Christmas--the very word conjures up memories of the most wondrous childhood holiday of all--filled with the glitter of colorfully-wrapped presents, family visits, carols, photographs, decorating the tree, attendance at church to celebrate the birth of the Christ child, and tummy-stuffing dinners tucked with treats seen at no other time of the year.

But the yule holiday has been celebrated for at least two centuries in North America, and our writers have been producing memorable stories about this unique day for almost as long. Here are 29 Christmas stories old and new, tales to delight, to entrance, to beguile, and even to sadden a whole new generation of readers. From C. C. MacApp's view of a Christmas future to Jacob A. Riis's gut-wrenching portraits of the holiday in the 1890s slums of New York to William J. Locke's reenactment of the tale of the Three Wise Men, we experience every possible facet of this most precious day of the year. So sit back and relive your memories once again, as recreated through the eyes of some of the finest writers of their time!

Included in this volume:

INTRODUCTION, by Robert Reginald

THE BLOSSOMING ROD, by Mary Stewart Cutting

AND ALL THE EARTH A GRAVE, by C. C. MacApp

A REVERSIBLE SANTA CLAUS, by Meredith Nicholson

BEASLEY’S CHRISTMAS PARTY, by Booth Tarkington

A CHRISTMAS MYSTERY: THE STORY OF THREE WISE MEN, by William John Locke

BETTY’S BRIGHT IDEA, by Harriet Beecher Stowe

THE FIRST CHRISTMAS OF NEW ENGLAND, by Harriet Beecher Stowe

THE LADY ERMETTA; or, The Sleeping Secret

MR. KRIS KRINGLE: A CHRISTMAS TALE, by S. Weir Mitchell

ROSEMARY: A CHRISTMAS STORY, by C. N. & A. M. Williamson

THE CHRISTMAS CHILD, by Hesba Stretton

THE LITTLE GRAY LADY, by F. Hopkinson Smith

THE ROMANCE OF A CHRISTMAS CARD, by Kate Douglas Wiggin

MR. BAMBOO AND THE HONORABLE LITTLE GOD, by Fannie C. MacAulay

MRS. BUDLONG’S CHRISTMAS PRESENTS, by Rupert Hughes

THE OAK TREE’S CHRISTMAS GIFT, by Julian Hawthorne

THE LONG HILLSIDE: A CHRISTMAS HARE-HUNT IN OLD VIRGINIA, by Thomas Nelson Page

CANDLE AND CRIB, by K. F. Purdon

TOLD AFTER SUPPER, by Jerome K. Jerome

NIBSY’S CHRISTMAS, by Jacob A. Riis

WHAT THE CHRISTMAS SUN SAW IN THE TENEMENTS, by Jacob A. Riis

SKIPPY OF SCRABBLE ALLEY, by Jacob A. Riis

UNCLE NOAH’S CHRISTMAS INSPIRATION, by Leona Dalrymple

THE TRUCE OF GOD, by Mary Roberts Rinehart

THE GIFT OF THE MAGI, by O. Henry

THE LITTLE MIXER, by Lillian Nicholson Shearon

THE POTATO CHILD, by Mrs. Charles J. Woodbury

A STORY THAT NEVER ENDS, by Mrs. Charles J. Woodbury

A NAZARETH CHRISTMAS, by Mrs. Charles J. Woodbury