The Anti-Gift League

If you ever find yourself sympathizing with Charles Dickens’ character Ebenezer Scrooge regarding the commercialization of Christmas, you’re not alone—this has been a common complaint for quite some time. Take for example C.B. Wheeler, who in 1904 expressed frustration about rooms “glutted with a perfect shopful of toys.”

A child’s dream but perhaps a puritan’s nightmare. His response was to create an “Anti-gift League” to counter the growing commercialization of the holiday. While that might be a bit extreme (though it…