90 years of Santa Claus Anonymous, bringing Christmas to Baltimore’s children

Nearly a century ago, a young civic leader launched a program meant to bring holiday joy to the youngest and poorest of Baltimore’s own. Ninety years later, Santa Claus Anonymous — the all-volunteer creation of Theodore R. McKeldin, later the city’s mayor and governor of Maryland — provides a respite for children otherwise destined for a bleak Christmas. This year, the non-profit hopes to raise $300,000 for gifts for low-income recipients in the Baltimore metro area.

Here are highlights chronicling the growth of Santa Claus Anonymous, as reported by The Sun and Evening Sun:

1934: The city’s Junior Association of Commerce, of which McKeldin is president, the Junior League of Baltimore and the Evening Sun combine to raise $800 for a two-hour Christmas party for underprivileged children during the Great Depression.

1935: Three days before Christmas, those same benefactors indulge 5,000 needy kids to a day of entertainment. The children are taken to the Century and Valencia theaters and treated to gifts, food, a Jack Benny movie and personal appearances by actors Jackie Coogan and Betty Grable.

1940: The annual gift-giving gala for Baltimore’s poor is incorporated as Christmas Party, Inc.

1941: Realizing “the importance of maintaining civilian morale” following America’s entry into World War II, city merchants donate enough fruit, nuts, candy and cakes to fill 7,500 stockings for impoverished children.

1942-1946: The charity is suspended for the duration of the war.

1948: Radio station WITH-AM broadcasts two 10-minute shows on Sundays, in December, to promote the holiday drive … The Sheraton-Belvedere Hotel holds benefit cabaret dances to drum up support.

1954: Christmas Party, Inc. changes its name to Santa Claus Anonymous (SCA).

1957: The $3 SCA gift certificates, which are exchanged for toys or clothing at area department stores, buy much-needed shoes for — among many others — a 13-year-old girl with an artificial leg, and clothes for three children whose mother is confined to a wheelchair after being shot by her spouse.

1958: An Evening Sun editorial touts Santa Claus Anonymous, stating, “If there is a better way of lifting the hearts of children who might otherwise receive nothing at all, we haven’t heard of it.”

1959: The donation of a charitable Cub Scout consists of five nickels taped to a piece of paper. A 28-cent contribution contains a note stating that the donors were a couple, on welfare, who were sacrificing their one pack…