BY MY FIRESIDE (PART 2)

[In December 1936, Ina Dobson, my fictionalized grandmother, sits beside her fireplace of an evening and muses over the article, “Christmas Eve by my Fireside,” from Good Housekeeping magazine.]

“The Christmas cake, the cranberry jelly, the mince pies, the plum pudding, keep fragrant vigil in the larder against tomorrow’s feast; and, with thoughts of it in mind, is there any one among us who would not gladly dispense with dinner that evening? I always choose the easy informality of a buffet supper. It is so simple to prepare, and it serves itself, thanks to the variety of electric table appliances now at our command. The toaster spells hot, crunchy toasted sandwiches, which my guests usually like to toast themselves. Last Christmas Eve there was a vote for waffles with Sylvia’s delectable creamed chicken from the electric chafing dish. This year the buttered rolls will keep hot in my attractive roll warmer.”

Hah! Ina recognized the advertising here – right in the article. The writer wasn’t promoting by manufacturer, but it was still promotion of expensive electrical gadgets. Well, Ina had no use for these things since her home wasn’t electrified, and she wondered if anyone really needed them. She had always warmed her rolls nicely in the “warming oven” above the stove and she would never expect her guests to make their own toast. Furthermore, she thought that any guest who expressed "a vote for waffles" was rude indeed, unless said waffles were first offered by the hostess.

“My latchstring is always out that evening,” the article went on. “The supper table is set on my old drop-leaf table in the living room, as I have never been successful in getting my guests to move very far away from the firelight.” Ina could certainly understand that. “They love to take turns in dispensing coffee at the coffee table by the fireside. Some like to roam about, carrying their super with them. Some enjoy it while leaning against the mantel, or settled in a comfortable chair for a chat with an old friend or with a new one. Those who may be feeling more than a bit sorry for themselves when confessing that they are dreading the thought of a solitary Christmas in this great city find that Christmas is suddenly transformed for them when some friendly soul says, ‘Do come and have dinner with us tomorrow!’”

Ina wondered if one could really have a successful dinner party on Christmas Eve. Of course, she herself had done so, providing a lively celebration for several families in the community who would otherwise be alone. Still, she found herself a little skeptical that many people would be willing to leave their own hearths for someone else’s on that special night.  Just who were these guests anyway? One thing was certainly clear: no children. Ina believed in hospitality through food service, and that included everyone, young and old alike. 

While she might say that she included everyone, she felt a twinge of guilt over the fact that not only was she not inviting the neighbors this year, but she and Bertha, her sister and best friend, had agreed not to share the Christmas Eve festivities, including the gift exchange. For her part, Ina quite selfishly wanted to have her family to herself this Christmas. Ernest and Ethel were on the brink of a move that might take them quite far away. She didn’t know when she would see them again. Perhaps this would be the last Christmas she could enjoy Shirley Jean during her growing years. And, too, Shirley and Henry planned to marry in June. The family was changing all too quickly, and Ina wanted this precious time for herself. KW

[The magazine pages show suggested Christmas gifts for 1936.]

BY MY FIRESIDE (PART 1)

December, 1936

The living room was Ina’s favorite room. She lived many years without a real parlor complete with fireplace, and for the rest of her life she meant to cherish the comfort of this room.

Ina understood that when temperatures dipped below freezing, the front door had to be corked up and the pocket doors between the dining and living rooms closed, thereby shutting the living room off from the rest of the house. She and Jack would then confine their activities to the dining room and kitchen, which were adequately warmed by the cook stove and the wood stove in the dining room. Such a cold spell might happen once or twice a winter and last a week or two. She knew that if Jack had his way, they would close off the living room most of the winter, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She loved to read and write beside the fireplace.

Ina pulled the rocking chair over to the fireplace and commenced to read her magazine. She was particularly interested in the feature article, “Christmas Eve by my Fireside,” written by Katharine Fisher, director of Good Housekeeping Institute.*

“To me Christmas Eve is the high point in the festivities of this loveliest of all holidays,” wrote Mrs. Fisher. “It holds more magic than even Christmas day, for it is a time when all our preparations seem to work up to a blissful climax. The fragrant spiciness of the fresh balsam and pine brings thoughts of frankincense and myrrh. There is an air of expectancy, of something about to happen, as on that first Christmas Eve so long ago.”

