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When I was young we lived in a rural area. We spend Christmas Eve at my Grand parents house. Santa always came in a sleigh ( on wheels) pulled by horses with antlers . I recall checking to be sure everyone of the relatives were in the living room when Santa arrived and they were!! I was starting to doubt that Santa really existed but when all the relatives were there and Santa also came I thought "Well, maybe there really is a Santa " .
As an adult I found out that Santa was actually a woman who dressed as Santa and delivered gifts to neighboring homes. She built a sleigh to fit on her hay wagon and made fake antlers for the horses to wear. As I recall the antlers they were probably deer antlers from hunting. The antlers were not very large just large enough to see. I am sure a 10 or 12 point rack would be too heavy for the horses to put up with on their heads LOL
I live in Wisconsin and deer hunting has always been a popular activity here.
She brought immeasurable joy to so many children.
I wish I had pictures of it.
Last edited by Barbara Jay; 11-26-2010 at 04:51 PM..
We used to have a department store called Goldsmith's (now Macy's) downtown and every year they had an enchanted forest which consisted of mechanical trains, elves, little boys and girls, who wrapped and shipped presents for Santa. All the elements were surround by white fluff to look like snow and had twinkling lights. It was truly magical. To see Santa you traveled through the Enchanted Forest before reaching him or this is where you stood in line if you waited until the last couple of days before Chirstmas to see Santa.
I remember being in the second grade and hearing voices downstairs on Christmas Eve and thought it might be Santa. When I crept down the stairs to peek, I saw Dad with his toolbox saying some not-so-nice words over a half-assembled bicycle. Mom saw me and jumped in front of him, spreading her robe wide to hide him and yelled "go back upstairs!". When I saw the still half-finished bike the next morning with a note to my brother that said Santa was in a rush and didn't have time to finish, I knew for sure what they had been up to and it made me very happy to know that they would stay up past their bedtime to do that for us.
As a parent, my favorite Christmas moment was one Christmas Eve (coming back from midnight candlelight service) when my 10-yr old son said he knew there was not Santa, but he did a test to confirm it. He wrote a letter to Santa and secretly mailed it. If he got what he wanted, he would believe. When I asked what he wanted, he told me. My husband and I grinned all the way through the next morning when that very toy he wrote to Santa about was actually in his stocking. When I asked him if he believed, he didn't know what to say. The look on his face was PRICELESS!
I remember our Christmas tree was bought from a vendor with a cart on our street, brought into the house but not decorated until Christmas Eve. The front room doors were closed and only Santa could go in there.
My Grandmother would take us girls downtown on the bus to Woolworths to shop for our parents, then we would go to The Sweet Shoppe for ice cream sodas and french fries; and lastly we would see Santa land on a dept. store rooftop, so we had to head home and get to bed!
On Christmas morning we plundered our stockings of their orange, apple, sugar candies and nuts. (The stockings were hung on our bedposts, as there were too many for the little mantle!) All the unwrapped Santa gifts for my 3 sisters and me would be in 4 piles, exactly the same things in 4 different colours! (even the doll hair!) We played for a while, then settled in front of the TV and watched Shirley Temple in "Heidi" while we finished off the stocking treats.
It was only when I became an adult that I realized the effort my Mother made to decorate the tree and house herself (in one night), plus do all the baking and cooking for the crowd of people who came for dinner.
I miss
I loved this one as the word "pop" meant you were Cdn! We too, only had pop at Christmas and when it was all gone, we took the bottles back and maybe had enough to buy one or two more bottles!
And it came from The Pop Shoppe, in its great red case!
Thanks for sharing all of these great memories, everyone! It has certainly reminded me of my childhood too.
I remember when stores were absolutely NOT open on Thanksgiving and Christmas to give their employees time with their families. Not so with a particular blue big box store! They even brag they're open ALL day. Wow, that's great! So when does single mom cashier get to make turkey dinner for her kids?
Sorry to be bitter, but that commercial just rubbed me the wrong way...
