If you were anyone like me, Christmas in the 1950s and '60s was a special time. But, I guess that's true today for most kids. But back when I was a youngun, we didn't have X-Boxes, video games, electric cars to drive around the driveway or action figures. We had rocks, sticks and deer hide. Okay, we didn't have those things but we did have cool stuff. And it was made better back then than it is today. Model cars, trucks and airplanes were actually metal. There were plastic toys but they were much stronger than today. A big thing for kids then were to get a gun for Christmas. And guess what? We didn't go to school later and kill out teachers or classmates with it.

Back then we went to see Santa and mom didn't have to frown when we were forced to sit on his lap. If he was a pervert, we didn't know it. And Mrs. Claus was the only one wearing makeup. (I hope the Mrs. Claus that I saw was a "real" woman).

The department stores were not in malls. They were downtown and all had their front windows decked out with animated figures. In Akron, Ohio, O'Neil's and Polsky's were the two biggest that I remember. They had something like eight huge windows full of Christmas scenes. They were easy to get to as there were no homeless living in tents in front of the stores back then.

Christmas morning was so cool. With all the stuff that we got, we had forgotten all about the things that we had asked for and didn't get. We always had a big Christmas dinner where all the relatives came and we talked about things that no one actually cared about. That jumbo trout that uncle Henry caught. The pain in aunt Cora's back that goes from her jaw all the way down to her thigh. And her swelled ankles. Poor aunt Cora. And sister Thelma had to have her stead guy, Ralph stop by to give her the cheap bracelet that he bought her for a gift. Mom worked all morning and afternoon to get the dinner ready and she would work all evening washing the dishes. Dad read the newspaper in his chair.

You could always figure on the same gifts for the parents. Dad got a carton of cigarettes or a new pipe. Mom got a new apron and some perfume. We always spent the evening watching Christmas editions of popular TV shows like Lawrence Welk or some lame Christmas movie. I had wanted to watch the Twilight Zone or Bonanza or maybe, Gunsmoke. But mom said she didn't want to see people killed on Christmas, The rest of the year, it was alright.

And after the holiday was over, clean up began. The old, drooping Christmas tree was hauled out to the trash leaving the floor covered with dead pine needles and a few broken ornaments. The dish of Christmas candy was now rock hard and sticky. There were two trash cans full of torn wrapping paper and the dog was as sick as a...well, dog after all the relatives had fed her ham and turkey from under the table. So mom ended up cleaning several areas of the carpets after the dog threw up.

Yeah, Christmas was cool ~