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JIM - Christmas Wish List ads from the past - 2017 Album I
Update: See JIM's Christmas Wish List - Album 2 for 19-25 Dec entries
Click on headline for quick access to JIM's Christmas Wish Lists ads from the past. As more may or may not be added they will be linked to this story
By Ed Waggener
JIM has shared a number of delightful Christmas Wish List ads from year's past since Thanksgiving. When he started, we weren't sure how many there would be and don't know how many we can expect between now and December 25, 2017, but already there are enough to mandate an album, to make the search easier.
This story was posted on 2017-12-08 07:30:14
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The Men's Shop offered Most Excellent Christmas Ties, 1927
2017-12-02 - Second Quadrant, Public Square, Columbia, KY - Photo from the collection of JIM.
For less than the price of gift wrapping, nowadays, ties could be purchased for as little as two bits, ready to give, at H. Taylor's store in Downtown Columbia.
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JIM: Christmas shopping opportunity, December 5, 1951
2017-12-05 - 132 Public Square, Columbia, KY - Photo from the collection of JIM.
JIM found this Christmas shopping opportunity, December 5, 1951. From the Adair County News sixty-six years ago today. Ed & Ed's Kentucky Auto Store was located where Reed Bros. Insurance is today. Wonder how many got a Wonder Horse for Christmas that year? Wonder if anyone still has one? And wonder how much it might be worth today? - EW
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Christmas deals of the day, December 6, 1944
2017-12-06 - 132 Public Square, Columbia, KY (Location of Reed Bros. Insurance in 2017) - Photo from the collection of JIM.
December 1944 found the Allied forces locked in mortal combat with an enemy seeking world dominion; many, many items at home - everything from shoes to sugar - strictly rationed; and people putting every cent possible toward the current War Bond drive. Still, the Paull Drug Company on the square offered a nice selection of gift items for the modest budget in that long ago December 6th edition of the News. - JIM
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JIM - Depression era Christmas gift ad, 1932
2017-12-07 - (Brown Drug location 204 Public Square, where Harris & Harris Law Office is Dec 2017) - Photo from the collection of JIM.
In early December 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt was the Presidential nominee, having crushed incumbent Herbert Hoover a month earlier. The Great Depression was in its fourth year and showed no signs of letting up; in fact, it worsened almost daily with banks closing, industrial production sharply declining, and unemployment soaring, and as Christmas approached, there was little cause for good cheer for most Americans. Still, a number of Columbia merchants ran gift idea ads in hopes of attracting the few discretionary dimes and dollars. This one for the Brown Drug Co. ran in the Adair County News 85 years ago today -- December 7, 1932.
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JIM - Christmas Wish List, December 1960
2017-12-08 - (Firestone Store was at 200 Public Square, where Red Brick Recording Studio is today) - Photo from the collection of JIM.
In December 1960, quite a number of Columbia merchants offered bright and sparkling wish list items for Mom, Dad, and the kids. The businesses included The Western Tire Auto Store (Howard Cheatham, Owner); The Style Shop; Wooten's Dept. Store; Rudy's Lad and Dad; Lerman Bros.; The Men's Shop (Reid Stone, Mgr); Ed's Ky. Auto Store; and the Columbia Supply/Firestone Store (J.B. Lamberth, Mgr.). The ad above appeared in the December 8, 1960 News.. - JIM. (Quick test for whether you are out of warranty already: If you can fully decipher "Dial FU 4-2411", you may be.)
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JIM - Christmas Wish List, 9 Dec 1914
2017-12-09 - Columbia, KY - Photo from the collection of JIM.
The Messrs. Flowers & Walker (Ray Flowers & Nat Walker), proprietors of the establishment, had been partners in store keeping for about a month when this announcement appeared in the December 9, 1914 News. Teachers traditionally passed out candy to their students on the last school day of the year, thus the note at the bottom of the ad. Those wishing to learn more about the store from its founding in 1903 through its closure in 1918 and the myriad owner-operators and name changes in between may do so at JIM: The lineage of a grocery store (1903-1918)
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JIM - Christmas Wish List, 10 Dec 1941
2017-12-10 - Columbia, KY - Photo from the collection of JIM.
