12/24/2025
Christmas Memories 1945-1970
By Nancy Richards Bellar 2025
Looking back at our family Christmas traditions I can see that many things have changed since my childhood. Every family has their own unique customs that make their Christmas holiday special. Here I will share with you some of the things that were special for my family.
To put things in perspective you must first know that my parents were raised in two entirely different areas of the United States. My Dad, Jack M. Richards, was born and raised Orlinda, Tennessee in the rural South. My Mom, Janie E Shea Richards, was born and raised in the metropolitan New England city of Haverhill, Massachusetts. They met and married while my Dad was serving in the Army in Massachusetts.
My father was an only child, and my mother was the oldest of eight living children.
My father was deployed to India and Burma in the summer of 1945, just prior to end of World War II. His job was to establish telephone lines from India’s border, through Burma to China. Because he had been employed by the telephone company prior to his military service, he climbed telephone poles and strung wire through the jungle and over the mountains along the Stillwell and Burma Road.
In October of 1945 when I was eight months old, my mother and I moved to Tennessee to live with my father’s parents, Ned and Carter Richards, in Orlinda until he returned from the war in 1946.
Christmas in Orlinda, Tenn. was much different than Christmas in Haverhill, Mass. There was no Catholic Church and Christmas Eve Midnight Mass and no large family gathering. My grandparents lived across the street from the Orlinda Baptist Church where they were members. I can remember going to Sunday School there as a small child with my grandparents. The nearest Catholic Churches were in Springfield and Franklin, KY, and since my grandparents did not own a car, Moma also occasionally attended Orlinda Baptist Church.
After my Dad returned from his military service he went back to work for the telephone company and my sister Susan was born in July of 1947. Sometime that year or early 1948 we moved to Springfield, TN. Our family grew again in 1955 with the birth of my sister, Shea and again in 1960 with the birth of my brother Mike. (I was almost 16 when my brother was born.)
My first memories of Christmas were my parents, sister Susan, and I visiting my grandparents in Orlinda and spending the night Christmas Eve and Christmas day with them.
In the weeks before Christmas, cards started to arrive. Christmas cards were sent and received from friends and family near and far. Each day when the mail arrived the cards would be opened and read and then displayed. Christmas seals decorated each envelope. At our home in Springfield I can remember the cards being taped around the door facing for all to see and enjoy during the holidays. Through the years as the cost of postage began to increase, fewer and fewer cards were mailed, and then when email became popular cards all but disappeared.
My mother’s parents, Harry & Jessie Shea sent me a Manger complete with Italian chalk figures for my first Christmas. That manger scene was always displayed in our home at Christmas. It was always a special part of our Christmas celebration.
Usually about a week before Christmas we would receive a package from my grandparents from Massachusetts and also a package from my Mom’s Aunts in Massachusetts. The packages contained gifts for each family member. We were always excited to receive these special gifts, and sometimes we would get to open one before Christmas.
At our home in Springfield, preparing for Christmas began one week before Christmas when my Dad would bring home a cedar tree that he had cut in the country or purchased from the Springfield Fire Department tree sale. It was always exciting getting the tree in the house, putting it in a tree stand and placing it in the living room window. It filled the house with the fresh cedar smell that still reminds me of those early Christmas times. Dad’s part was done, and then it was up to Moma, with help from my younger sister Susan and me, to get the decorations on the tree. The first thing to go on were the lights. They were large red, green, blue, yellow and white lights on several strands that wrapped the tree. When we were very small we could not help hang the glass ornaments because they were very fragile and easily broken. We had some plain red, green, blue and gold round ornaments but also some old painted glass ornaments that were pre-WWII. They were always hung on the steadiest branches. We were allowed to hand the peppermint candy canes on the tree. Then came the icicles, some people called this tinsel. These icicles had some weight to them and hung on each branch making the tree magical. At the time my parents did not know of the danger in those shiny lead strips that made the tree sparkle. In 1972 the United States banned the use of lead icicles and the new aluminum ones that were made were so light weight that they would blow off the tree. If you still have some of the old lead icicles they are a true antique. Tinsel garland replaced most icicles.
In 1958 the aluminum artificial Christmas trees were introduced. While many people purchased one at the cost of $7.77 for a 6 ft tree, we continued to use fresh cedar trees until the early 1970’s. The aluminum trees could not support the electric lights of the time, but instead used a color wheel light that projected red, green, blue and yellow light on the tree.
Another trend of the mid 50’s were bubble lights. We never had any, but did use aluminum reflectors in the shape of snowflakes that were attached behind the standard tree lights to make them glow more, and of course our tree had a clear, lighted plastic star on the top to represent the Star of Bethlehem.
We made paper chains from red & green construction paper at school and at home to decorate the tree.
Gifts were wrapped in colorful Christmas themed paper and Christmas seals were generously used to seal the packages. Curling ribbon was used to tie the packages.
Some families had old German feather trees, putz house villages and other Victorian ornaments that had been passed down in their families.
