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00:11Good evening. I'm Dave Moore. Tonight we are proud to present O'Henry's classic Christmas tale,
00:18The Gift of the Magi. One peculiar thing about O'Henry was that he always waited until the last
00:25possible moment to write his stories. One famous case in point, it's Christmas 1905, and the New York
00:34World newspaper has decided to come out with a special color Christmas edition featuring a new
00:39O'Henry story. Weeks flew by when O'Henry hadn't even given a title to the promised tale. Finally,
00:48an artist was dispatched to O'Henry's apartment, only to find out that the author hadn't given
00:54the story much thought. Please, said the artist, can you give me some idea of the story so I can
01:00start my illustrations? Well, O'Henry stared at the snow a bit, and he said, think of a poorly furnished
01:13room with a chair or two, a chest of drawers, and a simple bed. In the room, a man and
01:21a woman are
01:22discussing Christmas. He's playing with a watch, and her principal feature is long, beautiful hair.
01:35Uh, that's all I have for now, but it's coming. Well, with prodding from an anxious newspaper,
01:44O'Henry finished the story just hours before delivery. The story, he called it,
01:50The Gift of the Magi.
02:11Good morning, Mr. Granson. Any mail today? Yes, ma'am. Butchery, butchery. Christmas cards. Oh,
02:18thank you. I just love getting Christmas cards. Say, how would you like to come up for a nice cup
02:24of tea to warm your bones? Oh, thank you, ma'am. That's nice of you, but it's gonna be a
02:28long night
02:29as it is with all these mail liners. Thank you anyway. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.
02:36Tomorrow is Christmas. Now, I'm going to tell you a story about the poor,
02:42The Tradition of Giving, The North Wind, and empty letter boxes. Oh, excuse me, Mr. Cranston. And love.
02:51Any mail today for Mr. and Mrs. James Dillingham Young? Uh, well, I'm sorry now. Thank you.
03:05James Dillingham Young. The name Dillingham had been flung to the breezes in a former period of
03:14prosperity when his possessor was being paid $30 a week. Now that the income had shrunk to $20,
03:22the letters in the name Dillingham looked blurred, as though they were seriously thinking of
03:28contracting to a modest, unassuming D. But now, whenever James Dillingham Young comes to his flat above,
03:37he is called Jim and greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham Young. Uh, Della. Which is all very good.
03:47Yes, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
03:51I'm sorry.
03:53I'm sorry.
03:56I'm sorry.
04:30Oh, Jim, your lunch?
04:36Del?
04:37I'm sorry, I'm late.
04:40Oh, but, oh, Jim, I lost my glove, and an auto splashed me in the street.
04:45Oh, and not a single Christmas card in the mail today, and I'd wanted so much for you to...
04:50Shh!
04:53It will pass, Del.
04:55Oh, and not a single Christmas card as part of me.
05:35here's your stop down and by the looks of my grandfather's timepiece you've got just
05:39enough time to make it to the butcher's oh what about your lunch well i'll eat it later
05:48hurry along there you go
06:09well we are still in thank you
06:15why there's dilly young seems to stop and stare into that window most every day i'll bet it's
06:23those imported combs that have caught her fancy it'll be a warm day in december before she'll
06:29be able to afford them on a streetcar conductor's pay too bad because if there's someone with hair
06:35fit enough to wear fancy combs it's dela now there are two possessions of which the james
06:43dillingham youngs take a mighty pride one is jim's watch which was his father's and his grandfather's
06:51hair and the other is dela's hair if the queen of sheba lived in a flat across that air shaft
07:00dela undoubtedly would let her hair hang out to dry every day just to depreciate her majesty's jewels
07:06and gifts and if king solomon was the janitor with his treasures piled up in the basement jim
07:14pull out his watch every time he passed by just to watch the old man plucking his beard with envy
07:22well merry christmas mr killen
07:30afternoon dela what can i do for you some roast beef nice side of ham well sam i'd like two
07:37lamb chops
07:38wayne two lamb chops but not too large i've only got 50 cents for him by the way how's the
07:44present
07:44for the mister coming oh well after buying these lamb chops i'll only have a dollar 82 cents
07:52there's just not much you can get for a dollar 82 looks like almost half of it's in pennies
07:59pennies add up pretty slowly oh i've counted them three times they still add up to only a dollar 82
08:06just can't buy anything with that well you'll think of something while you're at it make it a dollar 87
08:15merry christmas dela merry christmas sam
08:31inside every bag of crystal sugar there's a world of crystal good purity
08:52the choice of proud cooks crystal pure crystal sugar
09:01think lunch okay all you seafood lovers what comes to mind a shrimp salad maybe a broiled filet
09:09well why not shrimp scampi or tasty oysters at red lobster you can have that for lunch
09:15sure how about cold boiled shrimp or just about anything that comes to a seafood lover's mind
09:21got you thinking about lunch come on red lobster for the seafood lover in you
09:31please sign this petition georgie petition she wants to call craft macaroni and cheese
09:37craft cheese macaroni annie the cheese can't come first but it's the cheese sauce that makes it taste
09:44so good craft macaroni and cheese dinner made with genuine craft cheddar what could taste better annie
09:50people won't call it craft cheese and macaroni are you kids enjoying your craft cheese and macaroni
09:56thanks mom craft cheese and macaroni
10:01the gift giving season is upon us and here's the perfect present for everyone on your list
10:05the new 1983 weather guide calendar it's informative interesting and colorful
10:10and contains practical facts that everyone will enjoy each day of the new year
10:15the 1983 weather guide calendar is available in most bookstores
10:18the freshwater institute and the science museum of minnesota
10:22or send 795 to weather guide wccotv minneapolis 55402
10:30the
10:34the
10:35Oh, my God.