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you don't have to work today.
I had the same thought..I really feel for those who work at those places.
I grew up in a small southern town. We would venture downtown to see the store displays:what a treat they were! I miss the wonder and joy of Christmas as a child.
I remember working for Sears and it was a big deal to stay open past 9:30 pm. Decorations never went up before Thanksgiving. Display people used to come in at 2 am to start decorations for the Black Friday crowd.
I grew up in NJ and I can always remember Black Friday. It was when businesses went from being in the red to being in the black for the year. Now I live in VA and about 15 yrs ago my parents were visiting and we were shopping and my dad said something to a salesperson about Black Friday. He got such a nasty look. She thought he was being racial.
I also remember my parents never put up the tree until Christmas Eve after we went to bed. They got the tree and Santa put it up and decorated it. No wonder they looked like they had been up all night - they were!
__________________ Jac-ee Former FSJ Founding Coach and SU! Demonstrator, now crafting for myself. "There is a fine line between 'HOBBY' and 'MENTAL ILLNESS'"
My parents didn't put the Christmas tree up until Christmas Eve either. We would get home very late on Christmas Eve and when they were sure we were all out cold they would put up the tree and put the presents from Santa under the tree. The tree would be up until "little Christmas" on Jan 7th. I think it may have been an italian thing but I was always told it's bad luck to take it down before the 7th. That's one of the reasons I don't put my tree up early. I'm not usually superstitious but that's what my grandmother and mom told me when I was young and who am I to tempt the fates - lol.
I remember the stores being closed on Sundays all year and Christmas started in December, not late October.
We called it Christmas vacation, sang Christmas carols in the school Christmas program, had trees in the classrooms with construction paper garland and ornaments and no one was offended by any of it.
The Macy's in downtown San Francisco had a magical display with their windows and moving toys and Santa down at the end. A department store called the White House had a huge real tree in it's center multistory rotunda that everyone would make a special trip in from the suburbs to see. Another department store had a big flat rooftop where they would have carnival rides with a Ferris wheel that I first went on with my grandmother.
There was sawdust on the ground in the Christmas tree lots and I loved walking through the lots smelling the trees and sawdust.
We didn't have a fireplace so my brother and I would use a big safety pin to attach our dad's socks (they were the biggest ones in the house) to an arm of a chair . In the morning it would be filled with an orange and hard Christmas candy. We were delighted. My mom and dad would actually put up the tree after we had gone to bed on Christmas eve!! We would get up to see not only one or two gifts but a beautiful tree as well. It truly was magic.
......I remember when kids in grade schools had a CHIRSTMAS PARTY and could sing ANY song at the CHRISTMAS (not "winter") program!!!!
...... I remember cutting out my "wishlist" from the JCPenny catalog!!
......I remember NIGHT sledding down a steep hill FULL of trees and nobody got hurt!!!
......I remember my dads antique huge runner sleigh (that actually held Santa in the Portland Christmas parade) that we would hook up the tractor and pick up ALL the neighborhood kids on a cold clear night in the deep snow ( the snow had to be DEEP cuz the runners were actually made of wood)!
__________________ We cannot do great things, only small things with great love.
I remember Christmases when I had to make all of my children's gifts because we didn't have much. My favorite memory was the year I made sock monkeys - my 7 year old son's monkey had a leather jacket. My middle daughter who was three at the time, squealed with delight when she opened hers. "It's got a tail!" Another year, it was a blue denim quilt for my son which zippered into a sleeping bag. He kept that thing until his wife finally had to throw it out after they were married 10 years!
Seems I'm still making some things for the grandkiddos now. But they still seem to be just as delighted. My daughter told me that 4 year old Sam was asking for some new pajamas from Grammy this year. LOL!
My family went to get a tree the day before Christmas. We took it home where Dad had to saw and trim and get it to stand up straight in the metal holder. Then we decorated it with the big 7 watt light bulbs and the ornaments that were very old and some even were tarnished. We hung the silver tinsel strands and had to put them on one at a time. We thought it was beautiful. The tree stood until New Year's eve, when it had to be dismantled--beginning with the removal of the tinsel, one strand at a time, to be saved for next year.
