A VILLAGE CHRISTMAS

Christmas in the village was not the big commercial event of recent decades. Presents were mainly homemade, necessary articles and frequently the annual renewal of clothing.

Several events requiring long range planning could be seen taking place in the village and surrounding area. A farm wife would nurture a small flock of turkeys all summer and fall; it would be her Christmas money. A special calf was fed a ration so it could be marketed as "baby beef" in December. Early in the fall, the village children went to the bush gathering several varieties of nut, some to be stored for the Christmas cake and pudding. Christmas was never left to chance; it was planned over many months.

Village mothers took advantage of the long summer evenings to knit or crochet doilies or other bits of handywork while they relaxed on their verandah enjoying the breeze. Some of this handicraft would find its way to the church bazaar in the fall or possibly a special gift for some member of the family. Doilies, lace edged hankies, crocheted collars and cuffs and monogrammed napkins when given as a Christmas gift would receive a gracious "just what I wanted" from the recipient.

Fathers and grandfathers made toys for the children. A toy or a whirlygig made by grandfather was a treasured gift. A cradle for the doll made by father and the patchwork quilt of mother's handiwork would become a long remembered gift for a little girl. New sleighs, many of them homecrafted would appear on the village hill after Christmas and often a village boy perfected his slapshot, during a boisterous game of shinny, with a hockey stick from father's worksop.

Villagers always knew Christmas was only a few weeks ahead when the large oranges went on display at the general store, the mixed nuts and Christmas candies were available and those special gifts or perfume, handkerchiefs, fountain pens, gold arm bands, Christmas neckties, pound boxes of chocolates and glass beads were displayed in the drygoods section of the store.

The other big indication Christmas was only a few months away was the arrival of the fall catalogue from Eatons and The Robt. Simpson department stores. The toy sections of these mail order catalogues became well worn as children reviewed each page and dreamed of the one wonderful toy that might be in their stocking, Christmas morning. The awesome trains, cars, Canadian Flyer sleighs and "tube skates" would be playground conversation at the village school for several weeks while the girls huddled to talk about a doll with real hair, a set of party doll dishes or the blue velvet dress with the lace collar.

The village had total awareness of the coming of Christmas when those who would play the several parts in the school play for the Christmas concert were chosen, the poems to be memorized with the gestures needed for recital at the annual event. Those selected for the chorus and the dance routines would have to think about their costumes and practicing each movement of the drill, quadrille or pantomine. Come the first week in December, school studies would take a backseat to the preparation for the annual Christmas concert.

Many of the village children had to prepare for the church Christmas concert as well as the school event. Trying to keep two recitations separate was most confusing.

The village Christmas concert at times became an outstanding production. Every school had its outstanding entertainers and each year, many people young and old looked forward to the school or church Christmas concert. A well performed concert would be conversation piece for several months.

The United Church Sunday School usually held their annual Christmas concert on Christmas night. On several occasions, this event became the highlight of the winter season. One year the Sunday School, which included all age groups, staged the Nativity play. This was a major production and required much planning, rehearsals, preparing costumes and selecting people for the right parts.

The three Wisemen were the outstanding characters in the play. As I recall each actor designed his own costume. My father and mother spent a number of evenings making a turban from a length of rich cloth from mother's piece box with proper jewelled adornments and the robes were made from the heavy drapes that for years had separated grandmother's parlor from the sitting room. These heavy, light brown, woven drapes with a tassel fringe sure gave the wearer, the rich appearance of a wiseman. The one thing that could be said about this production was, it was originality, ingenuity and the artistic touch that could only be found among a village group.

The Sunday before Christmas was the day each boy and girl who attended Sunday School received a book. This appears to be a custom dating back several generations. Frequently, books are found among a collection of old reading material with a notation written inside the cover stating the book was given by a Sunday School to a youngster. Bibles or books about the exploits of missionaries were the usual Sunday School books but some years, boys would receive series books like "Ralph the Railroader", "Westy Martin" or Tom Swift while the girls were given copies of the latest girl adventure or mystery stories.

Every village child looked forward to Christmas. Some years the presents would be mostly items of clothing, money for toys could have been scarce. Children saved pennies for months to buy mother a twenty-five cent bottle of perfume in a velvet lined box and a ten cent, red polka dot, handkerchief for father. In generations past, a dollar would do a lot of Christmas shopping.

The Christmas tree was a small spruce, pine or cedar tree cut in a local bush. The Christmas tree was always decorated the day before Christmas and before the coming of the electric tree lights in the '30s, the candles would only be lit for a few minutes on Christmas morning.

The ritual of hanging stockings and expecting Santa Claus had its place in most homes. The age old controversy as to the authenticity of the man in the red suit with the white beard became school scuttlebutt for many days before Christmas. The hero of the playground was the student who claimed to have seen the "ole boy" when he arrived the Christmas before with his pack on his back. The general store never had a Santa for the village children to tell their wants to, Santa Claus for most children was a picture in a book showing a jolly, red suited little man with his team of reindeer. Sometimes one of the locals would appear at the school concert dressed in red with a white coton batting beard, in most cases this Santa's helper could easily be identified.

The Christmas dinner was the big event for the family. The turkey or goose, the quantities of vegetables, jellies and pudding and everyone overeating. Most mothers did not consider the meal was a success if everyone didn't leave the table with an uncomfortable feeling in the stomach.

A village Christmas was simplicity in every degree but many will still recall some of the best Christmases of their lifetime.
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