The White Christmas and other Merry Christmas Plays

Aaron Boggs, Freshman , Abbu San of Old Japan , Civil Service , A College Town , Kicked Out of College , Macbeth à la Mode , Mrs. Tubbs of Shantytown , Parlor Matches , A Poor Married Man , My Irish Rose , A Rustic Romeo , Savageland , A Southern Cinderella , etc.
CHICAGO T.S. DENISON & COMPANY Publishers COPYRIGHT, 1917 BY EBEN H. NORRIS MADE IN U.S.A.
I have always thought of Christmas time ... as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time ... when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely ...; and I say, God bless it!
Charles Dickens.

N these little plays I have tried to bring before the public the two dominant characteristics of the ideal Christmas season, kindness, expressed by good will toward men, and the inward joy wrought by kind acts, and suggested by peace on earth. As Yuletide draws near we like to think of the swell of Christmas feeling, kindness, peace and good will, that rises like a mighty tide over the world, filling it with the fresh, clean joys and generous impulses that produce the peace that passeth understanding.
Some of the plays are filled with the spirit of fun and jollity that is always associated with Christmas merrymaking; in others I have tried to emphasize the spiritual blessings brought to the children of men on that first white Christmas night when Christ, the Lord, was born in Bethlehem, and all the angels sang, Gloria in excelsis, peace on earth, good will toward men.
The love of mimetic representation, either as a participant or as a spectator, is an ineradicable instinct of childhood and adolescence. Most of these plays call for a somewhat large number of children. This need not daunt the producer as the chief characters are few and many of the parts have very few lines to speak. Many extra children may be introduced in several of the plays, as a chorus. At Christmas time, the children's season, it is best to allow all who so desire to take part in the entertainment. Some of the parts are rather long, but all have been played by children of the age indicated in the text. Very little children have sometimes done remarkable work in the plays. I remember one instance when a very tiny Tiny Tim, who was not four years old, spoke his part correctly, was heard in every corner of the church and acted with a naturalness that was indeed remarkable.