From the window to beneath the tree

Early this morning after deleting several dozen more online emails and Facebook advertisements, I let my thoughts return to my youthful memories of Christmas. The holidays I remember from those times seem much more personable.

In past years I have written about the variety of local businesses that had wonderful Christmas displays. This was of course in the years before there were Wal-Marts and online shopping venues. More importantly, there were no UPS or FedEx home delivery systems.

Our local Square and the surrounding blocks were vibrant centers of commerce. Every merchant decorated their stores, and paid particular attention to the window displays. In fact, "window shopping" was a term that everyone from children to adults understood and practiced.

Money and family budgets were a lot tighter back then. No one had a credit or debit card, as they had not been invented. You had just a few options for payment. Cash was of course the first and foremost means to complete a transaction.

Bank checks were accepted at every place of business, but amazingly there were hardly any personalized checks. When you wanted to pay by check at a store you used a generic "counter check."

Most of the local businesses around the Nevada Square also had charge accounts. Knowing your customers was a big part of the business world back then I suspect. If you were going to allow someone to write you a check or charge an item, you had better have some idea who you were dealing with.

My funds for Christmas shopping were definitely limited. I had saved some money from yard mowing and my miniscule "allowance." From this I had to make a seasonal budget.

My parents actually set a limit on the price of items I was to buy for each person on my list. My list included a name drawn at school, each of my immediate family members, and another name drawn for the family Christmas with my cousins in Warrensburg.

This really dates me when I think back to that budget. Most years I had less than $20 to spend on the entire process. So it was imperative that I do some real shopping and pricing.

Our family went to the Square almost every Saturday. It was so different from what you see there today. Every business was open including banks on Saturdays. From around 9 a.m. to late on Saturday evening, there was a hubbub of activity. Just finding a parking spot was a real adventure. Remember, they had parking meters for those spots too. When was the last time you saw a parking meter?

Walking around the Square and "window shopping" was a common sight. The sidewalks were filled with people, and they really appreciated the artistic displays the local merchants had devised for their Christmas viewing.

We had a couple of what we called "dime stores" on the square. It was in these locations and a few other variety stores that I generally found the gifts I wanted. The term "dime store" was very comparable to the "dollar stores" of today. They had a large selection of items back then that sold for really cheap prices.

Although we did not have the UPS and FedEx delivery systems back then, we did have the three major mail order catalog stores for our holiday shopping convenience.

Sears, Montgomery Wards, and JC Penny's, were all prominent shopping sites in Nevada. They had wonderful local stores that had big Christmas displays. Like many of the department stores that graced the shopping areas in and around the square, these stores all had special Christmas "Toy Land" areas. Every kid in Nevada loved to go visit these special places.

Every family received large catalogs from these mail order stores twice a year, and generally another special Christmas catalog. You could order almost anything imaginable from these "wish books," and it would be delivered to the local store.

Once I had made my list for Christmas shopping, I began my trek around the Square to every store. Finding just the right item for each person on my list was vital. It had to be something I thought they would enjoy, and of course it had to be the right price.

I don't remember the stores offering to giftwrap our purchases. Perhaps they did the more expensive items, but wrapping items to go under our tree was a big part of the "window to under the tree" experience.

My parents always had wrapping paper, ribbon, and nametags, ready for the gift wrapping process. We were very careful to keep our secretive selections from the view of the other family members.

To this day, I have to admit that my gift wrapping capability is fair at best. As careful as I was, my packages usually had a unique and awkward look. About the only part of the wrapping process that I enjoyed was the curling of the ribbons with the edge of the scissors.

In that era there were virtually no artificial Christmas trees. The decorating of our tree was always a fun family tradition. I loved watching the different lights, especially the ones that had bubbles when turned on.

We started our window shopping, and our actual purchasing early, so as to have the presents under the tree for several days. It was always a treat to gaze at the packages with you name on them, and wonder endlessly as to their contents.

I miss that Square, the window shopping, the toy lands, and the excitement of the huge crowds. It is a way of life that is gone forever. These days most of my widow shopping is done in front of the computer screen. The only good thing is that these online sites will gift wrap the packages. Is that a delivery truck I hear in front of my house?