303 Bryan Street Hopkinsville, KY: Christmas Mornings

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Christmas Mornings

For a few years, when Johnny & Betty were very little, Santa knew that they were in Hopkinsville. He would leave their gifts at 303 Bryan Street. Betty has a special memory of one such Christmas. The fireplace in the front bedroom was lit. There was a rag doll for Betty and a monkey doll for Johnny. Bess Wolfe had personally assisted Santa in the making of these dolls.

Having grown up at 303, Dorothy remembers Christmas waiting in the dining room. The fireplace was lit, a Christmas tree and fruit filled stockings were arranged. On Christmas Eve, her daddy (James Wolfe) would help her write a letter to Santa. He'd mail it by holding it in the fire's draft and sending it up the chimney.

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Christmas

Jim always drove to the country and cut a cedar himself. No one set up Christmas Tree stands in those days. Sometimes the family would clip small candles on the bows, but never lit them for fear of fire. Cranberries & popcorn were strung to make garland. The tree was positioned in the dining room with a lit fireplace.

Bess baked seven or eight cakes each Christmas. There was always chocolate cake, fresh coconut cake (she grated the coconut herself), and usually a jam cake. She would fix plates of assorted slices and give them to all the neighbors. Sidney West Wolfe (Dot's paternal grandmother) baked the pies and Christmas cookies.

Packages didn't appear till Christmas morning because Santa brought them all (adult gifts & Dot's gifts). Dorothy hung one of her own stockings, not a decorated Christmas stocking. Fruit and nuts were the big treat a child found in her stocking.

The holiday meal included both turkey and country ham, dressing, baked apples, scalloped oysters, green beans, cranberry relish, fresh coconut cake, and boiled custard.

Heat

Early on, the house was heated entirely with a fireplace in each room. Later a basement was dug and an additional bedroom was built onto the back. When the basement was dug, a coal furnace was installed. Eventually the coal furnace was switched out for a gas furnace. The water heater was fueled by a coil gas heater in the summer and by the furnace in the winter.

When the house was first built, there was a gas meter for the cook stove that was controlled by quarters as fuel was needed. The meter was in the kitchen. Later, the gas company moved the meter outdoors and charged customers a monthly fee.

Refrigerator

When the house was first built, the family used an icebox. Ice was delivered daily by a young man in a horse drawn wagon. A family would buy 10lbs, 25 lbs, 50 lbs, or 100 lbs. It all depended on the size of their ice box. There was a drain in the box leading to a pan underneath to catch melted water. A delivery boy used a toesack slung over his shoulder to carry the ice into the house and a big ice hook to set the ice in the icebox.

There was also an window box that could be used in the winter for extra space. Ice & ice cream could stay cold and in tack in window box during cold weather.

Air Conditioning

Electric fans were used to keep the house comfortable. There was one in every room. Jim Wolfe had a hugh fan installed in an attic window. There were screens on all the windows, front door, and back. These were kept open in hot weather with all the fans going. All that was used for security was a hook on each opening.

During sizzling weather, the family would take an evening ride through the country to give the house cooling off time from the day's heat. They left the house open with fans running till they came back for bed.

Some families would sleep outside on a porch or in a hammock in hot weather.