By Maylon Rice
This Pastime, is a repeat, and is one suggested by a couple of school mates at Eastside Elementary back in the mid-to-late 1960s.
It is a painful experience for me… you see I never did get one of those coveted “Books of Lifesaver candy.”
In the 4th grade that was the best gift ever, especially for a sugar craving kid who always had to share his roll of any Lifesavers candy with a younger brother.
But that’s more about me, than the person who drew my name back in the antiquity of when elementary aged school kids drew names for the class Christmas party.
My fondest recollections are the days when teachers like Charlotte Young, Ruth Jacks, Marinette Atkinson, Mildred Dees, Frances Hedrick, and a legion of other teachers whose names are as fresh in our memories as yesterday, conducted the Christmas gift exchange at school.
I’ll focus on my 4th grade memories as a “new kid” at Eastside Elementary School, which was under the easy-going and likable principal Fred Murphy, a gem of a guy.
I miss him and many of these names of teaches and others even today.
I was in Mrs. Charlotte Young’s 4th grade class… so were many of you who will be reading this Pastime.
When Christmas rolled around, Mrs. Young made out a list everyone one’s name on it and then put the class names (and who you drew) in her gradebook. When you drew a name (boys in one container and girls in another), you got to come to the front of the room and whisper in her ear – the name you drew.
Two weeks later we would show up at school on an appointed day for our Class Party and exchange the gifts.
Mrs. Young swore us all to secrecy, if there was such a thing among 4th grade boys and girls. But you had to try and try really hard, Mrs. Young demanded it.
A couple of moms would show up with Kool Aide or that sugary treat - Hawaiian Punch (it was blood red and in a half-gallon tin can, of course). And I could drink a horse trough full of that sugary stuff.
One mom would have fresh baked cookies. Mrs. Young brought brownies – always brownies – if I remember correctly. It was indeed a feast.
Somewhere, Mr. Ed Young, Mrs. Young’s husband, found us a tree – it was a little evergreen, that I am sure they installed about on Monday before the usual class party on Thursday. The scent of the tree filled the classroom.
We made red and green construction paper chains, we strung popcorn – prior to the microwave – so this was a little greasy task. We cut out and made all types of decorations from camels, angels, trees, and even some renditions of Old St. Nick himself.
But back to the exchange of gifts.
Mrs. Young made sure everyone in the class had a gift. And they had a gift to exchange.
Doing this, I am sure; back in those days was a real chore, carefully and diplomatically done. And no doubt, she bought and wrapped many gifts for many of us… times were different certainly back then.
There were no big mega gift giveaways by area churches or non-profits back then. Christmas to a family struggling financially could be hard.
When time came for the classroom exchange, the excitement mounted. Names were called and oddly-wrapped gifts were held high by Mrs. Young. You came to the front of the class collected your gift and later opened it with everyone watching.
My gift wrapping packaged, which started out pretty well done – had to survive a 25 mile bus ride on Bus No. 15 to school – so it often looked a little bit shop worn time it as under the class tree.
Some of us got a “Wooly Willie” a bald-headed man where a magnet would help you arrange all types of iron shavings which were hair and facial hair on this cardboard stranger.
One kid got a pair of “Chinese Handcuffs” a strange little straw contraption which held one finger on each hand in a vise-like-grip until a secret twist was employed to loosen the captured person.
Others got a kaleidoscope of pieces of plastic when rotated, peering through the eye-piece a pretty patterns of colors would form. Another got a metal Slinky, or an “egg” of Silly Putty… Someone was always bounding the Silly Putty off on the tile floor with such force a portion of it stuck to the tile ceiling in the classroom.
One year I got a harmonica. Oh, how I wished I had learned to play that sucker. After age 30 all the good looking women in most any bar, club or concert sure goes for the harmonica players.
The girls in Mrs. Young’s 4th grade sure exchanged a lot of “paper dolls” back then – with various paper outfits for all kinds of weather. Barbie stuff was too expensive for the $2 limit set on the gift exchange by Mrs. Young.
Girls also exchanged sets of pop-beads, for the jewelry making enthusiast or viewfinder slides for those we already knew had a View-Master at their home.
Mrs. Young got boxes and boxes of chocolate covered cherries, peanut brittle and other tasty treats from almost every student.
But somehow, year after year, that darn book of Life Saver candies evaded me.
Just another Pastime to ponder as the Christmas season grows closer down in Bradley County.
