Pop Culture
Historian, novelist, and editor Philip Van Doren Stern, a part-time resident of Hunterdon County, wrote the short story The Greatest Gift about a man who wishes he had never been born and said he had Califon in mind for its setting. In 1943, Stern self-published the 24-page story and sent out 200 copies as Christmas cards. The story later became the basis of the 1946 classic film "It's a Wonderful Life," in which an iron truss bridge is a key feature, as it is in the story. Stern had previously written the mystery "The Thing in the Brook," basing its setting on nearby Mountainville and the surrounding area.
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Califon, New Jersey · United States