I also remember listening to Billie the Brownie on the radio for the entire month before Christmas. He could see us through the radio so he could tell Santa if we had been naughty or nice.
I really enjoyed reading all the memories printed here. Have a Merry Christmas everybody!
What a wonderful thread this is, and it has brought back so many of my own childhood holiday memories. These memories shared in these posts would make wonderful scrapbook pages - to remember those days gone by where the simple things in life like shopping, hanging Christmas lights and caroling were joys to be treasured, rather than something to dread. We should share these memories with our families and particularly our children. I wish I had asked (and remembered) what holiday memories my parents cherished. Thank you all for sharing them with us.
I remember all those things with a sweet ache for warmth and family. I loved those store windows. Used to go to Phila and then I moved to Wash DC and they were even more wonderful. Im sorry my grandchildren wont know those things but they will have their own memories.
I read every single post. some made me cry. memories, its what we have, boy do Woolworth trips make me smile. It was a big treat to sit at the counter and have lunch there.
I too remember all those wonderful things we did in school and how now things are different. The world is different and some of those things we have to accept I recken. I do have control over my home and family. We DO NOT go shopping on Thanksgiving day, it is a day for spending time with family at home. That said, I have no problem with what others do with their time. My co-worker spent 16 hours in line to buy a computer for her daughter in college, a deal that she could not make happen any other way. So I can't be mad at her kwim?
back to memories, mine are filled with my mom and aunts making tamales, hot chocolate from scratch and lights on every branch of the tree, ornaments were handmade and the abc special of Charlie Brown had every childs attention. We shopped carefully and never in a frenzy or madness, seems many are wrapped up in the commercialism part of the holiday and forget the meaning of it all. Perhaps the season has a different meaning for others. For me, its about family and all things homemade. I love Christmas music, decorations and homemade goodies, I hope to always give my kids wonderful memories.
nuff said.
Have a wonderful holiday everyone, make it as special as you dream it!
This is interesting to me. Growing up, I always thought it was just my church who gave out the bags of peanuts, candy and an apple after the Christmas program. It is fun to hear that others had that too.
My brother and I always knew Santa wasn't real, but we didn't care. We still want and saw him and Mrs Claus in town and got our pictures taken. We would have presents under the tree that were from Santa (written in our mom's handwritting.) We would open our gifts Christmas Eve night after the Christmas program at church. Then we would open the stockings on Christmas morning. My mom said that was how the story went. :o)
We cut down our tree each year from our own land. Walking out to the pasture with dad was fun, until my brother started a snowball fight. It was my job to water the tree and my job to vacuum up the needles when I forgot to.
I remember when it was a priviledge to be in the Christmas program. Everyone was excited to do it, and we always did our best.
My mom made my Christmas dress each year. Not that we couldn't afford one, but she loved to sew. I never had any say on what it looked like or how much ric rac was on it. (which is why I think I hate ric rac to this day. lol)
This is a fun thread, it makes me more excited for Christmas this year with the family.
I remember when Christmas meant "magic" and not "hype." I remember thinking I'd not be able to fall asleep, but somehow I did. Then waking up early to find the one or two "Santa" items under the tree, with a few wrapped things (always a Lanz of Salzburg flannel nightgown!!!), and a stocking filled with oranges, apples, nuts and candy canes.
I remember when Christmas music, on the stereo, was special and not blaring out everywhere you went...and a few special TV programs. They always seemed to show The Wizard of Oz right around my birthday (and for years I thought they did it just for me!). It was simpler, more quiet and thoughtful, Christmas seemed to revolve more around the people in my life - my family, my neighborhood, my church - and less about "things." And I think that made it a lot more special and meaningful.
__________________ Jansy The one who dies with the most embellishments wins! www.gingersnappedgirl.blogspot.com
I remember going to downtown Milwaukee with my girl scout troop. We walked the main street where all the stores were. We saw the window decorations, the bank decorations in the lobey and the street decorations. I remember the street decorations going across the street, not on some poles. These were lighted decorations, not flags that hung on the light poles on the side of the street. My troop also went to the gas co. for the cookie recipe books. If the flame was blue it was one type of weather condition and if it was red, a different condition. One color the fishermen on Lake Michigan were safe and the other color told the fishermen to come off the lake since the waves, etc. were getting too high.
I miss all the good Christmas Carols. The schools can no longer sing them. My Church sings the very old German Carols that I did not grow up with. I want Silent Night and all the songs I grew up with on the radio, in my childhood church and my school. I miss the Sunday School Program on Christmas Eve. Now it is 2 weeks before Christmas and the Choir sings the Sunday before. The one Christmas program I remember from when my kids were young, was the dance thing. The kids danced the program. A special stage was built in church,etc. No stockings with nuts and oranges for them.
Betty
Any Northside Milwaukee gals of a certain age ;) might remember the Kooky Kookie House at the Capitol Court Shopping Center. It was a free standing building made to look (of couse) like a gingerbread house. Inside were animated displays depicting cookies being made and of course Santa was there with a gingerbread cookie for each kid after they had visited with him.
Every year, in the days just before Christmas, my Mother would buy a small package of crayons and a colouring book. This was to keep my bro and myself busy while she was at the stove making cookies, fudge, butter tarts, mince pies etc. And when Bing Crosby's "Christmas in Killarney" was played on the radio we would all sing and dance around ~she loved Christmas, and still does, at 85 she will probably be the first in her complex to have her tree up!
*And whenever I hear Christmas in Killarney I smell wax crayons and remember... thanks Mom!
__________________ (picture of my beautiful Cockalier, Bonnie)
Remember~
"Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground!"
Without a doubt this is the most precious post ever. I have chills remembering being a little girl and the lovely christmases we had. When I was six my parents walked me outside to the back yard where they had built me a beautiful doll house with a white picket fence around it. It was pink outside with a barn door. They had all the furniture hand made. I had a kitchen, bedroom. I also remember the red and white checked curtains matched my doll beds. Our local newspaper had a picture on the front page. It was magical to say the least.
I'm Canadian and I've worked in the retail/service industry all my life. I'm resigned to working through Christmas and only getting that one day off, but I'd rather have a few days off to spend with family.
As a full-time employee, I get stat holidays off, not because they're being nice, but 'cause they'd rather pay the students time and half. Those that volunteer to work Christmas Day to help prep the store for Boxing Day only get double time. Next week we start 24-hour shopping. The midnight to seven shift is volunteer as opposed to mandatory, thankfully, but it only pays an extra dollar an hour. I'm happy that the one poster got good pay and food, but for many of us, it's not the case. I miss many of the things people here have listed, but as someone who works it year after year, I miss the days of Tuesday to Saturday with only Thursday evening late and closed on stats.
Last edited by dogzruleca; 12-01-2010 at 05:15 PM..
Reason: typo
I remember when I could "boycott" Christmas and all the stress. I'd give "Christmas" presents in May (red and green stuff is easy to find around Cinco de Mayo). Then my friends knew I was giving them presents because I wanted to, and not just because it happened to be December 25th. I'd joke with them and say by having MY Christmas in May they could buy me better presents because they weren't buying everyone else's at the same time. LOL Of course, all that ended about 11 years ago with my first child. No more "bah humbug!!" allowed for "Mommy". lol
My dad would pile all of us kids and mom in the car and we'd drive around Milwaukee looking at all the lights, Miller Valley, and head toward Capital Court - but, alas, the Kookie Kookie House was ALWAYS closed when we got there (we really had no money for the 4 of us kids to go thru there) but we got to see the outside and then all the windows decorated in Capital Court.
