle Jackie wanted, he enclosed a picture of a Red Ryder BB gun. But perhaps my favorite part of the letter is the simple, yet heartwarming drawing of Santa’s head in profile at the top of the page. If only we knew if Jackie received his coveted Red Ryder BB gun!
