"Picture Frame" - An Archie Christmas Tale

We're kicking off Day #3 in the PEP CULTURE ADVENT CALENDAR by going back in time to the 1960s.  Because even back in those days, the very real problem of accidentally giving someone the wrong gift was a possibility.

Seriously, have you ever bought two gifts for two different people, wrapped them up in the exact same boxes and the exact same wrapping paper, and accidentally switched them and they ended up getting the wrong gift?  That would be a complete nightmare!  Fortunately, I haven't had anything like this happen to me.

But if you're Archie Andrews...well...let's just watch and see what happens.

As always, I will credit the original source of this story.  It can be found in the Archie Giant Series title "Archie's Christmas Stocking #20".  And spoiler alert...this might not be the only tale I'll be featuring from this book.  There are several tales in this story that are very entertaining to read!

But for today's tale, we'll be looking at the story called "Picture Frame" - which opens with Betty and Veronica having the argument to end all arguments.  If Christmas is all about sharing and loving your fellow man and woman, clearly Betty and Veronica didn't get the memo.

Now while Jughead notes how serious the argument is with both of them pledging to never speak to either of them again, Archie could not be more ecstatic.  While that might initially seem uncharacteristic for Archie to have those feelings at Christmas, there is an ulterior motive.  One that REALLY demonstrates Archie's personality.

You see, Archie can be considered a cheapskate, and this year is no exception.  For his Christmas gifts to Betty and Veronica, he's gotten them each an 8 x 10 photograph of himself along with personalized greetings of love and adoration to both Betty and Veronica.  Wow, did he copy Reggie's Christmas gift list or what?  Jughead seems to question the logic behind the idea, but Archie notes that Betty and Veronica are so mad at each other that by the time they mend their friendship again, enough time has passed that they won't compare their gifts.

So, Archie wraps up both of his gifts in the same exact wrapping paper, and happily delivers his gift to Veronica (which Mr. Lodge accepts).  But something happens when he heads over to Betty's house.  He trips over his own feet, drops the other gift, and the glass inside the photo frame shatters.  Now, this could be problematic, but Archie keeps a cool head about it and realizes that he can simply unwrap it and put it inside of another frame.  So he runs back home, unwraps the present, and...

...yeah.  Archie should have used different wrapping paper for each gift.  Because he accidentally gave the present meant for Betty to Veronica!  Well, on one hand, one could look at it as this.  Archie could finally make his choice between the two, cut Veronica loose, and spend the rest of eternity with Betty.

Or Archie could decide that he still wants to be indecisive, and save his relationship with both of them, and so he recruits Jughead for a secret spy and retrieve mission.  His mission is sending Jughead into the Lodge Mansion to find the photo, retrieve it, and bring it back to Archie's so that he can make things right.  Of course, Jughead has absolutely no idea what the present looks like and the only clue Archie gives is that it looks like a picture frame when it's wrapped.  Archie, you could have told him the colour of the wrapping paper, or the type of ribbon you used...anything other than "it looks like a picture frame wrapped up".

For what it's worth, Jughead would make a great spy because he manages to get into the Lodge Mansion quite stealthily.  He even manages to tiptoe around Mr. Lodge and Smithers without getting noticed at all.  And soon after, Jughead manages to locate the present inside one of the bedrooms.

Of course, this leads to another problem.  There are several presents underneath the bed, and they all look the same.  Jughead isn't sure which one of these gifts is not like the others (mainly because this story was first reprinted seven years before "Sesame Street" debuted).  So, he's forced to grab ALL of the gifts and make off with them.  You see?  Jughead was a Grinch before Dr. Seuss' holiday special even aired on television!

Archie is initially shocked at what Jughead did, but he figures that if they unwrap all the gifts right there and then, eventually he'll come to discover his own present and then he'll try and find a way to get the presents wrapped up again and back to Veronica's.  Now, initially it turns out that despite all the gifts that Jughead grabbed, none of them are his.  But if you think Archie is upset at this, with Jughead going through all that hard work for nothing...consider this twist ending panel.

Seems like Archie isn't the only dirty dog in Riverdale after all.  And it makes me think that Archie should take my original advice - drop the rich snob and date Betty Cooper.  I highly doubt that Betty would be sending her photo to anyone other than Archie.  In fact, she'd probably send Archie a hundred photos!  But yeah, this story was a lot of fun to read, and it had a twist ending.

Tomorrow on Day #4, the spotlight will be on Jughead.  And although this story is less than a decade old, it goes to show that even modern Archie can be quite heartwarming.