-30-
This Pastime, is a repeat, and is one suggested by a couple of school mates at Eastside Elementary back in the mid-to-late 1960s.
It is a painful experience for me… you see I never did get one of those coveted “Books of Lifesaver candy.”
In the 4th grade that was the best gift ever, especially for a sugar craving kid who always had to share his roll of any Lifesavers candy with a younger brother.
But that’s more about me, than the person who drew my name back in the antiquity of when elementary aged school kids drew names for the class Christmas party.
My fondest recollections are the days when teachers like Charlotte Young, Ruth Jacks, Marinette Atkinson, Mildred Dees, Frances Hedrick, and a legion of other teachers whose names are as fresh in our memories as yesterday, conducted the Christmas gift exchange at school.
I’ll focus on my 4th grade memories as a “new kid” at Eastside Elementary School, which was under the easy-going and likable principal Fred Murphy, a gem of a guy.
I miss him and many of these names of teaches and others even today.
I was in Mrs. Charlotte Young’s 4th grade class… so were many of you who will be reading this Pastime.
When Christmas rolled around, Mrs. Young made out a list everyone one’s name on it and then put the class names (and who you drew) in her gradebook. When you drew a name (boys in one container and girls in another), you got to come to the front of the room and whisper in her ear – the name you drew.
Two weeks later we would show up at school on an appointed day for our Class Party and exchange the gifts.
Mrs. Young swore us all to secrecy, if there was such a thing among 4th grade boys and girls. But you had to try and try really hard, Mrs. Young demanded it.
A couple of moms would show up with Kool Aide or that sugary treat - Hawaiian Punch (it was blood red and in a half-gallon tin can, of course). And I could drink a horse trough full of that sugary stuff.
One mom would have fresh baked cookies. Mrs. Young brought brownies – always brownies – if I remember correctly. It was indeed a feast.
Somewhere, Mr. Ed Young, Mrs. Young’s husband, found us a tree – it was a little evergreen, that I am sure they installed about on Monday before the usual class party on Thursday. The scent of the tree filled the classroom.
We made red and green construction paper chains, we strung popcorn – prior to the microwave – so this was a little greasy task. We cut out and made all types of decorations from camels, angels, trees, and even some renditions of Old St. Nick himself.
But back to the exchange of gifts.
Mrs. Young made sure everyone in the class had a gift. And they had a gift to exchange.
Doing this, I am sure; back in those days was a real chore, carefully and diplomatically done. And no doubt, she bought and wrapped many gifts for many of us… times were different certainly back then.
There were no big mega gift giveaways by area churches or non-profits back then. Christmas to a family struggling financially could be hard.
When time came for the classroom exchange, the excitement mounted. Names were called and oddly-wrapped gifts were held high by Mrs. Young. You came to the front of the class collected your gift and later opened it with everyone watching.
My gift wrapping packaged, which started out pretty well done – had to survive a 25 mile bus ride on Bus No. 15 to school – so it often looked a little bit shop worn time it as under the class tree.
Some of us got a “Wooly Willie” a bald-headed man where a magnet would help you arrange all types of iron shavings which were hair and facial hair on this cardboard stranger.
One kid got a pair of “Chinese Handcuffs” a strange little straw contraption which held one finger on each hand in a vise-like-grip until a secret twist was employed to loosen the captured person.
Others got a kaleidoscope of pieces of plastic when rotated, peering through the eye-piece a pretty patterns of colors would form. Another got a metal Slinky, or an “egg” of Silly Putty… Someone was always bounding the Silly Putty off on the tile floor with such force a portion of it stuck to the tile ceiling in the classroom.
One year I got a harmonica. Oh, how I wished I had learned to play that sucker. After age 30 all the good looking women in most any bar, club or concert sure goes for the harmonica players.
The girls in Mrs. Young’s 4th grade sure exchanged a lot of “paper dolls” back then – with various paper outfits for all kinds of weather. Barbie stuff was too expensive for the $2 limit set on the gift exchange by Mrs. Young.
Girls also exchanged sets of pop-beads, for the jewelry making enthusiast or viewfinder slides for those we already knew had a View-Master at their home.
Mrs. Young got boxes and boxes of chocolate covered cherries, peanut brittle and other tasty treats from almost every student.
But somehow, year after year, that darn book of Life Saver candies evaded me.
Just another Pastime to ponder as the Christmas season grows closer down in Bradley County.
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment