Christmas in Tennessee

About 1937 - 1940

Having been born during the Herbert Hoover Presidency and growing up in what is known as the "Great Depression" I now know that we were poor but at that time everyone we knew must have been poor too. There was no "trying to keep up with the Joneses" because they didn't have much either. My earliest memories of Christmas are expressed in the following poem and, I dare say, many others about my age can relate to it.

"Our Christmas Tree

It was a scrawny little thing that Papa brought in to us / but it was the very best that he could find / we didn't have the money to buy them like the rich folks / in fact we were broke most of the time / so we set it in the corner and we put some things upon it / mostly they were all the homemade kind / we knew that when we'd finished it wouldn't look much better / but how the tree would look wasn't what was on our mind .

We used some strings of popcorn and tinsel covered gumballs / with little bits of ribbon to give it a different hue / how we hurried to get finished for we had so much to do / and in a few more hours old Santa would be due / on the top we put an Angel that was made of cardboard / and colored with a water color set / we knew it wasn't much but when you don't have any money / you learn to get along on whatever you can get.

Yet when we had finished it was still a little scrawny / and bare spots showed through despite our loving care / Yes, I still remember as though it was only yesterday / how love was the only thing that we had to share / but I still have fond memories of the days of my youth / and still in my mind I can see / my Father and my Mother with my sisters and my brothers / as we all gathered around that scrawny little tree."

It's almost Christmas time so I'll quit with that. Thanks for your time and input. Stay tuned, - William