Christmas 1955: Ho, ho, ho, not ho, ho, hum

JERRY PERSON

Have you noticed how all of a sudden the weather has turned downright

cold, signaling the coming of winter here in Huntington Beach?

It has felt as if it could snow at any moment, and as I walked

along Main Street I reached the conclusion that it must have snowed.

For hanging on the light poles Downtown were the biggest snowflakes I

ever saw and they weren’t melting in the midday sun.

The snowflakes are our city’s holiday decorations, very

politically correct, very plain and very ho-hum. But Main Street in

the past was anything but dull for the celebration of the holidays.

Garlands of colored lights straddled overhead along Main Street while

large red bells hung down on each garland along with lighted stars,

candy canes or wreaths, and in the center would a symbol of the

Christmas holiday.

Times sure have changed, and so is the price of postage to send

out greeting cards to loved ones and friends.

In 1955 our Postmaster Martin G. Murray reminded us that to send a

sealed greeting card would require a 3-cent stamp and the post office

would forward it to a new address. Murray would have the post office

remain open until 5:30 p.m. on the three Saturdays before Christmas,

with full window service so everyone could buy stamps and send

packages.

The Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce sponsored a contest of

who had the best Christmas-decorated house or business.

Judges were sent to all parts of the city, and after careful

consideration awarded the best outdoor decorated Christmas tree to

Roy and Frances Smith. The best indoor tree visible from the street

went to Lucille Allaire at 1015 12th St. The best outdoor Christmas

shrine of 1955 came to a tie between Charles and Barbara Rothert of

1112 Pine St. and Lee and Patricia Lauer of 805 Alabama St. The best

outdoor religious shrine went to Eber and Edna Flaws of 1011 12th

St., with a second place awarded to Lawrence and Hazel Whittaker of

306 3rd St. The best commercial window display for that year went to

the Southern California Edison Co. at 309 Main St.

It would be a happy Christmas at the home of Herb and Millie Day,

for on Dec. 4, their son, Jon Allen Day, was born. On Dec. 10, our

pioneer baker, John Eader, celebrated 45 years at his bakery.

Celebrating the holiday season with a beautifully lighted

Christmas tree and an old-fashioned country-style turkey dinner were

the ladies of the Huntington Beach Woman’s Club at their 10th Street

clubhouse. Cora Cook and her committee decorated the clubhouse for

their Christmas party.

Helping to make it a momentous occasion were members of Central

Elementary School’s boys’ choir, who performed Christmas carols for

the ladies.

Many of the club’s members helped, including Nancy Pann, who

chaired the party with Millie Nitzkowski.

Gertrude Catching gave a reading of “Is There Really a Santa

Claus?”

For the first time, Elizabeth Foote’s poem, “Christmas Cookies,”

was set to music and sung by Jean Huston.

Santa made a surprise visit to the Surf Theatre to greet the

children and was brought to the theater as part of the Huntington

Beach Elks Lodge’s Christmas party, while Howard Robidoux and several

members acted as Santa’s helpers and handed out candy to the kids.

The children gained admittance to the theater by bringing a can of

food for the Elks “Christmas Basket.”

The Rev. Lowell R. Spangler spoke to his Sunday morning

congregation at the First Baptist church about “Joseph, God’s Man,”

and at the evening Christmas service the Sunday school presented a

pageant titled, “The Light of the World.”

Edna Watkins, Jackie Evans and Carol Hanson helped make the

holiday a joyous success for members of the local Business &

Professional Woman’s Club’s Christmas party at Lake Park clubhouse.

Many of the club’s members helped fill jars with candy to be given to

the elderly men’s annex at Orange County General Hospital.

Students from grades four through eight presented an evening

program of Christmas carols inside the auditorium of Central

Elementary School.

Accompanying the students on the piano were John Robbins, Hollie

Day and Jon Henricksen, and Rheta Gillette handled the artwork for

the holiday event.

Irene Terry’s home was transformed into a sparkling and a festive

mood for members of the Mothers Circle.

Included at the party were Oma Hensley, Viola Breeding, Marge

Partlow and Ruth Thompson.

A potluck dinner was inside the V.F.W hall for its members and

guests to celebrate the Christmas holiday, and gifts were handed out

to the children.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.