HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1975-01-02, Page 10!pig titiliost°eXPoSIT011 JA. .0411Y. 2, 19
ep
Ilarry J. Boyle W!rite
qnd cornfbetable..itolation
r 1r
A
other 'Merry, Christmas' as the
clock crept 'towards twelve. At,
ten-to.twelve father announced it
as time to go. 'The Donnybrook
people %Vent home with their
parcels. 'The mass-goers took
their parcels to stow in sleighs
and cutters in the church shed.
At the first troke of the
'midnight bell, father turned down
. the lamps. checked the stoves and
we walked in the frosty snow to
the chureh t The big hanging,
coal-oil lamps pread soft light on
varnished pews and linoleumed
aisles. There was the fragrance of
green cedar boughs hung around
the altar, the crib-and the Stations
of the Cross. Heat popred from
the furnace grate. Joe, howler, the
caretaker, fired up:-with gr eat,
dry knots of hardwqod to a point
where grownups kylpt shedding/
clothes and children fought to
stay _awake. • t+'
The choir sang hymns and
carol's, the candles' blazed, the
priest said mass and the 'sermon
'ow'a short. My memory is of
glowing inner and outer warmth,
the scent of cedar and the
nose-tingling smell of incense as I
shunted in and out of sleep at the
nudging of my mother or father.
My brother slept peacefully
through all.-
At home I was sent to bed at
once. The chilliness of the
skimpily-heated rooms over the
store wakened , me. A few
stragglers were helped by father
in the store While mother busied
herself in the 'front roam' where
a match had been put to the old.
heater with the mica windows.,
The sleigh and cutter bells
'jing-a-janged' and people hailed
each other as they drove home'.
By the time the church darkened;
the chill miade me gO to bed,
where I determined ' to stay
awake but never managed. ,
.1 am not ' suggesting that
Christmas 'morning was • not
exciting: The i• stockings, hung'
over a rocker in lieu of a fireplace,
were full. I was assured that
caoaloil, grease and parattin on his
tank slleigh. The old red gasoline
hand pump was not used, in
winter because people. didn't
driee 'their ears and anyhmy „the
deep, hill cuts were never Plowed
free of snow until spring had
dried up the roaclk,
The second' thing not to be
touched was a large carton tucked
behind the pile of flour, sugar and
bean sacks. All 1 could decipher
on the outside was that it came
from somebody called Coleman:
' Early this particular Christmas
Eve father produced the box and'
asked us to sit down.in the store
because he had a surprise. He
was like a magician unwrapping a
large white shade and then a
shiny nickel base. W were told to
wait While he fill4pe nickel
base with what he high-test
or naphtha gasoline from the
mysterious five-gallon can. He
• made a tactical error by saying
how iriflanirifable it •vi/as-beeiiise -
mother immediately want ed to go
.to the kfichen.
There was' a certain amount of
fuss about a coil arrangement,
putting little silk 'bags over
twin-hanging •spouts and burning ,
them.. They looked' like,. dried
brown pods. Aft er a few futile '
attempts to get what I nowictiew •
be a lamp 'lighted, he found
in the , snow across the road
making the gasoline pump cast a
".Shadow like ,that of an odd bird
standing 0,0 one leg. Secret
transaction had to be conducted
in the warehouse or the cellar. I
think it terrified my mother. She
ca-C ted all night 'as if she were
ailing for it to explode, unable
to accept that the hissing was not
a signal fbr an explosion.,
That night the church was
, really an oasis of soft light. We
didn't know it ,but trial 'was the
last year because gasoline lamps
also hissed there, the next year.
N y mother grew accustomed' to
th . although for several years
'the coal-oil lamps were used .in
our 'front -room' for Christmas
ight, as her insistence.
There_ -were two points about
that night, apart from the fact
that it subtly changed Christmas
Eve. It struck me that if my father
could gee!? a surprise as well as '
he 'did that of the lamp, he might
just have places to put stocking
surprises. Common sense told me
it ,was better to forget about it.
That night I watched the
sleighs' and cutters swathing
through the starlight that made
tithe road snow glisten. Getting to
bed I found the shade up and the
starlight so intense I got up to IP
look' out again. Tite. heavens
never seemed so bright. There
was an enormousband ,of
northern ' lights. On impulse I
opened the window, braving', the
cold until Kearney,'s, dog stopped
barking, and I listened.