“Yes, all right,” thought Ina to herself. “I know what she means -- all preparations finished and the house in quiet readiness with a kind of expectation in the air.”

Reading on: “We always leave the Institute early that afternoon, gaily calling a Merry Christmas to those who are hurrying out with us. At home friends are dropping in to extend holiday greetings and to leave gay packages on the hall table. A glance at the mounting pile of unopened Christmas mail bridges the miles between old friends. The familiar handwritings on envelopes and packages seem like friendly handclasps across the years.”

Lovely, thought Ina, though she had reservations. Clearly this writer was a woman with society connections. Not only had she friends but also many business associates.  “Friends dropping in,” “gay packages on the hall table,” “the mounting pile of unopened Christmas mail” – Ina wondered if these ideas fostered the right expectation for Christmas or were meaningful to the average person. Still, she was curious and read on. (To be continued)

*The quoted article appears in Good Housekeeping, December 1936. I didn't find much about Katharine Fisher online, except that she authored a number of books during a long affiliation with the Good Housekeeping Institute. KW

IRONING DAY, 1936

This is ironing day for Ina and she regrets that she is too busy to write. However, she wants you to know that she is planning her family's Christmas celebration as she does her work. She has things to say. She'll post again soon.

Oh, and I just have to add that in real time, our granddaughter Emerson is going to get an American Girl doll for Christmas. (Shhhhh -- it's a secret.) I'm as excited as if Santa were bringing it to me. Emmy's mom asked me to make clothes for the doll after Christmas. I guess she knows I probably couldn't get much done before Christmas. (I'm trying, though.) KW

A DECEMBER WASHDAY

We do enjoy our evening’s reading. We have a lot of National Geographics to read – also Collier’s, the Post, Ladies’ Home Journal, three Copper monthlies, Pathfinder, Daily Chronicle, Clearwater Tribune, and M.W.A. monthly. Also Christian Herald. Ina to Vance, 1935

I’m so tired of all the magazine advertising! [The lack of advertising] alone makes the Reader’s Digest a treasure. Don’t you get tired of looking at pictures of blasé men and wanton women, whose only idea is to look ‘smart’ and show their clothes . . . Ina to Vance, 1936 

December 1936

Here it was again – Monday washday. Mundane chores don’t stop just because Christmas is coming, Ina mused to herself. Today she would wash their clothes in much the same way she had these forty-five years of marriage. Now the load seemed light as compared to the years when the children were at home. Jack had helped her by placing the big pail of water on the stove to heat before he went to do the morning chores. Today she would need just one wash water and one rinse.

 

The sky promised to be clear today. Ina could see the sun rising over the field to the east. Though the winter rain and snow were so important to the success of their crops, it was still a treat to have a sunny day. She hurried to wash the clothes so that she could hang them on the screen porch where Jack had strung a rope clothesline for her. Taking advantage of the sun’s warmth, the clothes might get mostly dry before dark, and then she could just spread the damp ones to dry before the kitchen stove this evening.

As she worked, Ina looked forward to her favorite time of day -- the long winter evenings. After an early light supper at the kitchen table, she and Jack would settle down in companionable silence to read under the Aladdin lamp at the dining room table. The lamp provided both light and heat. They both enjoyed history, adventure, and current events. Ina also liked to keep up with the good literature of the day. She liked to think about what she had read and grapple with subjects of substance as she went about her daily chores. Well – but Bertha had given her a current issue of Good Housekeeping magazine. With its advertising of worldly goods and frivolous stories, she didn’t care much for Good Housekeeping, but Ina had decided to at least look through it. With family coming for Christmas, she might find a new idea or two for the holidays – perhaps a new recipe. KW

[The illustration at the top is from the cover of the December 1936 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine. Photo 1 was taken about 1918 when Ina's house was new. Photo 2 is the dining room in the same time frame. But -- things didn't change there.]

WINTER SPIRIT

Well, dearest, don’t worry over us. We’ll make it all right. I don’t intend to do without food and decent clothes and plenty of light such as it is. Ina to Vance, December 1935

In 1936, Ina found plenty to do as December days grew short. By 3:00 p.m. she would have to hurry to make use of the remaining daylight, finishing her sewing and housework and making the house ready for the evening. She would check the kerosene lamps -- trim the wicks and refill as necessary. She would poke up the fire in the kitchen stove to warm their supper and light a fire in the little wood stove in the upstairs master bedroom to warm it before bedtime. Can’t you just see her bustling about the house as daylight fades? And she would be happily anticipating the evening’s activities – perhaps writing her Christmas cards before the fireplace in the living room.

