Billy BoXX's Christmas Sale

Richard C. Harshaw

Review

This delightful fantasy reminds us all of the need to put Christ back into Christmas. It's the tale of Billy BoXX, owner of a thriving appliance and electronics store. He loves the Christmas season because it's the most profitable time of the year for him.

As owner of the store, he creates a clever sales campaign in which he uses his name, telling his prospective customers that his name has "2 Xs for eXtra, eXtra low prices." His ads read: "This year, do your X-mas shopping at Billy BoXX Appliances & Electronics, where the Xs stand for X-mas-and eXtra, eXtra low prices."

Billy and his business are very popular in the town where he lives, but he has detractors who don't like his sales campaigns that take Christ out of Christmas. There's one lady in particular who writes a letter every year to protest his ads. Billy knows, year after year, that "Old Lady Crabtree" is going to write him the same critical letter.

This Christmas, something amazing happens to Billy. Old Mrs. Crabtree died during the year, so he's dumbfounded when in his mailbox, he finds another letter from her, with the same words as all the previous years. There's no question that it's from her—it's in the same handwriting.
Then, to Billy's surprise, Lucille Crabtree suddenly comes back to earth and appears to him. It's true, she definitely has passed away, but her spirit visits him. Billy listens as this caring angel explains all the symbols of Christmas, teaching him that all of them are meaningful and important representations of Jesus.

Billy at last recognizes that Christ should never be left out of Christmas, and he makes a major change in his life. He never leaves out Christ again, even when it comes to his clever ads.

This story is fun, well-told, and has quickly become a perennial X-mas (whoops!) Christmas favorite!

Table of Contents

The Fourth-Generation Billy, 7

X-mas Made Billy Famous, 10

Transforming a Town, 14

The Detractor, 16

Plans For a New Partner, 20

The First Day of the X-mas Sale-abration, 26

The Telltale One-X Letter, 28

Seeing the Light, 32

The Attractive Young Lady, 40

Do You Know Why Christmas Is Called Christmas?, 44

The Cease and Desist Order, 47

The Thief Is Right Here, 48

Every Single Symbol, 51

They Laid Them At His Feet, 54

Red and Green, 57

Love and Brotherhood, 60

A Beacon and a Shepherd's Crook, 62

Look Heavenward and Follow, 65

One More Quick Surprise, 68

The Christmas Transformation, 72

Wise Men Still Seek Him, 73

The New Ad Campaign, 74

A New Tradition, 77

About the Author, 79

Sample Page

Just about everyone knew William Conrad Boxx IV. Of course, how could anyone not know Billy? He was the owner of the largest appliance and electronics store in the five-county area, including Silver Springs where he, his wife Beatrice, and their three daughters lived. Billy BoXX Appliance and Electronics—that's two X's for extra, extra low prices. The store had been in his family for four generations now. They had sold different kinds of merchandise throughout the years. Electronics had only been added seven or eight years ago, but they had always had the two X's for extra, extra low prices.
Billy took sole possession of the family business thirteen years ago after his father—Billy Boxx III—died unexpectedly of a heart attack at age fifty-two. Billy was just a couple of years out of college and only twenty-six years old at the time. He didn't have any brothers or sisters, and his mother didn't have the desire or the know-how to run the business, so it was up to Billy to carry on the extra, extra low price tradition.
That suited Billy Boxx just fine. Billy had a deep respect for his dad, and certainly was saddened by his sudden death, but deep down, he felt liberated. He had worked in the family store ever since he could remember—with the exception of his years away at college—and always thought that his dad was too . . . well, old-fashioned. He didn't have the tenacity necessary to really make the store earn the kind of money that Billy the younger dreamed it could make. . . and indeed it would make someday.
Now, thirteen years later, Billy Boxx Appliance and Electronics was the epitome of profit, market share, and capitalism. The store did over ten times the annual sales volume that it did when his old man ran it. Billy was very proud of that. Every day he'd look at the pictures in his office of the three previous generations of Billy Boxxs on the wall and whisper to them, "Hope I'm making you guys extra, extra proud."
The secret to his success was simple—lots and lots of advertising. Where his dad had shied away from all but the most conservative of newspaper ads, Billy had become a star. In the last thirteen years, Billy had appeared in over 750 television, newspaper, and radio commercials. Just about anyone who could see, hear, or even breathe knew Billy Boxx. And just about everyone loved him, too.
But then again, he did have his detractors. Especially in the early days, because Billy Boxx, the man with two X's in his name for extra, extra low prices, the man who in a contest would win the title of "Christmas's number one fan" was actually not Christmas's number one fan at all. He was X-Mas's number one fan.
No doubt you've heard the abbreviation for Christmas (X-Mas) many times. And, if you're like most folks, you probably prefer not to substitute the letter "X" for Christ's name. But something strange must happen to you if you have two X's in your name. Especially if those X's stand for something extra, extra important like Billy's did. In short, Billy wasn't like most folks. He really liked the letter x. He really liked to put the X in X-Mas, and there was nothing on earth that could make him take that X out.
For it was X-Mas that made Billy Boxx famous and rich, too. When his dad died, that very same year, Billy introduced his first X-Mas promotion. His father never would have gone for it. He was much too conservative and religious. His mother protested. But young Billy Boxx persisted, and on November fIrst that year, the advertisements debuted announcing: "This Year, Do Your X-Mas Shopping at Billy BoXX Appliances and Electronics, where the X's stand for X-Mas—and extra, extra low prices."
That first year it caused quite astir. Billy knew it was a risky strategy. Silver Springs was a pretty religious community. There might be a few who objected—But at least he didn't call it Boxx-Mas! That, he knew, might get him in extra, extra trouble. But X-Mas? Come on. Lots of people called it X-Mas. He'd seen it on cards, banners, lights, and even on a Coke commercial one time, . . . or so he claimed.
Billy didn't call it X-Mas because he was some kind of Grinch or Scrooge or anything. He truly loved X-Mas. His store was decorated every year to the hilt with X-Mas decorations, including a twenty-foot-tall X-Mas tree with a huge yellow star. He had thousands of lights up—all different colors—and probably miles of garlands and tinsel. He had an extra huge wreath that nearly filled the whole back wall of the store. He had a full-time Santa on duty from the day after Thanksgiving through X-Mas eve (who, of I course, would say, "Ho, ho, ho, Merry X-Mas"). He had free X-Mas giveaways during the season, and always had even lower extra, extra low prices for X-Mas. Billy even hired a choir and a band to transform Christmas songs into X-Mas songs such as "We wish you a merry X-Mas," "I'm Dreaming of a White X-Mas," "Oh X-Mas Tree," and "I'll be home for X-Mas."

	Order Information

Title: Billy BoXX's Christmas Sale Author: Richard C. Harshaw Retail Price: $6.98 Available: now ISBN: 0-88290-643-7 Order Number (SKU): 1983 Pages: 80 Size: 5.5" X 8.5" Binding: Paperback