From 8-year old Hilda’s diary:
Alma and I had such fun today. We bought a million cookie cans. Then I bought Grandfather a bright red pencil sharpener which I know he will love because now he sharpens his pencils with a little pen knife that he carries in his pants pocket and this sharpener will be right on his desk and it is so easy to use and I can use it too. Then for Grandmother we found an embroidered apron that is pretty enough to wear in the parlor and for Aunt Tillie a beautiful handkerchief with a big “T” on it and the “T” has butterflies all around it. Then I bought Alma a handkerchief too and it has an “A” on it and the “A” is right in the middle of a bunch of roses. I bought it when she was buying some gifts for her friends, one for Lizzie especially and we agreed not to look at each other while we did our special shopping so I know she didn’t peek and she will be surprised when she opens my present. Then we went to the White House Department Store to see Santa Claus. He was up in the Toy department. He looked just like his pictures in my book of “A Night Before Christmas.” He took every child on his lap and asked each what he wanted for Christmas and all the children were whispering in his ear. When it was my turn, I whispered that I would like Sherry to have kittens, as many as possible. Santa Claus said that I should have written a letter to him a long time ago. I wasn’t giving him enough time to arrange it. Wouldn’t I like something else. So I said to him, “Yes please, just as long as it isn’t something that I need.” All the way home I wondered what to believe. I don’t believe in Santa Claus but I wish I could. It was clear to me that his beard was false and the whole story is a make believe story. Maybe I’ll just keep on pretending to myself that I believe it. It is such a pretty thing to believe in.
Although I was unable to find a photo of Santa at the White House, the photo below, taken between 1911-1915, gives us a sense of the festivities at the time. We see Adolph B. Spreckels at a children’s Christmas party. We can imagine that Hilda is one of the children.
Photo courtesy of SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY. The library citation says the photo shows Adolph B Spreckels Jr. he was born in 1911, so if he is pictured he would be one of the smallest children at the table. The man standing second from the right looking at the photographer is his father Adolph B Spreckels.