Christmas Greetings:

Back in August 2004 my life was turned upside down when I transferred to the Corvette Assembly Plant in Bowling Green, KY. It was a long involved story/move, but it was in my best interest to finish out my last 13 months till my retirement under 30 years and out at the Corvette Assembly facility.

I spent those 13 months doing the final assembly to transmissions and then installing finished transmissions to the Corvette chassis. One of my co-workers “Two Dollar Bill” had a tape deck and assortment of music he played incessantly.

This journal entry was written that December I was with Corvette. With so many of my Facebook friends being from my hometown Lockport, NY, I thought they might enjoy a trip to the past….

I'll Be Home for Christmas...

Thursday, December 09, 2004

I know that I have written in the past about one of my co-workers “Two Dollar Bill” and his music. When returning to work after Thanksgiving, he brought in a special treat: His Christmas Music tapes. God save us! There was a time when I enjoyed hearing this seasonal music. In the American tradition of “if one is good then 100 is better”, he plays these tapes for hours. Some of the songs that I have grown to despise are:

1. White Christmas

2. Silver Bells

3. Winter Wonderland

4. I’ll Be Home for Christmas

5. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

6. Oh Holy Night

7. Ave Maria

Don’t get me wrong; these are all beautiful and great melodies. What has spoiled them forever in my mind is the cover versions done by “pop divas” and every washed up singer you can imagine. Daily I hear endless reruns of these same tunes; all done by different artists. I remember how Judy Garland sang the song “Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas” in the movie Meet Me in Saint Louis. Now, I’m hearing some wretched woman screech, wail, and destroy this simple plaintive song with every musical embellishment known to mankind. It makes my “tits itch” just thinking about it.

The other day while trying to avoid listening to this racket I was thinking, “When did it all go wrong?” Unfortunately I could not pinpoint a date, but instead I was remembering when things were all right.

You have to go back in time to the mid 1960’s. In my hometown of Lockport, we always had snow for the Christmas holidays. The nearest shopping malls and plazas were in Buffalo and Niagara Falls. My dad hated driving so there was no chance for the family to go to those places. Lockport still had a thriving central business district. The stores would be open late at night for the shopping between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It seems lame now, but that used to be a real treat, to go shopping when it would be night.

I used to walk “downtown” by heading east on Ontario Street. This brought me to the Pine Street Bridge that crossed the Erie Canal. The railings on the bridge were all fancy scrolled ironwork of a past era. The sidewalks would be clear of snow, and the green iron scrollwork would trap the white snow making a stark contrast, even at night. After crossing this bridge I would be at the intersection on Main Street.

The “south side” of Main Street is where all the major stores were. J.J. Newberry, the five and dime where my aunt Margaret Louise worked in the 1930’s was almost to the corner and always a first stop. The merchandise was displayed on counters with glass dividers keeping everything organized. Heading east there was The Carl Company, a dry goods store that had a card table set up in the back selling toys for four cents each. They were tacky things but it still would be an adventure to find a treasure. The major department store was Williams Brothers. My great aunt Mary shopped here all the time. This was the most expensive store in town. Having a basement and four floors of merchandise there was a lot of area to cover when shopping here. A brass gated elevator shuttled passengers between floors. My sister’s best friend Candy had a job operating this elevator for a while. I used to love to pester her while she was working!

W.T.Grant would always be stop. There was basement, main floor and second floor. By the back stairs to the second floor there was a popcorn machine. If I put my hand in just right when nobody was looking I could wiggle my fingers and get some “free samples”. The toys and pets were in the basement. We would always get our goldfish and turtles here. It saddens me now to think of those poor turtles that were sold with flowers painted on their shells.

On the corner of Main and Locust Street is where a temporary shelter would be built for the Salvation Army. It always seemed there was an “old woman” shaking the brass bell out an elevated window above the collection bucket. Loudspeakers over the roof of this “hut” played the Christmas music. The decorations for downtown were garlands of green between the light poles across Main Street. In the center of each garland was a lighted star inside a circle. Hearing this music, feeling the cold and snow against my face outside, and then the welcome warmth when entering a store made Christmas shopping a real adventure. I knew I was witnessing something special experiencing all this as a child.

The next block headed east had O’Connor’s toy store. What a fantastic variety of toys they had for being such a small business. The Royal, an ice cream parlor was right by, but I was not allowed to go there. My dad said that is where the “hoods” hung out. My father thought that any teenager who smoked, had a leather jacket, or wore black shoes was a juvenile delinquent.

Further down the street was Noah’s Ark, an auto parts store that sold toys during the holidays. The toy catalogue from this store was always anxiously awaited. This was the place to go for Lionel trains, and accessories for your bicycle.

Across the street from here was Dan’s 88-Cent Store. Here I could always find a present for my mother. My tastes ran towards the knock-off Hummel figurines from Japan. Seeing them now all these years later, the quality was pretty good! I am still using a strainer that came from there!

Returning home, I would backtrack on Main Street. Instead of turning down Pine Street and back over the bridge there I would continue west. Kipps cigar store is where my comic books came from. This store was long and narrow. There was a huge assortment of comics to choose from along the west wall. I would try to peek at the Playboy magazines on the back wall without being seen. We used to always get yelled at for looking at forbidden merchandise. There was a “nut display” by the cash register. A revolving tray of greasy salted nuts under a light bulb. The owner was always behind the cash register. In giving change he always called me “Sonny Boy.”

The last stop would be at the corner of Cottage and Main. This was the location of The Crystal Ice Parlor. Opened in 1922, it still had all the original fixtures: including the owner. The booths were dark and mysterious at night. It was always a treat to have a hot chocolate with whipped cream on top. Above each booth painted on the wall was picture. The scenes ranged from pastoral mountaintop scenes, to the Acropolis in Greece. I used to think that painting of the Acropolis was the most beautiful painting I the world! (Through a quirk of fate, I own this artwork! Another story!)

Now is the trek home. Walking across the “big bridge” (supposedly one of the widest bridges in the world) there is no protection from the wind. Huge snow banks are formed here from clearing the street. If the snow is packed hard enough it is more fun to walk on the snow banks than the walkway.

By the time I arrive home I’m cold and have had enough! In the kitchen there is an old cast iron floor grate over the heating duct. This is my favorite place to stand to warm my feet. Then mittens and gloves are put on the cast iron cover to dry out. (I still have this grate and it is in use. Sadly it has been many many years since mittens have been dried on it)

It is sad to think that I had to use the past tense for all the businesses and locations. Shopping habits change and these small stores could not compete against the bigger chains. What is worse: my hometown bought into the myth of “Urban Renewal.” This is a government program where old buildings were condemned and bought by the government to be redeveloped. The main shopping block where the major stores used to be was demolished in the mid 1970’s. A grassy field is all that remains some 30 years later. My generation was the last to experience what it was like to have a vibrant central business district.

I loathe shopping malls. The sanitized, programmed interiors, boring merchandise, and hordes of “mall rats” running around completely alienate me. Just down the road from me here in Bowling Green is the major Mall for the region. It even has a Dillards! Don’t count on seeing me there!

In a way I have to thank “Two Dollar Bill”. In trying to avoid his wretched music I dug up a lot of forgotten memories. Now I’ll be able to copy this entry and enclose it with some “special” Christmas cards to be sent home. That is what makes this time of year special for me. Sharing memories and being with family and friends. That makes me want to sing….I’ll be home for Christmas…………if only in my dreams.