The first essay in the Good Housekeeping magazine of December 1936 is the editorial “Thoughts for Christmas” by William Frederick Bigelow. Simply put, the article is about the importance of Bible study, and Bigelow quotes from a book popular fifteen years prior (about 1920), If Winter Comes by A. S. M. Hutchinson. Men want “light; more light,” the article repeats more than once, meaning of course, the light of revelation. It finishes with “Light, light – that’s what he [mankind] wants; and the longer it’s withheld the lower he’ll sink. Light! Light!” The subject invites serious thought, but turning the page, I found myself looking at a full-page ad for Edison Mazda Lamps – light bulbs -- by General Electric, illustrated with cartoonish characters. Well, I just had to chuckle over the placement.

Today electricity is basic to our standard of living, but in 1936, many homes remained to be electrified, especially in the more remote rural areas such as Gilbert, Idaho, where Ina lived. For Ina, an electrified home was only a dream, and she knew it. “No use to think of these things,” she would say. She would decorate for Christmas with greenery, red bows, and green string.

Last night Mike and I met fellow geocachers at Lewiston’s Locomotive Park where our community has developed an annual holiday lighting event. Begun in the mid-‘90s by the “Winter Spirit” committee, it has become a truly inspirational holiday gathering place. Commercial sponsors pick up the tab while volunteers give of their pre-holiday Saturdays to wind trees with lights. It was raining last night, but the spirit of the crowd was not dampened. 

 

As we toured the grounds, I couldn’t help but think that Ina’s celebration – any celebration without electricity -- would be somber by comparison, but certainly no less heartfelt -- and perhaps more so. KW

COMPANY FOR CHRISTMAS

Out of the welter of Christmas plans comes this letter and how I wish I were coming to you with it or better still that you were coming home. No use to think of these things though, and I hope and trust you’ll be with friends and be cheered and happy. Ina Dobson to Vance, 1932

Ina sat at her “New Automatic” treadle sewing machine in the corner of the dining room (where the wall furnace is today), adding a few pieces to a patchwork quilt in progress. Now and then she looked up to glance out the window to the northeast, noting to herself that it was another chilly, dull day when the gray of the sky met the brown of the earth. But despite this dullness, Ina’s heart was light. Daughter Ethel was coming for Christmas with her husband Ernest and their daughter Shirley Jean. What fun they were going to have! There would be six of them in all, Ina mused -- she and Julian, daughter Shirley, and the three Robinsons. And of course, Henry Shockley, Shirley’s fiancé, would also come and go, offering a helping hand with holiday activities, and they would share some meals with Bertha and June. [Bertha and Junius Dobson, Ina’s sister and Julian’s twin brother, lived just a quarter mile distant on the adjacent homestead.]

At 26, Shirley was now employed at a doctor’s office in Orofino, where she was in training as a nurse’s aide. Ina missed having Shirley at home. Besides being good company, she was good help with the housework and chores. But – she was too young to molder away on the farm. Opportunities for a young woman alone were scarce anywhere and non-existent in this remote community. It was right for Shirley to have employment and a home of her own – one way or another. And besides, she wasn't far away. They saw her frequently.

Ina continued to let her thoughts drift. The last time Ethel had been home for Christmas was in 1930 when Shirley Jean was five. To have family home for the holidays was just the best and to share Christmas with a child – her own granddaughter -- was a blessing she would cherish. But six years makes such a difference in the life of a child. Now 11, Shirley Jean would soon be an adolescent and that look of wide-eyed childish innocence would disappear. Yes, Ina rejoiced that Shirley Jean would be here this year.

Ina knew that elsewhere Christmas celebrations might be bright with revelry, colored lights, and expensive gifts, but she didn’t care for that. Simple pleasures shared with family were all she desired -- and in keeping with her values. KW

[The portrait of Ethel and her daughter Shirley Jean was probably taken in the early '30s. Shirley Jean was born in 1925. The second picture was taken in 1952 -- the same people in a different era: Aunt Ethel, her daughter (my cousin Shirley Jean), and Grandma Ina Dobson.  Seated in front is Shirley Jean's daughter, Patty.]