Christmas in Carlisle 1946

No sooner was Thanksgiving dinner over than peoples thoughts turned to Christmas. There were cards to buy and address, cookies to bake, Christmas tree decorations to get down from the attic, presents to buy, and grocery shopping to do. Fortunately, the stores in Carlisle, which closed every Wednesday at noon, would be open all day on Wednesdays until January, and from December 16 through December 23 the stores would stay open until 9 o’clock in the evening.

Christmas meant baking and entertaining. Maybe you could find a new recipe or two in Allison Methodist’s new cookbook “More Favorite Recipes.” It was for sale at The Evening Sentinel office for $1.¹ Cookie baking was an essential part of Christmas in most homes. Acme Super Market was selling 5-pound bags of Gold Seal All Purpose Flour for 34 cents, seven-ounce boxes of seedless raisins for seven cents, and a one-pound bag of Diamond walnuts for 49 cents. A & P announced that you could now buy coffee in unlimited quantities. Two-pound bags of Freshly Roasted Eight O’clock Coffee cost 71 cents for the Mild and Mellow blend, and 75 cents for the Rich and Full-bodied blend. A bag of two dozen Florida oranges cost 49 cents. Loin-end pork roasts were 49 cents a pound and chuck roasts were 45 cents a pound. A & P’s gift suggestions included three-pound Jane Parker Fruit Cakes for $2.25, and a 10-pack carton of cigarettes for $1.63. (The average yearly income for non-farm families in 1946 was $3,000.)

Buying the Christmas tree was a big production. Often you had to buy one after work when it was dark, and cold, and you never bought the first one you looked at. For those who wanted a tree early in December, they could buy one from W. H. Brownawell at 426 Fairground Street or from Samuel Stouffer at 29 Kerr Street, or at Bob Farner’s Garage on the corner of Porter and Louther streets. Others waited to buy their tree until closer to Christmas. On Monday, December 16, truck after truck unloaded pine, spruce, and fir trees on the Square. One vendor, Harry R. Einstein, said it was the 26th year he had been selling Christmas trees on the Square.²

Illustrations of toys and presents for children were scattered throughout the pages of the Evening Sentinel. Montgomery Ward’s featured a Pony Boy Stick Horse for 87 cents, and a rubber wetting doll with a bottle for $1.19. An archery set for “teen-aged bowmen” cost $2.49, a group of Realistic Scale Model Airplanes cost 79 cents, and you could buy a watercolor paint set for $1.98. Sears, Roebuck & Co. on South Hanover Street was selling 7-piece Lone Ranger sets for $2.89 and toy telephones for 94 cents. Dolls ranged from $2.98 to $17.98. J. P. Bixler & Sons on East High Street advertised Lightning Guider Sleds in three sizes ranging from $3.15 to $4.50, and Shoe Ice Skates for $9.78 a pair and up. Bixler’s gift suggestions for adults included Remington electric shavers for Dad, and Pressure Cookers for Mom. J. C. Penny’s sold men’s and boy’s slippers for $1.79 and ties for 98 cents. Chenille Bedspreads were just $6.90. People’s Drug Store advertised Evening in Paris gift sets for the ladies at $2.45, and for the men a box of 50 cigars was $3.25, and “fine pipes” were just $1.00 each.

Christmas is a time when we help others, and the familiar ring of a bell meant that there was a Salvation Army kettle nearby. The first week in December the Business and Professional Women’s Club held a meeting and Christmas program at the YWCA. Instead of exchanging gifts with other members, they pooled the money they would have spent and bought a “Christmas treat for County Home guests.” They also gave $10 to aid a Carlisle Springs family of 13 who had recently lost their home in a fire.”³ Other fraternal and social organizations also provided gifts for the needy in town.

Throughout December 1946 Carlisle’s Evening Sentinel reported on holiday programs and activities given by schools, churches, fraternal and social organizations, and companies. On Sunday afternoon, December 1, a crowd of more than 1,000 people filled the auditorium at Carlisle High School for the renewal of the Community Yuletide Vespers after a lapse of three war years. A chorus of 135 voices and an orchestra of 40 pieces performed.⁴ On Tuesday night, December 2, the Carlisle Council of Republican Women celebrated its tenth anniversary in the G. A. R. Hall, which was decked out with Christmas trees and greens. Following their roast turkey dinner, Miss Elizabeth Roberts sang "White Christmas" and then led the group in singing Christmas carols.⁵

For many, the official start of the Christmas season was the lighting of the town’s Christmas decorations. On Monday evening, December 9th, the sidewalks around the Square were filled with crowds of children and their families eagerly waiting for the lights to be turned on. With the flick of a switch several thousand lights lit up the Square. The lights were entwined in 1,200 feet of laurel roping and strung above the four approaches to the square. That was followed by the lights on the trees of the First Presbyterian Church and St. John’s Church on the Square.⁶

On December 18, the Garden Club held its annual display of Christmas mantel decorations and table centerpieces at the J. Herman Bosler Memorial Library. The club also arranged three tables in the station hospital at Carlisle Barracks.

