NORAD Tracks Santa's Path on Christmas Eve Because of a Typo

It was 1955, and Christmas was approaching, and Sears had a new idea for a yuletide gimmick. In local newspapers, the department store placed ads ... on behalf of Santa himself.

"HEY KIDDIES!" the ad read, in a greeting that would seem creepy only in retrospect. "Call me on my private phone and I will talk to you personally any time day or night."

The ads then listed local numbers for area children to call to get some one-on-one Kris Kringle time, which must have seemed, if you were a kid back then, pretty amazing. A direct line to St. Nick! Kids could finally bypass the middlemen that stood between between them and their gifts — the U.S. Postal Service, their parents — and go directly to the source. And even more directly, to that source's enormous bag of gifts. You can almost hear the Ralphie Parker voiceover. Read more...