Christmas in Taber 1947

 

In 1947, we decided to go to Taber for Christmas.  Marvelle wrote about this experience. 

By:  Marvelle Hyde Noble

Christmas was always an exciting time in our house.  We never really had “BIG” Christmases with expensive gifts, but Mom and Dad always made it BIG! One Christmas when Lester Ann and I were both adults we were discussing Christmas times we had enjoyed.  Mom said her worst memory was when we lived in Rosemary. We lived on the bald headed prairie and there was not a traditional Christmas tree to be found.  So, Mom decorated the ironing board. 

This photo is not of our ironing board, but a more modern version of what ours might have looked like.  Of course, the photo would be in black and white as the time was pre-colored photography.  I remember that Christmas and to me it was one of the best.

It was the first Christmas I remember being given money to buy presents for others.  I was given one dollar.  (That’s one Canadian dollar.)  Dad took me and Lester Ann into Rosemary where we went to Blinkie Bodnar’s store.  Everyone called him that because he was always blinking his eyes.  It took a long time to decide and make our purchases.  I cannot remember what we bought for Mom and Dad, but I bought Lester Ann some red barrettes for her hair and she bought me some crayons.      Dad must have helped Lester Ann pick them out as she was only three years old.

That year we went to Taber to visit Grandma Day and all our aunts, uncles, and cousins.  We wanted to leave before Christmas day, but we were worried that would present a problem.  How would Santa know where to bring our presents?  However, Dad had an idea.  We could write a letter to Santa Claus, then throw it into the wood burning kitchen stove.  The smoke from the fire would go up to the North Pole and Santa would know we would be at Aunt Verna and Uncle Clarence’s place in Taber.  He would take our gifts there. 

So that is what we did.  Lester Ann, Mom, Dad, and I all sat at the kitchen table and very seriously wrote our note to Santa Claus.  I helped Lester Ann with hers. Then Dad ceremoniously lifted the lid on the stove and threw in our notes.  We watched the flames for a moment or two as they curled around the paper and burned it to bits.  We knew the smoke went up the chimney and then to the North Pole because Dad told us it did.  I was about seven and Lester Ann was three.

Mom told us we had to be really good because Santa had elves who were watching very closely at that time of year.  She said they came in the form of little birds, sparrows in our neck of the woods.  They sat on our kitchen windowsill and looked through the window, probably because Dad had spread a few kernels of grain there for them to eat.  They definitely looked like they were watching us before they flew off to report their findings to Santa Clause. 

We drove to Taber in our car, a 1937 Model A.  The car had no heater, and it was very cold that year.  Mom put big rocks in the oven overnight and then wrapped them in big quilts and placed them in the car to keep us warm.  Lester Ann, Mom and Dad rode in the front seat.  I rode in the back.  We travelled south to Taber on Highway 36, which was just an old dirt road in those days, not the wide paved highway it is today.  When we got to the river, we simply drove across on the ice.  I remember in the summer we rode across on the ferry. That was always exciting to me.

Just north of Vauxhall, Dad stopped to check my feet as I was complaining about them being cold.  Dad was afraid they were frozen and decided we needed to stop somewhere where we could warm them.  He stopped at an old store that had a big potbellied stove sitting in the middle of the room.  The fire inside was roaring.  Dad told the store owner his daughter’s feet were frozen and I was immediately put on a chair, my shoes and socks were peeled off, and my feet placed near the stove so they could be warmed.  They were close to being frozen, but I think they were okay.  They were soon warm, and they had also warmed up my shoes. Dad wrapped me in a blanket and carried me back to the car. 

After stopping in Taber for a few minutes to see Grandma, we drove to the Brown’s farm in Purple Springs, just east of Taber.  It was Christmas Eve. 

We had a wonderful time playing with our cousins.  Arliss, Louiene, Bonnie and Harold were the only kids I remember being born by then.  I slept with Arliss in her bed.  Her bedroom was right above Uncle Clarence and Aunt Verna’s room. It was the first time I ever heard someone snore.  It was so loud we could hear him from upstairs.  Besides, it was Christmas Eve, and we were all having a hard time sleeping. 

The next day was Christmas.  Santa Clause found Lester Ann and me and there were presents under their tree.  All our other cousins, aunts and uncles and Grandma came out to the Browns for a big turkey dinner.  It was wonderful.

I don’t remember the ride home, but we had a wonderful Christmas, even if we had a decorated ironing board instead of a Christmas tree waiting to greet us when we arrived. You see, children do not care if they have a beautifully decorated tree. They remember the feelings they enjoyed and the fun they had.