The cartoon is called “Forgotten.” It was drawn by Thomas May and published in 1906. The picture of the little girl with the empty Christmas stocking is one of two cartoons credited with being the impetus behind the founding of the Goodfellows charities. The other, by Burt Thomas, is a more positive image:
Within days of its publication in 1914, the Old Newsboys Association in Detroit set out to provide food and toys for needy families at Christmas.
In Houston, the Houston Chronicle is the driving force behind the Goodfellows., and they announced the beginning of their annual drive today.
I first became aware of their work in the 50’s when as a member of Boy Scout Troop 468 (or maybe it was 648 – for some reason the Scouts decided to rearrange our troop number about that time.) I rode on the back of a City of Houston dump truck delivering toys to needy kids.
I had lived in Houston all my life, and thought I knew my city, but I had never seen such abject poverty as we saw that day. Within sight of downtown - on the banks of Buffalo Bayou in what is now probably part of Eleanor Tinsley Park - I saw a family of eight living in a thatched roof lean-to, huddling against the cold around an open cook fire.
It has been over half a century, but I will never forget those little kids running after that yellow dump truck and yelling, “Mama, Mama, Goofella, Goofella!”
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