Christmas Story From a Coal Town1954
This story takes place in Pennsylvania, Schuylkill County, home of the LC&N Coal Company. The names of the characters are fictional.
Christmas week our Nun said "Kids as you start Christmas Vacation, try & help a family in need. Three of us kids travelled together, me Mike & Betty. Betty said, did you notice how Carol & her little brother from school have shabby uniforms. They look old & worn. They don't play with the kids at recess either. Yeh Mike said my said the dad has "Black Lung" & they are on welfare & the dads only 42 years old. Betty suggested that we try to raise some money to help them for Christmas, but how? My Grandma said the Greek Church was caroling house to house to raise money. Do you think we could do something like that said Mike. We can only try said Betty. Well, the first night we went out caroling we raised $1.35, the next night we decided to sing on a corner & ask for donations, we raised $1.85. We were getting nowhere fast. Mike came up with a great idea, Friday was payday & he suggested we go caroling to all the bars in town. The coalminers were proud to hear what we were trying to do & gladly gave us donations. We had a total of $28.20 so we went to Pardinis & bought a Turkey & all the trimmings. We still had $5.60 left & went next door to Steve's hardware store where he had everything imaginable. In the window we saw some nice red ribbons & cast iron soldiers which we bought for the kids. We put the goodies on Mikes little sleigh & pulled it through the snow. The houses, built by LC&N, had only two bedrooms & a kitchen & parlor on the bottom floor, all heated by a little pot bellied stove. The bathroom in those days were outside. Betty knocked on the Jones' door & the Mom left us in. Mr. Jones was huddled under a shawl by the coal stove & coughing so much we didn't know how he could breathe, but he gave us a smile. When Mrs. Jones saw the bag of groceries she had tears in her eyes, we gave the ribbons & toy soldiers to the kids & they jumped with joy. A sight I'll never forget as long as I live. Mrs. Jones couldn't thank us enough. Leaving the house Betty said, boys we done good & at that very moment a bright light shown on us. We looked to the #14 colliery & the miners had erected a 20 foot star on top of the breaker. you could see it for miles. What a great Christmas we had that year knowing we did something good for people so unfortunate. Merry Christmas to you all from a small coal town. This is dedicated to Freetown Fred.
Christmas week our Nun said "Kids as you start Christmas Vacation, try & help a family in need. Three of us kids travelled together, me Mike & Betty. Betty said, did you notice how Carol & her little brother from school have shabby uniforms. They look old & worn. They don't play with the kids at recess either. Yeh Mike said my said the dad has "Black Lung" & they are on welfare & the dads only 42 years old. Betty suggested that we try to raise some money to help them for Christmas, but how? My Grandma said the Greek Church was caroling house to house to raise money. Do you think we could do something like that said Mike. We can only try said Betty. Well, the first night we went out caroling we raised $1.35, the next night we decided to sing on a corner & ask for donations, we raised $1.85. We were getting nowhere fast. Mike came up with a great idea, Friday was payday & he suggested we go caroling to all the bars in town. The coalminers were proud to hear what we were trying to do & gladly gave us donations. We had a total of $28.20 so we went to Pardinis & bought a Turkey & all the trimmings. We still had $5.60 left & went next door to Steve's hardware store where he had everything imaginable. In the window we saw some nice red ribbons & cast iron soldiers which we bought for the kids. We put the goodies on Mikes little sleigh & pulled it through the snow. The houses, built by LC&N, had only two bedrooms & a kitchen & parlor on the bottom floor, all heated by a little pot bellied stove. The bathroom in those days were outside. Betty knocked on the Jones' door & the Mom left us in. Mr. Jones was huddled under a shawl by the coal stove & coughing so much we didn't know how he could breathe, but he gave us a smile. When Mrs. Jones saw the bag of groceries she had tears in her eyes, we gave the ribbons & toy soldiers to the kids & they jumped with joy. A sight I'll never forget as long as I live. Mrs. Jones couldn't thank us enough. Leaving the house Betty said, boys we done good & at that very moment a bright light shown on us. We looked to the #14 colliery & the miners had erected a 20 foot star on top of the breaker. you could see it for miles. What a great Christmas we had that year knowing we did something good for people so unfortunate. Merry Christmas to you all from a small coal town. This is dedicated to Freetown Fred.
- freetown fred
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Thanx Jack. That's a REAL special story on what Christmas is about)
- Hambden Bob
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Thanx,One Hell Of An Ageless Story Of Christmas !! Thank You Very Much !!
- Terry13045
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Thanks, I just got my Christmas Spirit back.
- Hambden Bob
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After re-reading Jack's Post,it further reminds me of The Magic of being able to cross Time Lines here. For me,1954 doesn't sound all that Ancient. I was born in 1960. For some of Our Younger Members,it's a real reach back. My thought seems to be on just how Invaluable this Story is. To have not told it at Christmas-Time 2014 would have been a huge loss. Bust-Out Economic Times,Loss Of Health and Loss Of Loved Ones has always been with us. It seems to be Part And Parcel of Our Human Condition and Existence......It's what we do about them that really makes the difference ! There's a Huge Valley Of Difference between having to do something,and just plain wanting to do it. In 1954,These Kids really took it "Downtown" ,On Their Own,to bring maybe just a few moments of Peace to a Family that really had their hat's handed to them.........Merry Christmas,Kids....Merry Christmas....
- Logs
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Thanks great story! I was also born in1954. There is quite a few old guys on this forum.
I would like to wish everyone on this forum a very MERRY CHRISTMAS !
GOD bless you all , Peace to all.
Dave
I would like to wish everyone on this forum a very MERRY CHRISTMAS !
GOD bless you all , Peace to all.
Dave
- freetown fred
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Who you callin old you young woodpecker Merry Christmas back at ya Dave:)
Logs wrote:Thanks great story! I was also born in1954. There is quite a few old guys on this forum.
I would like to wish everyone on this forum a very MERRY CHRISTMAS !
GOD bless you all , Peace to all.
Dave
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What turkeys dem kids wuz. Dey aint figured out da charity racket. buy da family a box a spaghetti an some tomata sauce. Spend the rest on cigerets an booze, or better still take the money an start a little loan biz. Hire ona them ditzy big kids as muscle. Dey sure got took on them iron sojers. Dat was old old stock. Don't they know from pot metal?
So have a happy Christmas, you hear me!
So have a happy Christmas, you hear me!