Well, anyway,
you ‘have done something’ so here’s hoping. You are a good child – and
understand.
Ina to Vance, December 1934
It
was Monday “wash day.” The fact that Christmas was coming didn’t change a
woman’s work schedule. Before daybreak, Jack had stoked up the old cook stove
and set the water to heating as usual. When she had finished wringing the last
piece, she hung the clothes to dry on the screen porch at the back of the house.
The day was sunless and cold, so this evening she would doubtless have to leave
the clothes by the cook stove to finish drying.
A
spell of cold was predicted with highs in the teens and lows in the single
digits. Jack had commenced to fill the wood boxes. He would also cork up the
front door and they would close off the living room. Ina regretted that. She
loved her living room.
Now
that the day’s big chores were finished, Ina took her Christmas teacup and
saucer from the cupboard in the dining room and poured herself a cup of tea
from the little brown teapot. She would enjoy the tea with a big gingersnap; the
spices would come to life when she dipped the cookie in the tea. Then she sat
down at the kitchen table to make serious organizational efforts toward her
Christmas doings. The days before Christmas would fly by, and she had a lot to
do. Like Santa in that new song she’d heard on the radio the other night, she’d
make her list and check it twice. How did that go, now?
You’d better not
cry,
Better not pout,
I’m telling you
why,
Santa Claus is
coming to town.
Ina
chuckled quietly to herself as she remembered the lively tune. Perhaps that
song had “staying power.”
As
Ina organized her lists, she began to think about gift-giving. This year, both
daughters Pearl and Ethel had written that they couldn’t afford to send gifts.
Pearl and Al, farming in northern Alberta, had nothing to sell though they had enough
to eat -- vegetables, fruit, beef and pork and, of course, plenty of milk and butter.
And Ethel and Ernest’s move from Havre, Montana, to Minneapolis had strapped
them, Ethel said, and they couldn’t afford to send much either.
Ina
kept her disappointment to herself. The gracious giving and receiving of gifts
was a Christian virtue, she believed. Lord knows she had never had money to
spend for gifts – never! – and yet she would not let a Christmas pass without
remembering those she loved in some small way. To her way of thinking, a gift
need not and should not be costly. It could even come from one’s storehouse of items,
new and used. Anyone could give these types of gifts, regardless of his means,
and she was a little disappointed that her children were influenced by the ways
of the world.
And
she hated to admit it, but she depended on her children to help make her
Christmas. Christmas helped to pass the winter in this lonely place, and she
loved the coming of the boxes and well – whatever might come to her as a gift.
But, she reminded herself, her thinking was a bit off. It is more blessed to
give than to receive.
[“Santa
Claus is Coming to Town” was indeed first published and performed in 1934. You
can read about it here. And taking it a step further, Hallie points out that you can listen to the original recording here. I think it's delightful -- so very '30s.] KW
Who knew that song has been around so long?! And an "instant hit." I'm enjoying this year's series!
ReplyDeleteI think the days of crowding around the radio must have been really special. It's a different experience to engage the brain to paint pictures to go along with what you're hearing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the YouTube link, Hallie. I posted it on the blog. Hmmm. Maybe there's another '30's holiday tune out there.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, once I discovered the old-time radio podcasts, I was sold. I constantly marvel at the pictures that sound draws -- and it's all in my own imagination.