4.1 • 7K Ratings
🗓️ 9 December 2024
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
At the turn of the century, Manhattan social climber John Gluck stepped in to answer children' s letters to Santa. But as soon as donations started flooding into his newly formed Santa Claus Association, John went from Saint Nick to Grinch, skimming off the top and living large. He ran his Claus con for more than a decade before real-life Boy Scouts rallied to take him down.
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0:00.0 | Hey, scam influencers, listeners. If you're as hooked on these jaw-dropping schemes as we are, |
0:04.7 | you'll love Wondry Plus. Think of it as you're all access past the world of scams. |
0:09.4 | Add-free episodes, early access, and exclusive deep dives that uncover even more shocking details. |
0:15.5 | Don't just listen. Emmerse yourself in the chaos with Wondry Plus. |
0:19.8 | A note to our listeners, this episode contains descriptions of gun violence. |
0:23.9 | Please listen with care. |
0:31.6 | Sarah, as you know, and as our listeners have probably clued in by now, neither of us really grew up celebrating Christmas |
0:37.6 | that much. |
0:39.3 | No, I did not celebrate Christmas at all. |
0:42.2 | Okay, well, that said, did you ever have to write a letter to Santa? |
0:45.9 | Or, like, did any of your friends come to school saying that they got a response from him? |
0:50.0 | I wasn't into Santa, but my mom was a seasonal worker at Canada Post, and I remember letters |
0:55.9 | kids would send to Santa, and the postal code would be H-O-H-O-H-O-H-O-H-O-H-O. And I remember my mom was like, |
1:02.5 | what is this postal code? Like, who lives there? And then realizing, no, it's a fake one for Santa. |
1:08.7 | But she was very, very confused. |
1:13.5 | Well, that's actually the perfect story for today's episode, |
1:17.8 | because there's one man who's responsible for making letters to Santa so popular. |
1:20.3 | And because we're talking about him, you better believe that he was making his own wishes come true too. |
1:39.2 | It's right around Thanksgiving in 1922, and Mary Pickford is getting ready for a photo op at the Ritz Carlton in New York City. |
1:41.9 | This is nothing new for her. |
1:43.9 | Mary is Hollywood's biggest silent film star, |
1:46.6 | and possibly the most recognizable woman in the world. She's a 30-year-old brunette beauty known for her |
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