Several of my schoolmates told
me Santa Claus didn't exist. Now,'
it was easy to see the nuts,
oranges and candies 'were the
same as we had in the store, but
how could you account for the,.
gray Wooden horses and the toy drop and break a bottle of strong
wagon 'and rack of the spinning toilet water. 'Mother of God,
Atop that whistled at high speed. I Will, get that out of 'here!" .
knew every inch of the store, The pods turned into white
house and warehouse and spent , bulbs, a radiant white light'shone
' all the available time in checking and -the' thing hissed.Father put
before Christmas on any possible the shade on, screwed a rod in.the
hidden things, without finding a top and hung it .from, the-hook--
trace. .My father never stopped where the' Oil lamp' had always
me. He simply told me not0to pry been. The oil lamp was like a
open the candy barrels and boxes. candle in comparison. There were '
There was-Ohly one year lie told . no soft corners and shadows. Our
me not to touch two articles. One store was totally bathed in white
was , a five':gallon can of light.
something Sam Chittick, the It 'was a great topic of
Imperial tank man,'brought with discussion. The light spread ou(
It was there. A hissing noise,.
more crackling than the lamp but ,
a hissing just the same.The stars
must use the same mysterious
high-test fuel as the lamp. it:clid
occur to me in bed that pumping
them up must be a tremendous
job, but I was too sleepy to purskie
my first scientific deduction any
further. _There was ' one worry.
hoped Santa Claus,' , if' he
attempted to light our new lamp, •
kept• his beard far, enough away,
and Pthink-I made feeble attempt
to get up and warn' my father
lacking a wide chitfiney, the front ' "Castel-heft • iff",the, 'Stolz, and ' before the deep' sleep . of
door h4d. been left open for Santa aAykliigs,L 413,iyAtu6,- njitker.;j eichaUSifon''caine, n:„ eakL• . Claus. He unfailingly locked it t" keveyilng'• a'`gife" did 'ainee, 'lit. a • waS die year there was a
after his 'visit. coal-oil lamp. Then father re-read small toy engine in my stocking
the inStru ons, triumphantly that produced real steam. Mother
"found a built-in pump in the base was convinced that, between it
and proceeded to put air in the and the lamp we would blow up,
thing. He held a match to the coil, the whole place.
turned -a valve and flames shot up We didn't, and by the next year
in a way that made my mother there were more windows
showing gas, light than the pale
glow 'of coal-oil lamps.
I also found the invoice for the"
toy steam engine, but as they say,
'Pro gress has a price,' and in
this case, I managed to conceal
my deductions about Santa Claus
for two years. This is the first
time I've ever unveiled my theory
about the starlight,. I was always
afraid to mention it. It was0 so
hard to think of some mighty
high-test fuel for the stars but it
was the idea of having to pump
each one up I thought people
might doubt.
Main Corner . Clinton
Happy NeW Year?
(By Robert E-Hulley)
The services to the rural area
Make• life so smooth and sure.
The milkman, to the dairy.
If the weather, be good or poor.
..dee
The bread man, with his happy
'smile
The fuel Man, never fails ••'
As they drive the country, mile by
mile _
In rain, and sleet, and hail.
These seivice men,. you %get to
know
As- you meet them, day to day.
But; there is one more, that is on
the go'
You'd miss him, if he went away.
He's the faithful, rural mailinan,
in his banged up; little car.
bp Yeti eller, really give a. darn?
'HOW gd'od, his conditionh are.
lieVer get to meet hint
Ott,yeite Mee tvettlit Ogre be red.
' tii0 cooditiort of your
mailbox, being more than sin
Yet, not tv-word. is said.
The mail box door, just will not fit
Unless 'you use both hands.
The post leans way out, towards
the ditch
Just reach it if you can. -1
The box is filled, with starlings
ests
Now look up at your 'home.
How smooth and tidy, with little
mess
'Did you hear that 'mail man
groan?
SEAFORTH
JEWELLERS
for
DIAMONDS, WATCHES
JEWELLERY, FINE CHINA
IFTS FOR EVERY OCCASIO
All Types of Repairs
Phone 527-0270
Th e sn ow plow sweeps the road
so clean -
The conditions are the best.
Now where does all that wet, snow
lean?
Against the post, you bet!'
See, there comes the. rural mail-
man
With red flag on his car. to show
But he'll have to be. a superman
To get near the box, for snow.
Someday there may be a better
way. •
To deliver mail, to country folk.
'Till then, let's vote him a raise in
pay•
For his conditions. are sure no
joke.
A
PEACEFUL
NEW YEAR
People Ore congregating to
usher in a New Year. We
join in with-thanks.
EXETER liAiRY Ltd.
'WEDDING. INVITATIONS
THE HURON IXPOSITOli
PHONE 527-0240 ' SEA FORTH
An ode to the rural, majlman-
'Open 2
BLOUSES --- PULLOVERS
PANTS ---
PANTSUITS
()i)en 2 (i
i•••••,,e,e.reos.,4444,4•••••*••••••44#e******•••••4•##.44.**itokee•ire•••••
The Separate Shoppe
s
•
4•
•
- Hats off to a brand New, Year! . May it be a merry-go-round of happy
timos for all our -blued patron g, _
WEST END-GARAGE
OF MITCHELL, LTD.