We decorated our windows with Glasswax Christmas stencils (a product in a pink can used to clean windows in the 50’s & 60’s). When you dabbed glasswax on the stencil it was pink, but it dried white, and was easy to remove after the holidays.
My grandparents had red crinkled cellophane wreaths that they hung in their front windows. They also had cream plastic candelabra with five graduated electric candles that were placed in their front windows.
We opened our gifts on Christmas Eve night before going to bed so Santa could visit. Most of the gifts were clothing, jewelry, or something special other than toys. After the gifts were opened they were displayed under the Christmas tree until the tree was taken down. After the gifts were opened we had a special stocking to hang or place on a chair for Santa to find. We always left cookies and milk for Santa before hurrying to bed so Santa would not find us awake.
On Christmas morning the kids were always the first up to see what Santa brought. Our stockings always had an apple, orange and banana, nuts and assorted Christmas candy like orange slices, chocolate drops, and assorted hard candies. We usually each got two new toys. As soon as the stockings were emptied we would get dressed to go to Orlinda for Christmas dinner with my grandparents.
Christmas dinner was special. We usually had hen & dressing, city ham and sometimes country ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, green peas, congealed salad, green beans, corn, crushed cranberry salad (very tart), and fresh coconut cake and boiled custard for dessert.
On New Years Day we always went to Uncle Joe and Aunt Forrest Richards home in Orlinda for lunch. They lived on a farm in Orlinda in a house heated only with coal grates. I can remember that we loved to visit with them to get to do things on the farm during the spring, summer and fall. But in the winter it was too cold to go outside and it wasn’t much warmer in the house. New Years Day lunch was served in their large country kitchen in front of the fireplace. You always wanted to get a seat at the table on the side next to the fireplace if possible. Country ham was always served along with mashed potatoes, black eyed peas with hog jowl, sweet potatoes and all kinds of vegetables. Ambrosia was a special treat that we only got on New Years Day. Chocolate cake with fudge icing and fresh coconut cake and pies and boiled custard were for dessert. We could usually find fresh chocolate cake with fudge icing and homemade sweet pickles in the pie safe anytime we visited throughout the year.
Our Christmas tree was taken down on December 31st because we were told it was bad luck to leave it up after after New Years day. Decorations were packed away for another year, the tree was taken to the dump and cedar needles were swept up and the house returned to normal.
Other Christmas memories include, my Brownie and Girl Scout Troop making Christmas tray favors for the nursing home and hospital patients, and going caroling and sometimes delivering them and visiting with residents.
Dad & Mom taking us for a ride in the nights before Christmas to see the Christmas lights on houses around town. Outside lighted decorations really became a ‘thing’ in the 1960’s and have continued to this day.
I remember getting the Sears Wish Book catalog months before Christmas and selecting items we would like to receive for Christmas. This is a tradition that was passed on to my children who spent many hours looking at the toys and selecting things they would like to receive.
As a child before I began school and I can remember taking the Greyhound Bus to Nashville with my Moma to go Christmas shopping and visit Santa at Harvey’s Department Store.
As a teenager I can remember going to Centennial Park to see the beautiful large Nativity Scene in front of the Parthenon.
Also, as a teenager I can remember opening a Christmas Club Savings Account at the beginning of the year at Security Federal Savings & Loan on the square in Springfield. Where a small weekly deposit would provide me the whooping sum of $25 do spend for Christmas gifts.
Fruit cakes were a staple at Christmas time during the holidays, and were given as gifts. I did not know much about fruit cakes until I met William Bellar in 1960 and his mother made several fruit cakes for her family each year. She did not soak hers in bourbon but used grape juice and wrapped them in cheese cloth and stored them on the cold back porch until they were ready to serve. I remember they were very heavy with fruit, nuts and grape juice.
Other traditions that I recall were:
• Christmas plays at school and at church
• Making Chex party mix
• Making cakes, cookies & candy for the holidays
• Watching a Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Clause is Coming to Town and How the Grinch Stole Christmas on TV
• Listening to Christmas music
• Going to Midnight Mass when most of the town was in bed
• Toys like, Barbie, Etch-a-sketch, GI Joe, hula hoops, Mr. Potato Head, paper dolls, pick up sticks, jax, Tonka trucks, Hot Wheels cars
• Angel Hair & cotton snow
• Shiny Brite ornaments
• NORAD tracking Santa
• Writing letters to Santa
• Christmas corsages
• Making popcorn garland
• Christmas shopping on Main St in Springfield at Bentley’s 5 & 10, Western Auto, J.C. Penney, Randolph House, Ben Franklin 5 & 10, the Toggery Shop, the Gift Box, Miss Broderick’s Shop, the Family Store, Chandlers & Cowans
• Gum ball trees
• Bottle brush trees
• Ribbon candy
• Toy commercials on TV
• Elf ornaments
• Flocked Christmas trees
Every family has their own special family traditions. Have you thought about your early memories lately? Why not take time to remember some of yours and share them with the newer generations, so they can have a glimpse of how Christmas used to be in your family.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2026
