A Very Citrus Christmas
By: Ken Marotte, Citrus County Historical Society
Typical Citrus County Christmas
As was the case across America, Christmas found the Courthouse and public buildings gaily decorated. Citizens worked hard to earn a living and looked forward to a time of celebration away from their livelihoods. Trees were decorated and neighbors competed with each other for the best display. The Citrus Chronicle was filled with reports of people who had moved away but returned to the area to visit with friends and family. In a display of community solidarity, choirs from the local churches would join together to present a Christmas Cantata to packed audiences.
Christmas Campaign Against Disease
Tuberculosis claimed thousands of lives during the early part of the 1900’s. This lung disease (also called “white death”) had no known cure at the time. As part of a national movement, the Florida Public Health Association was formed to fund research into a cure for the aliment. Most of the money to underwrite this effort came from the sale of Christmas Seals. Women’s Clubs in Florida took a leadership role in the Christmas Seal campaign. A local member of the Women’s Club was appointed each year to ensure that the county’s quota was exceeded. Citrus County residents generously donated to the effort and always met the established goals. By 1928, due to their efforts death from tuberculosis had declined by 36% . In spite of this progress, tuberculosis remained the leading cause of death by disease for young adults aged 18-40.
The campaign was eventually consolidated under the American Lung Association. As a result of the Christmas Seal campaign, the malady is curable today through antibiotics. The ALA continues to rely on Christmas Seals to address other lung-related illnesses.
Children’s Letters to Santa
The Citrus Chronicle asked local children to write letters to Santa in the 1920’s. Since “old Santa is a regular subscriber to this paper” the editor promised that Santa would read their letters and might put something nice in their stockings while they slept if they were good. Some of the responses were heartwarming and give us a good picture of the children during that era.
Dear Santa Claus: I am going to tell you what I want for Christmas. My papa has been dead for four years. I want a doll and teas set, A Yo-Yo and some candy and nuts. I am eleven years old. I am a little girl. So now for a merry Christmas, goodby. -Estelle Ryals, Holder Fla, Please send me a bible story book.
Dear Santa Claus: Please bring me a box of candy and oranges, apples, house shoes, toys, a story book, and a doll, and by the way, bring me a blackboard. I am a girl seven years old. Love from Annie Williamson.
Dear Santa Claus: I am a little boy 4 years old and I can read and can print. I want you to bring me a red wagon, a telephone, football, a big airplane, some blocks and last Christmas you brought me tricycle and I left it in the driveway and it got broke, so bring some tools so you can fix it. I don’t think it will be much trouble as the front wheel is off. Your little boy, Junior Mathews, Inverness Fla. [Walter A. Mathews Jr]
Christmas at Citrus High School
The Christmas experience was a little different for pupils at our local High Schools. The Citrus Chronicle devoted a page to student writers known as “The Whirlwind” every month. The personal updates rivaled today’s Facebook gossip. Many of the Christmas season columns were devoted to rumors of who was dating who and a detailed rundown of the presents that the girls received from their hopeful suitors.
Charlotte V. is using Coty’s now. Patty is using Evening in Paris. The Sherrod boys seem to like different brands.
On Monday morning we were all dumbfounded at seeing Kay Barco trying to take a rather large Cedar Chest down the hall! She finally told us that it was a Christmas present from Tom and she just had to show it to everyone.
Charlotte received a bracelet from Bobbie and not being satisfied with just one she let Harvey give her one also. Charlotte also received a bottle of perfume from Ed Rayburn.
Dorothy Marlow was pleasantly surprised with a locket from Jimmie and has been proudly displaying it all day.
Christmas Cards
Sending Christmas cards, especially during wartime, was an important activity in Citrus County. The local High Schools sold packages of cards as a source of income for their Christmas fund. The proceeds were used to provide gifts for younger students who would not have received a visit from Santa otherwise due to financial conditions.
The Citrus County Chronicle also marketed personalized printed Christmas cards starting in August every year. They offered a discount to proactive customers who placed orders during the Summertime.
Prominent citizens of Citrus County sent a number of Christmas cards to family and constituents. A card sent by Judge E.C. May to his young grandson was recently discovered in the archives of the Citrus County Historical Society.
Floral City’s Doc Ferris was known for his promotion of the town and his citrus groves. Local citizens awaited his customized cards and poems every year. His verses contained his thoughts on growing older and importance of a grateful approach to life.
Merchants and Christmas Shopping
Citrus County merchants relied upon seasonal shopping to stay in business. E.C. May’s “New York Racket Store” served Hernando residents in the early 1900’s. In Crystal River, stores such as C.A. Miller’s, L.S. Sparkman’s and the Pioneer Mercantile offered Christmas gifts to shoppers. Inverness had a long list of shopping outlets including Turner and Thompson and Johnston’s Department Store.
The undisputed king of Christmas was “Pop” Allen and his 5&10 store in downtown Inverness. Dubbed as “Toytown”, Pop’s store was jammed with toys of every description. His advertisements featured wagons, bicycles, radios, dolls, trains and “thousands of other things we couldn’t begin to mention” . He also stocked a full line of Christmas decorations for the home. Of course, Santa visited his store during the weeks before Christmas to encourage children (and their parents) spend their money in his store.
The Inverness Christmas Boat
Elfred “Bob” Lassiter was the longtime Mayor of Inverness serving from 1964-1978. Toward the end of his tenure, he decided to moor his Windsor cabin cruiser in the middle of Cooter Pond and mount a 12-foot decorated tree on the deck to welcome travelers at Christmastime. Electricity for the lights was provided from shore and required 500-foot power cords and cable. In those days, a single burned out light bulb would cause all lights on the string to fail. In that case, a crew would be dispatched in a small rowboat to solve the problem. They would have to detach the tree and tip on its side to begin the arduous task of testing each bulb.
Vandals (working on behalf of The Grinch) struck and sank the boat into the murky depths of Cooter Pond in 1974. The motor was ruined and cost the mayor the equivalent of $4,500 to repair the craft. He was determined to show that “punks” were not going to ruin Christmas. Lassiter launched the boat again during the 1975 Christmas season and employed security details to keep watch around the clock to make sure the offenders did not strike again.
The perpetrators were never brought to justice. Anyone with a guilty conscience should turn themselves in so law enforcement can finally crack this cold case.
On behalf of the Citrus County Historical Society, Merry Christmas to everyone! You’re invited to stop by the Old Courthouse Heritage Museum and visit our exhibit of “Toys Through the Decades” through the month of December.