We opened presents on Christmas Eve after a big family dinner - it was THE most magical and special day EVER. We always did (and still do now) the custom of Christmas wafer - probably not spelling this right - oplatki - where each person has a wafer and you go to each person around the table. You break off a piece of the wafer they're holding and they break off a piece of yours - you each eat the piece you've broken off - wish each other Merry Christmas and then have a kiss and hug - - very special tradition in my family. We've even taken the wafers with us when one year we were in Disney for Christmas.
Mom would bake dozens of cookies and all the aunties would get a tin of assorted cookies as a gift each year.
I love the fact that the stores were closed on Sundays and holidays - wish they'd go back to that - I think the world was a more simple place back then - less stress - less commercialism - less anger and greed. I don't know - maybe that's what's wrong now a days...anyway.
We didn't have our stockings on Christmas morning - we did St. Nick - hang the stocking the night of the 5th of December and when you got up on the 6th - St. Nick had been there and left candies and goodies in your stocking.
My most favorite memories are when my dad still worked at Allen Bradley. They had a HUGE Christmas party every year for their employees and their kids. It was so special. You rode up in the big freight elevator. They had an indoor "playground" with slides and toys that you stopped in for awhile. Then you went in the auditorium - where there was a live show with a magician, the Allen Bradley band and chorus would sing, there'd be maybe a short movie and some cartoons - clowns all around shaking hands, etc....but THEN - - Santa came onto the stage - all the kids would line up with the parents (who had tickets stating girl or boy and what age) - you got to talk to Santa and then the parents gave the tickets to helpers. Each child got a big mesh bag with fruit and nuts and candy - then a white shopping bag with TOYS!!! - mom was in charge of getting our coats on and getting us out to the curb. Dad took the shopping bags and got the car. Unknown to us at the time, dad would go through the bags and take out a few toys from each one so that we'd have a few extra presents under the tree. We still have the aluminum round saucer sled with the Allen Bradley logo that we got one year - and it still flies down the hill!!
My dad was the Santa at Gimbels Department Store on Mitchell Street in Milwaukee was I was very young - my pictures with Santa (up until I was 5 or so) are all with my Santa dad. I treasure those pictures.
I still have my dad's Santa suit. This year I - gulp!!- cut it apart and am making shadow boxes for each of my siblings and mom using the fabric and adding a picture in a small frame of our dad as Santa. I hope they all like it.
OK - - I could go on and on but time to move on.
Mary
__________________ Everytime you stamp, an angel gets its wings
All we have to do to return to the past tradition of stores being closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas is this:
DO NOT ENTER A STORE OR MAKE ANY PURCHASES ON THESE DAYS!!!
If enough folks make it clear that they're not in favor of the stores being open (preventing anyone from being with their family), the stores will not stay open.
Same thing with Black Friday sales - if enough folks don't get up in the middle of the night to find these "deals" (and let's face it - they're not often deals!), the ridiculous sale hours would stop.
I remember stores weren't open evenings except the last 2 weeks before Christmas. It was a treat to go to another town to shop (lived in a small one). No one had the window decorations you talked about though. There weren't any sales until AFter Christmas, that's when we got clothes. We got ONE gift from Santa. Mom always had her cut out cookies and about 5 other kinds. Now my 28 year old son wishes we had a tradition to bring back the magic. I hated to tell him some of the magic goes when you get older. THings changed a lot when my parents passed away and my husband hates going to his family so they hear that to. I guess things change. Women have to work now so need more store hours, people demand it and will do it. I don't think you could get everyone to stay home. Oh and Kmart starting staying open on THanksgiving about 8 years ago. I think this was the first year Walmart did here.
I remember going to Woolsworth with my sister and shopping all afternoon to get just the right gift for our mom, dad and each other with the $2 they provided.
I remember getting ribbon hard candy after the Christmas program at church every year.
I remember finding an orange, an apple, walnuts and a new toothbrush in our Christmas stocking every year. MAYBE a candy bar, but ALWAYS the fruit, nuts and toothbrush!