Pontiac;, Buiek and G.M.C. Re* ,
82 HURON ST. 3484M2
(By Harry J. Boyfrin the
Imperial Oil Review)
I. remember the day bejore
Christmas and Christmas Eve
when 1 was a child better than I do
the actual day.That's probably
because I happened to be raised
in a ' country general store in .._ .1 westdrn Ontario.
One Christmas Eve " my
grandfather's brother Paul
appeared after fifty years'
ace. Once, just as my mother.
of arte to make up parcels for the
Kelly chi ren, their father came
home the lumber woods. He
came all the way from Bay City,
Michigan, because, as he said, 'A
man's got to be at home for
Christmas.' There was the year I
had measles and the church choir
° stood 'out in the snow and sang
Christmas carols before they went
to midnight mass. And, there was
the year father 'lit' us up with the
new gasoline lampsand changed
everything.
First, let me tell you what it
,
was like in our country store and
how we anticipated Christmas.
St. Augustioe Was merely a
corner with a store, church and
school and four hUuses. Wewere
seven miles from the CPR in
Auburn in one of those small
valleys that winter kept wrapped
in snow from early 'November to
April: There were some spindly-
wheeled cars but these were put
up on,blocks. at the first sign of
snow to 'save the tires. •
Winter-locked? We cer ainly
were, but it 'was, a comf rtable
isolation. Before the 0 trucks
stopped running my father
stocked u p for the siege. Flour,
oatmeal, Sugar, bran - all kinds of
bulk goods that wouldn't freeze
filled the war ehousejhe had built
on•the side of the great old,white
L-shaped brick building. The
downstairs front Part of the L was
the store. We I' upstairs and
in the back o the L stem. The
wing was the varnished Victorian'
'front parlor: with the heater
which we really only used on
Christmas Day.
The store had everything from
kegs of twits and boxes of bolts to
a small counter with overalls and
smocks. Fleece-lined and pure
wool • underwear for men was
piled on shelves on the dry goods
side next to a range of drugs'
including Burdock Blood Bitters,
Sloan's Liniment, Epsom Salts,
Zam 'But( Salve and Pink Pills'for
Pale People.
`Buggy whips still clung to a
revolving rack of , the ceiling of
one of the front windows where
white .. initials, cemented on,
proclaimed the virtues of Salada
Tea. _
The other bay window had white
Initials 'W.A°.BoPe. '"' General
, Merchant, .,. St. Augustine'
courtesy of the tea salesman.
Periodically, that window was
decorated with signs and colt ed
tissue for a product such as soap.
This was the grocery side but it
had the till and the sliding box of
individual books for, accounts of
sale and barter of such things as
cream and eggs and poultry.
The grocery side had a scales, a
,...glass case for 'penny candy goods
and the counter top was polished
by daily trade to a, sheen. A
banana stalk hung overhead in
summer. * Beneath the counter
were great barrels of white and
brown sugar and oatmeal en
casters that rolled. The-oishelves
held everything from canned
goods to caddies of plug chewing
and smoking tobacco. Below
these were foldout bins .with
ornate., if illegible, rettering.They
held bulk tea, raisins, dates.
currants. and glauber salts, a
favorite of farmers reluctant to
call a...veterinarian.
The entire place had an
incomparable aroma., Imagine, if
you can. spices. old cheddar
cheese, plug tobacco, seeded
muscat raisins, harness oil. a
bundle of B.C.cedar shingles
someone ordered for patching.
There was the occasional. spill
from a can filled in the warehouse
with raw linseed oil or turpentine.
A coal-oil container always
'splashed a bit when it was filled
in the cramped quarters under
the veranda of the tall, gaunt
building - we used a gum drop or
a piece of potato to plug its '
pouring spout.• And every_ time
the inner door opened one
whiffed the tang of the ,.salt
herring in winter.
In summer the smells were,
more diffuse, In winter when the
stove glowed and customers sat
around with damp clothes
steaming and pipe smoke
wreathing in the 'heavy air, the
store was as odorous as an
oriental bazaar.
The first anticipation , of
Christmas came with the arrival
of the special goods ordered the
summer before. Boxes, barrels
and crates were markeddelivery. I
knew that the ones swaddled in
blankets were crates of- oranges.
The others were a mystery and
while" it seemed to me, that snow
on the ground was justification
enough for opening them, father,
was adamant. I 'poked and p ried'
but the wooden pails and boxes
were secure. It was maddening to
read Christmas Mixture XXX and
not be able to see, let alone
- Thensaniple. on a stormy.,
late-November afternoon, fa ther
and mother would begin the
preparations. First the floor was
oiled. I was told firmly to mind my
young brother) The overall
counter-was a vantage point until
one year I neglected his
underpinning and we had to have
a special sale on Carhartt's
overalls size 40 and 42 because of
discoloration.
