The following are excerpts from an article published in the December 17, 1943 Greenbelt Cooperator, the precursor paper to the News Review.
Greenbelt will not have a community Santa Claus this year, it was announced this week and the blame was laid on the flu epidemic. Acting on the advice of public health director, Dr. William Eisner, Consumers Services officials decided that Santa Claus would attract crowds of youngsters and thus add to the danger of spreading the flu germs. Plenty of Christmas trees will be available, Thomas Ricker, GCS (Greenbelt Consumer Services) general manager, announced.
Twenty-two GCS employees have been stricken with the flu or grippe and it has taken all hands to keep things moving. That’s the score for last week.
The Christmas bonus plan for GCS employees, voted at the last membership meeting, is in the hands of the War Labor Board (WLB) waiting approval. The GCS board formally voted to approve the bonus before submitting the detailed plan. The WLB authorities indicated that speedy action is quite certain to be taken in order to have the decision before Christmas. There is a special office in WLB devoted to Christmas bonuses.