In December of 1891, a Salvation Army Captain in San Francisco had resolved to provide a free Christmas dinner to the area’s poor persons. But how would he pay for the food?

As he went about his daily tasks, the question stayed in his mind. Suddenly, his thoughts went back to his days as a sailor in Liverpool, England. He remembered seeing passersby at Stage Landing place their charitable contributions into a large pot they called “Simpson’s pot".

The next morning, he secured permission from the authorities to place a similar pot at the Oakland ferry landing, at the foot of Market Street. No time was lost in securing the pot and placing it in a conspicuous position, so that all those going to and from the ferryboats could see it. In addition, a brass urn was placed on a stand in the waiting room for the same purpose.

Thus, Captain Joseph McFee launched a tradition that has spread not only throughout the United States, but throughout the world.

By Christmas 1895 kettles were used by 30 Salvation Army Corps in various locations on the West Coast. The Sacramento Bee that year carried a description of the Army’s Christmas activities and mentioned the contributions to street corner kettles. Shortly afterward, two young Salvation Army officers who had been instrumental in the original use of the kettle, William A. McIntyre and N.J. Lewis, were transferred to the East Coast. They took with them the idea of the Christmas kettle.

In 1897, McIntyre prepared his Christmas plans for Boston around the kettle, but his fellow officers refused to cooperate for fear of “making spectacles of themselves.” So McIntyre, his wife and his sister set up three kettles at the Washington Street thoroughfare in the heart of the city. That year the kettle effort in Boston and other locations nationwide resulted in 150,000 Christmas dinners for the needy.

In 1898, The New York World hailed The Salvation Army kettles as “the newest and most novel device for collecting money.”

In 1901, kettle contributions in New York City provided funds for the first mammoth sit-down dinner in Madison Square Garden, a custom that continued for many years.

Today, the homeless are still invited to share holiday dinners and festivities at thousands of Salvation Army centers while many poor families are given grocery checks so that they can prepare their own dinners at home.

Now kettles are used in Korea, Japan, and Chile, and in many European countries. Everywhere, public contributions to the kettles enable The Salvation Army to bring the spirit of Christmas to those who would otherwise be forgotten - the aged and lonely, the ill, inmates of jails and other institutions, the poor and unfortunate. In the United States, The Salvation Army annually aids more than 7,000,000 Americans at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Kettles have changed since the first utilitarian cauldron set up in San Francisco. Some of the new kettles have such devices as a self-ringing bell and a booth complete with a public address system that broadcasts traditional Christmas carols.

Behind it all, though, is the same Salvation Army message, “Sharing is Caring.”