Christmas, Early 1900s
From the memoirs of Leora Goff Wilson: “We went [to our Jordan grandparents’ home near Monteith, Iowa] in a bobsled one Christmas. We put straw in, covered it with a blanket or two to sit on. As we went down the lane, Pa [Sherd Goff] says, ‘Look at the reindeer tracks, Santa’s reindeer.’ They were cow tracks, but we believed Santa was there. We were so thrilled and happy.
“I had hung my stocking on the back of a chair Christmas eve, but in the morning my stocking with a beautiful doll in it was on the cabinet close by. Mamma said, ‘Santa thought it might fall from the chair,’ so that was a good thing, I thought, for Santa to think of.”
That memory was from when Leora Goff was about ten years old. I hope sleigh bells were part of this scene, although she didn’t mention them.
Christmas 1924
Two dozen years later, Leora had married Clabe Wilson and had six children of her own by the Christmas of 1924. This is a memory of her oldest daughter, Doris, when the family lived southeast of Dexter, Iowa, where Clabe was a tenant farmer for B.C. Hemphill.
Christmas dinner was at Leora’s folks’ home in Dexter, about three miles away. Because of a nice snow the night before, Clabe filled Mr. Hemphill’s bobsled with hay to soften the ride. The bobsled was a wooden box with moveable runners, front and back. He hitched up a pair of horses and harnessed them with bells on leather straps.
All of the Wilsons bundled up, with the three younger children snuggled under quilts with their mother. Delbert (age 9), Donald (8), and Doris (6) stood up front by their dad, who held the reins. The delighted family glided over the snow to have Christmas dinner with Grandpa and Grandmother Goff, and the rest of the clan living with them in the small town of Dexter. Bells jangled, horses snorted frosty breaths.
Brothers Merl and Jennings Goff lived with their folks, along with Jennings’s two motherless children. Clarence Goff, a younger brother, was came from Omaha for the feast. Doris perched on the piano bench, she remembered. Grandfather found catalogs to boost the smaller children to better reach the table. Grandmother served squares of cheese on toothpicks, which was a new wonderful thing to the youngsters.
And oh, those sleighbells (listen) on their way home!
I love these memories. In the 1950s growing up on the Canadian prairies, we would also go visiting on a horse-drawn bob sled when the snow was too heavy to drive a vehicle in. Dad had sleighbells just like the ones you featured. I wrote a story about my baby brother being brought home from the hospital in a sleigh. Those were the days.
Oh, I enjoy reading about your early years, Darlene! Your baby brother sure has a great story.
Those bells have a magical sound all their own. 🔔🎼
I’d love to hear them in person just once!
Delightful, Joy! Sleigh bells! Thank you for including the audio clip! Remembering the simple delights of “fancy food” – cheese cubes served on toothpicks. Love these memories. The joy of being together. xo! 💕
Thank you, Vicki. That little detail about the cheese, she remembered all those years!
Such a terrific memory. Those small things that were done to make family gatherings festive. A pretty presentation and love. 🥰 ❤️🥰
This post was a delight to read! I inherited the sleighbell strap from my grandmother’s farm in Nova Scotia.
Goosebumps!
Sure gives flesh to the song! Thanks for the share, Joy.
It does, doesn’t it!
I could hear those sleigh bells even before I clicked on the audio link!
Goosebumps!
Wonderful post!!! 🙂
Thank you, Linda!
I love all the memories you share about your family. They evoke my own memories of a much simpler life growing up. Merry Christmas!
Thank you, Linda. I always hope they’ll spark readers’ own stories.
Your post made me think of the opening lines of, A Winter Wonderland:
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,
In the lane, snow is glistening
A beautiful sight,
We’re happy tonight,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
Thanks, Pete. It’ll be in my head the rest of the day! (Snow tomorrow. . . )
Wonderful story, Joy. It brings to my mind Winter Wonderland!
Yes, thanks, Tim!
What a wonderful holiday memory. Sleigh rides are offered in SW Colorado in the winter. For my 40th birthday we spent a night at a cabin near Telluride and did a sleigh ride through the woods. It was so lovely!
What a wonderful memory, Eilene!
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Delightful family history. Oh, for those fat holiday catalogs we could use to boost up the little ones on dining room chairs!
Thank you, Marian. I’ve got a couple of reprints of old Sears catalogs. They’re thick enough to help boost a kid!
Lovely story, Joy. It makes me nostalgic for simpler times. 🙂
Thank you, Nancy. Bucket list, those bells and a sleigh ride!