This story is not about Christmas in general but about growing up in the 50s when things were very much different than they are now. Every occasion during the years was a celebration. I don’t know much about starting the new year off, but as a child remembering going to church at 12 o'clock midnight for our watch night service, then coming home & hanging up our new calendar from our local store, with lovely glossy pictures on it. I think we had mostly animals on ours. Then it was off to bed. On Valentine's Day we had our party in the afternoon at the school with a box decorated with red crepe paper and white hearts. We all exchanged valentines, which sometimes were bought and cut out of a book. Some were made on paper with a heart drawed on it and coloured. We used to have lace on some. We used flour and water to make a paste to glue it on. One verse I remember was: Roses are red Violets are blue Sugar is sweet And so are you. We used to have spur cola and potted meat sandwiches for our lunch (of course on homemade bread - no pizza then). We came home proud as peacocks. Then there was Easter. We used to draw rabbits and Easter eggs, colour them and put them in the school window. In the summer time we would play piddley sticks and hop scotch. At closing of school we would go over dusty gravel roads in the back of a truck for our outing. Those of us who had curls in our hair from the prom had awful dusty curls. I can remember myself and my brother used to have our birthday in the summer. Mom used to have a lot of cookies made. Then we would all sit around our big brown dining room table and also have syrup and cake. Mostly we got a dollar or two in our cards. There used to be a lot of people visiting from the states and St John’s who were invited. After we would go outdoors and play. Maybe throwing candy in the air to see who could find them. Then there was our Sunday school picnic where we would have pack races to see if we could get a pencil as our prize. The garden parties were also our highlight. The ice cream sure tasted good. My mother used to buy me a lovely nylon dress, with a satin belt tied in a bow for this occasion. Then it was time to go berry picking to get enough money to buy our scribblers with the time tables on the back. They had lovely covers on them. I guess they cost about ten cents each. Then it was time for back to school with all the grades in one room. When it was recess time we usually went to this little store that was a back porch of the house to get our thick slice of bologna and a bottle of keep kool drink for a quarter. Then when dinner time came we walked home. We always had cooked meals (no snacks). Later in the fall it was Halloween. Then we would have another party in the evening. Some would have costumes on. We made pumpkins out of orange construction paper and cats out of black paper and hang them around the class room. Then bonfire night came, and we would go out around collecting things to burn. Sometimes we did mischief taking down gates and carrying them away and going into stores and emptying caplin out of the barrels. The bonfire was always held on Wood Cat Hill. Of course the famous time of the year was our Christmas concert, when we would have our parts to say in front of our parents. Then later Santa Claus came. Then there would be a dance for the adults. But of course we stayed and looked. This is just a bit of reminiscing.   Submitted By: NULL