The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

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The Gift of the Magiby O. Henry
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About the Author, O. Henry

• Born in North Carolina
• Born September 11, 1862
• An avid reader
• Wrote 600 short stories
• Wrote for a newspaper
• Master of surprise endings

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The Characters

• Della Young - young wife, loves her husband, thin
  person
• Jim Dillingham Young young husband, loves his
  wife, works hard for little pay

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The Setting

• New York City
• Early 1900s

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New York City in 1900
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Mulberry Street in Little Italy
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Life in New York City in 1900
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Daily Living in New York City
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New York History

• New York City in the 1900s
• Just before the new century the five boroughs,
  Queens, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and
  the Bronx, were conceived.
• Grand Central Terminal opened and became the
  world's largest train station. Citizens and
  visitors of New York were going places fast.
• The early part of the century saw Broadway
  flourish for the first time.
• The New York Times newspaper moved its offices in
  1904 to an area near 42nd Street, which was
  renamed Times Square in honor of the publication.
  
• Each year thousands gather to watch a ball drop
  from a building to signal the beginning of a new
  year.
• The Empire State Building standing 102-stories
  1,250 feet high was constructed.

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Empire State Building
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New York City Apartment Building

• A building with flats.

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Then and Now

• Early 1900s .09 cents
• Now 1.50 - 2.50

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School Lunch in the 1900s

• School lunches needed to be healthy in order to
  battle the malnutrition and poor diets of
  immigrant children. Prior to the school lunch
  program, schools usually had a lunch hour in
  which children were permitted to go home to eat.
  However, most immigrant mothers worked and had to
  give their children money since no one was home
  during the day. Their children would use their
  money for buying pickles. While some schools
  served free lunch, others charged a small free.
  Immigrant settlement worker, Mabel Hyde Kittredge
  organized the School Lunch Committee, which
  served three cent lunches in some schools (Berrol
  1970 ,139).

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School
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Dellas Combs
POOPY
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Jims Watch
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SoWho are the Magi?

• The magi, as you know, were wise men--wonderfully
  wise men--who brought gifts to the Babe in the
  manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas
  presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt
  wise ones O. Henry