Letters: You write ’em, we read ’em
TEXT OF LETTERS
KAI RYSSDAL: I read today that even in this age of e-mail the number of actual letters sent to Santa Claus is expected to be up this year. We are quite a ways from the North Pole here at Marketplace, but we’ve gotten quite a few holiday-themed letters too.
A commentary last week about the many gift cards that go unredeemed this time of year drew a response from Providence College marketing professor Dan Home. He says recent studes have ignored some of the biggest users of those cards.
Dan Home: If you go to the mall on Dec. 26, you’re going to see lines of kids up at 9 o’clock. Now, when is a kid up a 9 o’clock on a nonschool day? It’s because they’re driven to the mall by those gift cards. They want to redeem them.
If you’re looking for the ultimate gift this year, the plug-in hybrid may not be it. We told you a couple of weeks ago that the plug-in hasn’t really taken off yet. Ian Miller of San Diego, Calif., wrote to mention the bit players in the sustainable car game.
Ian Miller: I think that the smaller companies are fulfilling that niche of plug-in hybrids and advanced technologies that the larger car manufacturers have largely ignored.
Another theme this December has been the eco-friendly holiday. Last Friday, you heard what might well have been the first-ever Marketplace holiday arts and crafts session.
Nicole Stevenson (from previous broadcast): Get a potato, cut it in half, and then you’re going to want to take a knife and carve an image into there. Put your potato down in the paint, and then just start stamping.
Amanda Staats of Jersey City, N.J. says that at the very moment she heard that story, she was doing her part to save the planet.
Amanda Staats: I was shoving cookie cutters into potato halves to make stamps for wrapping paper.
And finally today, speaking of a green Christmas, our choice of music for the crafts story drew a bunch of letters.
Frank Sinatra: I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…
We chose Frank Sinatra from a 1944 recording just to be different. But many of you rightly pointed out “White Christmas” is Bing Crosby’s signature song. So, here’s some Bing, just to make up for it.
BING CROSBY: Where treetops glisten, and children listen …
And we’ll let Elvis — my personal favorite — take us out.
Elvis Presley: May your days be merry and bright and may all your Christmases be white.
Whatever color your holiday is . . . you know how to reach us. Our website is Marketplace.org. And thank you very much.
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