The fact that tomorrow is Christmas Day in the story adds insult to injury, and the syntax of the sentences in the first paragrap—including the final one that references the holiday —helps to create the sort of tragic mood that begins the story. The first sentence, of course, is not really a complete sentence. It reads,
One dollar and eighty-seven cents.
Right away, Della's lack of money is foregrounded in a very specific and tangible way. The next sentence seems to multiply the effect: "That was all." It is a complete sentence but it is short and the words are monosyllabic, so the sentence feels abrupt and final. And yet, there is more:
And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony, that such close dealing implied.
This detail, that almost a third of the money is in pennies that had to be scrimped and saved so meticulously and at the cost of the saver's pride, multiplies the effect of the tragic nature of Della's situation and enhances the mood, especially because the first sentence above begins with "And." Moreover, the second sentence in the above is also not a complete sentence, further adding to the sense that tragedy is heaped upon tragedy. Not only does Della have so very little, but it was so dearly come by. Next, the narrator says,
Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents.
The repetition of the amount via yet another incomplete sentence, as well as the detail concerning how many times Della has counted the small sum, adds again to the tragic mood. The final sentence of the paragraph reads,
And the next day would be Christmas.
Sentences do not usually begin with "and" because it is a conjunction that most often connects two ideas within the same sentence. However, beginning the sentence with "and" draws more attention to the word than we typically give it, and so it increases the multiplier effect again. It's as though this sentence, even more than any of the others that preceded it, contains the most tragic piece of information in the paragraph. It's bad enough that Della has only $1.87, and that almost a third of it is in pennies for which she had to fight the butcher and grocer tooth and nail. And, as if this weren't tragic enough, add to the fact that tomorrow is Christmas, and the narrator has built a mood that feels so pathetic that we cannot help but sympathize with Della as, in the next paragraph, she "flop[s] down on the shabby little couch and howl[s]." It is as though the idea that tomorrow is Christmas is the thing that simply pushes Della over the edge, so that she can no longer contain her sobs.
The word "Christmas" at the very end of the paragraph is used mainly for emphasis. It adds to the profound sense of desperation implied by the previous sentences. Della has been carefully counting out her money, scrimping and saving from the money left over from buying food. All she has is a dollar and eighty-seven cents. And, just to make matters worse, tomorrow's Christmas.
For most people, Christmas is so important that they tend to ignore the cost, spending way too much money, especially on credit cards. But for poor people like Della and Jim, they literally have to count every penny before they even think about buying any gifts. That explains why the word "Christmas" is mentioned right at the end of the first paragraph. For Della and Jim, and countless others like them, counting the pennies must take priority over celebrating Christmas; and they do this not because they want to, but because they have to.
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