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
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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.