Holidays just do not have the same feel that they had when I was a kid!
Back in the 40's and early 50's everything was closed up tight on the holiday.You loaded up on what ever you needed to celebrate or you went with out. All work places and stores were closed except for Drug stores a few restaurants and of course what ever events that were associated with the holiday. Fairs,carnivals.street vendors etc. Of course the turnstiles of area Church's were busy on most holidays. So I guess they should have been on the open for business list. Bar rooms of course were open, put packy's were closed. On the outskirts of towns, such as Ryal side the local druggist usually had the area liquor license. He by law had to cover up his alcoholic wares on these occasions. However the back doors of these establishments could usually compete with the church turnstiles on any given Sunday or Holiday.(wink,wink)
To digress for a bit. I want to reflect on retail and industrial work week hours in general. Back in the time frame I refer to, stores generally were open 9 to five on weekdays 9 to 1 on Saturday and were closed on Sunday. The druggist of course a exception to the rule, but other than the weekend not a hell of a lot different. Office's, factory's, utilities, trades,construction and service station's except for the pumping of gas all were 8 to 5 on weekdays and closed on weekends. The exception to that being the United Shoe plant that was the major employer in the area and was loudly operating three shifts a day.
Public transportation buses and trains were much like today ( yes they were on a curtailed holiday schedule). Although buses were more prevalent in that era because far fewer people owned automobiles. When the head of the family drove of to work and reached his destination, his vehicle remained parked for the day.As there were few two car families, the women of the house and her children would have to rely on the buses. I recall the buses running up and down Bridge st. and Elliot st. every half hour, They would start in Danvers square and proceed to either Beverly or Salem square. I believe it was Michaud Bus line. Also during weekdays kids could play and ride bikes in the streets at will, because there was virtually no traffic on the side streets.
A long with the amount of money saved on utility bills and the family lifestyle it just seemed to make a hell of a lot more sense to have controlled hours.What happened in those days was the customers had to shop around the store hours.Now the tail is wagging the dog. The stores are open way to long and there seems to be about 53 stores to every one customer.In the mid 50's the beginning of the end of a quieter era came when food markets and department stores started staying open until 9 on Thursday and Friday nights.
Getting back to holidays, They could fall on any day of the week and that's when we celebrated them.If it happened to be a Monday or a Friday, it was a bonus. If not tough titty.Today there is as many half assed holidays as there is major ones. All but the major holidays should be called notable days, not holidays.The fact of the matter is we now give most holidays and all notable days the back of the hand. This is perfectly understandable as there are so many of them.
I think that we should be ashamed about the way we treat some of the major holidays.And laugh at the way we treat others.
My favorite holidays are Easter (Not for the religious slant but for the pastels and the flowers,the scents and the fact spring is really on it's way)
The Fourth of July (I remember the parades,the speeches.Ober park's little carnival with competitive events for the kids. Sack races,sprints, horseshoe toss etc. the sound of the Red Sox and Yankee's game on portable radios, gifts for the kids and free eats and tonic. and the fireworks to end the day)
Memorial day (There was just a comfortable sadness to the cemeteries with all the little flags and the geraniums, And the wonderful scent of lilacs)
Christmas (I never meet a kid who did not love Christmas)
Veterans Day (And any other day that salutes our vets,living or dead,yesterdays wars or today's)
As for the notable days Halloween is probably the best.
As for the myriad of notable days,Festivus is probably the bellwether.
So it is plain to see I miss the way it use to be when it comes to holidays.A couple of years ago Diana,Lisa and I went to Wisconsin to take part in a ceremony to honor my great grandfather and their great great grandfather(more about this at a later date)
On a Sunday we went to down town Baraboo to get something to eat.We did manage to find a place to eat. It was small and clean,and we were the only one's there. After eating we walked around down town Baraboo and looked into store windows.That was all we could do because everything was closed.This was nostalgic for me because that's the way things were when I was a kid.So if they are behind the times in the Midwest I hope they are smart enough to stay that way.I envy them.
So in closing I have this suggestion for retailers. If you really think we need more holidays you should adopt this idea.People seem to love to blow money on booze and food on new years eve
So why not have new month's eve,new week's eve and even new day's eve. As P.T. Barnum once said "there is a sucker born every minute" the saps will probably love it.
