On Being a Farm Wife (and other hazards) Joyce Bupp “The Farmer’s Home, Winter” says the title of a lovely i Christmas card that arrived recently from an old friend. It’s classic Currier and Ives, a reproduction of one of the famous lithographs that cap tured a point of time in our col lective history. The famed litho " graphs (personal favorites) stir nostalgia for simpler times, especially during the holidays. This lovely card depicts a classic, rural, winter scene of long ago; farmhouse and bam in a snow-covered setting. Cattle huddled near the shelter of a lean-to, chickens scratch off to the side under a tree, and loose hay is neatly stacked inside an enclosure of posts. Trudging across the scene is a farmer, barely visible under a pile of fod der he is lugging along on his back, headed toward the cows. As you hurry to fight mall traffic for one last round of pre sents hurry to pile a grocery cart full one more time with tra- ditional holiday foods hurry d<Q mail out a couple of cards to people you forgot who remem bered you hurry to par- KnappWSSMB toots A Shorn* ■■■■■■ Get an our already low marked prices Everything in stock in the store even red tagged sale items. All Men’s Women’s and Children’s shoes, winter boots, sneakers. Factory and home-made clothing. Games and toys. Rollerblades, Ice Skates and accessories. EVERYTHING 10% OFF!! Leacock Shoe Store 64 Old Leacock Rd., Ronks, PA 17572 717-768-7440 hurry, hurry, hurry. ties. consider this tale which could have come right out of that Currier and Ives setting. The oldest was maybe eight or nine at the time, that particu lar Christmas. She had two younger sisters, and maybe the last of the three younger broth ers had not even been born yet. This family lived in a small town, almost a village. Father worked as a watchman for a manufacturing plant in the city, several miles away. His holi days were spent at work, just like all other days. Up the street of the little town was a small grocery store. Supermarkets, C-stores, and buying 1 clubs were still unknown. But promotions were already a retailing fact of life. And that particular year, the lit tle grocery had been running a promotion - like some today - whereby customers got a card punched with each purchase. After so many dollars woith of punches, the promotion cards were redeemable for selected merchandise. The little girl and her sisters YEAR END ENTOry Reduction SALE 2 DAYS ONLY Friday, December 26, 4:OOPM-8:00PM Saturday, December 27 8:00AM-4:00PM EXTRA 10% OFF walked by the store every day on their way to school. And, this particular year, they glued their eyes every day to beautiful dolls in the window, dolls that were obtainable with purchase punched cards. Though this family had plenty of love, caring, food or shelter, money for any extras was sparse. For weeks, the three little girls eyed those dolls. The eldest especially dreamed of having the doll garbed in a beautiful yellow dress. On Christmas Eve, the fami ly, with the exception of their father, always took part in the service and program at their lit tle church in town. While they were attending this annual Christmas program, their father would put up and decorate the tree. After arriving home from the program that particular Christmas Eve, they admired the tree, enjoying the evening as a family. Then, one of the broth ers dropped a piece of fruit - maybe a tangerine or an orange - and it rolled under the plat form beneath the tree. When the oldest reached in to retrieve the fruit, she found three dolls. It was the single - and precious and treasured - gift she and her sisters each received that Christmas. That doll was the only one my mother ever owned. My grandmother, great grandmother and great-aunt had, rather than redeem their promotion cards for things they really could have used, pooled them to make three little girls y f —CLOSED SUNDAYS, NEW YEAR, EASJfcR MONDAY,ASCENSION DAY, WHIT MONDAY, OCT. 11, THANKSGIVING, FlBNimt CHRISTMAS & DECEMBER 26TH FISHER’S FURNITURE, INC. NEW AND USED FURNITURE USED COAL I WOOD HEATERS COUNTRY FURNITURE & ANTIQUES BUS. HRS. BOX 57 MON.-THURS. 8-5 1129 GEORGETOWN RD. FRI, 8-8, SAT. 8-12 BART, PA 17503 Regular HOURS Mon., Wed., Thur. 8-5 Tues., Fri. 8-8 Sat. 8-4 Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 20, 1997-B5 very happy at Christmas. Last week was the first time I had ever heard that story, when some spirit prodded me to ask Mom what she remembered about her childhood Christmases. I treasure that story. To me, it typifies the spirit of the Currier and Ives prints, symbol ic of natural beauty, simplicity, and deep appreciation for the Replace Missing China OCALA, Fla. Holiday time means we get to entertain! Get-to gethers of family and friends mean parties and dinners with spe cial food, creative decorations, and table settings. Family heir looms and the “good china and sil ver” always add to that festive holiday mood. But do we have problems! We have two new additions to the family and not enough place set tings of our china. And last year Aunt Lou broke a water goblet when “helping” dry the crystal, and two of my salad forks myster iously disappeared when grandson Andy did his science project in our kitchen. What ate we going to do? The lady in the china department Home For (Continued from Page B 4) community. Golden Retrievers, kittens, a sandbox, ping pong, and calf-feeding intrigue young and old. Fay and Ira are active at Stras burg Mennonite Church where Fay is an adult Sunday School teacher, librarian, and participates in Sew ing Cinje. She also serves on the GOOD FOOD OUTLET STORES See Our Original Line Of Golden Barrel Product Plus All Kinds Of Beans, W PL Hf 'j k y Candies, Dried Fruit, 1 Snack Mix, Etc. At Reduced Prices Processors Of Syrups, Molasses, If y our local store Cooking Oils, Funnel Cake Mix, does not have it... Pancake & Waffle Mix & SEND FOR FREE BROCHURE Shoofly Pie Mix J SPECIALS FOR DECEMBER CANOLA An oq 1/2 GALLON NOW SUPREME BAKING „ «s 0 AQ 32 OZ. Now ?4>4S SHOOFLY PIE a mtt Now<yl»Qgy GOOD FOOD INC. GOOD FOOD L&S SWEETENERS W. Mam St. Box 160 OUTLET 388 E Mam St Honey Brook, PA 19344 3614 Old . Leola Pa 17540 610-273-3776 Philadelphia Pike 717-656-3486 1-800-327-4406 Intercourse, PA 17534 1-800-633-2676 (Just east of Kitchen Kettle Village) Accepted * We Ship UPS Daily^ few material things one did pos sess. We can not go back there - and in reality probably don’t want to - but we are reminded to focus on what this holiday season is really all about: love and caring, sharing and grati tude. To you and your loved ones, from The Farmer and me, a very blessed Christmas season! said all our patterns are discontin ued and no longer available in the store. Woe is me!! Great-granny will turn over in her grave if J don't keep up the tradition. Never fear. Help is near! Many companies (often called “match ing services") can help in that search for discontinued tableware. You can find the names, address es, and phone numbers of dozens of those dealers in “Finding the Missing Pieces” the new 1998-99 Discontinued Tableware Replacement Services Directory (Bth edition). To receive a copy of this directory, send $5 (includes postage) to JV DIRECTORY, at P.O. Box 5297, Ocala, FL 34478. board of the Mennonite Informa tion Center. “We are not meeting people,” Fay said. “We like to be home in the evenings.” A more relaxed schedule is self enforced by Fay and Ira during the Christmas season than at other times of the year so that they can immerse themselves in listening to Christmas music and in visiting with family and friends. Now that the children are grown and establishing homes of their own, some traditions are changing. Each year a different son and his spouse are assigned the duty of deciding how the gift giving should be handled. This year, the oldest decided that names should be exchanged as couples. Interested in the Landis Farm Bed and Breakfast? Call the Land is family at (717) 687-6321.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers