1960s Christmas Memories
Growing up, there were bountiful Christmases and then not so much. The earliest Christmas I can remember was when I was 8 years old. We had just moved into a really nice house across from the school and we were pinching pennies but I didn’t know it. Daddy had a great opportunity to buy the house and the 8 of us were living in a tiny 2 bedroom trailer. So he jumped on it even though it meant we didn’t have enough furniture to fill it and we had no extra money to go shopping. When Christmas rolled around, we hurriedly ran into the living room where the Christmas tree stood all aglow and we each had one present apiece. I remember that Bobby got a bb gun, the 3 youngest girls got baby dolls and Rhonda and I got a sewing basket with everything we needed to make clothes. But we were only 6 and 8. Still that basket had such an impact on me that I always wanted to learn to sew and to this day, I still enjoy making clothes. I don’t think that I ever used it for what it was really for but I cherished the memory of opening that present to reveal that basket.
And as the next Christmas rolled around, our circumstances had changed. Daddy had taken on more work at the Chevrolet place including wrecker service at all hours of the night. I can remember some pretty horrific wrecks he worked. One of them was the 2 guys that ran into the school and I think it killed both of them. I was too young to know them or who they were but I remember going down to the school with daddy and then he sent me home. That Christmas was awesome. Most of you that know me, know I loved to sing. Any time, any where, I was there. Well for Christmas that year I got a GUITAR. I thought I was in heaven. We got a lot of presents that year but I only remember the guitar. It also had an instruction booklet and a song book. Over and over I would sing “The streets of Laredo” and “Beautiful Dreamer” as I learned to play them on my guitar. I loved that guitar but I don’t know what ever happened to it, With 5 younger siblings, nothing stayed in one piece long.
As we got older, the Christmases only got better. We had sold our house in Hughes and moved out to Horseshoe Lake Estates. And we got nosier and nosier about what we were getting and where was it hidden and as soon as it appeared under the tree, we begged to open it. Daddy loved to hear us sing and on Christmas Eve us kids would sing all of the Christmas songs we knew and anxiously await the time to go to bed. We were even known to go to bed early so Christmas morning would hurry and get here. We were all so giddy and anxious that if anyone woke up after 2 in the morning, they had to wake all of us up and we go and see if we could get up yet. We usually did and sometimes even went back to bed after we had opened everything. We always had a pineapple cake, a banana cake and a coconut cake, and a mince meat pie and coconut pie and lemon meringue pie. We had candies and nuts and oranges an apples and everything that made Christmas an exciting time because it was so bountiful. I remember getting my first purse and I loved it. I also got a transistor radio, a new dress and several other small things. What was always strange to me is that I never felt poor. And my daddy has never felt rich. Everything we got was a struggle for him and he worked hard to buy it. I know I didn’t get everything I wanted but I always had everything I needed. I had 1 pair of shoes for school and went barefoot most of the time when it was warm enough. We got new clothes twice a year. For school and for summer. But I have never felt deprived and I have always felt that my mama and my daddy loved me and would always be there for me. I have been so blessed to be as old as I am and still have my mama and daddy, when so many in my family have lost theirs. I will probably lose my mind and fall apart when and if it happens but who knows, I may go before them. I hope not because I know how hard losing Bobby was, for them.
As this Christmas rolls around, we are all much older and it doesn’t hold near the memories that it used to. We get together on Christmas day at mama and daddys. And we visit, play games, and eat all of the wonderful food that each of us brought. We exchange gifts and the kids all play with their new toys which are usually electronic and cost more money than mama and daddy would dream of spending. We’ve spoiled the kids who in turn (and with our help) have spoiled the grandkids. And we’ve spoiled Christmas. We never got toys or gifts throughout the year. Not even for our birthday, although we did have a cake and ice cream. Now we buy them things throughout the year and nothing is very special anymore. But whats worse I think, is that I keep looking at the faces around me to see if they feel even a little bit of the joy and excitement that I felt at their age and it makes me sad to know that I ruined that for them. And it ruined it some for me. Sadly, we can never go back. We cant change anything that had happened but we can cherish those memories for as long as we have them, affectionately known as “the good old days.”
And as the next Christmas rolled around, our circumstances had changed. Daddy had taken on more work at the Chevrolet place including wrecker service at all hours of the night. I can remember some pretty horrific wrecks he worked. One of them was the 2 guys that ran into the school and I think it killed both of them. I was too young to know them or who they were but I remember going down to the school with daddy and then he sent me home. That Christmas was awesome. Most of you that know me, know I loved to sing. Any time, any where, I was there. Well for Christmas that year I got a GUITAR. I thought I was in heaven. We got a lot of presents that year but I only remember the guitar. It also had an instruction booklet and a song book. Over and over I would sing “The streets of Laredo” and “Beautiful Dreamer” as I learned to play them on my guitar. I loved that guitar but I don’t know what ever happened to it, With 5 younger siblings, nothing stayed in one piece long.
As we got older, the Christmases only got better. We had sold our house in Hughes and moved out to Horseshoe Lake Estates. And we got nosier and nosier about what we were getting and where was it hidden and as soon as it appeared under the tree, we begged to open it. Daddy loved to hear us sing and on Christmas Eve us kids would sing all of the Christmas songs we knew and anxiously await the time to go to bed. We were even known to go to bed early so Christmas morning would hurry and get here. We were all so giddy and anxious that if anyone woke up after 2 in the morning, they had to wake all of us up and we go and see if we could get up yet. We usually did and sometimes even went back to bed after we had opened everything. We always had a pineapple cake, a banana cake and a coconut cake, and a mince meat pie and coconut pie and lemon meringue pie. We had candies and nuts and oranges an apples and everything that made Christmas an exciting time because it was so bountiful. I remember getting my first purse and I loved it. I also got a transistor radio, a new dress and several other small things. What was always strange to me is that I never felt poor. And my daddy has never felt rich. Everything we got was a struggle for him and he worked hard to buy it. I know I didn’t get everything I wanted but I always had everything I needed. I had 1 pair of shoes for school and went barefoot most of the time when it was warm enough. We got new clothes twice a year. For school and for summer. But I have never felt deprived and I have always felt that my mama and my daddy loved me and would always be there for me. I have been so blessed to be as old as I am and still have my mama and daddy, when so many in my family have lost theirs. I will probably lose my mind and fall apart when and if it happens but who knows, I may go before them. I hope not because I know how hard losing Bobby was, for them.
As this Christmas rolls around, we are all much older and it doesn’t hold near the memories that it used to. We get together on Christmas day at mama and daddys. And we visit, play games, and eat all of the wonderful food that each of us brought. We exchange gifts and the kids all play with their new toys which are usually electronic and cost more money than mama and daddy would dream of spending. We’ve spoiled the kids who in turn (and with our help) have spoiled the grandkids. And we’ve spoiled Christmas. We never got toys or gifts throughout the year. Not even for our birthday, although we did have a cake and ice cream. Now we buy them things throughout the year and nothing is very special anymore. But whats worse I think, is that I keep looking at the faces around me to see if they feel even a little bit of the joy and excitement that I felt at their age and it makes me sad to know that I ruined that for them. And it ruined it some for me. Sadly, we can never go back. We cant change anything that had happened but we can cherish those memories for as long as we have them, affectionately known as “the good old days.”
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