Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1922-01-05
A Rural Christmas of Other Days.
BY J. o. Knott.

VIII i NiSltGQ
home in Washington, ID. c., OF my little
cousin, Virginia Deybur, whose grand.
mother, Mrs. Sue Remnant Knott, is so
we'll known in the Shepherdstown COM
munity; and was shown among other
t....iss ..'[ EnIis,Hlas ,rce "a ,ne noe
| girl. Ii sparkled with tinsel and
many -colored decorations OF the sort
tnat show of wondDusly on a back
ground OF evergreen. At the base Of
the tree, haif-opened so rs 10 expose
the articles, lay gifts in boxes OF
wrapped IN tissue paper with red and
purple strlngS-all told making a little
girl very happy and very proud. AS
we were admiring the tree, the little
| B.II quietly tUucn~a an eiectric swuCn
49, hgn,s OF .arIOuS coiOrS flasneu out
from every branch of the tree, adding
new sparkle to the rich trimmings and
| decorations.
This was the modern Christmas tree
in modern home of comfort ana up-to-
Ga,e con. en,enCes. But | came nome
bordering and smiling over the Christ
mas of my childhood days, in the COM
munity from which this chilis grand
mother had come. Ii is probable that
some boys and girls in my home Sec
ton, not to speak Of Older people, will
be glad to have a touch or two of a
country Christmas Of over forty years
ago.
We were strongly OF the opinion
then that Christmas was a misfit il
there was no snow. When | think
OF now hate snow now, ! wonder how
! could have loved II so much then
But the saying, green Christmas, q
fat graveyard" had made its impress
sion besides, snow meant Shedding
anu h-rlding-country Joys thai.
belonged to the holidays.
The days just before Christmas
were Just as long to us as they arc to
boys and girls now. But one element
helped to shorten those days. Boys
became very industrious just before
the holidays, and were ready to do al
most any service to make christmas
money" we mad our ntue Irnn uan>s
mo which every cent, in miser fash ION,
was slipped. Just before what the Ger
mans call "The Day." we would manage
to get our money out of the banks
and gloat over our wealth. | am al
be counted a large sum to blow in
above the average.
/ Before the day had come, which
was usually the day before Christmas,
when my brother Jake and would
DC on Tor Town 10 spend our Sav...ss
In tningS too numerous to mention,
we had calculated well what We would
prooaoly lay ASIDE for flrecrackers.
i"i ~ iiluSt oS unuei sLOu ,uat ms
CRACKERS anu torpeuoeS, in addition 10
TIN hornS, were essential IN the quiet
OF the country, TO let the animals know
tilat something unusual was dong
~nat was more fun than to throw
a lirecraCker under caif that mad
never before seen Christmas, or very
near 10 proud rooster OF the spring
variety tnat was stalking ABOUT the
Ja'>., s..iA "a,Iu u,~ Iu..,. an .al.,
tnat tor wnicn | am ready TO-DAY to
THINK very tnoug ltleSs IN Jpys IN their
uSI vi I,oIoS- lIIaniug OF ..u~I>u, su.,,
was quite as much IN evidence in other
days as now. Probably more so, Tor
CIVILIZATION mas tended TO quletness as
the uaSS have gone along.
Inc CHRISTMAS buying in Shep-
neruSto"n was most strenuous.
nave often heard ladies say how they
maze 10 SHOP" But country bow.
w'th MS savings in his pocket, and the
~ho.e town OF Christmas attractions
o~.V'N n.LI, iidI 40 SSuSS OF u.s. ny luI
shopping. There were two main
points III ShepnerdStown that govern
ed all our movements IN shopping.
he flrSt was Adams candy STORE,
In The uptown region and the otner
was the store OF Mr.. Snow, where
homemade candy was the chief at
t."e..~.'. ~ .ioI ..nuw now on
MT. SHOW or his successors continued
10 make the brand OF cocpanut candy
Whicn was the rage in my childhood
But 10 my unSopnlStlcated mind and
taste, angels could not have had any
oetter uiet than 10 feed on the white
anu PINK bars of this candy that Mr..
Snow made fresh and in great GUAM
tues Ior Christmas. | nave eaten
cocoanut candy of many varieties
Since, Dut none like that made IN the
60 -I..'-i sore, u .SonaiIy across inS
street from the Enter Hotel, on Main
| ~, SnSpuGr.SIUwn. 40 maj
store my brother and would 90
carefully spending as much as we
tnougnt We could spare for this pre-
| o'""a VI SaiiaS, anu tIiSH come
again when we felt that We had all
OF other Things We needed, and finally
empty our purses on the Snow counter
for our last purchase.
Mr.. StoneDraker, opposite the Ad-
ans store, always managed to have
some sort OF toys or candy that we
did not see anywhere else, and for
that reason, we invariably paid him a
visit. Besides, II was our custom 10
buy a package of fire-crackers at each
store We visited to insure having
some OF the very best in our bulk
of exp oSiyes.
TIL, AJo.,- ...- Al