DAY 25 -- INA AND SADIE'S EXCELLENT FARMHOUSE CHRISTMAS (FINAL)

Shirley Jean [a.k.a. Sadie] was allowed to slip down and get her sock before everyone else was up. We only stipulated that it should not be too early morning. I put a book in the top of it, so as to keep her quiet till we were up. After breakfast she was allowed to take off gifts and hand them around and was delighted. It was another “skimpy Xmas,” with everyone well-remembered. – Ina Dobson, Christmas 1936

"What time is it anyway?" – Sadie wondered. Gram had said she shouldn’t get up too early. Was it too early now? Just then the old clock in the living room struck 5:00, and she was sure that Gramps would be up soon anyway. As quietly as any little girl could, she crept downstairs and peaked around the corner into the living room. There was her stocking hanging on the mantel where she had left it, only it was all lumpy with the stuff that Santa had put in it. Someone had thoughtfully left a stool so that she could reach it down. In the very top was a new book, one that she could read all by herself. Searching further she found candy, gum, a little doll, a popcorn ball, a new hanky, etc. Then she repacked the stocking, except for the book.

 

Next she surveyed the tree, noting gifts that weren’t there as she went to bed. Yes, Santa had been here.

A little fire burned in the grate, as if someone had tended it during the night. She pulled her rocking chair nearer to the fireplace and began to read her book.

Soon Gramps appeared and put more wood on the fire. As soon as he had stoked the fire in the old kitchen range and put on a pot of coffee, he and Sadie examined the contents of his stocking. Sadie couldn’t understand his delight with a little bottle of something and a little tin of something else and a pair of wool socks, but Gramps seemed to think it was the best. Then he went to the barn to do the chores.

For some reason, the others were not so early to arise, but as soon as breakfast was over, they gathered in the living room to open gifts. With Aunt Shirley’s help, Sadie read tags and passed the gifts to the recipients, that is, until she could no longer ignore her own pile.

And so, Christmas 1935 drew to a close, just as every Christmas does. But our farm family will extend the holiday with visiting, enjoying their gifts, eating the good nutritious food that the farm provides, and just being with the folks at the farm once again.

Shirley Jean & Ethel

Note: The question arises from time to time as to Sadie’s identity. Sadie is totally fictitious but based upon what Grandma Ina wrote in her letters about her first granddaughter, Shirley Jean. My purpose is simply to imagine an old-time Christmas with my grandmother, Ina Dobson, because today my husband and I are the caretakers of her house. KW

DAY 24 -- iNA AND SADIE'S EXCELLENT FARMHOUSE CHRISTMAS

Daughter Myrtle arrived in Orofino on the early morning train. Someone from the hill community met her and brought her to the farmhouse. A small energetic woman with a booming voice, her presence was immediately felt and appreciated. Myrtle got things done.

After lunch, Jack and Ernest went to the mailbox, bringing with them the groceries from town (mostly produce) and more packages. The package from Ina’s sisters in Drain, Oregon, held small wrapped gifts and beautiful holly. The large package from Vance in Raymond, Washington, held a wrapped gift for every family member as well as a swag he had made for the front door and more holly. Shirley and Sadie immediately set to work to decorate the front rooms with greens. Sadie was delighted to be allowed to tie small gifts onto the tree.

 As darkness fell, the guests began to arrive. Ina quickly lit the tree and let the candles burn a short while. And you may know that the light cast by the kerosene lamps was much different than electric light. The light over the dinner table was adequate, but the corners were dark and shadowy.

Both Ina and Bertha had been cooking all day – pot roast of beef with plenty of vegetables, a roasted young rooster, freshly baked rolls, fresh fruit, and desserts and goodies galore. It was a country celebration, but everyone thought it would rival anything they had in town.

Everyone gathered around the big old oak table for the satisfying and nutritious meal. Then Shirley and Myrtle took the table down into a round and placed the greenery and beautiful red candles Vance had sent as a centerpiece. Pies, cookies, fruitcake, sugared popcorn, penuche – all the desserts and treats – were placed on the table for casual munching. Cousin Ruth was the only one who felt able to immediately partake of the rich offerings, but one by one, others nibbled on the sweets.

