Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1898-12-21

Been Wrought During the LAST
Half Century.

H.If Century
The Christmas OF 1s4- was a simple
and tender affair, consisting mainly OF
Santa Claus and weIl-flled stockings
The presents were homemade, with
few added sweeGmeats and toys. Think
OF the changes, An orange was a sight
more rare than custard-apples are now.
4 banana I do not remember having
seen before 1850. Farmers used old
flntlocks to shoot the squirrels for
Christmas pie-or what we used to call
the Queens arms" These we're Brit
ish muskets. captured during the revo-
Iutiou- The first breech-loader was
patented il 1896; but they were not
in common use. We went in thick stoga
boots because rubberS were barely
known: and I do not think a rubber
boot was IN existence. What we had
were sort OF Indian moccasin i'm
ported from Brazil, capable OF wear
ing for ten years. The irsI Good
year patent was taken out in 1888.
About the same time the irst machine
was put in operation for making pins,
while for pens we used goose-Guills
or even hen-GuiIls. It was however.
peculiarly inventive period AL the
holch- hnachs that are most familiar to
Us were then novelties and costly. \
bunch CT pins in Christmas stocking
was not despised- # a box CT matches
could have been had it would have been
welcome gift from Santa Claus
-
huge old fireplace. where great logs
burned and Goals were covered I'D at
night In rural sections we had never
seen a scuLIle Of coal. and had only
heard OF it as an effort to burn black
stones. WhaIe-oil lamps marked the
advanced line OF progress IN lighting
streets and houses. There vas no dream
OF canned fruits and cocoa and choco-
late. although we had plenty Of tea
and coffee II was impossible TO give
a sewing machine or photograph
Daguerreotypes were not devised until
1880; and the first were taken in Amer
ica al least a year later. I renem Der
when Avery, who took the first sun pic
ture west OF Albany. carried it up and
down the streets. flushed. with his first
Success: and ran into house after house
TO exhibit it, It was a ros,ly affair, TO
be sGuilted at and guessed out: but
! after al it was the beginning Of d
great art
| The presents were fuller Of affection
| because homemade. The whole family
| had ceen at work for weeks planning
| and executing little gifts. The boys
! made boxes and toys and hand sieds.
The women made stockings and NUT
ders and dainty caps. while the girls
made 81: r,pers- and the fathers made
| shoes. \ home was word that meant
! great things in those days; for both the
| women and the men had trades. as we'll
| as knack and a knowledge of land c1I-
tire. It is in teresting to note that some
| OF our best observers and social stu
dents prophesv a large reaction from
| our present fast and uneasy age to the
| quiet and calm OF those earlier days of
the century. OF course we shall not
| give up our Inventions; but with them
we may lose our boyish excitement, and
react to another period Of reconsidera-
ton. This has been the history Of the
past Eras of restless aggression have
been followed by periods of reflection
| We could do all that IS necessary for a
| happy social state with less OF wear
and less OF nerve friction. VIII cleo
| tricity help us in this direction? We
| believe it viii
| The most deight fui part of these
cld-time holidays was the sports. pure
and free from every guile. Our even
| ings were always at home; and in the
one great family room. which was the
| dining-room and the kitchen in one. we
! gathered before the huge fire of logs
and had that sort OF unaduI terated fun
which can be had only where the whole
family is united. We parched our home
grown corn and made our candy of
molasses. and played simple games. in
! which no one joined more heartily than
| the father and the mother The even
ings lasted nom candle lighting until
| nine o'clock No child was ever per-
| mitted to absent himself from the
household after dark without the di-
rectlon of his parents. But after nine
| O clock no one ever thought OF being
| absent Then we were all in our beds.
1t we react to these or to simpler meth
DDS Of living it will be by a resurrection
| OF more nome life. Let us see to it that
the farm home is more of home, and
the farmhouse family more seIfcnn-
tained.-E- P. Powell, in Y. 7. Iudepen-
| dent
| For the Pleasure Of Others.
It is the desire and affort IN. o,,,