Many of you know that every Christmas, I write a special researching tip just to help us remember how it used to be. This Christmas message is especially for the children of our list members, but I think some of our parents and grandparents will enjoy it too - you who are young at heart. I was born in 1940 in the Midwest. To many of my readers, this would be ancient history. To me, it was just yesterday. Times were good then; times were bad. My parents had lived through the Great Depression and WW II raged during most of my early growing up years. People weren't as rich as they are now and many Christmases found parents without funds or the ability to purchase fancy toys for their children. One gift, if possible, for each child was a wondrous thing, and many gifts were hand made. There was rationing going on then which meant people received coupon books and could only buy a limited amount of grocery items, gasoline, nylons and other necessities. People who lived on a farm might fare better as they could raise a lot of their own fruits and vegetables, cattle, hogs, chicken or sheep. But, I remember certain snippits of Christmases past and how I ruined one year! I'd like to share a few memories with you just in case you younger readers don't get that fancy toy you had your heart set upon! We lived for a time in Lincoln, IL the first four years of my life. I remember my parents having a big old radio case in the living room. Transistor radios, CD's, boom boxes ... what are those? Radio's used to come in a large cabinet, had a circular gold dial and we would spend hours as a family sitting in front of the radio trying to pull in the few stations that were strong enough to hear. This radio didn't even work and the case was used as a table. It became one year a perfect place to hide my Christmas present since the internal workings had been taken out. My present that year was a teddy bear who I named Paddy O'Cinnamon, named for a radio series that played in 15 minute segments before Christmas. (I have since been able to obtain the audio tapes of the program). Paddy now has seen his better days, but he is still with me. He is missing a lot of his stuffing, and the nose is showing the straw used to fill his little body, but Paddy is just as loved. His "bride", Cindy O'Cinnamon joined him perhaps the next year and she was loved, but it was Paddy who shared all my adventures and travels. The Christmas I ruined was in Rochester, IL. We had moved there in 1945 and had a home across the pasture from my grandparent's farmhouse. It would be considered small in comparison to the big city folk's homes, but it was heaven to a little girl who loved the outdoors. We had a snow on Christmas Eve when I was around 6, making it more magical thatna child could hope for. Somehow, during the night, Santa had arrived at our house and when my Mom woke me on Christmas morning, she ran outside with me to show me the roof of the house. Sleigh tracks and little hoof prints graced the roof and I knew Santa hadn't forgotten me! I don't remember what Santa brought that year, but I surely remember the gift from my parents! I, being the curious sort, took every opportunity when my parents were out of the house, too snoop around, hoping to find THE package. Suddenly, looking way up high, I saw a brightly wrapped package sitting on the top of a hutch in the kitchen. I found a tall enough chair and stretched as far as I could to reach the package. My being tall must have helped and I made a little tear in the wrapping, I saw a set of metal garden tools, all in bright colors and just child sized! I loved gardening and flowers early in my life and was just thrilled!. I tried to turn the package around so my parents wouldn't see that hole; I don't remember if they caught on or not, but something tells me they did! I got my punishment that year for sneaking a peak early. Also seen on the top shelf was a box of candy. Well, I thought it was candy and ate several pieces of this chocolate called "Ex-Lax" or something like that! Over the years, there were presents that I loved, and most of which have faded from memory. Those I do remember would include some things the present generations would likely find most boring but brought hours of amusement to a little girl of the 1940's. One of my favorites was paper dolls. I think they're still around today, but a girl could spend hours cutting out or punching out the clothes and making up a story about the characters you've garbed. Dolls ... well, I wasn't into dolls all that much, I can only remember one. It was the year that dolls were made with hair that could be combed. My doll had come the year before and a little girl guest didn't know that. She tried to brush my doll's hair and it all fell out. Maybe that turned me off dolls for life! Teddy bears were always in abundance and we had our little tea-parties as girls do today. Books were always a treasured gift as I have always been an avid reader. Advancing from the Dick and Jane readers at school to the adventures of Little Women, the Nancy Drew series, any book about horses, dogs and bears. Coloring books, always a winner! Jigsaw puzzles. A set of jacks could amuse me for a long time, and were small enough to take to school and play with others during recess. Yo-Yo's, Silly Putty. Jump ropes were also great fun and I'm glad they haven't faded away! I just wish I had the energy to use one again! One year my favorite gift was a baton and I have pictures of me standing outside the house practicing my tosses. Clothing was not the most exciting gift but one of the necessities that appear under the tree today! Little tea sets entertained for hours. One of my favorite "toys", if it could be called that, I still have. It's in an old cigar box and I'm saving for my daughters. Its value in cash would be about $1.00. Its value in memories, priceless. Some company used to make miniature clothes pins for hanging doll's clothes. I found that if one laid the clothes pins on their side and stuck the ends together, it made a fabulous western corral or fence. Then, there has always been Cracker-Jacks (R) and their toy in each and every pack. I must have talked my Mom into many boxes of them and saved all the red, green, yellow and white plastic animals. They had lions, tigers, elephants, horses, cats and dogs. I would set them up and march them around the corral. I called my little town "Pandaville". (I told you I was into bears!). And then, being the tomboy I was, I really loved Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. One Christmas I received the ultimate gift, a Roy Rogers cowboy outfit. I wish I still could find one, but thankfully I have one faded picture of Cowgirl Sandi standing proudly in her Roy Rogers shirt, Roy Rogers chaps, Roy Rogers hat and holding my Roy Rogers pistol. We didn't worry about guns back then, we weren't about to go out and pretend it was a real gun and stage a robbery! There was one magic memory of my Uncle Norman hoisting me on the back of Mollie - one of my Grandfather's two Belgium work horses. He led me around the pasture as I sat on the extremely wide back of Mollie singing Roy's latest hit. There were other "girl" toys that I remember, whether I ever had one, long gone! Betty Boop dolls, sock monkey dolls, trikes and bikes (oh, I remember my first real bike and my Dad's frustration at trying to teach me to ride it down the country road. I did learn eventually and I'd ride for hours!). Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls were very popular. Now, I've been talking a lot about "girl" things and I'm not an expert on boys' toys! But from the depth of my memories and help from my aunt who raised my cousin during the same time frame, I can pull out a few things. Boys got balls, rather crude by today's standards. But that ball, with a stick from a dead tree, made for a grand game of baseball. Daisy BeeBee guns and Red Ryder guns. Cap pistols, toy farms where the boys built the farmhouse, farm and had the animals to complete the setting, Lincoln Logs, later erector sets. Baseball cards in bubble gum packs! Tonka Trucks. Toys that both boys and girls enjoyed might include games that would be played by the entire family such as Chinese Checkers, Monopoly and Pick Up Sticks. Card games came into popularity; my favorite, Old Maid! Canasta was introduced in the mid 1950's and could be played by the entire family, if the child's hand could hold so many cards. Radio Flyer wagons, marbles, Jacob's Ladder, rolling hoops, spinning tops, whistles, a comb with waxed paper over it to make a homemade harmonica. There was always the marvelous penny candy in Christmas stockings, candy canes, red hots, licorice, ribbon candy and fresh fruit which was normally a shiny red apple or a brilliantly colored orange. Some little candy bites came in glass figurines which could be saved for decorations over the years. To finish the Christmas season was the tree. Real trees were used and either cut by the family from the farm or purchased at a tree lot with the hope that the needles wouldn't fall off before Christmas or that it wouldn't catch fire. The tree was seated in a container that had to be filled with water to provide moisture. Trees weren't put up as early as they are today, primarily because the family wanted the tree to be green on Christmas morning, not a bare trunk! Real candles were used in the earlier years which caused many fires, but by the time I could remember, the decorations were large, glass and sometimes gaudy; some of the lights shaped like candles which bubbled. I note more and more of the old-style decorations coming back into popularity today. We made popcorn strings (eating a lot as we went), with the popcorn threaded on string. The child's contribution was also a bright garland made from construction paper. We made them in school with red, green and white paper we had lovingly cut and then looped them together held together by the old standby, white paste. Our entertainment on Christmas Day, after church, depended on the weather. We rode our bikes, hauled the neighbor kids or our pets in our wagons, played jacks ... and maybe we just sat around that old radio and listened to the world outside. So many programs are still remembered today - Jack Benny, Fibber Magee and Molly, The Green Hornet, The Lone Ranger, Burns and Allen, a space program, a detective show with the character Sam Spade. We heard the news, listened to music and sat as close as we could as the stations faded in and out. Church services were awesome to a young child. Most times there was a children's choir who giggled a lot while trying to make it through the Christmas carols. Boys dressed as the shepherds or the wise men, Mary and Baby Jesus, who was normally a doll. Angels appearing on stage, holding on to their halos and bumping everyone with their wings. Then, if one lived in town, Christmas caroling down the streets as neighbors and friends came to the door to listen to the many time off-key renditions. The best of all was the Christmas Dinner! If you were fortunate enough to have a large family or could go "over the hills and through the woods" to Grandmother's house, the sights and sounds of those Christmas dinners will last a life-time. Turkey, with the wonderful stuffing made of bread crumbs, mushrooms, celery, onions, apple pieces and walnuts; cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes that didn't come from a box, gravy spilling over the sides, every vegetable imaginable, pumpkin pie made from scratch and topped off with whipped cream, pecan pies, hot cider or eggnog sprinkled with nutmeg. Passing the food, sitting at the children's table if there were too many adults, saying grace for the blessings of the past year, giggling, spilled glasses, tummy aches from too much overeating, listening to the grownups talk, trying to sit still and mind your manners. It surely is better than a "tv" dinner in front of a sitcom! Years passed and seemingly overnight, I grew up, married and had two daughters of my own, now also adults. My joy of Christmas has never diminished and I hope that somehow my daughters remember some of the cherished times we shared. We spent Christmases all over the United States, greeting Santa in Illinois, Missouri, Texas, Arizona and Kentucky. In Arizona, where we did get a snow or so up in the mountains where we lived, most Christmases were warm and toasty. But, somehow Santa managed to arrive right on schedule, even leaving snowy footprints on the carpet! Now, my daughters are grown but the magic of Christmas and it's reminder of the first Christmas has never diminished. When I go shopping and see all the mechanical toys, electronic gadgets, computers, games --- they may be nice but I bet they're not half as much fun as our little stick ponies, cowboy/cowgirl outfits, and games where the whole family played! Merry Christmas to all and God's richest blessings. Sandi (c) Copyright Sandra K.Gorin, 19 Dec 2003, All Rights Reserved. Colonel Sandi Gorin SCKY Links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html SCKY surname registry sites: http://www.rootsweb.com/~kyclinto/reg.html http://www.rootsweb.com/~kyclinto/forms/SCKYreg.html Gorin Publishing: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/