The following is from the files of BHS, possibly written by Walter Dundore. Merry Christmas!
Christmas giving in the latter half of the nineteenth century bordered on simplicity and frugality. Beloiters employed sanity and common sense in celebrating this now festive occasion. Stores remained open on December 25th and dinner was largely a family enjoying oysters and mince-pie. One would find Beloit College President A. L. Chapin ordering a toy pail and a barrel of flour while Colonel Charles Johnson surprised someone with wax tapers. C. B. Salmon purchased two new spittoons for the home and two toy drums for the children. The drums obviously were to drown out the ring of the spittoons upon each bulls-eye. Reverend E. P. Salmon surprised the family with a new set of china for the bedroom dresser, along with a dozen china plates for the dining room table. The youngster was presented with a toy bedstead for her dolly by Santa.
Mrs. J. J. Bushnell used the occasion to purchase two combs, pencils and a sixty five cent knife. J. B. Peet indulged in the purchase of seventy five cents worth of china while James Carpenter splurged on two doll heads and a pair of vases. Regardless the time of year that a doll lost its china head no replacement was ever provided excepting thru the grace of Santa. Mrs. Frank Tuttle surprised the family with the purchase of a five dollar hanging lamp and new pen points. Professor Emerson treated the family to $9.14 worth of crockery, whereas J. B. Dow purchased a lamp on trial while Professor Hendrickson ordered fifty cents worth of toy dishes along with a doll head.
J. Shepard surprised someone with a sled, a lamp shade, a cheap ring and thirty cents worth of candy. Robert Smith took home a pair of vases and candy while D. S. Foster splurged on seventy five cents worth of toys, side lamp and a five pound box of candy for a dollar. Mrs. James Eaton purchased a toy sled and some toy dishes for the young fry. Milo Spencer indulged in twenty cents worth of candy while A. B. Carpenter provided Santa with a boy’s sled and four quarts of nuts. Mrs. J. J. Bushnell drove home with new table mats whereas J. V. Holmes packed home a toy tool chest, waste basket, drum, two pair of scissors, knife and hatchet. L. J. Rogers surprised the folk at home with goblets. O. A. Cheeney sneaked in the back door with $5.84 worth of dress goods while Mrs. Cheeney went in the front door with a new tin tray. Christmas was a day reserved for both young and old, but on a simple scale. The average youngster was agreeably surprised when he or she discovered an orange, apple, raisins and nuts in the stockings hung from the mantle. No keeping up with the Jones on Christmas day in the 1870s . . . . No Jones.