Ernie Hammer is a long time Kiowa County Press contributor. This story is written by Ernie’s Aunt Liz, Elizabeth Katherine (Hammer) Smith Benatti, based on her memories and family research. The story begins in Germany with Oswald Hammer and Margarethe Marie von Barsewisch, Liz’s parents. Liz passed away at the age of 104. She was living at the Kohart Home in Kit Carson at the time of her death. Part 17 can be read here.

Homestead Christmas

Morning dawned with a clear sky, and no wind, but there was a chilling cold that touched the body.  Everyone again went about the work of getting the wagon ready for the trip to town.  Soon the produce was piled and boxed.  The rugs and old comforters were folded and ready for sitting on or covering up with, as the horses, old Maude and Billy, were hitched to the spring wagon.

Nothing really ever happened exciting as the children did the shopping under the watchful eyes of Ma.  The children were so excited looking for the old toys they hadn’t bought last year or the new things displayed this year.  Last on the list was the grocery store where Ma always spent her money.  However, the horses had been hitched up and brought back to the downtown store of Sommers where the farm produce had been let off before the big shopping spree.  Now at the store the little ones sat in the wagon. The older boys and the store owner loaded, moving this and that bag to get everything so it would ride all the way to the farm.  Then as Ma and Mr. Sommers said goodbye and shook hands, Mrs. Bushey brought each child a small sack of candy with a big candy cane sticking out at the top.

What little money they had saved for the Christmas buying trip would not cover many presents so they made everything they ever heard of or was a project the neighbors showed them how to make.  Mother and the girls were busy with needle and thread and sometimes glue and paper.  At home after school, after homework and chores were done and dishes washed, we were allowed to make Christmas presents when we didn’t have money to buy them.

My project was to make pen wipers for the older boys and younger boys got sheets of paper to practice on.  I would collect pieces of paper that had one side with nothing on it and make it into a kind of tablet.  Then, Mother had us all making cross stitches on aprons for the school teacher and some of the neighbors.  The boys made different kind of toys.  Rod used to take a nail and a pair of pliers.  He would put the nail in the grate, which was kind of a fireplace. When the nail got hot he would burn holes in an old wooden spool that came from Mother’s sewing thread.  He would then glue cotton on that and paint little black eyes and a nose on the spool and that was his sheep.  Fritz made a toy where he took some boards from old cracker boxes.  He would cut these up and make three sides and the ends to a little box that was about six inches long, three inches wide and three inches high.  He nailed them all together except for one end on the top.  He inserted a wooden spool and put notches in it and made a kind of crank on it and when you turned the crank the loose board would make a noise.  Then he would paint it different colors.  It was considered very ingenious of him to make this toy.  Rod made a game called Swartzmueller.  A game that is the beginning of chess.  He made the game on a board he cut out and painted lines on.  Mother would give him buttons of different sizes and colors.  There were nine buttons per side according to size and color.  Ted was not so enthused about this kind of thing and he set there and watched us make presents.  He would take a wad of newspaper, bunch it up and spit in it and wrap it in Christmas paper and throw it into the bare space above the pantry and between the wall.  Mother had a stool so she could get into this area.  She would let us put our Christmas presents there.  He would say, there is my Christmas presents.  Nobody said a word to Ted.  

So after supper and the dishes were cleaned, there being no homework, the children dove into their secretive purposes.  Now it was Ma’s time to say something.  Don’t worry about the heat.  You can build fires in all the stoves.  In the shop you can light the lamps on the walls.  But be very careful.  She assigned the older children to light and care for the putting them out when they were finished.

Next week – Homestead Christmas: Tree Cutting

The Kiowa County Press invites those who live in or have ties to Colorado - especially the southeast, however all contributions are welcome - to share their story with our readers. Family history, current life, unique sites and adventures, and other aspects of living in Colorado are welcome. Contact us at editor@KiowaCountyPress.net.