I remember forgetting the words to the third verse of "We Three Kings of Orient Are" during my solo in the church Christmas program, and just singing ""We Three Kings of Orient Are" throughout the rest of the verse (how embarrassing!).
I remember being allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve...my sister and I would ponder our options for days beforehand!
I remember spending Christmas Eve with just mom, dad and my sister...our extended family lived several hours away and we'd go to bed early because we'd get up way before dawn on Christmas morning, open our gifts and then we'd drive down to LA and back on Christmas Day to spend it with family. How we'd always forget how much warmer it is in LA and we'd be roasting in our new Christmas dress and coat!
I remember stopping at Sambo's for breakfast every Christmas morning on the way down to LA, and at McDonald's on the way home that night (such a treat! We didn't have a McDonald's in our hometown).
I remember my mom 'finding' one last 'forgotten' present under the Christmas tree when we got home from LA on Christmas night. It was usually a very small gift, but was a nice surprise after a long day!
I remember taking my own children shopping for their presents and giving them $10 each (inflation!), but that had to cover their gifts for me, their dad, their siblings, Gramma and Grampa. This excursion would last all afternoon and all of us looked forward to that afternoon for weeks!
I remember dropping my children off at my DSIL's to bake cookies every Christmas. This was one of her favorite holiday traditions, and I was soooo grateful to her because just the thought of all those kids and flour and sugar was enough to give me hives!
I remember my dad sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace, watching black and white TV and cracking walnuts for my mom's sugared nuts and holiday baking. I really miss him.
It DOES seem like life was simpler then...or maybe we just valued our time together more than we do now.
I'd love to read a list of my children's favorite Christmas memories....
Kat
__________________ "Be Still and Know That I Am God" Ps. 46:10
I remember the huge elaborate window displays and I'm thrilled that people in our area found a stash of the animated figures in someone's basement, restored them and now they are used in a series of nine small window displays in my neighbourhood.
I remember when we wished one another MERRY CHRISTMAS without shame, guilt or awkwardness. I remember the joy that was Christmas before it became diluted into "happy holidays." I remember when all of these things were fun and the feeling joyful. I remember the excitement building up to that special evening and day.
Sorry, if this is a little depressing; I just remember was Christmas was Christmas. Reading from what many of you have written, you do too.
We lived 40 miles south of Rochester. At Christmas time we would also dress up and go the "city" to see the animated window displays downtown at Sibley's, McCurdy's, and B. Forman's. My parents, grandparents, and brother would go every year. We would always go to see Santa at Sibley's and Santa sat in the big gold ornate chair. After, we would go to Midtown Plaza, and ride the monorail. It was a big outing for us.
We too only had "pop" at Christmas. My mother made a special punch in the ornate punch bowl. It was ginger ale, Hawaiian Punch, and a can of orange juice. She would freeze a big round piece of ice for it to float in, and she had sliced oranges in the ice. We loved to take the little punch glasses, and get our punch. She would put out an appetizer spread before dinner. Little smoky hot dogs, shrimp in a special silver bowl that sat in another bowl of ice, potato chips and dip, cheese and crackers, nuts, a bowl of tangelos, and other assorted items. We only got these foods at Christmas, and it was a big deal to my brother and I. Then she would have the huge turkey dinner, with all the trimmings. As we got older (14 - 1 it turned into a buffet, and she always asked what we wanted and made it special.
In our stocking, we normally got an orange, nuts, gold chocolate coins, a book, pencils, socks and underware. We loved everything we got. We normally got two to three presents from Santa in the morning and we always shared one big gift. A blackboard, sleds, a farm set... At night my Uncle & Aunt would come, and we had our family Christmas. We would get a couple of other gifts, but they were necessity gifts.... A coat, boots, etc. My mother sewed, and she always gave me a big box, with four to five outfits. It was the only time I would get new clothes, other then when we got a couple of new school outfits. I remember hearing her sew late at night.
