02099cam a2200361u  4500001001100000003000700011005001700018007000300035008004100038010001500079020002500094020001500119035001300134035002100147040006800168043001200236050002200248082001700270100003000287245013300317246010500450260003800555300004800593500002000641505029700661520052600958600003101484650004201515650005401557651003001611651005401641651004201695535490506 OCoLC 20250701105626.0ta120216s2010    nyuaf         001 0deng    a2010017302  a9781594202704c16.00  a1594202702  629917803  a(OCoLC)535490506  aDLCbengcDLCdIG#dBTCTAdYDXCPdWI9WBdEINCPdOCLCQdNOGdAJM  an-us-oh00aF499.C2bG87 201000a977.1/622221 aGup, Ted.d1950-eauthor.12aA secret gift :bhow one man's kindness--and a trove of letters--revealed the hidden history of the Great Depression /cTed Gup.30aHow one man's kindness--and a trove of letters--revealed the hidden history of the Great Depression.  aNew York :bPenguin Press,c2010.  a365 p., [16] p. of plates :bill. ;c24 cm.  aIncludes index.0 aA Christmas carol -- In consideration of the white collar man -- The bread of tomorrow -- If I would accept charity -- Families: the crisis that brought them closer -- Families: the crisis that pulled them apart -- An opportunity to help -- A merry and joyful Christmas -- True circumstances.  aThe author's grandfather, Sam Stone, placed an ad in the Canton, OH, newspaper shortly before Christmas in 1933, offering cash gifts to seventy-five families in distress. Readers were asked to send letters describing their hardships to a benefactor calling himself Mr. B. Virdot. The author investigates a suitcase full of letters responding to these ads as he learns more about his grandfather's hidden past as well as the suffering and triumphs of strangers during the Great Depression. -- From publisher's description.10aStone, Samuel,d1887-1981. 0aBenefactorszOhiozCantonvBiography. 0aBenevolencezOhiozCantonxHistoryy20th century. 0aCanton (Ohio)vBiography. 0aCanton (Ohio)xEconomic conditionsy20th century. 0aCanton (Ohio)xHistoryy20th century.