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Book Review: "Merry Christmas, Mr. Baxter" – Edward Streeter
By Jason Snyder
I spend all year looking forward to Christmas. I can’t help it. I’m not one of those people who say, “Thank God it’s over,” once New Year rolls around. The end of the Christmas season is a real downer for me. Yet, I feel no small sense of shame by my participation in the season. I acknowledge that I am one of the hypnotized millions who wander mindlessly through department stores, buying excessively out of a need to participate in this annual consumer roller coaster. I sometimes look for ways to rationalize my gluttony for the season. I look for the golden rays that help justify my actions and ensure my continued participation in the holiday. Well, after finishing “Merry Christmas, Mr. Baxter” I felt a little better.
Mr. Baxter was written by Edward Streeter, who also wrote “Father of the Bride” and “Mr. Hobbs’ Vacation”. While I’d never read his books, I’ve certainly seen the film adaptations. Each of these stories feature a successful man with a loving but imperfect family during an event over which the father has little or no control. Each man faces major pitfalls that cause him to question his own actions and motivations. In the end, each is saved from madness by the love he has for his family. George Baxter, the title character of this story, fits the same mold as these other men. He’s successful, independent and stubborn, yet largely dominated by the whims of his wife and children. He fights for his position but almost always gives in to their wants out of a desire to make them happy.
The story is told in four chapters: One each for October, November, December and Christmas Eve. In October, Mr. Baxter begins to feel the first vibrations of the approaching Christmas typhoon and this gives him pause. Yet the fall is a time of happiness for Baxter. From the book: “In the fall Mr. Baxter felt ready for the world, vigorous as after a good night’s sleep. He was always full of resolutions and determinations in the fall, unperturbed by previous failures.” It is in this mindset that George decides to take control of Christmas this year. October and November quickly come and go as he attempts to put his wife on a budget and control the planned family festivities. Once December arrives, he quickly realizes the impracticality of his endeavor. The story culminates on Christmas Eve as George rushes around Manhattan to make everything right.
At times, this is a cynical book. It captures all the frustration that you hear each year by the enslaved shopping masses. The commercialism, the hype, the lack of sincerity… It’s all here. The endless lines at departments stores, the pressure to buy friends and loved ones things they don’t really need, and the ridiculous fiscal cost to Americans, despite growing debt and poverty. These have always felt like modern sentiments to me, so it’s hard to believe this book was written 20 years before I was born.
Despite the dose cynicism, the book has a heartwarming core. It’s one man’s take on the commotion of the season. The book has very little plot. There is no antagonist and the character’s goals are simply to survive another holiday season without going broke or being trampled in the process. These are the events that a man goes through as he is dealing with his own disillusionment with the season. The reward comes in seeing him come full circle by the end, and realizing that it’s easier and far more rewarding to just give in to the festivities. It’s also a colorfully painted picture of Christmas in New York in the fifties. There are vivid descriptions of shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue, of office Christmas parties, Rockefeller Center, the manner in which tenants gifted the apartment staff and so on. These are mundane holiday activities unless they’re experienced in New York City.
This is a fun holiday read, if you can find a copy. The delightful illustrations are by Dorothea Warren Fox who spent many years illustrating all American products for magazine advertisements such as Jell-o, Heinz and Ivory Soap. The book has been out of print for a long time but Amazon usually has some used copies.