A Homestead Christmas
By the Children of Glacier Point [Denise, Linda, Nancy & Ruth]
Winter on Glacier Point
Our parents homesteaded on Glacier Point, southwest of Haines near Davidson Glacier. They started with one daughter in the late ’40s, the second was born on the homestead and by 1955 there were four of us girls, the “Children of Glacier Point”.
Christmas was our favorite holiday and the one that lasted the longest.
At the end of fishing season, Daddy came home with the mail. Along with the boxes of schoolbooks for the winter there were usually two much awaited pieces of mail. Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Wards Christmas catalogs or Wishbooks. Tempting books to sit high on a shelf until after the fall harvest.
Long before time could be spent on actively planning for Christmas, the potatoes had to be dug and hauled to the root cellar to be stored. Gunnysacks that were stored empty under Linda’s mattress were pulled out and taken to the potato field. Daddy dug the rows and eager little hands pulled out potatoes and filled buckets. Mama would sit in the lea of some trees to size, sort and bag them. This was the same place she sat to cut them up for planting in the spring. The very nicest ones got bagged up to sell then the rest were sorted for eating and for seed. By the time all the potatoes were dug the air was cold and snow would be falling on the mountain behind the cabin.
“Hurry up girls,” Daddy would say “that snow will be down here by night.”
At last the big patch was all dug and the potatoes were stored in the root cellar, snug in their bins lined and layered with moss that had been gathered and dried by the girls in the summer. Linda’s mattress was very thin, but it didn’t seem to matter.
Finally, there was time to start the schoolwork for the year and to spend evenings looking at the Christmas Catalogs. They were full of many things to be poured over and discussed for hours by kerosene lamplight. There were things to believe you might actually receive and many things to just dream over. Tiny heads murmured over pages of dolls and cowboy toys. Who couldn’t want a REAL set of Roy Rogers’ guns and hat! The girls gazed longingly at big sets of frontier towns, farm sets (complete with little cows and horses) and the ultimate fantasy, erector sets. The big dreams, tempered with reality, were for things that Santa was unlikely to bring — a beautiful doll with a complete wardrobe, shiny bicycles and big train sets. We each put our initials on items we wanted, until the book would be marked with a D here, an L there, maybe an N or R all on the same thing! Although we were not shy about marking our favorites, we knew most of it was just a game and not likely to happen. Of course there was always the wish for a pretty dress or nightgown, and those fell within the scope of possibility. Mamma would make some item of clothing for each girl if she had the fabric.
The next step toward Christmas would be the Special grocery list that Mamma would make for all the stuff just for Christmas. Raisins, currants, brown sugar and dried fruits were all for fruitcake and plum pudding. Mincemeat for little mince tarts and perhaps some dates for the date filled oatmeal cookies — things that were only made at Christmas time.
Along with the letters, cards and grocery list, sometimes Mamma would hand Daddy an envelope that little girls hoped was an order to the catalogs. Of course, catalog orders had to be sent quite early, so likely we never even realized when one DID go! Often she would make a sign for Daddy to hang in the post office, wishing Happy Holidays to all their friends, because everyone would see it there.
If it had been a good fishing year and the prices weren’t too high, Daddy might bring home boxes of apples. Big red ones and the highly prized golden delicious were real treats. We used to watch intently as Daddy peeled an apple with his pocketknife, waiting to see if he could do it in one continuous length, and then whose turn it was to eat the peel!
Not long after Thanksgiving, Christmas music would start to pop up on the radio, and references to Christmas in the various radio story programs we listened to. Our all time favorite was “The Cinnamon Bear”, a series that ran for 26 episodes and was on for many years.
Being typical of Lynn Canal and winter weather, one could plan a trip to town and then not get there…or not be able to get home for weeks Anticipating what he would or could bring was half of the fun of the season. Some years it was very touch and go whether Daddy could get to town to pick up the special Christmas supplies and Christmas mail
One year that we all remember, Daddy went off to town fairly early in the season to work the freight ship and order our Christmas supplies. He had hoped to make a run home between jobs so Mamma would have everything she needed to prepare for Christmas. The weather however was not cooperative, and baking day was approaching. Fruitcake and plum puddings needed to be made ahead of time to be their best for the holiday. As the weather continued too stormy for a small boat to make the trip, we knew that Daddy would be working another freighter soon and might not get home before Christmas. We began to worry about the Christmas mail and any packages that might have come and even having our Daddy home. Four little girls had very solemn faces.
continued in Part 2……