HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1963-12-19, Page 9arty Boyle Recalls Christina:
i'West Wawanosh Township
Ohristmas season activities caught into lavish bunches and "for the conservative styles.
bout West 1 awanosh way sever- held by red ribbons, were esus-
al decades ago are recalled by pentked along the top ledge of
the high rows of shelves that
Harry .3. Boyte in his recently ran down beth sid•
es of the
published,; book, "Homebrew store. Beneaththese were
and Patches." Under the chap- '',lung accordion -pleated banners
ter title of "Christmas aHIarm 9f red and green. To my aunt's
ally," the writer, a nate of great dismay, my uncle then
st. Helens, tells of incidents took riff on a hanging spree:
occurring in. various spots in bells of all sizes were tacked
that district whiAR area res'- .ip tb give what he called an.
dents will readily recognize. "informal Christmas; spirit."
The story reads: Their argument ended when
Christmas for me sttl'•ted on I started,bringing in the Christ-
the first Sunday in December. alias goods. Opening the boyes,
That was when my aunt and cartons and barrels ' was the
uncle decorated the general high point of the day's activ-
store and put out the special ity. We opened the candies
Christmas Y1i•er`chandise... The
store was always opened after
church on Sunday morning, but,
as a concession to the amenities
of the day, customers were al-
lowed in only through the side
door. On this particular Sun-
day they were waited on quick-
ly and encouraged to leave.
Nowadayss the
, decorations
ecorations
:-Voulween 'sla fil.r.At .tat
.
time they summed up to me
the essence of starting the
Christmas season in a proper
manner. The bulk of the decor-
ations consisted -of green and
red paper bells in various sizes,
green and red garlands, accord-
ion tissue -paper streamers and
strands of glittering tinsel.
There were also some small
glass . balls of different colors.
Many of them were chipped,
and the number dwindled from
gear to year.
The windows, two caverns at
the front of the store divided
'bv double doors, would have
presented a decorating problem
to the most dedicated of artists.
t)ur first argument started over
whether we -were going to dec-
orate one or two windows. I
settled it by transferring the
~ctrntetrts pf • the,"window. on -the
grocery side to the hardware
and dry -goods side. My aunt
then insisted on scrubbing the
window 'while my uncle and I
unfolded the bells, trying to
keep them open by p=inching
the small metal tab',: The. tab.:
,1°as•-usually broken, because the
hells were used ,repeatedly, •arid
We had to substitute pins. Our
lingers being large and clumsy,
'we often damaged one shit of
the bell while • trying to stick
the pin through the tissue,so
that we had to put the bells
up with the undamaged side
facing outwards. This side was
invariably the faded one, with
the result that we decorpated
with pink .and lime bells rather
than red and green ones.
The floor of the window was
covered with white tissue -paper.
'The red and green garlands
were tacked in` -loops to the
wood strips that divided the
window into four squares. More
garlands were looped on the
back wall of the window and
,up on the ledger cabinet. From
a disused whip rack in the
centre window we hung the
largest red bell. Then, cereThon-
iously, my uncle produced a
-- - b.ine_:carth,.with glittering letters
which pro -chimed imed the Christz_
mas message in a startling
fashion:
There were also caps, arm
bands, fancy garters, substan-
tial braces, belts and a few
bow ties for the possible use
of some of the fancier dressers
or'the community. From the
stock usually on hand we select -
‘ed tstraight razors, playing
cards, shaving lotion, jack-
knives, shaving brushes and
shaving soap to include with
the Christmas display. A few
fine shirts and ` collars - were
placed in a glass cabinet.
Half the overall counter was
devoted to presents for women.
These ranged from three or
four packaged sets of toilet
first: a great array of wooden water, face powder and hair
nets to aprons and sweaters.
Men's Cuff -links and " studs were
placed beside women's brooches
ajid pins. The display was al-
ways dominated by large,ugly
teapots and big dishes or plat-
ters with pictures of hunting
scenes or rosy-cheeked child-
ren Some. boxes of pink and
w rkt`e�= silk er'gaiienta were:
placed discreetely on display
by my and. The undergar-
ments were her responsibility,
since my uncle could be reduc-
ed. to red-faced incoherency by
a woman customer brandishing
one of these items and enquir-
ing about size and price. The
front- of this entire counter was
brightened up with glass ..balls
and more garlands.
When the store was decorat-
ed, we went back to the- display
in the window. By common
consent, new gasoline lamps
and lanterns made a backdrop
for the window display. Many
families in those days com-
promised on Christmas and de -
opted their extra money to re-
placing the old, yellow kero-
sene lamps with bright gas
ones. We brought selected
items- ro>Iri. thee., display,.counter,,,
pails containing creams, .old-
fashioried chocolate drops, sat-
iny hard mixture, sugar candy.
in vivid colors, chocolate figures
of everything from brooms to
ack-
lilgs,
as
reindeer, candied popcorn
ages with prizes, licornee
pipes and whistles as
the inevitable candy-coatei pea -
had
tQ `be opened, their frilled
paper folded back and then dis-
played at an angle on a cleared
shelf behind the candy counter.
