This article first appeared in the November/December 2024 edition of Home & Harvest magazine.
By Elaina Pierson, Office Coordinator
The Latah County Historical Society collection includes a number of books written by early residents of Moscow and surrounding areas. The accounts describe how the authors came to be here as well as the struggles, achievements, and often joyous events amid the hardscrabble life of a homesteader. Many of these authors were children brought or born here by westward-moving families and recount special moments of frontier childhood, including some magical Christmases.
One such book is Palouse Country Yesteryears by Dora Otter Fleener. She came to Idaho in 1902 at the age of seven with parents John and Myrtle Otter, along with three siblings (three more siblings would be born later). The following is an excerpt that illustrates their holiday traditions:
“Christmas was a time we youngsters looked forward to with great anticipation; we counted the days remaining until that Great Day. It seemed such a long time to wait. So to give us something to do to help keep our restlessness in check, Mama suggested that we make paper chains. We hunted up some colored paper, cut it into about one half inch wide strips. Then each strip was made into approximately a four inch length, which allowed for a small lap to be pasted to a ring, about one inch in diameter. We alternated the colors which made quite a showy decoration. We made yards and yards and draped them around the room, from the picture frames and windows and over the doors, and made some for the Christmas tree too.
“Hanging up our stockings was a tradition. We had always done that on Christmas Eve. There were no evergreen trees where we lived in South Dakota so we never had a family Christmas tree [before moving to Moscow]. We could sneak downstairs in the wee hours of the morning and unfasten our stockings from the several door knobs and then scamper back in bed with them. We would find hard candy, nuts, maybe an orange and some small toy. One time I found a pen knife with the handle the shape of a slipper in the toe of my stocking. Another time it was a donkey and a cart – I wished it had been a horse and cart – I still don’t care much for donkeys.
“We suffered no shock when we found out that there was no Santa Claus but it was fun to pretend there was and what we found under the tree on Christmas morning we would say that Santa Claus left. Of course that sort of talk was for the benefit of the younger members of the family. But there came a time when they too had their doubts. Vernon and Floyd [Dora’s brothers] were heard to say that they didn’t believe there was a real Santa – they decided that Mama and Papa put the presents under the tree. However, after that particular Christmas morning they weren’t so sure. Each found a shiny red fire engine and they agreed that there must be a Santa Claus after all, because Mama and Papa wouldn’t give them such nice presents.
“We always tried to be grateful and satisfied with what was left for us under the tree, even though ever so inexpensive. There were small cast iron toys (we never heard of wind-up, friction or battery powered toys), dolls, teddy bears, musical tops and jack-in-the-boxes, as well as handkerchiefs and hair ribbons. And we might get a game of checkers or dominoes or educational cards. Mama had probably knit a pair of mittens for each of us – they were warm, made from wool yarn. She also made wristlets for the ones who had outgrown their coat sleeves, which left a gap between the coat sleeve and the mitten top. Hands and wrists were easily chapped by the cold winds and the cold water we washed in at school. Books were welcome presents too. Ruth especially liked to read. Some of the popular books of that era were the Elsie Dinsmore books for the girls and the Rover Boys and the Horatio Alger books for the boys.”
Just up the road from the Otter home lived the Munson family. Being neighbors in the country outside the “big city” of Moscow, with both families having children close in age, the Otters and the Munsons were great friends, according to Dora.
Charles J. Munson was one of the earliest arrivals to Moscow in the early 1880s. He married schoolteacher Clemma Roaderick in 1890 and they settled their farm, called Cozy Cove, a few miles east of Moscow. The youngest of their five children, Caroline, was a prolific writer of tales detailing the family’s adventures. In her book Growing up with Carrie – Book 2, she shared this story, “The Christmas Tree”:
“I awoke early and dashed to the window full of excitement because today if it wasn’t snowing we were going to pick out our Christmas tree. The snow sparkled outside seeming to share my excitement and happiness. For months I’d saved silver gum wrappers, and every scrap of colored paper from magazines and any old source. For weeks I’d been cutting and pasting them to make yards of chains.
“Running down stairs I ate a hasty breakfast and got my coat, mittens and galoshes. I could hardly stand still to wait for Mama to bundle me up and add a cap and scarf. Then Papa with an axe over his shoulder was followed by Burton dragging his “Flyer” sled. We all trudged through the snow up across the snow covered fields to the stand of trees on the top “40.” Along the way Vivian and Goldie flopped down in the drifts and spread their arms up and down to make angels in the snow and Burton took a few small runs down the hill on his sled. I, being the baby, had all I could do to struggle up the hill without such outside activity.
“Once the wood was reached such running around and yelling, “Here’s one” and someone else yelling “Oh this one’s perfect!” After much checking of all sides and heights, a vote was taken on each tree. Once decided democratically, Papa chopped down the winner of the vote and tied it to the sled. With Burton pulling and Oscar pushing, the girls on each side holding it secure, it was time to go flying down the hill. Not far down, Papa handed Oscar the axe, lifted me to his shoulder and I rode the rest of the way while we sang “Jingle Bells” as we tried to keep up with the sled slipping down the hill.
“The next few days was such a bustle and stir. I spent most of my time stringing cranberries and popcorn.
“Since we’d left the tree on the front porch we hadn’t seen it. It had been installed in the parlor off the hall, reserved for important events.
“By Christmas Eve all my boxes of chains and popcorn and cranberries had disappeared. Everyone was so eager for night to come we couldn’t eat. Such dashing around with packages slipped to Mother to take into the parlor (where no one was allowed to go but her).
“Finally darkness came, and dinner was over. Papa hurried to do some last minute chores at the barn and left. Then suddenly we heard sleigh bells come jingling toward the house, a lot of stamping on the porch, and the hand powered bell on our front door ring. Mother dashed into the hall (carefully shutting the door after her) and we could hear her greet Santa Claus. There was a spell when time stood still as they went into the parlor. I tried to peek out the windows to at least see the reindeer but the older kids grabbed me and we just stood like statues suspended in time.
“Finally we heard steps going down the hall to the porch and stomping down the steps, and then sleigh bells went jingling off into the distance. Not long afterward Papa got back from his chores at the barn and I ran to tell him Santa had been there already. He felt so bad he’d missed him, but I was too excited to sympathize too long with him. Then Mother came in and we all crossed the hall to the parlor, me in front because I was the baby, and the parlor door was opened. There in all its splendor was our Christmas tree – my chains all wrapped in gay wreaths around, candles alight on its branches, a star crowning its head. Underneath the packages were stacked, but they were never nearly as wonderful to me as our Christmas tree!”
These stories offer a special glimpse into the lives of children growing up in the early days of western settlement. It wasn’t an easy life, but the memories shared for us to read today show a clear appreciation for the good things, or as Dora describes it, in the “wonder and beauty” of the Palouse.
Today many children feel the same excitement in anticipation of Christmas, and all the family traditions that come with it. Picking out a tree, decorating the house, and waiting for Santa Claus still hold the same magic today for many families and show that while many things have changed, the simple things of Christmas persevere. Time with family, the joy of new toys, and frolicking in the snow continue to bring happiness to children in 2024 just like they did in Christmases long past.
Charles J. Munson's book Westward to Paradise and Caroline Munson Ott's various publications are available for purchase in the LCHS online store.
Komentáře