Back in the 40's and early 50's everything was closed up tight on the holiday.You loaded up on what ever you needed to celebrate or you went with out. All work places and stores were closed except for Drug stores a few restaurants and of course what ever events that were associated with the holiday. Fairs,carnivals.street vendors etc. Of course the turnstiles of area Church's were busy on most holidays. So I guess they should have been on the open for business list. Bar rooms of course were open, put packy's were closed. On the outskirts of towns, such as Ryal side the local druggist usually had the area liquor license. He by law had to cover up his alcoholic wares on these occasions. However the back doors of these establishments could usually compete with the church turnstiles on any given Sunday or Holiday.(wink,wink)
To digress for a bit. I want to reflect on retail and industrial work week hours in general. Back in the time frame I refer to, stores generally were open 9 to five on weekdays 9 to 1 on Saturday and were closed on Sunday. The druggist of course a exception to the rule, but other than the weekend not a hell of a lot different. Office's, factory's, utilities, trades,construction and service station's except for the pumping of gas all were 8 to 5 on weekdays and closed on weekends. The exception to that being the United Shoe plant that was the major employer in the area and was loudly operating three shifts a day.
Public transportation buses and trains were much like today ( yes they were on a curtailed holiday schedule). Although buses were more prevalent in that era because far fewer people owned automobiles. When the head of the family drove of to work and reached his destination, his vehicle remained parked for the day.As there were few two car families, the women of the house and her children would have to rely on the buses. I recall the buses running up and down Bridge st. and Elliot st. every half hour, They would start in Danvers square and proceed to either Beverly or Salem square. I believe it was Michaud Bus line. Also during weekdays kids could play and ride bikes in the streets at will, because there was virtually no traffic on the side streets.
A long with the amount of money saved on utility bills and the family lifestyle it just seemed to make a hell of a lot more sense to have controlled hours.What happened in those days was the customers had to shop around the store hours.Now the tail is wagging the dog. The stores are open way to long and there seems to be about 53 stores to every one customer.In the mid 50's the beginning of the end of a quieter era came when food markets and department stores started staying open until 9 on Thursday and Friday nights.
Getting back to holidays, They could fall on any day of the week and that's when we celebrated them.If it happened to be a Monday or a Friday, it was a bonus. If not tough titty.Today there is as many half assed holidays as there is major ones. All but the major holidays should be called notable days, not holidays.The fact of the matter is we now give most holidays and all notable days the back of the hand. This is perfectly understandable as there are so many of them.
I think that we should be ashamed about the way we treat some of the major holidays.And laugh at the way we treat others.
My favorite holidays are Easter (Not for the religious slant but for the pastels and the flowers,the scents and the fact spring is really on it's way)
The Fourth of July (I remember the parades,the speeches.Ober park's little carnival with competitive events for the kids. Sack races,sprints, horseshoe toss etc. the sound of the Red Sox and Yankee's game on portable radios, gifts for the kids and free eats and tonic. and the fireworks to end the day)
Memorial day (There was just a comfortable sadness to the cemeteries with all the little flags and the geraniums, And the wonderful scent of lilacs)
Christmas (I never meet a kid who did not love Christmas)
Veterans Day (And any other day that salutes our vets,living or dead,yesterdays wars or today's)
As for the notable days Halloween is probably the best.
As for the myriad of notable days,Festivus is probably the bellwether.
So it is plain to see I miss the way it use to be when it comes to holidays.A couple of years ago Diana,Lisa and I went to Wisconsin to take part in a ceremony to honor my great grandfather and their great great grandfather(more about this at a later date)
On a Sunday we went to down town Baraboo to get something to eat.We did manage to find a place to eat. It was small and clean,and we were the only one's there. After eating we walked around down town Baraboo and looked into store windows.That was all we could do because everything was closed.This was nostalgic for me because that's the way things were when I was a kid.So if they are behind the times in the Midwest I hope they are smart enough to stay that way.I envy them.
So in closing I have this suggestion for retailers. If you really think we need more holidays you should adopt this idea.People seem to love to blow money on booze and food on new years eve
So why not have new month's eve,new week's eve and even new day's eve. As P.T. Barnum once said "there is a sucker born every minute" the saps will probably love it.
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