02073cam a2200313 4500 610958742 TxAuBib 20110812120000.0 100428s2010||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 2010017302 9781594202704 1594202702 (OCoLC)535490506 DLC eng DLC IG# BTCTA YDXCP WI9WB EINCP OCLCQ NBO TxAuBib Gup, Ted, 1950- A secret gift [Book] : how one man's kindness--and a trove of letters--revealed the hidden history of the Great Depression / Ted Gup. How one man's kindness--and a trove of letters--revealed the hidden history of the Great Depression. New York : Penguin Press, 2010. 365 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. ; 24 cm. Includes index. A Christmas carol -- In consideration of the white collar man -- The bread of tomorrow -- If I would acept charity -- Families: the crisis that brought them closer -- Families: the crisis that pulled them apart -- An opportunity to help -- A merry and joyful Christmas -- True circumstances. The author's grandfather, Sam Stone, placed an ad in the Canton, OH, newspaper shortly before Christmas in 1933, offering cash gifts to seventy-five families in distress. Readers were asked to send letters describing their hardships to a benefactor calling himself Mr. B. Virdot. The author investigates a suitcase full of letters responding to these ads as he learns more about his grandfather's hidden past as well as the suffering and triumphs of strangers during the Great Depression. -- From publisher's description. Stone, Samuel 1887-1981. Benefactors Ohio Canton Biography. Benevolence Ohio Canton History 20th century. Canton (Ohio) Biography. Canton (Ohio) Economic conditions 20th century. Canton (Ohio) History 20th century.