Flossy the Doll
On Christmas Eve, 1884, Wells Fargo express agent Richmond Smith stood impatiently on the station platform in Reno. The train carrying the daily express shipment was late coming over the snowy Sierras. When the train arrived later that evening, one of the express packages had holiday trimmings and a bright express label which read "Please do not open until Christmas."
Someone, Smith probably thought, was going to be very disappointed if Santa Claus didn’t deliver the parcel that very night. He climbed aboard his express wagon and urged the horse forward as snow fell. As agent Smith pressed on through the cold and snow, he spied a lone cottage at the end of the street, far from any neighbors. He strode up the walk and loudly knocked on the front door, festooned with garland and holly. A little girl opened the door and shouted with glee when she spied the bright ribbons and bows on the box which Smith held out to her. "Merry Christmas!" he said.
From the doorway, her mother’s voice asked, "Is it Santa Claus, darling?" "No, mother," the little girl replied, "it’s Wells Fargo!"
Don't even tell me that story doesn't make you weep uncontrollably—I know you're fibbing.
In the 1910s, Wells Fargo advert ised its express services as vital to the winter holiday season. Christmas wasn't always as big a holiday as it became in the 19th century. 
In the 20th century, the icon of Santa Claus was firmly established in Western imagination and the standards of gift-giving and a season of celebration were embedded.
The real story behind Flossy the Doll is just as good as legend, though. Wells Fargo & Co’s Express delivered the German bisque doll to four-year-old Ivan E. Sessions in 1884. She named the doll "Flossy" and spent many hours sewing clothes for her. Flossie was deluxe—she even had her own doll. In 1891, Ivan and Flossy won ?rst prize for best dressed doll at the Nevada State Fair. A century later, Ivan’s daughter donated Flossy to the Wells Fargo History Museum in San Francisco. Flossy lives in the Archives to this day, and emerges every holiday season as a display in the Museum.
Children of all ages still love Flossy. But there are fewer things more precious than one child's love for their doll. Which might be as close to "the true meaning of Christmas" as anything else.
Comments
Hello, I was wondering if you have any history on the linked photo in this blog entry about Flossy the Doll, titled Girls with dolls, 1888.
Posted by: Carole | March 3, 2008 09:05 AM
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August 2, 2007 03:55 PM
Posted by: Charles Riggs | March 3, 2008 12:51 PM