Who remembers : Breakfast at Shillitos in Cincinnati 1972 (My very first job as an elf!)
http://acincinnatihistory.blogspot.com/
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Where are you Christmas
Why can't I find you
Why have you gone away
Where is the laughter
You used to bring me
Why can't I hear music play
My world is changing
I'm rearranging
Does that mean Christmas changes too
Where are you Christmas
Do you remember
The one you used to know
I'm not the same one
See what the time's done
Is that why you have let me go
Remembering the days of Christmas past
Growing up the Christmas season began with Breakfast with Santa at Shillito's in Cincinnati. After visiting the Tea Room and all my grandmother's friends from work there, we would walk around downtown Cincinnati and look at all the decorated windows on our way to Cincinnati Gas & Electric where my grandfather worked, and pay a visit to the trains, always leaving there grasping a huge sugar cookie in our mittened little hands!
http://cincinnati.com/blogs/ourhistory/2010/12/16/shillito%E2%80%99s-elves-need-a-home/
As the days approached Christmas Eve there were numerous fittings of my Christmas dress, which by the way my mother made, and usually we would match!
Oh that stopped about 5th grade. Sorry to say the 70s arrived and I needed to be cool and wear a "MAXI" dress of crushed velvet that year! Mom made it for me though, knowing how heavy it would be to walk around in, never the less. With my long straight hair and my "maxi" bib dress out of royal blue velvet I was all the rage, and by the end of that night the hem was torn and tattered from tripping over it.
The Christmas Eve arrival of friends, neighbors and relatives included,Uncle Glenn and Aunt Betty, Uncle Ed, Uncle Art and Aunt Millie and their dog Dude(who by the way, always stole my sandwiches), Aunt Bevie from next door, Grandma Bobbie and Poppie Guy, Uncle Guy and Aunt Penny and Little Guy and later, Stephanie, Mr. and Mrs. Ebert, Hueston, Aunt Sarah, Charles Herman, Jerry Herman, Cousins, Bruce Botts and many others who would come and go throughout the years making memories never forgotten and always cherished. The beginning of Christmas Eve was ushered in by a lot of food. Stategically positioned on the big table, a pingpong table, and some still on the stove included ham, cheese, a crown roast of pork, bread, all the fixings for sandwiches, navy beans, shrimp, stroganoff with rice and cookies with punch and a very secret frozen drink my Pop made with orange juice that grown-ups added 7up and a little something extra! There were high balls and Tab and Coke and anything or everything you wanted and never had except on this night--it was simply terrific! As a kid, it was presents and loud talking, laughter and more. One year Uncle Glenn taught me an amazing card trick that even though I botched it, I still felt a raving amount of success. It was a smashing party and when it was time to leave Gram and Pop's and drive to my Aunt Sarah's house on Park Avenue in Newport, Kentucky, Gram would put everything away and if it was cold enough, those left-overs were sanctioned to an area on the screened-in porch. At Aunt Sarah's everyone crammed into her little house and ate more ham and cheese, deviled eggs and chips and lots of candy treats. We all waited eagerly to watch the exchange of the gifts where her two sons, Charles and Jerry would always bicker back and forth over who Mom loved best, carefully counted and measured by the amount and size of presents they received. I loved the gifts that Aunt Sarah would give to me, a candy cane filled with M&Ms and little tiny whimsical presents from Woolworth's that I cherished for years! Jerry had a tattoo of a a Hawaiian dancer on his forearm that he would make dance for all of us, and he made me laugh as a child, and that is a special holiday memory for me. We would depart Aunt Sarah's just when the party started to get going and all of Aunt Sarah's friends would begin to arrive, and walk together as a family to St. Johns United Church of Christ at the corner of Park and Nelson Place, and sometimes on the walk back, after the candlelight service it would be snowing, which was just magical for me. We went to the Christmas service there for years together and our family was in everything from the choir to angels and even Mary and Joseph with my little brother Jackie as baby Jesus one year. I sang and absolutely horrendous rendition of Away in a manger one year--horrible! After all the good byes and wishes of Merry Christmas hugs and kisses we traveled home to sleep and wait for a visit from Santa Claus. I always tried to stay up until midnight on Christmas Eve to hear the animals speak--I never made it. I wanted to know what my dog, Pixie would have to say to me.
I have tried to recreate those same easy memories for my own family, but long for the days of the red, white, and blue Christmas lights proudly displayed when my Uncle Guy was in Vietnam.
http://www.kentonlibrary.org/genphotos/viewPhoto.cfm?imagename=di34797
We still have our Crazy Christmas Eves, where we drink Pop's secret orange frozen drink and share loud laughter,hugs, and kisses... but the days are different -- still magical, though just different. We all are living in different cities but in our hearts we remain in the basement of 6 Douglas Drive, or for my Mom and Uncle Guy, Thornton street, and in our hearts and on our faces there is a rather large smile that only Christmas can bring. Thanks Gram and Pop!
I feel you Christmas
I know I've found you
You never fade away
The joy of Christmas
Stays here inside us
Fills each and every heart with love