The next step was to string
streamers from the hooks holding
the large coal-oil lamps that hung
over the counters. Fuzzy garlands
of 'red and green, flat tissue
things that unfolded into bells,
thin streamers of sparkling stuff,
a string holding letters that
spelled out 'Merry Viristmas'....
all went up but nbt in a day. The
trouble was it never got finished.
A customer would come tramping
in out of the blizzard tor tobacco
or sugar or tea and father would
stop and mother wouldlake my
brother back to the, kitchen. It
might be three or four daysibefore
work was resumed.
Decorating for Christmas was
finally accomplished *, but the
goods were set out in dribs and
drabs. It made me frustrated but,
as I now know, it was because the
place was so crowded, something
had to be moved to make room for'
the Christmas ;goods. The boxes
and barrels of candy were 'fitted
in,',prominent enough to be seen
and not 6o-close fdr customers to
sample indiscriminately. We sold
jelly beans, lozenges with
snoopysayings in red letters, slirh
sugar sticks with genuine tin
rings. fat- chocolate -drops with
violet-colored filling. mixttireS ,of
assorted :creams, • gum drops,
bulls' eyes that made your mouth
violet while you sucked them
down to a mysterious yellow seed,
red and black licorice pipes,
whistles, and whips and a few
boxes of chocolates including••
one*wikh, dripping, centres and
maraschino cherries. •
Mother made room otrthe dry
gnocs sicl fin boxes 'of toilet
water, comb and brah sets with
ornate handles, silky ladies'
underWear unlike the sturdy
ribbed merino vests.and bloomers
We "normally carried, and a few
brilliant pins of shiny stuff with
glittering stones. The fact is that
most customers looked at the
Christmas stuff but they' didn't
pay much attention. I tried to find
ways to call theiLattention to it
but'they smiled and muttered that
Christm was a long way 'off.
It was differ t with children.
They clutched pennies and stared
and tried . to figure out which ,
purchase gave the greatest
variety and amount. Parents were
pestered, and more ,than, one
father , gave in by shoVing his
penny change back for candy.
Then there would be the great
deliberation. To take a chocolate2e
covered marshmallow Santa
Claus. a licorice pipe and jelly
beans for the three cent s or else -
and it went on until finally the
parent had to threaten to leave to
hurry up the process. Young men
dawdled around fancy.. boxes.
pretending to look at something
else. then there would be a
surreptitious deal - a box would
'vanish, put away by my father
with .a name on it. These were
usuallPlads known to be 'go
steady'. It gave ,me a vie toes
thrill, knowing that Jean r Mary
would be getting 'Eau violette' •
or a fancy apron f m Jack or'
Pete, but I was. der strictest.
orders not to mention a word to
anyone.-
As they would say now, 'It all
came together on Christmas Eve.'
The' store was full of customers
doing a kind of ritual dance in the
pale, yellow light of coal-Oil
lamps. One parent would,herd the
children over to the church for
confession while the other bought
oranges. ntitcand candies to be
hidden in the bags of grocieries.
A man would make a sheepish
visit to where my mother was in
dry goods and point to something
which she 'wrapped quickly and
he clutched under his overcoat or
mackinaw. Soon afterwards his
wife -would appear and, as if by
magic, mother v1/4frould have a
parcel for her. It was. usually a
new suit of woollen long johns or'
fleece-lined combinations or a
'good dress shirt'.
The ,store was warm. Beyond
the pools of light from the lamps
there were shadowy places where
the ordered giftstould be passed
to the buyer—Sothetimes in the
'shadows men. WO)ild even buy
ladies' underwear as presents'-for
their wives.They were not top
specific. 'Ah, Mrs. Boyle, you
know what my wife would like.'
Braving the regulars who sat
:around the stove, young men
made mysterious signals to my
father, who could palm a box of
chocolates or a fancy jar of •
perfume,156Vder or tqflet water
as dexterouslY as a•thier-Thert he
wrapped i4S1/4.offIce, e
The bell Of ihe'-ehurch .rang at
11:3.0 p.m. to mark 5 the end of
confeSsion and' mass Would start
'at, midnight. Of course, 'there
were more than mass-goers in the
store. The United Church people
from 'D nybrook were just as
much a part of the occasion as
anyqrte. The ' continuing
Presbyterians did their, more-
limited buying early in the week.
There was also a big 'run on 'tonics
such as Beef, Iron and Wine. At
the tithe I merely thought people
needed more medicine over a
holiday. 'Years later I discovered
-that the'high alcoholic contenf of
the nostrums made tiTeN,,,,ver0
popular in ascounty afflicated by
the, Canada Temperance Act..
Everyone seemed talky and
happy. Normally reticent•
neighbors shook hands 'without
embarrassment. and wished each