Merry Christmas from the You Go Genealogy Girls

North Platte (NE) Semi-Weekly Tribune,
3 December 1920, page 7

Christmas will soon be here.  We are both caught up in the season.  You Go Genealogy Girl #2 is making preparations to travel to Topeka, Kansas to spend Christmas with her son and family who live there.  My family will be here, including my son who lives in Virginia.  This is the first Christmas for my great grandson and I cannot wait to see his face as presents are opened.

This time of year I tend to think of how my ancestors spent Christmas.  According to our standards of spending and the types of gifts we buy, it was probably meager.  But they were happy and just like us, the spirit came through in the love and joy of being together.  There were no electronic gadgets, such as tablets, iPads, flat screen TVs ... there were simple gifts such as hair bows, rag dolls, wooden toys, pencils, handkerchiefs and mittens.  In 1921 perfume for the lady sold for 10 cents to $1.00.   I wonder if it smelled good!  Teddy bears for the babies sold for 50 cents, 75 cents and $1.00.  The jumbo bear probably sold for the $1.00.  Newspapers for the same year advertised that it was a year for "practical gifts."

North Platte (NE) Semi-Weekly Tribune,
22 December 1916, page 4

Just for a few hours, I would like to have a time machine and travel back to my ancestors' Christmases.  I would like to celebrate in a simple way, then be able to return to my computer with digital images, blogs, Facebook, Twitter and e-mail.  Fortunately, I can read newspapers on Internet that give me a glimpse into the past.  I can read stories that were left by family members.  The true meaning of Christmas is not lost.  It's still in our hearts to be rekindled.

You Go Genealogy Girls --- Ruby #1 and Cheri #2 --- wish you a Merry Christmas.