CHRISTMAS PAST

Across the Fence 



By Arvord Abernethy 

It is easy to get a conversation started with our older adults as to what they first looked at as a kid when the fall and winter Sears Roebuck catalogue came in. About ninety nine and a half percent will say the toy section. That is why they called it the wish book. It wasn’t long until those pages became worn and dog-eared. We were never able to get much that we wished for, but the memories are much brighter than the toys were. 

I was talking to Alma Corrigan the other day and she had some fond and clear memories of some of her Christmases. Alma was three years old and living in the Lanham community when the sheriff, Jack Russell, asked her father, George Blakely, to be the county jailer. This made it necessary for them to move into town. 

The Blakely’s attended the Methodist Church, so one of her early Christmas tree memories was there. When they entered the building her eyes caught the sight of the tree which she knew was one of the largest and prettiest she had ever seen; all decked out with strings of popcorn and lighted candles. 

Alma soon spotted a real pretty doll on the tree and hoped that it would be hers. After having to wait through a program, which probably seemed long to her, they began handing out the presents. She kept her eye on the doll and her ear tuned to the one calling out names. Then it happened, a candle caught the doll’s dress on fire, but it was soon extinguished. Sure enough the doll was for Alma, and her mother soon made a new dress for it. 

While the Blakely’s were living in town, they also ran a hotel and rooming house. One Christmas Alma’s mother was trying to get her to got o bed so Santa could come. She told her a scary story of what would happen to little girls who didn’t go right to sleep. 

Alma slept in a trundle bed that pulled out from under a big bed and then lifted up on some legs that folded down. Just as she got the cover tucked in and the creepy story started turning over in her mind, the trundle bed’s legs gave way and dumped her. It all scared her so, she ran through the house and out to another little house where the cook slept and jumped into bed with her. 

Earnest Williams and Ed Moore were two of the roomers at the hotel and Alma remembers one Christmas when Mr. Moore gave her a set of doll dishes and Mr. Williams gave her sister, Top, another set. Alma’s set had a few more pieces, but Top’s set was a little larger, so there was no envy. Those were happy days. 

Mrs. Henry (Edith) Keller also has some glad memories of her childhood Christmases. Edith, was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Taylor and was born on the farm where Raymond Wenzel now lives which is just north of the Hamilton airport. Her father had bought the farm even before he married. Since they live so close to town, all of her schooling was here in town. 

Edith remembers one Christmas when she was in the lower grades and her room had its own tree. It was all decorated out with popcorn the pupils had brought and around it were the presents that were to be given in the exchange of names. Of course there was the usual little program. 

Mrs. Maggie Scoggins was her teacher that year and had given out parts for the program. Edith’s part was to give the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Just as she got down to the part about the big teeth and Edith had said, “They are better to eat you with, my dear.” Mrs. Scoggins grabbed her from behind and almost scared the Christmas spirit out of her. Incidentally, Mrs. Scoggins worked up a lot of Christmas programs in her 40 years of teaching. 

Probably the most cherished present that Edith ever received was a blond-headed doll that she named Marie. She loved it so much she took such care of it, she now has it in a shadow-box along with other keepsakes. Her sister, Ola, received a black-haired doll she named Alice. 

At another Christmas season there was a big snow fall, so her dad had harnessed up the white horse to a sled and took the children for a snow ride around the pasture. It was a sled that Mr. Taylor used to haul the barrels of cane juice from the cane mill to the vats where the sorghum syrup was cooked out. 

I was talking to Mrs. M. E. (Eva) Barnett about her memories of Christmas as a child. She attended school at Elza where the Christmas tree and program was one of the outstanding events of the community. The schoolhouse would be crowded with children and grownups alike to see the tree all decorated with garlands of popcorn, native red berries and candles. 

After a program of songs and recitations, gifts would be given to everyone, and they saw to it that everyone received something. In some cases it might be just a bag of candy and fruit. Even the men would all get a gift, but often it was some kind of a gag gift to get a laugh. The receiver would often keep it over until the next Christmas and pass it on to another man. 

Eva said that she was not very strong on dolls and such, but liked books and jewelry. One of her most prized gift was a chain necklace, and another time she received a ring which she kept for years until it suddenly disappeared. 

I have some more to tell you, but as we say out on rural party phone lines, “Maybe I’d better hang up now as somebody else might need the line. I’ll try to call you back.”

Shared by Roy Ables

ACROSS THE FENCE