Christmas tree lights

The first year we were married we had a Christmas tree. It needed lights. Lights were hard to find as the war was still causing shortages. We found some lights at Crosby's in Topeka. They were strange rather large. We were glad to get them. Our apartment was on 6th Street and we had two nice windoows in the front room of our apartment. We thought the tree looked gorgeous, Today sixty two years later one bulb still glows on the Lafferty tree in Fairway.

Christmas 1960

It was one of the last years that downtown Kansas City had a strong shopping area. The streets were decorated with festive lighted garlands and I think the Crowns were there. The crowns have now moved to North Kansas City. Our kids were between 3 and 12. They were dressed in their Sunday best. I met Ray during his 2 1/2 hour dinner time. We had supper at the Forum cafeteria so everyone could find something they liked. Then we started our walking tour. We stopped first at the Jones Store at the corner of 12th and Main. They had a train carrying children and adults through snowmen, frolicking elves, reindeer and other Christmas things. Then to Klines for the Fairy Princess, a beautiful young girl dressed in a gorgeous gown and a crown and holding a wand. For a small fee the children lined up at her throne and she waved her magic wand and a brightly covered gift appeared. It would be a coloring book, crayons, a tin whistle, a spinning top or some other trinket. From there we went to Emery Bird Thayer on Eleventh between Walnut and Grand. There two giant inflated, Santa and Mrs. Claus shook and rolled like bowls of jelly to recorded peals of laughter. They have lost Mrs. Claus but Santa is at Crown Center. We watched the antics at Harzfelds of the figures. While we were at Harzfelds a stylish woman asked if she could give something to our children. She gave us a Russell Stover 1 pound box. The kids wanted it immediately but we told them we had to check it out first. The fairy princess is still at the KC Museum. They have many versions at places now but that is one experience.

Buying Christmas gifts

When our five children were young we lived near a dime store called the J and B Store. It was down on Shawnee Mission Highway--called Highway 10 at that time in a small shopping center. We would park in front of the store with the kids in the car and they were each given a dollar to buy four .25 gifts. One of us would accompany the child so they would not duplicate the gift. They would buy the gift and then get back in the car. You could get great gifts for a quarter in this store. They would take them home and wrap them in tissue paper and put under the tree.

Our children loved the Sears and Wards catalog before Christmas and would go through it and write their names under things they wanted, We would share our list with grandparents and they would let us know so we did not duplicate. We had great experiences with this. At Sears one year they never had our order. One day after about five trials the clerk recognized us and said she thought she knew where the order was and they had left the M off of Morgan and we were under Organ.

With Wards one Christmas our order was never there. Ray happened to be covering a story and the executive of Wards was in Kansas City from Chicago to attend the meeting. The executive checked and that night we had a call that they were delivering our order. It seemed the store was not giving the orders out and the manager had the store in a mess. The dresses we ordered for our three daughters were so far down in the pile at the store that we could never get the creases out. We had ordered a Bible for my mother and it was there. We had some new stuff for Steve's train and it was there. Now I do not know if either Sears or Wards even has a Christmas catalog.

wife sitting

When I was still too young to baby sit I used to wife sit. My parents were good friends with the coach at Washburn and when he went out of town his wife did not like to be alone. I think my sister, Helen and I took turns wife sitting. She had two small children which we entertained and then went to bed. I guess she just liked to have someone else in the house. It was great fun and I enjoyed it. I think I must have been about ten.

Christmas gifts

Our local Grocery store at Christmas offered toys. One year they had a large cannon toy. Our youngest son, Scott, fell in love with it. When we first moved to Kansas City we lived in a three bedroom house. There was no dining room. The dining room was at the end of the living room. It was a nice big room but it meant we ate in the living room. That Christmas Scott got his cannon. It shot plastic balls a few feet. On Christmas morning we were seated at the dining table eating breakfast with Ray's parents. Scott wanted to shoot that cannon. Steve showed him how. He shot off the first ball and it sailed across the room and ended in his grandfather's oatmeal.

Snowmen

One August in 1951 I was reading a magazine and it told you how to make wooden snowmen for Christmas for your front lawn. I thought that would be great. My Brother-in-law Roy helped me. We got large sheets of paper and drew our five. Then Roy got some wood and with his jig saw cut them out for me. I got them painted. I wanted to put a sign in front. We had many Jewish friends so I did not want Merry Christmas and settled for Happy Holidays. We added were two more children a cat and a dog. When we added a daughter-in-law we added another. However that did not work out so we didn't add any more. Cindy's snowman was taken one Christmas but we found it up in a ditch south of our house and put it back up. As years went by we added lights to the house but it has pretty stayed the same. We did not add the 13 grandchildren.

Agricultural Hall of Fame

In 1959 The Agricultural Hall of Fame was started. Harry Darby was busy getting it done. Historians had recommended that there be a library where they gathered technical books about farming on power machinery, fertilizer, plant and animal breeding, forestry, soil and water management. Anything Harry Darby was into Ray was interested in. President Eisenhower was for it. Harry Truman was interested. Kansas seemed a good place to locate it. A few other states wanted it but Eisenhower was able to get it in Bonner Springs. Kansas. Ray and I went out to visit it. I was shocked to see they had the same refrigerator I had at home on display. I still have it in my basement but don't know if it works anymore. It had an early American Village, an Indian village, an outdoor amphitheatre. It would cost about $1,000,000. The total cost would be $170.000. It seems in trouble now and they have changed the staff and made adjustments. I guess not enough people were that interested in going to see it or it was too far to drive to. I'm not sure but it seemed a good idea at the time.