We never got our Christmas tree until the day before Christmas. It seems like there were a lot of places on Parade Street that sold them. Dad had a wooden box about two feet square which was turned upside down and had a hole in it for the tree trunk. After he put the lights on, Tommy and I would put the other decorations on along with mom's help.
Another decoration we had was our "fireplace". They sold rolls of paper that had a brick design, and that was taped to our desk, which made it look like a fireplace. Did we think that Santa came down the chimney through it? I don't remember, but we did have a place to hang a couple of stockings.
On the night before Christmas I remember being unable to fall asleep for a very long time, and that Tommy didn't have this problem. It then seemed like I had just fallen asleep, when Tommy was waking me up saying 'Santa Clause came!'. We would get up and go to the living room to see. Mom and Dad would hear us and get up, and then we opened our presents. When all was done, it was time to play. Mom and Dad would sometimes go back to bed as it was still dark outside. As I remember it now, it seems like it was a long time before it got light out.
Richie
