A Christmas Past Offers Silent-era Holiday Films
A Trap For Santa (1909). This short film opens with the text on screen: No Work For Father. Misery And Want – The Family’s Lot. A hardworking father and husband is out of work, unable to make a living for his family. It’s Christmas time, and the father is greatly depressed that he cannot provide a good Christmas for his family during this time that is supposed to be cheerful and merry. The father spends his time at the local bar drinking his problems away. One day he leaves his house for good and places a note under the door to his wife and children saying that they would all be better off without him. His wife later receives a letter in the mail that she has inherited a moderate fortune from her deceased aunt’s estate.
After chasing the burglar on board a moving train, Octavius is finally able to confront the burglar at a street corner news stand and have him arrested. The Randall family gets their basket of gifts back for Christmas. Octavius falls in love with the oldest daughter of the Randall family.
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