I have decided for this season to write my memories of Christmas past for the simple reason of sharing my childhood history in the joy of ecstasty and agony of this magical time.
Thanks to my friend Kevin McKinley and his article about the history of Fore's Store in Robinsonville, our discussion on the first Fore's Store and my memory as to how I could document my knowledge of that important place in history, this story came to mind and I decided to write it here.
Christmas Eve 1947. Mama was expecting a new baby. Baby sister Ila Mae was born on the 29th. Mama had an eighteen month old on her hip and a toddler on the floor. Santa Claus was coming sometime during the night of Christmas Eve.
So, Daddy had to hustle to beat the deadline for making sure Old St. Nick came to our house. Mama also needed things for her Christmas dinner.
Daddy and our neighbors the Charlie and Clara Dawson family loaded on to our old trap truck for the trip into Atmore for Christmas shopping. Mrs. Clara and Mama being first cousins surely must have helped Mama with the grocery needs. Daddy had Santa's needs covered......... I suppose.
My bother Humpy was assigned to stay home with Mama in case she went into labor and needed the neighbors.
The little Ford truck had a wooden body frame with an old canvas tarp tied on top to keep the rain and winds off Mr. Charlie, his boys and my oldest brother Rayford. Daddy drove, my sister was scrunched in between with Mrs. Clara holding me in her lap. With a stick shift in the floor, that little truck cab was packed.
We rumble into Amore for the big shopping.
The sidewalks in Atmore were packed with joyful shoppers from all over town and the communities of Huxord, McCollough, Robinsonville, Canoe, Nokomis, Freemanville, all points out there and then there was us, from Barnett Crossroads.
The day was cold and dreary.
The new Jitney Jungle was owned by Daddy's sister and brother-in-law, Bama and J.N. Buxton, so a trip into Atmore for my family alway included a visit to the Jitney Jungle.
Everybody scattered to do shopping all over Atmore. I don't remember shopping, so I must have been with Grandma Minnie while the day passed.
I cannot remember what time that day when things went jolly, but Daddy stood in the alleyway between the Jitney Jungle and the dry cleaners building to talk and share a Christmas nip of moonshine with some old shipyard worker friends. Daddy was easy to get chilled and just as the shine started working on his insides a steam pipe from the dry cleaners building let off a hard vent of steam and Daddy's internal chill took over. Daddy was done for.
My next vivid memory was seeing Grandma Minnie Smith pouring hot coffee down my Daddy and letting him share a sharp piece of her mind. Grandma lived with Aunt Bama in her new home on Horner Street. Aunt Bama surely must have wondered if her neighbors saw everybody trooping into her house dragging her sorry brother along on his staggering old legs.
The next memory is of seeing my brother running back to the truck with Daddy's blown off hat in his hand to jump into the truck bed just as a big old slobbering bulldog was in hot persuit of Rayfords hindquarters. Mr. Charlie was shifting that floor stick and all the Dawson boys were laughing and hollering with glee.
Not sobbered enough to drive, Daddy was slumped in the bed of the truck with all the sacks of groceries and boys.
I remember Mrs. Clara seemed put out by it all. Now I understand why. Her pregnant cousin waiting back home to face this humilation was cause for being put out.
Daddy must have finally sobbered enough to realize what a mess he was and Santa Claus was still not ready to come to our house.
We were heading home when reality surfaced.
We stopped at Fore's Store in Robinsonville to finish the shopping.
The old store was a wooden structure with counters for holding things that needed to have totals added up on the big old metal cash register. There was a meat case at the back wall where the refrigerated meats were showing through a glass front. I have a faint memory of an old Toledo meat scales sitting on top of the meat case there in Fore's Store or that memory may be from Gilmores Store in Wallace. Most country stores had meat cases and a big old white Toledo scales for weighing meats. The walls were lined with plank shelving holding all sorts of goods and canned foods.
My most vivid memory of that dramatic day was seeing big beautiful RAG DOLLS high up on a shelf. My heart lurched as Daddy told my sister and I to pick out the doll we wanted. I don't remember another doll in that store. I truly believe until this day we got dibs on the last dolls in Fore's Store that Christmas season.
The old drop cord lights in that store threw shadows all over the interior.
The smells were wonderful, fresh smoked sausage, kerosene, apples, oranges and the best of all was the smell of leather shoes and dress cloth.
Next memory was seeing my Mama crying as she looked at her Christmas present, a big lady bug dress pin with RED glass eyes. I never remember seeing Mama with that ugly pin on her dress.
Our little sister Ila Mae was born on December 29th, 1947 in Trehern Hospital in Atmore. The first child in our family to be born in a hospital.
How do I judge what happened that sad/wonderful Christmas? I don't hold hard judgement about what happened because my Daddy didn't neglect to correct his mistake of celebrating with his friends and letting the drink and chills take his ability away to do what he had sat out to do.
Trust me when I tell you, his own Mama, Minnie gave him the best advice he ever got......"Be a man, son".
That was the first and last time I ever saw my Daddy drunk.
Just a few years later my memory allows me to see my Daddy kneeling at the alter of Canaan Freewill Baptist Church asking for Jesus to save him.
***Next week I will write about Buddy's Radio Flyer wagon he got for Christmas one year.