Dickinson College celebrated the holiday season with several events. The public were invited to a program in Bosler Hall on Wednesday evening December 18 given by the German Department. Students sang carols in German and read the Christmas story from a German Bible. Dean E. A. Vuilleumier and Col. John D. Harrigan described Christmases in Germany and in Switzerland. On December 19, the Coventry Nativity play was presented by the English Department under the direction of Dr. Eric Barnes, with music directed by John Steckbeck. The annual Doll Show, a Dickinson College tradition for nearly two generations, was held on Friday, December 20. After the show, the dolls were sent to New York for distribution to the children of prison inmates, and also to the Methodist Children’s Home near Shiremanstown.⁸

Imagine children’s excitement on Friday, December 20. It was their last day of school and only five more days until Christmas. The Personal column of the newspaper reported the names of the people who were arriving to spend Christmas with their families, and it also reported the many Christmas weddings that would take place.

December 20th was a happy day for 650 production workers at the Carlisle Shoe Company. They were wished a Merry Christmas in the form of an 8% wage increase, plus free hospital service, and a $1,000 life insurance policy.”⁹

C. H. Masland & Sons resumed a Christmas tradition they had abandoned during the war years. On Saturday morning December 22, they held a party for 500 children, the sons, and daughters of their employees, in the finishing department on the first floor of the mill. Music was provided by an orchestra made up of Masland employees: Leo Shellehamer, William Miller, Paul Harbach, Dan Chickerella, and Frank Kitner. Each child was given a toy and a box of hard candy to take home.¹⁰

Carlisle Tire and Rubber Company held a party for 400 in the College Commons on West Louther Street on December 21 and also announced the election of Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., to their board of directors.¹¹

John W. Heinze and Charles A. B. Heinze of Heinze Fine Foods held a yuletide party at the College Commons on December 23 for their employees of the Carlisle Inn, the Dairy Store, Allenberry, College Commons, and the Mechanicsburg Naval Supply Depot cafeteria. The evening began with motion pictures followed by William Wagner, a “thought transference” expert. Santa arrived and distributed gifts to everyone, and then a buffet supper was held that ended with the presentation of a huge layer cake topped with a Christmas tree decorated with green, red, and white icing made by Ted Bauman, manager of the Supply Depot cafeteria in Mechanicsburg.¹²

Two days before Christmas the editor of The Evening Sentinal reminded its subscribers that their carriers would call on them “especially on Christmas morning to present them with attractive calendars, with the expectation that their patrons will want to remember them with a cash gift.”¹³

Christmas Eve. The Market House opened early on Christmas Eve, and by 8:30 in the morning the aisles were crowded with shoppers picking up their turkeys, and a few of the stores downtown were open for those needing last minute gifts.

In the afternoon, those who had televisions could watch President Truman light the National Christmas tree on the grounds of the White House at 5:16 p.m. and listen to his address to the nation.¹⁴

Fortunately, the weather was mild on Christmas Eve. At 8 o’clock the public were invited to gather in front of the Court House for an outdoor Carol program. The Carlisle High School Chorus, the Carlisle Band, and organist Thomas Nornhold provided the music. Groups that were planning to go Christmas caroling were invited to join in, and Rev. Dr. Simpson H. Dougherty, pastor of Grace Evangelical United Brethren Church read the Christmas story from St. Luke.¹⁵

The prisoners in the county jail were not neglected. Eight groups, comprising 200 people, sang carols and holiday songs to the prisoners on Christmas Eve. The corridor in front of the cell block was decorated with a Christmas tree hung with lights, and tinsel. An electric train ran around under the tree. Garlands and bells were suspended between the railing in front of the upper tier of cells and was a festive backdrop for the prisoners turkey dinners the next day.¹⁶

On Christmas day, while others were enjoying their dinners at home, the 79 patients at Carlisle Hospital were enjoying their holiday meals provided by friends of the hospital. On the other side of town, all sixteen children at the Brethren Home on South Hanover Street were treated to turkey dinners with all the fixings by the Carlisle Order of the Moose who also gave each boy a new sweater, and each girl a new dress.¹⁷

Two days after Christmas, the Retail Merchants Bureau advertised that they hoped everyone got what they wanted for Christmas, but if they found it necessary to make an exchange at any Carlisle store, to do it before New Year’s!