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History of the Red Kettle: The Red Kettle's career as a fundraiser began in 1891 when a Salvation Army officer, Captain Joseph McFee, resolved to provide a free Christmas dinner to the poor of San Francisco. From his days as a sailor in Liverpool, England, the captain remembered a large pot displayed on the Stage Landing, called "Simpson's Pot." Passersby tossed charitable donations into the pot.
Captain McFee received permission from city authorities to place a crab pot and tripod at the Oakland ferry landing at the foot of San Francisco's Market Place. The kettle - and McFee's request to "Keep the Pot Boiling!" - drew a lot of attention from ferry passengers. So began a tradition that spread throughout the United States, then the world.
Kettles are now used around the world, including Japan, Chile and Europe. Public contributions to the kettles enable The Salvation Army to bring the spirit of Christmas to the aged and lonely, ill, poor and disadvantaged, inmates of jail and other institutions -- people otherwise often forgotten.
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