Three Kings Day is a time of gift-giving, celebrated on January 6th in Connecticut, across the nation, and throughout Spanish-speaking countries.

In Hartford, the most unusual sight one typically encounters are camels sauntering down Park Street in a traditional depiction of the wise men’s visit to the manger, where they delivered gifts to a vulnerable, homeless child.

But on January 6, 1985 a very different trio arrived in Hartford, not by camel but by a huge Eastern Moving Company trailer truck. The van parked on Bedford Street where three men dressed in royal garb handed out $12,000 to several hundred local residents in cash, food, and toys over a period of two hours.

Big wheels, Strawberry Shortcake dolls, Star Wars toys, canned hams, and $20 bills were distributed to the crowd. “Everybody started jumping,” said one 17-year old girl. “It was wild.”

Liberating the Trillion Dollar Bank

The giveaway was…