Last chance for Christmas goodies, 1941 - The second week of December 1941 found the United States still reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor and our next-day declaration of war against Japan. Almost immediately, plans were being made for rationing, but the Christmas merchandise Columbia merchants already had on hand wasn't affected. Still, that would be the last time until 1946 many gift items would be readily available to put under trees and to fill stockings. This ad for Royse Variety appeared in the December 10, 1941 Adair County News.
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JIM - Christmas Wish List, 11 Dec 1918
2017-12-11 - Columbia, KY - Photo From the collection of JIM.
December 1918 likely found Adair County -- and the nation -- in a subdued joy frame of mind. The war had ended a month earlier and around the 10th of the December, restrictions on sugar were lifted. "at a time that insures the free movement of sugar to our people for the Christmas holidays." Still, most of the young men who had gone Over There weren't home yet, and the fact that some would never return certainly lay heavy on many minds. And too, the great influenza pandemic raged on, so much so that many public meetings, even churchgoing, were forbidden (or soon would be) by government edict, as a measure against spreading the deadly contagions. - JIM
Only a tiny handful of Christmas ads appeared in the December 11, 1918 News, including the one above for jeweler L.E. Young.
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JIM - Christmas Wish List, 12 Dec 1972
2017-12-12 - 322 Public Square, Columbia, KY, nowadays location of Monkey Business - Photo from the collection of JIM.
Christmas Wish List, 1972 - In 1972, venerable Russell & Co. offered gifts for the family, as did Lerman's (established in Columbia in 1927). The Ben Franklin store also had a wide variety of gift ideas, including such up-to-date items as portable stereo tape players and double knit materials, and the Style Shop (est. 1947) had the latest fashions for her, including the slightly scandalous pantsuit. The Style Shop ad shown here appeared in the December 12 edition of the News. - JIM. Clicking Read More accesses album,
"JIM - Christmas Wish List" with many adverts from many decades.
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JIM - Christmas Wish List, 13 Dec 1899
2017-12-13 - 200 Public Square, Columbia, KY. (Nowadays Red Brick Studio) .
As the second-to-last year of the nineteenth century drew to a close, two Columbia mercantile emporiums drew trade in from all over the county and beyond. One, Russell & Murrell (better remembered by its later name, Russell & Co.) was located in the still new Jones building on the corner of Burkesville Street and the Public Square, now occupied by Red Brick Studio. The other, W.L. Walker's Cheap Cash Store was also on the Square but on the other side of Burkesville Street, just removed from the old Bank of Columbia building, the latter-named having anchored the corner since immediate post-bellum days.
Just about every week, the News carried large ads from one or both of these influential merchants, frequently on page three (of four), the page reserved for local news and thereof of considerable interest. In the December 13, 1899 edition of the paper, Walker had a small ad announcing his "December opening" of new stock without directly mentioning Christmas. On the other hand, Russell & Murrell's notice occupied nearly half a page and proclaimed a panoply of goods for the astute shopper.
Attachments area
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JIM - Christmas Wish List, 14 Dec 1938
2017-12-14 - Between Creel Building & the Well Walk (Flower Garden to Monkey Business nowadays) - Photo from the collection of JIM.
December 1938 found America in the tenth year of the wearying Great Depression, and eighteen months into a severe recession-within-the-depression, although the recession had marginally loosened its grip. For Adair County families that were better off financially than many, the Community Public Service Co. offered Christmas pricing on a dazzling array of modern conveniences such as electric clocks, $2.95 & up; floor lamps, from $7.95; and radios, beginning at $14.95. For those better off still, the (nearly indestructible) Sunbeam Mixmaster could be put under the tree for $23.75; and for the really well-to-do, a Kelvinator refrigerator at $130 and up could bring a spot of holiday cheer 24/7.
For most, however, a pound of candy from the Baldwin Cash Market (stick, Christmas mix, and chocolate, mix or match at ten cents on the pound) and the children's items available at the Economy 5c & 10c store (located on the Square between the Creel building and the Well Walk) more realistically fit the family budget, but for some, even those items may as well have been priced in dollars rather than dimes and quarters.
