02222cam a2200397u 4500 535490506 OCoLC 20250701105626.0 ta 120216s2010 nyuaf 001 0deng 2010017302 9781594202704 16.00 1594202702 29917803 (OCoLC)535490506 DLC eng DLC IG# BTCTA YDXCP WI9WB EINCP OCLCQ NOG AJM n-us-oh NOGA F499.C2 G87 2010 977.1/62 22 Gup, Ted. 1950- author. 20877 A secret gift : how one man's kindness--and a trove of letters--revealed the hidden history of the Great Depression / Ted Gup. How one man's kindness--and a trove of letters--revealed the hidden history of the Great Depression. New York : Penguin Press, 2010. 365 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. ; 24 cm. Includes index. A 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. The 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. Stone, Samuel, 1887-1981. 20878 Benefactors Ohio Canton Biography. 20879 Benevolence Ohio Canton History 20th century. 20880 Canton (Ohio) Biography. 20881 Canton (Ohio) Economic conditions 20th century. 20882 Canton (Ohio) History 20th century. 20883 ddc BOOK 2983 2983 0 0 ABELJ abelj B 2016-10-26 0 B GUP 32291 2016-10-26 16.00 2016-10-26 BOOK