The Winter Holidays in Old Corte Madera
by Harry Richards
Part II of Harry Richards’ memories of growing up in Corte Madera during the early twentieth century:
Winter seemed to be more dramatic than it is now. There were great howling wind and rain storms that lasted for days. Every little stream ran bank-full, and there were ponds and puddles everywhere. Some years, the lowlands became one vast lake, with only the county road and the Tiburon railway embankment showing above the water. To a small boy, decked out in rubber boots, slicer and sou’wester, all this water was nothing but fun . Then it would turn cold, with frosty mornings and ice on all the standing water. This ice was never thick enough to walk on, but we always tried.
Thanksgiving Day was big, and only a short, one-block trip to my grandmother’s house for the great feast.
Christmas was always celebrated at home — a genuine fir tree, very fresh, with colored lights in the shapes of fruits and flowers. Toys were simple (no batteries) and the joy of opening packages was almost uncontainable.
A week or two before Christmas, there were programs for children, with individual red socks of sweetmeats, at the churches, and a school event at Larkspur City Hall. At the latter program, Santa Claus arrived by sliding down a rope from a door high in the rear wall of the hall. It was widely rumored that he was actually one of the volunteer firemen.
New Year’s Eve was spent with neighbors, and at midnight the older boys went out in the street and fired shotgun shells into the air, while the rest of us beat on tin pans. The same activity was going on all over town.
Originally published at https://annetkent.kontribune.com.