1'he candies shared prominence
with the raisins,• currants and
peel already on display along
with almonds and a large assort-
ment of nuts, for the benefit of
housewives who made Christ-
mas cake in November, so that
it might age properly before
the festive day.
The overall counter, norm-
ally covered with smocks, over-
alls and winter underwear, had
to be cleared ,,for Christmas
goods. I never ceased to w9n-
der at how much more Merch-
andise , the already jammed
store could take. For ,men the
Christmas goods were boxed
ties, handkerchiefs and fancy
socks.- "Fancy was a misnomer
M RRY MAS
HAPPY NEW Y AR
My aunt knew there was no
use arguing with him about
the state of the card.- My -uncle
had bought that card and paid
one whole dollar for it:- He
was getting his money's worth
-out of it. Besides, the lack
of an x satisfied, the local priest,
who objected to spelling Christ-
mas in the abbreviated form.
Having finished the window,
we moved to the actual store.
Garlands were strung from the
four corners of the room to a
central hook whek'e the gasoline
lamp hung. ,Cedar boughs,
Enter Our -
CHRISTMAS
DRAW
to make a pattern Of them In , an *avid love of books. Ile .*z4' tended the' There was
t... wLtd L4y,
,i t Atak•t "e' done o CaCC~ Lo f4 Uf-_ st-101 •cad.;"star
lib :;» .� ^ d a� actolice by atten4ing' 'book . i about that (�ilxlstmo$
window Was a too ec , n ti a l vc. It clothed int: withe
t1 ribbon 00.4 Other'S aoelal #O. , e one, th
in it e 1
When all wns finished, xoy ve,y- 4104;erkuni< pan. o d�4a iii 1lncan y _ elif�r, 'Were=
illusions
'Mole drew the front` finished,
blinds' and 3"1411 e't-UP ,of their ruspeet.u.o i that. a glad a_t� y ea give.
.lit the gasoline lights. We--ehureil s, Father Glbboni bo.w" I '
.ilial; i hi our house shelled
stood about; proudly surveying ed the i ininistel' ba4t1 4loge of pine ;boughs, C'hristm, as cake
ito infuse the w at the fowl slipper, MtVic- ' from the meat.sting LEes onhti
into l heraon
bowed while, he priest shone: Les on the
'tut decorations. Somehow, we �
ng
Baa managed u blessed himself and said grace w and to the glass burs
sense of Christmas thQ on the tree. The tinsel glitter
midst, of A r Sitli~bby i finery. at the strawberry social. oath,
was in its own, way •attend the Remembrance DaY ed and outlined the dart cess
Perhaps, -it
closer .Ito• the real Christmas
spirit than the present-day ele-
gant tavlcdriness•"of neon lights,
glaring plastic decorations and
electronic hymns that • have
changed the melody of Christ-
mas love and inspiration to a
Shrill commercial chant.
Our community was almost
equally dh ided between Roman
Catholics and Protestants. Most
of the Protestants were Metho-
dists. The rest were Anglicans
and Presbyterians, who attend-
ed church in the town. There
was plenty of opportunity for'
friction among religious groups,
but the friction was generally
avoided by'''an unspoken agree-
ment of "live and let live."
Most of the Catholics avoided
going to the village on the day
of the Orange Walk, but in the
evening of the same day prac-
tically all of the young people
services and. shared in the
duties. It was rumored that.
Bishop. 01..teilt•
this sharing of duties; but he
could hardly say anything, be-
cause the priest was a decor-
ated veteran of 1914-18.
I remember when Mr. Mc-
Pherson first came to the coun-
try'Methodlst c. .rch.
the year I first went to. Midnight
Mass. It,was alio the first year
hat the Methodist minister at-
veaat x4.f the dance ,fin the *town
halt
Religious tolerance was evid-
enced by the attitude of Father
Gibbons and Reverend Mr. Mc-
Pherson. The minister was a
lean and unworldly man with,
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Of the boughs. The piles of
?areas under the tree had me
ti h:ng with curiosity as fur-
tively I probed and pinched.
Unlike other times, I had
neck and -ear -washed mu, "*
it ,_ c ed without a whimper of
complaint. The other iroi bens
of he.faxnily were also prepar-
ing for a special evening. Grand -
rather spluttered with soapy
abandon in the old tin tub in
'din'back kitchen. Mother com-
,.q.y,,.,. i " i 1111., : i r . t e/' r.H.. n•. ig. ! tv
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; pssy gimbiil g . ity n ons, top,�of thki , v etre1a tut
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