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We continue the stories from Christmas long ago.
At the feed mill, my Dad would let me play with his adding
machine, which had large type bars which came up when you pulled the handle. I
liked putting in all nines, so the bars would come all the way up. Eventually,
the noise would be too much and he would tell me I could go sweep the
warehouse. Now this was a code word to
me that I could go play. He only let me sweep when we weren’t busy at the feed
mill. If you have never been to a feed mill, there was dust everywhere. So I would go out and tell my brothers that
Dad said we could sweep. We would all
fight over the big broom, but would all grab one and start sweeping. The feed mill had beautifully finished
hardwood floors, which would have been suitable for a fine town home, and
therefore were easy to sweep. Once we had gathered up all of the dust, we knew
we had time for some play.
There were moving dollies or hand trucks that were used to
stack large bags of feed to be moved to and from the dock. The ones at the feed mill were made of wood
with metal reinforcements and a metal tongue for stacking. They were excellent at rolling young children
to and fro on a newly-swept hardwood floor. Wayne and Denny would take turns rolling
each other and me, although they often would roll me into a wall of bags. We would all laugh and continue to play until
a customer drove up, or Dad gave us another assignment.
If Mom had to go to town to finish shopping without the
prying eyes of children, Dad would take us to lunch at the Cedar Hill Grill
later known as the Golden Point Restaurant and Motel. Charles B. and Lucille
Fulks Powell ran the service station on Highway 41 in Cedar Hill. In the early
1950s they added a motel and small restaurant that was named Cedar Hill Grill
and Motel. Many of the local residents remember the restaurant and motel. It was famous for the good country cooking
and homemade pies. Mrs. Powell made all of the pies from her own recipes even
down to the crust. Pecan, Chocolate, Coconut, and fruit pies were often on the
menu. The restaurant when full to capacity, which was most of the time, held 35
people.
Wayne, Denny and I usually got hamburgers and fries, while
Dad often ordered a regular plate lunch. We almost always got dessert, which
for me was a slice of warm pecan pie with ice cream. I can still remember some
of the conversations between my Dad and brothers at lunch.
Once we headed back to the feed mill, we would enjoy all of
the wonderful farmers who traded with my Dad. We had a great opportunity to
know so many extraordinary people, who played such a large part in our lives.
I’ve already shared my shopping experience at Gregg’s 5 and
10. The way this secretive shopping worked was I brought all of the items to
the front, while my Mom shopped in another part of the store. My purchases would be rung up, bagged and
held until my Mom finished. My total was
six dollars. I had purchased over ten items, including a large plastic flute
for my brother, Denny, a stuffed dog for my sister, Beverly, a tie clip for my
brother, Joe, and a checker game for my brother, Wayne. When we got home, I knew that I had to hide
the flute from Denny, (he had a reputation of sneaking under the tree) so I
stuck it inside a paper towel cardboard roll and hid it under my pillow. My sister, Beverly, helped me wrap all of the
presents (but hers) and label them with tags.
She even helped me wrap the flute, which I hid under my pillow again, so
Denny wouldn’t find it under the tree.
Christmas always included lots of friends and family in our
house. This meant that where the kids slept often moved from night-to-night.
Remember I had hidden Denny’s gift, a red plastic flute, under my pillow to
keep him from discovering it. At that time, the Lowe boys slept in bunkbeds
made from heavy angle iron. I slept on the bottom bunk and Denny slept on the
top bunk, while Wayne and Joe slept in matching bunkbeds on the other wall.
With cousins, Uncles and Aunts added to the household, it was always chaotic,
but fun.
Somewhere in the hustle and bustle in the days before
Christmas, there was wrapping of presents hidden on every bed and table in the
household. The resulting trash paper would be bundled up for burning.
Finally, Christmas Eve arrived and it was time for Christmas
in the Lowe household. We had a wonderful dinner that definitely included Aunt
Martha’s fruit salad, Miss Lucille’s chocolate or caramel pie, and rolls. It
seemed that we young kids could move through that wonderful meal in
seconds. “Let’s open presents,” became
our refrain.
Minutes seemed like hours as we sat under the tree waiting
for the adults to finish their holiday dinner. Occasionally, someone would
remind us not to touch the treasures under the Christmas tree.
Finally, everyone would crowd around the living room and the
Christmas tree. Every chair would be moved into the room and once everyone was
seated, it was time. Denny and I would
be selected to distribute the gifts to the waiting crowd. Every tag was read
aloud. Wayne would help me with the
poorly written names. There were gifts from “Guess Who?” This usually meant they were from Aunt Martha
and Uncle Kenny.
Once the gifts were distributed, we started with the
youngest child and worked our way to the oldest. At this point in time I was
the youngest and began to discover the wonderful treasures in my pile. I remember among this year’s gifts a wind-up
lion toy, a peppermint stick as thick as my brother’s arm, and a new blue
notebook with paper. We then moved to
one of my cousins, then another, then finally time for Denny.
He opened his gifts, thanking the givers, then turning to
another package. As he opened his last
gift, I said, “Where’s your present from me?”
As we looked again under the tree, and everyone examined their
pile. I remembered it was hidden under
my pillow. Running to the bunk bed and
feeling under my pillow, there was no present. We looked all around the bedroom
and someone suggested they had picked up some red paper from the bedroom and
discarded it in the trash can. Our search went to the trash can. There was no
flute. We finally decided it had been
thrown away and burned in our trash pile earlier that day.
Although Denny was not upset, I described his red flute in
great detail. Fortunately, we are able to laugh about that little red flute
even today.
May your family have a blessed Christmas and a
wonderful New Year. Remember to share your memories with your family. 
