Christmas In The North Room

Christmas in the "North Room" in 1956. Grandma Juanita Bean is to the far right, grinning at the camera. Grandpa (Joe Bean) is in the very front, looking away from the camera. We know this is 1956 because Juanita is expecting Michael Bean who was born in March, 1957. Grandpa Tommy Driscoll is back far left in the checked shirt and overalls.

My Mother-in-law, Juanita (Driscoll) Bean, comes over to our house nearly every night and we have a cup of coffee together. She always says "You Make The Best Coffee I Ever Tasted!" so I guess I pass muster as a good son-in-law!

When Grandma (that's what I call her) came over tonight, I decided to probe back in her memory about Christmas when she was a little girl. She was born in September of 1934 so almost four score years have passed since these memories took place. I'll just write this as if I'm asking the question and try to give her reply in narrative as best I can.

Ray - Did you have a Christmas Tree when you were growing up?

Grandma - Oh Yes! We would go down to the "Cupper 40" (I believe this is Cooper but she sounds the O as a U) and cut us one. We didn't have any Christmas trees on our place so we had to go south to the Cupper 40 to get one. Daddy (Grandpa Tommy Driscoll) wouldn't let us use the truck to haul it so we just had to drag it home I guess. We had to be careful not to tear all the limbs off of it! (laughs) Sometimes we would get one from the woods west of the house. As we were walking to school at Center School, we would keep a watch out for a good Christmas tree. Mom (Grandma Annie Driscoll) always put the tree up a couple of weeks before Christmas.

Ray - Where in the house would Grandma Driscoll put the tree?

Grandma - Well... (thinking) She would put it in the Front Room. That's what we called the North Room. It was bigger than the South Room and she put the tree in there so there would be room for everybody. Now I do remember Mom switching the rooms and using the North Room for the bedroom and the South Room for the Front Room. When the Christmas tree was in the North Room, Mom put it in front of the double windows on the north wall. (I never found out where the tree was put up in the South Room) Now in later years, Mom and Dad used the South Room as their bedroom and closed off the North Room. (Ray - Did they put the tree up in the bedroom???) No. They put the tree up in the kitchen. They would put it up in the northwest corner of the kitchen, beside the door that went out to the north porch. (If you are confused right now, don't feel alone. We had to draw a map of the house to figure out the North Room, South Room, Kitchen, Was the Bedroom in the South Room or the North Room... Whew!)

Ray - How was the Christmas tree decorated?

Grandma - Mom had some ropes, at least they looked like ropes that were about "that" big around (she measured about three/quarters of an inch with her thumb and forefinger). They were green and red and had kinda like balls on them. She had icicles and the big glass balls. In later years, she got some lights to put on the tree!

Ray - What did Grandma Driscoll put on top of the tree?

Grandma - A star.

Ray - Did you celebrate Christmas at Center School?

Grandma - Oh Yes! We would have a Christmas Play and I think we would have a big meal. We would draw names by grade to exchange gifts. Santa Claus would come to school and hand out all the gifts under the tree. (Ray - Who was Santa Claus? Grandma thought long and hard on this one) I think it was one of the Chestnuts. They lived out there by us. It was the Daddy I think.

Ray - Did you hang up your stockings?

Grandma - Yes we did. Sometimes Daddy would get oranges and apples and those nuts... (Ray - Like pecans... mixed nuts) Yes. The ones you have to crack. They would be in our stockings.

Ray - What is the first Christmas gift that you remember getting.

Grandma - Hmmmmm.... (thinking) It was a dress.

Ray - How old were you?

Grandma - About six years old.

Ray - What color was the dress?

Grandma - (With a little smile... remembering) It was lavender, with little white (polka) dots. Mom made it for me and it had sleeves and was gathered at the waist. It was pretty!

END

Just a few thoughts of my own...

People are so smug and uppity today because they have a Christmas tree in their bedroom... or in their bathroom... or in their dining room. Well Whooptedoo... Grandma Driscoll was way ahead of her time with a Christmas tree in her Kitchen!

What is the first Christmas gift you can remember getting? Could you remember it as vividly as Grandma Bean? The look in her eye was as if she was looking at the dress and describing it.

Grandma Bean is 82 years old. I think it is remarkable for her to be able to recall these events in such detail. I can't speak to the accuracy of all her memories, but I just wanted to record "Her" Christmas Memories...

The Driscoll Christmas Tree in the North Room. (And for all the Driscolls to enjoy - an exceptionally good picture of DeDe in the front right!!!

Update: December 10, 2016

I got to visit with Uncle Jim (Lloyd) Driscoll today about Grandma's recollections. Jim is a couple of years older than Grandma and is her youngest brother. I asked Uncle Jim what he remembered about the tree.

Uncle Jim: I don't ever remember the tree being in the kitchen. Sometime down in October, Mom (Grandma Driscoll) would tell me, "You be on the lookout for a Christmas tree. A few weeks before Christmas, Mom would say "Jim, go get the tree." I would go down to the Cooper 40 (Uncle Jim pronounced it like Grandma. Cupper 40) and cut the tree and drag it all the way home. It's a wonder it had any limbs left on it! Sometimes I couldn't find a whole tree that was good enough so I would just cut the top out of a bigger tree! (laughs).

END

Uncle Jim had this picture of his Mom and Dad, Tommy and Annie Driscoll sitting in front of the Christmas tree in the North Room. You can see the "ropes" and icicles that Grandma mentioned and I believe you can faintly see some glass balls on the tree. This picture was taken in 1947 so Tommy was 52 years old and Annie was 48 years old.