Image & caption: Christmas dinner in home of Earl Pauley. Near Smithfield, Iowa. Dinner consisted of potatoes, cabbage and pie, Farm Security Administration – Office of War Information Photograph Collection (Library of Congress), LC-USF34- 010124-D

Lyrics:
I know you made a list
And I swear it ain’t been missed
By the jolly old elf in red
But with time’s being so tough
Instead of “getting lots of stuff”
It’s the “Year of Something Else” instead

The world’s good girls and boys
Deserve a mighty haul of toys
But shoes and socks and meals come first
So St. Nick’s double-checking lists
To make sure ain’t nobody’s missed
Among the families who are hurting worst

It’s the hardest kind of year
To feel Yuletide cheer
When lines are stretching ‘round the block for bread
But if we can find it in our heart
To pony up and do our part
We’ll do the “Year of Something Else” instead

‘Cause there’s lots of girls and boys
Whose folks can’t afford no toys
Nor even rent come New Year’s Day
We need Santa with his sack
And his reindeer in a pack
To come and carry all their debts away

So may our stockings hung with care
Remind us here, there, everywhere
So many hopes are hanging by a thread–
And that the least that we can do
To see these hard times through
Is the “Year of Something Else” instead