At some point, Ina lit the tree again. As luck would have it, it was a clear night and the moonlight playing on the tree was so beautiful. Everyone thought so. Then they sang carols to Shirley’s piano accompaniment. Some recalled the Christmas of ’25 and how wonderful it was to sing to the full sound of Vance’s playing.

Oh! The party went on late! I’ll bet it was 8:00 when the first guest declared that he should go home in order to be up early for chores. Ina had enjoyed the evening immensely, but some of us know that she had plenty to do before she could go to bed. She and Bertha quickly parceled out the leftover pies and cookies to those who didn’t have such treats at home.

Ethel helped an excited Sadie into her nightgown and robe. Then she was allowed to sit at the table and write her letter to Santa.  Aunt Shirley prepared Santa’s plate of cookies while Jack went to the ice house for a glass of cold milk, hoping that he wouldn’t be the one to drink it.

The mouse that wasn't stirring

Then little Sadie hung her stocking on the mantel, and perhaps as a joke, Grandpa Jack did, too. (Santa was prepared for this eventuality.)

As Sadie went to bed, the adults said that she could get up early, only not too early. “What does that mean,” wondered Sadie to herself.

Happy Christmas to All!

And then, as if all at once, the house was quiet. Not even a mouse was stirring, if you can believe that. Santa quietly worked his magic and moved on, but during the night, others crept down the stairs to play the Santa game. Myrtle managed her errand alone, but Ethel and Shirley passed on the stairway where they stifled giggles. Even stern Ernest crept down the stairs in the middle of the night carrying two small presents. Not a creature was stirring indeed! I’ll bet even the mice were having a party, what with all the crumbs yet to be swept up.

And that’s it – until tomorrow. KW

DAY 23 -- INA AND SADIE'S EXCELLENT FARMHOUSE CHRISTMAS

The cabin in the 1930s -- no longer the family home

It snowed again overnight, and Ina was so grateful that only Myrtle was yet to arrive. She would leave Portland on the train bound for Lewiston after work this evening – safe enough – and their neighbor Ed would bring her on up the hill tomorrow.

Ernest questioned if Sadie should accompany them to get the Christmas tree due to the depth of the snow.

The cabin, 1920

“Oh sure!” said Jack. “Sadie can come. She’ll have to tramp through the snow, but it’s really not all that deep, nor is it all that far. She can do it, and the women will warm her up when we get back.

Mid-morning, the two men and the little girl, with Dick the Dog tagging along, set off down Stove Creek to cut the four-foot fir tree that Jack had chosen. Ethel watched them go, remembering days of old when she went with Dad to get the tree. Something in her suddenly felt a longing for those long-ago childhood days when they lived in the cramped but cozy little cabin, but she knew all the walking through the snow in the world would not bring back those days. Besides, Sadie would need her attention when they returned.

“Mama,” said Ethel as she turned from the window, a friend gave me a recipe for penuche. Would you mind if I tried to make some? I brought brown sugar, vanilla, and pecans. I’ll just need butter and milk.

“Pa-what-che?” asked Ina, who had never heard such a word.

“Penuche,” Ethel repeated. “It’s a brown sugar fudge. Ernest and I like it very much.”

Of course, it was fine with Ina. Though Ethel had an electric range in her own home, she was a master of the wood range, having been taught by her mother Ina.  

By the time the men and Sadie were back with the tree, Ethel had poured the penuche into a pan to set and Ina was preparing a light lunch. Ethel helped Sadie remove her wet snowsuit, wrapped her in a blanket, and sat her beside the stove with a cup of hot chocolate.

1952 -- the tree is much the same as 1935

After lunch, Jack set up the tree on the library table in the living room, and Sadie and Shirley decorated it while Ina and Ethel supervised. When they pronounced the decorations perfect, Ina clipped the candle holders to the branches and inserted fresh candles. Sadie asked if they could light them tonight, but no – Ina was firm. They would light the tree for the first time on Christmas Eve. (Her house, her rules.)

NOW it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas.