Project Gutenberg 2004-07-11 Public domain in the USA. 157 Hughes, Rupert 1872 1956 Mrs. Budlong's Christmas Presents Produced by Al Haines "Mrs. Budlong's Christmas Presents" by Rupert Hughes is a humorous tale that depicts the social dynamics of a small town during the holiday season. Written in the early 20th century, the book offers a comical exploration of greed, competition, and the often ludicrous nature of gift-giving traditions. The story centers around the character of Mrs. Budlong, who has turned Christmas into an extravagant spectacle, using it as a means to showcase her social standing and manipulate her neighbors into providing her with a plethora of gifts. Throughout the narrative, Mrs. Budlong's insatiable appetite for presents leads her to devise elaborate strategies to ensure she remains the center of attention during the Christmas festivities. As her neighbors engage in a competitive frenzy to impress her, the story unveils the absurd lengths they go to in order to outdo each other. However, when Mrs. Budlong suddenly finds herself caught in her own web of expectations, the pressure builds to a comedic climax. In a desperate bid to avoid the embarrassment of unreciprocated gifts, she and her family scramble to procure presents at the last minute, resulting in a chaotic and uproarious Christmas that leaves the town in disbelief. The book masterfully satirizes the commercialization of holidays and the social rituals that accompany them, all while delivering a festive yet pointed critique of human nature. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 82.7 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Christmas stories PS Text Christmas Category: Humour Category: Novels Category: American Literature 111839 2025-08-05T17:15:59.388361 text/html 111704 111649 2024-11-06T05:07:52.636023 2023-10-06T06:58:17.018383 text/html text/html 124210 2025-08-05T17:16:04.732357 application/epub+zip 124336 2025-08-05T17:16:02.157389 application/epub+zip 111955 2025-08-05T17:16:01.107399 application/epub+zip 218912 2025-08-05T17:16:06.611373 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 203939 2025-08-05T17:16:04.086411 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 176051 2022-09-06T22:58:48.596930 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 96400 2025-08-05T17:15:59.159374 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 76627 2024-10-28T19:56:07 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17200 2025-08-05T17:16:06.734335 application/rdf+xml 12010 2025-08-05T17:16:01.592365 image/jpeg 2867 2025-08-05T17:16:01.350374 image/jpeg 124913 2025-08-05T17:15:59.398360 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia