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Trading Hearts

Feb 1, 2002 - © Virginia Marin

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Life in the Great Depression years was not easy, especially in cities, where there was poverty, long bread lines, unemployment, and homeless shelters. Sometimes life offered little hope and even less happiness. Christmas, especially, was a very sad time for most families because there was little or no money with which to buy presents, or toys for the children. This story is about one such family--a typical situation, but a heartwarming, untypical response to no money for gift-giving. It has been told, and retold, in countless variations with different titles. The original short story is without doubt one of the most famous by author William Sydney Porter, who wrote under the pen name of O. Henry. You will recognize Trading Hearts as a step-child of O. Henry's--The Gift of the Magi. I am retelling it, not as a Christmas story, but as a love story taking place in turbulent social times. What wonderful family tales this couple can collect for generations to come...

It was Christmas Eve, and Adam and Penny still had not a gift for each other. They had been setting aside pennies since early August for Christmas, but pennies do not accumulate fast in hard times.

Penny's one desire was to buy Adam a solid gold chain for his antique pocket watch. She went into the bedroom and, lifting one corner of the mattress, pulled out a threadbare black sock. She emptied its contents onto the bed, and counted her pennies: $1.50--far short from the amount the jeweler was asking for his gold watch chain. As she was replacing the pennies into the sock, a thought flashed into her mind. She could sell the one thing of value that only she possessed--her long, lovely brown hair. Why, she was sure it would bring at least $20. She needed $21.50 for the watch chain.

Penny carefully cut off her long, lovely hair, wrapping it securely in tissue paper. Then she tied the valuable package safely in her coat pocket. After cocking a feathered tam on the side of her head, she trudged through the snow for the haberdashery shop several blocks away. The owner greatly admired Penny's hair for which she offered her $25.

With the money she had saved, she now had more than enough to buy the chain for Adam's watch. The jeweler wrapped the gift in gold foil paper with a red heart-shaped bow. Back home, Penny could hardly wait for Adam to come in from his work on this Christmas Eve.

The copyright of the article Trading Hearts in Folklore is owned by Virginia Marin. Permission to republish Trading Hearts in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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