11:10And here it is again, staring her in the face.
11:14A dollar eighty-seven to buy a present for Jim.
11:17No.
11:20There's clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl,
11:25which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles,
11:32with sniffles predominating.
11:36Hey, it's Christmas Eve, and I don't have a present for Jim yet.
11:44Oh, but crying, with or without reason, won't help a wit.
11:58But I've been saving for over a month, and I...
12:02No.
12:04No.
12:09Oh, my God.
12:56Excuse me, madame.
12:58Will you buy my hair?
13:00We're closed. Come back later.
13:02Oh, please. Will you buy my hair today?
13:06All right. Take off your shawl and let's have a sight of the look at it.
13:20Twenty dollars.
13:21Oh.
13:23All right, then. Twenty-one, but not a penny more.
13:26All right. I'll take it, then.
13:28Cut it off.
13:47Oh, and the next few hours tripped by on rosy wings.
13:51Forget the hashed metaphor.
13:54She ransacked the stores for Jim's present.
13:57She found it at last.
13:59It surely was made for Jim and no one else.
14:03It was a gold fob chain, simple and chaste in design,
14:07properly proclaiming its value by substance alone,
14:10not by meretricious ornamentation,
14:13as all good things should do.
14:15It was even worthy of the watch.
14:18Excuse me, Mrs. Engelking?
14:21Well, Della, you made up your mind yet?
14:23I'd like to buy that watch, Bob.
14:26How much is it?
14:28Well, how much have you got, Della?
14:30Well, I've got twenty-two dollars and eighty-seven cents.
14:34Oh.
14:35My Jim would be mighty proud to check the time
14:37with that chain on his watch.
14:39But sometimes he does it on the sly
14:41because he's only got an old leather strap.
14:45Oh.
14:46I've been saving for months.
14:48I even sold my hair.
14:53Well, Della, you're in luck.
14:55This watch, Bob, is twenty-two dollars even.
14:58Oh, I'll take it.
15:07When Della reached home,
15:09her intoxication gave way to prudence and reason.
15:23Well, if Jim doesn't kill me
15:26before he takes a second look at me,
15:28you'll say I look like
15:29a Coney Island chorus girl.
15:40But what else could I do
15:41with a dollar eighty-seven?
15:43Oh.
17:14I cut off my hair and sold it because I couldn't live through Christmas without giving you a present.
17:20It'll grow out again.
17:24You don't mind, do you?
17:26I had to do it.
17:28It grows so awfully fast.
17:31Merry Christmas, Jim.
17:33Let's be happy.
17:35You don't know what a nice, what a beautiful, nice present I have for you.
17:40You cut off your hair.
17:43Cut it off and sold it.
17:45Don't you like me just as well anyhow?
17:49I'm me without my hair, ain't I?
17:53You say your hair is gone?
17:56You needn't look for it.
17:58I sold it, I tell you.
17:59It's sold and gone.
18:03Oh, Jim, be good to me, for it went for you.
18:10Maybe the hairs on my head were numbered.
18:15But nobody could count my love for you.
18:21Shall I put the chops on?
18:35Don't make any mistake about me, Del.
18:38I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut, shampoo, or a shave that could make me like
18:44my girl any less.
18:52If you'll unwrap this package, you'll see why you had me going there for a while.
19:11Oh, the combs!
19:15Oh, Jim!
19:18Oh.
19:21My hair.
19:24Jim.
19:27My hair.
19:30It grows so fast.
19:34Oh, yeah.
19:39Isn't it a dandy, Jim?
19:42I hunted all over town for it.
19:45You'll have to look at the time a hundred times a day now.
19:49Give me your watch.
19:51I want to see how it looks on it.
20:01Del, let's put our Christmas presents away and keep them a while.
20:05They're too nice to use at present.
20:10I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs.
20:25I suppose we go put on those chops.
20:35Mr. and Mrs. James Dillingham Young.
20:46Eight dollars a week or a million a year, what's the difference?
20:52Mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer.
20:54The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them.
21:00The magi, as you know, were wise men, wonderfully wise men who brought gifts to the babe in the manger.
21:06They invented the art of giving Christmas presents.
21:11Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication.
21:19And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children and a flat who most
21:27unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house.
21:32But, in a last word to the wise of these days, let it be said that of all who give
21:38gifts, these two were the wisest.
21:41Of all who give and receive gifts such as they are wisest.
21:46Everywhere they are wisest.
21:49They are the magi.
22:13Joining us for O'Henry's story of sharing and the gift of love.
22:17We at WCCO Television wish a very happy holiday season to you and your family.
22:24Good night.
22:33Good night.
23:01Good night.
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