Comic Wrapping Paper

My Dad, who would have been 100 this year, lived through the Great Depression, and was an early proponent of recycling: “Use it up or wear it out, make it do or do without.” He liked to wrap Christmas presents in old newspapers. My mother thought this was tacky and eventually made him stop and forced him to use “store-bought” wrapping paper. But I carry on this tradition, and every year I’m reminded of what he told me when I was a little boy:

Good children, (he looks at me questioningly) get their presents wrapped in the color comics from the Sunday papers. Ordinary children (he looks at me blankly) get their presents wrapped in the black and white comics from the daily papers. Bad children (he looks at me pointedly) get their presents wrapped in the “help wanted” and “rooms for rent” classified pages.

Mine were always in the color comics, but I’m pretty sure he was grading on a curve.