My best Christmas is when I was four. I got a pony for Christmas from Santa. It helped that we lived on 150 acre farm. I can still remember putting on my boots and going outside to find Ginger, the Shetland Pony. My mother and father said Santa had left a present in the yard.
My mother made Christmas special. She decorated about two weeks before Christmas and she made the house beautiful. It wasn't as ornate as it is now, but I think she decorated more then most people did in the 60's.. especially for our rural area. She had these beautiful hand-blown ornaments from Germany that she put on the tree. A lot got broke over the years, but she gave me the ones that didn't get broken. I then found them at a antique store. I bought them all.... I didn't care how much they cost. I just wanted them so I could remember my Mom and Christmas.
This has been a great thread........... It would be nice to go back to those simpler times. Merry Christmas to All!
Last edited by jcg; 12-04-2010 at 03:46 AM..
Reason: take out smily face
My parents didn't put the Christmas tree up until Christmas Eve either. We would get home very late on Christmas Eve and when they were sure we were all out cold they would put up the tree and put the presents from Santa under the tree. The tree would be up until "little Christmas" on Jan 7th. I think it may have been an italian thing but I was always told it's bad luck to take it down before the 7th. That's one of the reasons I don't put my tree up early. I'm not usually superstitious but that's what my grandmother and mom told me when I was young and who am I to tempt the fates - lol.
I think that you were supposed to leave the tree up for Epiphany, which is Jan 6th..at least, that is what I was taught. Love your signature, I have adopted 2 greyhounds from tracks.
Leah
You're right and on the 7th it came down.
Greyhounds are special aren't they? So sweet and calm. We had two, Missy and Duke. We lost Missy at 10 to cancer and Duke is doing fine. He was 11 on Oct 16th. He's 90 lbs. of muscle but a big baby - lol. They both came off of a track in New Hampshire. Missy had no race history and we got her at 3 1/2 years old. Duke raced until August of 2004 and we got him in October of 2004. He raced until right before he was rescued from the track. He was 5 when we got him. He does what he wants when he wants because we let him. Mostly that's just sleeping and eating - lol. Whatever he wants. He had humans making him do things for 5 years of his life. We wanted to make sure the rest of his life was happy. He's a really good dog. Thanks for saving the two greyhounds you adopted!!
I love this thread. Mom & Dad had 6 daughters and on December 6th St. Nick would visit us - we would hang our longest socks up and in the morning we would have fruit, nuts and hard candy in them.
Christmas was going to downtown and looking in the windows also. So much love and warmth. It seems we have to hold on to what we remember because everything is so commercialized now that Thanksgiving is almost forgotten in the stores It goes from Halloween to Christmas I still wish people a Merry Christmas not Happy Holidays. Christmas is not about a holiday, so if someone doesn't like it, they can ignore the wish.
Thank you all for sharing such wonderful memories.
This isn't about Christmas, it's about Halloween and Thanksgiving. I'm curious if any other places did the same thing. I was born in Brooklyn NY. We didn't go trick or treating when I was a kid (a L O N G time ago). On Halloween we just put chalk sticks in socks and "hit" each other with it. That was it! However, for Thanksgiving we would go around to houses and some stores and say "anything for Thanksgiving". The candy store would give us penny candy (told ya it was a long time ago), the bakery would give us cookies, and the people in homes would give us fruit or cookies etc. I've lived in other parts of NY State and nobody else did that.
I love this thread. Mom & Dad had 6 daughters and on December 6th St. Nick would visit us - we would hang our longest socks up and in the morning we would have fruit, nuts and hard candy in them.
Christmas was going to downtown and looking in the windows also. So much love and warmth. It seems we have to hold on to what we remember because everything is so commercialized now that Thanksgiving is almost forgotten in the stores It goes from Halloween to Christmas I still wish people a Merry Christmas not Happy Holidays. Christmas is not about a holiday, so if someone doesn't like it, they can ignore the wish.
Thank you all for sharing such wonderful memories.
I don't find many people who celebrated St. Nick's like we did. We hung up my DAD's socks, Lol!
