Gold Nuggets: Deck the Halls (and Santa, too)!

The Obscure Adventures of Comics' Greatest Generation!

As nutty as things can get during the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping, it doesn't come close to the madness experienced by Massey's Department Store customers back in Captain Marvel Adventures #19 (1943). In "The Phantom of the Department Store", Christmas shoppers were frightened away by a mysterious force that caused store merchandise to move and talk!

Young Billy Batson decided to investigate by transforming into his adult alter-ego Captain Marvel, who then went undercover as a Massey's store employee (click on the panels for a larger view).

Deducing the Phantom was using magnetism make objects move, Cap
foiled a number of his tricks before finally tracking down the shocking culprit...

OUCHIE!  After Cap drilled Pseudo-Santa into a
marble column, the mystery was finally revealed...

Atta boy, Billy!  If your Christmas wisdom wasn't enough to warm our hearts, that bland wreath hanging on the blank pink wall behind you certainly will.