ANOTHER SKIMPY CHRISTMAS -- DAY 10

I tend to feel that if my house isn’t decorated well ahead of the holiday, it’s not worth doing, but this was not Ina’s philosophy. Jack cut the tree on Christmas Eve, set it up, and carried it into the living room. His part was then done, and he retired to the barn to “feed the chores.” People in the house decorated the tree and placed boughs over the door casings and pictures. So, whatever Ina was doing pre-Christmas, it wasn’t decorating.

And don’t think that Ina had a lot of housecleaning to do in order to prepare for the Christmas festivities. I have it on good authority (my mother) that Ina kept an
immaculate house. It was easy to clean because she had no clutter – no stacks, no stashes. Magazines and books were passed along when read. If she had no place for a thing, out it went.

And even though the post office was already advocating for early holiday mailing in the early 1900s, it was just not Ina’s way to mail cards and packages until Christmas was nearly upon her. Christmas activities should happen at Christmas. She wanted her greetings delivered on time, not a minute sooner.

The finished doll had been sitting naked on the sewing machine, and Ina had to admit that “Cuddles” was growing on her. Now it was time to make a layette, and Ina was in a quandary over it. A nice piece of flannel was available for the “didies,” but the dress pattern required more than just scraps of fabric. Some combination of fabrics might work, but Ina just couldn't think about it today. Today was "heap" day. She would think about it tomorrow. 

As if on cue, Bertha breezed in with a flannel gown, such as babies wore mid-century. This one was used, leftover from a doll that no longer needed it, but it
was clean and beautifully made. Ina immediately slipped it on Cuddles, grateful that she was no longer naked.

[In my real world, sister Harriet handed me the doll gown one day, likely made for her doll by our mother in the ‘30s.]