The Two Christmas Boxes: A Play for Girls

In Short

Elsie Duncan Yale’s 1915 one-act play for female characters, The Two Christmas Boxes, explores charity, social pretension, and neighborly empathy through a comedy of errors. When a well-meaning church Ladies' Aid society packs a missionary barrel with faded dresses, moth-eaten capes, and an antiquated hat, a mix-up by a hurried teenager sends it to a wealthy urban sister-in-law instead of the frontier. The resulting mix-up delights the astonished missionary family while mortifying the snobbish relative, ultimately prompting the church women to rethink how they give to those in need.

The Story

The play opens in the sitting room of Mrs. Banks, where she and Mrs. Jenkins laboriously pack a missionary box for Mrs. David Brown in Silver Creek, Montana. Skeptical of others' willingness to help, the two women sort through a collection of worn-out garments and dated attire. They contribute a threadbare overcoat, a faded gingham dress, a moth-eaten cape, a red wrapper, and an absurd, out-of-date hat belonging to Miss Loomis. Once Mrs. Jenkins departs, Mrs. Banks’s daughter, Mildred, offers to nail the lids on both the missionary box and a separate, lavish gift box destined for Mrs. Banks's wealthy sister-in-law in New York, Mrs. Worthington. Rushing the task and forgetting the identification cards, Mildred mistakenly swaps the mailing labels on the identical wooden boxes.

The second scene shifts to a meagerly furnished home in Montana, where Mrs. Brown and her daughter, Dorothy, are missing their absent menfolk and lamenting the bleak prospect of a threadbare holiday. Hoping for some cheer, they pry open the newly arrived box. To their utter amazement, instead of cast-offs, they unearth exquisite gifts: a dainty embroidered waist, a pretty flowered dress, a warm sweater, fine neckwear, a cozy eiderdown robe, delicate handkerchiefs, and a fur cap. Overjoyed, Dorothy models the new clothes and declares her winter completely transformed while Mrs. Brown eagerly writes to express her profound gratitude.

In the third scene, the action moves to a handsome New York apartment, where Mrs. Worthington languidly complains about her social burdens while her daughter, Gladys, attempts to decorate. When the delivery box is forced open, Mrs. Worthington is paralyzed with indignation. She views the contents—newspapers, Miss Loomis's ancient hat, a moth-eaten cape, garish ties, a shabby eiderdown robe, and faded, patched clothing—as a deliberate and vicious insult meant for the almshouse. She vows never to forgive the slight and commands her maid, Marie, to sweep the abominable items out of her sight.

The final scene returns to the Meadowbrooke Ladies’ Aid Society meeting, presided over by Mrs. Jenkins. After Miss Loomis rambles through a confused secretary's report involving recipe mix-ups and crochet patterns, the group reads Mrs. Brown’s effusive thank-you letter. The women are thoroughly puzzled by how grateful the missionary is for items like Clara's faded gingham. The mystery is immediately solved when Mrs. Banks reads the furious letter from Mrs. Worthington, who details every single discarded garment she received. Recognizing the switched labels, the ladies experience a collective reckoning. Rather than defending their initial stinginess, Mrs. Hodges points out that missionaries appreciate lovely things just as much as wealthy relatives do. The society unanimously votes to change their ways, resolving that future missionary boxes will match the quality of the gifts they send to their own families.

How It Unfolds

• Packing the charity barrel: Mrs. Banks and Mrs. Jenkins sort through an array of threadbare clothing, old coats, and dated accessories, debating the usefulness of each contribution while lamenting the lack of community help.
• The fateful switch: Left alone to finish the carpentry, teenager Mildred nails the lids onto the two identical boxes and mistakenly swaps the mailing labels intended for Montana and New York.
• The frontier surprise: Mrs. Brown and Dorothy pry open their delivery in Montana, discovering an unexpected treasure trove of beautiful garments and comforts that completely alter their holiday.
• The urban outrage: Mrs. Worthington and Gladys unpack the same box in New York, mistaking the charitable cast-offs for a malicious personal insult and ordering their immediate disposal.
• The society reckoning: Back at the Ladies' Aid meeting, the reading of both letters exposes the mix-up, prompting the women to acknowledge their stinginess and reform their giving habits.

The People

• Mrs. Banks: A conscientious church member who shoulders the burden of church charity while managing her own family. She expects criticism from her wealthy relatives and eventually faces profound embarrassment when her thriftiness is laid bare.
• Mrs. Jenkins: The formidable president of the Ladies' Aid Society. She approaches church duties with strict decorum and parliamentary procedure, ultimately guiding the group to a generous moral realization.
• Miss Loomis: An eccentric, elderly society member whose dress is as amusing as her prized, eight-year-old hat. She remains fiercely unapologetic about her contributions, especially when her hat is insulted.
• Mrs. David Brown: A patient, cheerful missionary mother in Montana. She endures frontier hardships with grace and responds to unexpected generosity with overwhelming gratitude.
• Dorothy Brown: Mrs. Brown’s lively daughter. She starts the play feeling gloomy about a drab holiday and ends it thrilled by her transformation in new, beautiful clothes.
• Mrs. Amelia Worthington: Mrs. Banks’s wealthy, status-obsessed sister-in-law in New York. Highly sensitive to perceived slights, she treats the mistaken box as an unforgivable affront to her social standing.
• Gladys: Mrs. Worthington’s pragmatic and amused daughter. Unlike her mother, she maintains a sense of humor about the eccentric contents of the misdirected delivery.
• Marie: The polished household maid. Through witty asides, she highlights the absurdities of high society and covertly admires the gifts her employer despises.

In Its Own Voice

Well, it don’t look much like Christmas with father and Rob away.

Dorothy expresses her initial seasonal despondency while dusting their modest Montana living room.

I really am not interested especially in your Aunt Louisa’s box.

Mrs. Worthington dismisses the arrival of the package from her rural relatives while languishing in her New York apartment.

I make no apologies for my hat!

Miss Loomis defends her cherished, antiquated headwear after hearing it described as a bird's nest.

What It's Really About

The play investigates the quiet snobbery embedded in institutional charity. It contrasts the meager, overlooked leftovers communities often clear out for the needy with the luxurious standards reserved for wealthy family members. Beneath its light comedy, the story questions why benevolence so often feels like an afterthought of disposal rather than an act of genuine love. By forcing respectable church women to confront their own stinginess through an awkward mirror, the text argues that charity should be defined by dignity and beauty rather than mere utility.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy gentle, character-driven vintage comedies with sharp social observations will find much to love here. It offers a fascinating, humorous window into early twentieth-century church culture, domestic life, and class distinctions in America. Reading the play feels like stepping into a brisk parlor comedy where human foibles—pride, gossip, and snobbery—are gently lampooned through snappy dialogue and amusing structural irony. While modern readers must navigate dated period attitudes toward charity and the occasional old-fashioned trope, the core satire remains remarkably fresh. The comedy succeeds because its characters are recognizable, grounded in familiar domestic frictions rather than caricature. It leaves behind a warm, lingering reminder that kindness is measured not by what we can spare, but by what we value in others.