Evening star., 1945-12-23
Christmas Memories Of Bygone Years
BY John Clagett Proctor

Ouiy Two Gays more ana Cnf1StmaS
will be here. To many, especially to the
younger folk, it will bring happiness,
Joy and one great day Of ecstasy. The
same gladness will prevail wherever an
overseas boy or girl is pressed to q
loving bosom and Is again privileged
to enjoy the hospitality and kindred
affection Of home. Naturally 1t will not
be q happy Christmas for every one,
for there will be many absent loved
ones from the hreside and empty chairs
at some tables.
To those whose hair Is white and
whose brows denote the passing of
time 1t will be day Of restrospection
and meditation, recalling days when
they, too, were young and enjoyed,
with other boys and girls, the ginger
cakes and cookies their mothers baked
for them during the holiday season,
and the stockings their Santa Claus
filled for them.
To many the bygone days and the
good old days mean much-just Is much.
indeed, as the present day means to
the young ones who are preparing to
enjoy this Christmas. A half century,
and in some cases a few decades more,
has elapsed since the older folk now
with us also awoke on Christmas morn
and scrambled out of bed to find out
what Santa Claus had brought them.
Many things have happened since then.
War and disease have taken their toll
and the Grim Reaper has made in
roads among friends and relatives
alike. But the good old days Of yore
are still recalled and the memories Of
Christmas and Of their childhood days
are still as bright as ever.
Candle-Lishted Trees
Indeed, we of another generation just
cannot help but reflect on our early
Christmas days, when the pine or cedar
tree was lighted with candles (before
the days of the electric Light. We re-
call the white and red colored candies
in the shape of animals, rings, canes
and other forms, then a part of the
decorations, as well as the cornucopias
made Of gold, silver and bright-colored
candies, gumdrops and nuts, and hung
on the tree with pieces of string, some
Of which we would "snitch' If the op-
portunity presented itself.
OF course, this was not all the trim
ming the tree received, for there were
the paper rings made into long chains
to drape over the tree, cardboard fig
ures. also covered with gold and silver
paper, and plenty of moss around the
base, which we gathered in the woods
before Christmas to help Santa Claus
do the job more completely. And then,
not far from the tree in the corner,
was the whatnot and the little parlor
stove that always looked so red and
cheerful when the weather was cold.
But the parlor would not be complete
without mentioning the Brussels car
pet tackled to the floor on all four sides,
the mohair furniture with the handknit
tides fastened here and there, the
marbletop table, upon which stood the
glass globe of wax flowers and over
which hung the long mirror, the Not
tingham lace curtains at the windows
a square piano, and, of course, a coal
oil lamp or two, few large colored
candles and the family portrait gallery
on the wall
Conditions under which we now live
have, in many respects, modified the
way in which we formerly celebrated
this notable day. Indeed, to many the
Christmas of today Is necessarily differ
ent from the Christmas of bygone days
when people had large, practical, open
fireplaces and chimney large enough
for real st. Nicholas to make his en-
trance and exit.
In those days, people in this vicinity
burned pine and oak logs, the latter be-
ing the more expensive, and many
burned anthracite in the little round
stoves, if the house was not heated by
latrobe, and the kitchen stove then
answered for both heating and cooking
Coal then cost about the same as
wood, though it was less troublesome
except to those who bought cordwood
and had to call in the wood sawyer to
saw the logs into desirable lengths. But
yet, even with the inconvenience of
coal and wood, and the possible discom-
fort of some times going to bed in cold
room with the temperature below freez-
ing, there has been nothing since to
equal the glare and roar of the burning
wood on the hearth and the popping and