History
A tradition on the "kettle" started in 1891, in San Francisco, by Captain Joseph McFee. Salvation Army officer Captain Joseph McFee, resolving to provide a free Christmas dinner to the poor of San Francisco, remembered a sight he saw in Liverpool, England. From his days as a sailor McFee remembered a large pot displayed on the Stage Landing, called "Simpson's Pot." The pot took in donations put in by passersby. Taking this idea, McFee asked for permission from San Francisco city authorities to place a crab pot and tripod at the Oakland ferry landing. The kettle - and McFee's call of "Keep the Pot Boiling!" - drew in passengers and donations.
The idea spread, and is in use by many Salvation Army charities worldwide. Innovations from the crab pot have included self ringing kettles, booths that play Christmas music, and Credit Card capabilities.
The Christmas kettle campaign is traditionally kicked off each year during the halftime of the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Day football game.
Read more about this topic: Christmas Kettle
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of reform is always identical; it is the comparison of the idea with the fact. Our modes of living are not agreeable to our imagination. We suspect they are unworthy. We arraign our daily employments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“There is no example in history of a revolutionary movement involving such gigantic masses being so bloodless.”
—Leon Trotsky (1879–1940)
“The myth of independence from the mother is abandoned in mid- life as women learn new routes around the mother—both the mother without and the mother within. A mid-life daughter may reengage with a mother or put new controls on care and set limits to love. But whatever she does, her child’s history is never finished.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)