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The Palacios Beacon was filled with ads and reports of school and church programs as well as parties. It also included letters to Santa. Santa Claus had some help from a very special “elf.” Miss Elizabeth Sisson, an East Bay School teacher, wrote a letter for the students in her class to vouch for their good behavior the previous year. One request was specific enough to tell Santa where to shop for her set of dishes. Letters to Santa Claus
East Bay School Dear Santa Claus: I know thirty-two little boys and girls who all want you to come and see them Christmas. Santa, they want me to tell you how good they have been. I think they have all been good this year and I hope you will bring them all something nice. Perhaps I could help you decide what to bring some of them. Elizabeth Glaros would love to have a baby doll and the lovely set of dishes in Muriel’s window, for her new doll. Joan wants a new rain coat. Charles always wants new books. Grace, Pearl, Arline Barrett, Arline Kinard, Lucile, Bernice, Dorothy and Viola each want one of your sweetest dolls. Billie Joe and Ballard want big air guns, please. Jimmie Cunningham will be too disappointed if he doesn’t get an air gun, Santa, for that is all he wants. Billie Morton wants one of your largest tool chests. Orval wants a football, now don’t forget, a football. Gereldine wants a pink tam and sweater. Santa please remember what they all want. Read everyone of the letters they all wrote to you. They all send their love to you, Miss Sisson
Parents first visited the Palacios First State Bank to withdraw money from their Christmas fund. While the children were in school, Mother visited Crescent Drug Store, Muriel’s Novelty Shoppe, Nester Drug Store and McFarland’s Racket Store looking for just the right gift for Sister and Brother. While in McFarland’s she saw they had some souvenir vases with a picture of the Hotel Palacios. She bought one for her sister-in-law to remind her of last summer when they enjoyed their stay at the hotel. How peaceful it would be if they would stay there for Christmas. Stops at T. R. Brandon, Palacios Shoe Store and the Toggery, supplied the more practical gifts of clothes and shoes. For Father she went to C. E. Chamblee’s trying to decide whether to splurge and get him the Philco Baby Grand Radio for $68 or the Baby Grand Console for $88. Before going home after work, Father visited the bright and colorful display window at the Central Power and Light Company to consider an electric iron, percolator, waffle iron, egg cooker or toaster, but thought better when he remembered last year when his gift of a broom wasn’t very well received. He then moved on to the store of M. J. Scudder “The Square Deal Jeweler” to pick out a sparkling necklace. Since it was easier to wrap the gifts and put them under the tree rather than hide them, it was time to choose the best Christmas tree that could be found. Father knew if he stopped by Grant Lumber or Price Lumber he could get wood to build a stand. A trip to the attic produced ornaments and lights for the new tree. When Father tested the lights, once again they didn’t light up. Rather than test them all again, which probably wouldn’t work as usual, he made a quick trip to Traylor Hardware to purchase new ones which lighted the first time. Christmas dinner was going to require quite a few groceries and mom made her shopping list while checking the ads for Duncan Cash Grocery, Golden Rule Grocery, Ideal Grocery, M. E. Rogers Grocery, Quality Meat Market and Ruthven Grocery Company. When she realized how much she had to do, she wondered if her mother-in-law would know if she bought the sweet at Arnold Bakery or the Bluebonnet Confectionery rather than homemade. She dreamed about how easy it would be to just take everyone to the Hart Café where a dinner of turkey and all the fixin’s was 50 cents per person. Then she wouldn’t have to think of creative ways to serve leftover turkey for a week.
Mother insisted he walk to the barber shop so she and the children could have the car. She dropped Brother and Sister off at the Queen Theater for the kiddie matinee while she got a new wave at the Bay Side Beauty Shop. She didn’t want her sister-in-law to show her up again this year. As Father strolled home he saw a new car which made him wish that he would find a shiny new car under the Christmas tree from Bay Chevrolet, Curtis Auto or Palacios Auto. He saw several vehicles at Lane Garage, Palacios Service Station, Walter Milam and the Texas Service Station getting tune-ups and fuel for trips to Grandmother’s house. With only four days until Christmas, Mother made a last minute stop at Traylor Hardware to get Brother the air-gun he said he wanted from Santa in Miss Sisson’s letter in last week’s Beacon. Hopefully they would still have one since it seemed every boy in town had asked Santa for one this year. Another last minute stop was to pick up those “secret” sweets for Christmas dinner. If Santa had secrets, so could she. Before the family knew it, it was Christmas Eve and time to go to services. As they walked toward church, they greeted their neighbors who were on their way to First Christian, Central Baptist, First Baptist, First Presbyterian, St. John’s Episcopal, First Methodist and other houses of worship. All celebrated the birth of their Savior, Jesus Christ, God’s gift to the world, the best gift of all.
After a busy day, the children went to bed early
in anticipation of Santa’s visit. Visions of sugarplums may have
danced in their heads, but visions of dollar signs accompanied by
the sound of the ka-ching of cash registers danced in the heads of
the merchants of Palacios. |
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Santa
and his helpers had many choices when preparing for his special
night. 
The
Saturday before Christmas was busy for the entire family. It
included a visit to the City Barber Shop for Father, but when he
found a long line, he moved on to the Union Barber Shop.
