CHRISTMAS IN 1932

 
CHRISTMAS IN 1932

On the Saturday night before Christmas in 1932 an eight-year-old girl, my mother as it happens, was whisked off to the pantry after supper to the only sink in the house. She was scrubbed clean, her best dress pulled over her head, white ankle socks over her feet, and those tucked into a pair of Mary Janes. Then she was given clean white gloves and she and her folks headed ‘overstreet’ to join others coming ‘upstreet’ from Round the Mountain and ‘downstreet’ from Skin Hill. They walked down the sidewalk from their home in the ‘block’, walked by the fountain and the bandstand which was there next to the fountain before it was moved up the hill to where, beautifully and recently restored, it is today.

They and lots of other island families were transported into a world of light, sound and magic. The many stores, over a dozen, each always busy on even a regular Saturday evening, spilled seasonal light out onto the Main Street sidewalks. In those circles of light grownups knotted together to exchange Christmas greetings and news, lingering way too long for the kids pulling at their coattails and eager to move on to the next exciting venue. An occasional wagon or even more occasional motor car passed, bringing in those from the farms outside the village, the occupants eager to park and join the town folk and excitement. As was the case every Saturday, those who had the means paid their grocery bills, purchases accrued during the preceding week, and received a bag of candy in return. But this was Christmas, and every kid received a lollipop or stick of licorice or some other treat regardless.