The writer enjoys his “Christmas Overalls” as a child in the 1950s.
When I was a small child, Christmas was far different than now – especially in the amount and prices of gifts.
I usually got one or two toy-type gifts and some clothing. I didn’t feel deprived, and was happy and satisfied with what I had received. I would get a box of cherry candy, a practice my mother continued even after I had left home and was married.
A search for a Christmas tree meant a trip into our woods and usually ended with us selecting a small white pine tree and carrying it back home to decorate.
We did not have any electric lights to go on the tree. There was only one electrical outlet in our old home and that was for the refrigerator. Icicles were thin strips of a type of aluminum foil. Red, green and silver strings of garlands or tinsel that we called “roping” were also added.
We grew burley tobacco – as did many of the locals – and ours was usually taken to market around Christmas time to be sold.
This was where “Christmas money” for us kids came from. We did not get any type of allowance through the year, as some kids do today.
The money was ours to use as we saw fit. Some of mine and my brother Sam’s usually went for firecrackers. We usually bought them from a local bootlegger who would sell kids firecrackers, but not “moonshine.”
Those who thought they were old enough to drink would try it and received a good “cussing” and sent packing.
Our Christmas gifts usually were items from a mail-order catalog, most often Sears and Roebuck. In my childlike innocence, I started looking for a package in the mailbox starting the very next day.
You had to walk up an old sled road to reach our home. It was not accessible by vehicle. The highlight of the day was my trip down the mountain to Atoah Road to see if our mailman Cecil Rice had left a package for us.
The true meaning of Christmas was not lost to us. Atoah Baptist Church always had a Christmas play that involved every child in church. The plays and our weekly lessons on Sunday made sure that we got the message of what Christmas was really all about.
Many of today’s children would probably be disappointed to receive the amount of gifts that we did and not at all be satisfied. They receive more gifts at one Christmas that some children I knew got in their entire childhood.
I wonder who was more satisfied.
Marshall McClung is the historical columnist for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, mcclungs@email.com.