December 1 - Currier & Ives
This ornament came to me from my parents. They got it as a gift for opening a Christmas Club. These accounts are not so popular now and they sometimes earned a bad rap for having a lot of restrictions and a low or non-existent interest rate, but back in the day they were how we paid for Christmas. Members were often given some sort of token give such as this ornament.
When I look at this ornament it takes me back to my youth and young adulthood. We'd put a few dollars into our Christmas Club each week and just after Thanksgiving we'd get our cash. Shopping meant going "downtown". For us, that meant downtown Scranton. Sometimes we'd take the bus. I remember as a child how exciting it was to be downtown getting the bus back home after dark.
We'd go Christmas shopping at the two big department stores, The Globe Store or The Scranton Dry Goods. We'd also go to Woolworth's and Kresge's. Maybe I'd get a Christmas dress from Lerners. Sometimes we'd go to Samters's or maybe get shoes at Beck's or Tom McCann. I'd look longingly in the windows of The Mayfair which had clothing I usually couldn't afford. Sometimes we'd go up to Spruce Records to buy an LP for someone on our gift list. We seldom at more than pizza from the counter at the five and ten or hot chocolate and maybe a piece of pie or cake from Linden Bake Shop or Shooky's Deli. I can still remember how it all looked, how magical it was to the young Linda. Most of those stores are gone now and the malls have replaced the downtown stores. Scranton, unlike many other cities has a mall in the downtown limits near the area where those anchor department stores once thrived but of course it's not the same. It's just cookie cutter retail. But I digress....
We knew the true meaning of Christmas when I was growing up. There was no doubt in our minds that we were celebrating the birth of the Christ child. We were giving gifts as the wise men did. And we enjoyed the simple gift giving and receiving. No huge debts. No over the top presents. No keeping up with everyone else. Just joy and fun. I think maybe I'm back there again. We don't do anything too extravagant and we enjoy giving, knowing that what we received is above and beyond all that we could ever ask or think.