Guest Blog #1

This story is from my older sister Peggy, and is her remembrance of Christmas past.

Alan likes to talk about growing up in the '50's and I was right there with him. Christmas was a wonderful time at our house for us kids, but for our Mom it must have been hectic. Before there was TOYS 'Я' US, Mom and I would head over to Bettenhausens Hardware store on Oak Park Ave. All year long it was a boring place full of hardware (editors note: hardware is not boring). But at Christmas time Mr. Bettenhausen turned his upstairs warehouse area into a Wonderland of Toys, at least that's what it looked like to me. As the oldest daughter, I was allowed to help play Santa and went with Mom, climbing up the rickety wooden stairs and picking out the perfect doll, doll buggy, truck, cars, etc.

Somehow mom and I smuggled the loot into the house and it all got hidden, usually under their bed. I have had only two children to buy and wrap presents for, I cannot imagine how Mom did it for eleven, and so quietly! I do remember her locking us out of her bedroom as it got closer to Christmas, and on Christmas morning the pile of gifts under the tree was enormous! Never mind that you probably only received two gifts, and one of them might have been clothing, it always looked like we were rich that morning. I think that really defined my idea of what Christmas should look like, and my own kids have benefited from it!

I can vividly remember two gifts that I received as a young child. One was the "step-stool booster chair" in yellow vinyl that was actually meant for my Mom to use in the kitchen. When I saw it, for some reason, I got it into my head that it was mine! I can remember climbing up on it and looking down on my poor siblings, like I was the queen of the step stools! The other gift was an orange-crate dollhouse put together by my Grandma and Grandpa. It was 4 rooms, with rugs and curtains. Handmade furniture and purchased items filled the rooms in which a clothespin family resided. It was a gift given to me and sister Susan and we loved it, I'm just sorry it didn't survive to become an antique!

From the editor: I get a clearer picture of why my brothers and sisters are the way they are when I hear these stories of our childhood. For instance, though I love her dearly, my sister Peggy is bossy. She would boss me around when I was a kid, and to this day she is still a surrogate mother. Obviously, because my mom crowned Peggy as the arbiter of what the rest of us were given on Christmas, coupled with the yellow step stool for her to stand on and look down upon us, it is quite obvious how she became the 'boss'. As for my oldest brother, the 'Republican' (who I dearly love), my mom has told me stories of what is was like before my sister and I were born. He had it all. The attention, the gifts, everything, then my sister was born. That was his first time sharing. When I was born, it finally hit him that he would have to share everything, including his bedroom, with me. I think that was the first time the word 'socialism' came out of his mouth.