Show r I Old Times J JT T TOW V many Christmas presents are you giving this year The average list of presents that are are re being given by the average family look like the inventory of the household household household house house- hold furnishings Our mind slips back to the simplicity of some of the old time Christmases In particular we recall the finest Christmas Christmas Christmas Christ Christ- mas we ever had We Ve were a boy then Most of the th presents were home made Grandma furnished mittens mitten's knitted by oil lari lamp p after wed we'd been tucked in bed thick bed thick warm mittens with a long cord that extended up through coat sleeves and around the neck to prevent loss Aunt Saphronia gave us us' us usa a basket of Christmas cookies shaped like animals animas and stars and covered with delicious colored sugar Uncle Tom gave us a watch and his generosity generosity generosity gener gener- appalled us even if it was the old turnip that hed he'd discarded discarded- You can imagine the reaction you'd get if you tried giving a 1923 boy a second hand timepiece Most of the presents were useful in the theold theold theold old days including a reefer overcoat and a anew anew anew new pair of shoes As for boughten presents presents presents pres pres- they were limited to The Erie Train Boy by Alger Henty's With Clive in In India India India In- In dia a New Testament a sled a pair of skates and that most wonderful of bf all alI old tip tip-se toys a tin monkey that climbed limbed a string At that Christmas of long ago represented represented represented proportionately as big an outlay as now comparing the family incomes of the two periods But the gift itself was secondary to the spirit of the giver far more than in inthe inthe inthe the present generation Somehow we believe the Christmas dinners of those days were supe supe- nor The Christmas eve entertainment at the church was as enjoyable to us as the modern I movie And the he ride in a a cutter over the 1 deep snow b beat at the auto auto trip o of ot 1923 Christmas has clanged changed but no more JO so o than the rest of l life fe An advancing standard of oC living has its price I |