Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-24
The Gifts of Then and Now.

; Happy are those who were forehand-
ed during the Christmas period. They
arranged their lists of gifts to-be-made
early in the season. They shopped for
then at leisure. They had the pick
OF the stocks in the shops, made their
purchases deliberately and with good
Judgment, readjusted their schedules,
when necessary, without clustering
haste, and reached the point of mail
| ing with everything in order. They
mailed, too, early enough to insure de-
liveries before Christmas. thus avoiding
not only the rush and possible delay
OF last-minute posting, but the crush
in the mails that sometimes brings
disaster to Trailer packages.
Today these wise ones are contem-
plating the Situation serenely, COM
placently rather proudly, in TACT. They
have achieved victory over iassitude
and procrastination. They have the
supreme satisfaction of knowing that
they have done their best by their
| relatives and friends, have given them
the choicest gifts, the most maturely
considered and carefully selected souve.
Mrs of their affection. They are like
the folks Of olden time who made their
own Christmas gifts with needle and
knife and brush.
The present generation of middle
aged and younger people know little or
nothing of those good old times" when
Christmas shopping was unknown, when
practically all presents" were made at
home, when crewel work, and fret-saw
work, and embroidery and knitting and
painting and carpentry prevailed for
weeks, indeed for months, before Christ
mas. Those who do recall those
times will perhaps regret their pass
ing. There was something rather
precious about the industry necessary
to make up the required array of gifts.
OF course there was secrecy about the
pref Christmas activities in those times.
Nobody was supposed to know what was
going on. Down in the basement there
were sounds of hammering and saving,
and nobody asked the young son of the
family what he was doing. And there
were mysterious fabrics and rainbows of
color and skeins of yarn and a great
humming Of the sewing machine up
stairs, and it was considered to be the
worst of form to inquire regarding the
purpose OF all the hustle and the sudden
hiding Of things and the locked doors.
1t is altogether idle to repine the
passing OF those times. They are gone,
and probably forever. 1t is impossible
to reproduce the atmosphere of the pre-
Christmas period Of fifty years ago.
Machinery has destroyed it. Mass pro-
duction has rendered domestic toll
trif1ing and needless. Tastes have
radically changed. Home-knit mufflers
are not cherished as against silken
scarves. Painstakingly hemstitched
handkerchiefs are not appreciated in
accord with their worth, nor elaborate
embroideries. And as for crewel work
perish the thought! 1t simply is not
done
Thus passed the time when folks re-
lied upon their own industry to supply
their needs as givers of Christmas SOU
venirs. The successors of the diligent
needle-plyers who started in September
on their gift making are those who
started their buying then, or in Octo-
Der. The successors of those who started
late with jig-saw and thread and
worsted and linen and lace and had to
work half the night during the last
week or so before Christmas are those
who awakened on the fifteenth of De-
cember in this year of grace 1929 to
realization that they were belated in
their Christmas buying and spent the
next ten days in frantic battles with
the crowds in the shops and added to
the nervous stress of modern life.