The accompanying advertisement appeared in the December 14, 1938 edition of the Adair County News. - JIM
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JIM - Christmas Wish List, 15 Dec 1925 - Murray & Jones
2017-12-15 - Downtown Columbia, KY - Photo from the collection of JIM.
n 1925, the US economy rocked, and between flappers with shinglebobs, young men sporting raccoon coats, and speakeasies fueled by bathtub gin and hot jazz, America roared. (Of course, none of those things existed in Adair County, though Herb Taylor openly sold jazz phonographs along with the Victrolas and Edison machines on which to play them.) In the spirit of the times, Murray & Jones (Albin Murray and Lula Jones), located in the south corner of the square, offered Christmas goodies for kids of all ages. This ad appeared in the December 15 edition of the News. - JIM. Clicking Read More now accesses album of ads, which have reached "critical mess" to allow the reader to peruse, and see how, weather, war, and economic welfare set the mood from somber, sober & subsistence celebrations to sizzling, often bespotted, and spendthrift celebrations.
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JIM - Christmas Wish List, 14 Dec 1964 - Nells Variety Store
2017-12-16 - Facing front of building, right hand of nowadays First & Farmers NB, 224 Public Square, Columbia, KY, - Photo from the collection of JIM.
In the spring of 1950, Willie Nell purchased the Massie Hardware Co. Four months later, he morphed the operation Nell's Variety Store. Does anyone have a favorite memory of shopping there or receiving a gift from there? The ad appeared in the December 16, 1964 News. - JIM
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JIM: Christmas Wish List - 17 Dec 1958 - Nu Art
2017-12-17 - Nowadays 212 Public Square, Columbia, KY building - Photo from the collection of JIM.
Perusing the pages of the December 17, 1958 brought a lot of familiar business names to the front, names such as Columbia Nursery, The Fabric Shop, Downey & Wolford Auction Service, Ed's Ky. Auto Store. Harper's Market, Columbia General Appliance, Collins Buick, Western Auto, Peoples Loan Company (202 Public Square), Lowe's Drugs, Adair Farmers Service Store, Rice Hardware, Overstreet & Holmes, Jerry's Beauty Shop (Lindsey Wilson St.), Scott's Barber Shop (Travis Scott, prop.), The Style Shop, The Firestone Store, Corner Drug, Kroger, Owens Men's Wear (112 Public Square), Young's Rexall Drug, Lany Bray & Co., Reece's Radio & TV Service, and Marshall Shoe Store, among others. Only a few of these establishments listed a telephone number (local prefix FU 4 for those who did, of course) and many were located by the same trisyllabic phrase: "On the square."
Many of the ads were larger, more eye-catching, and better adorned than the one from Nu Art Studio, but none perhaps better caught the spirit of the times than this one. - JIM
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JIM Christmas Wish List: Bikes advertised for Christmas gifts in 1955
2017-12-17 - Adair County, KY - Photo from the collection of JIM.
Gift ideas available from this Columbia business in 1955 showcased Schwinn bikes starting at $39.95 (Fair Trade Price) or one of many rebuilt bikes for $22.50, from M & W Auto Parts. The store stayed open until 10pmCT, Christmas eve for the guilt ridden Dad who forgot his son or daughter's Christmas would be ruined if the Schwinn weren't under the tree. Two who can add details about this business are Fay McKinley whose late husband L.G. Peanut McKinley was a partner with E.P. Waggener, and teenaged salesperson Ed Waggener whose name is on the ad. We're hoping they will send more details about where the bike business was located and who might have received a shiny new Schwinn that year when time allows. And thanks to JIM for sharing this from his research. - Linda Waggener
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JIM - Christmas Wish List, 18 Dec 1946
2017-12-18 - Columbia Dairies, back then, at 203 N Monroe Street, Columbia, KY (???) - Photo from the collection of JIM.
Christmas Wish List 12-18-1946
December 1946 found Columbia humming away. Most--not all, but most--war-time rationing was a thing of the past, merchants could offer a wider array both of necessary and luxury items than they had since 1941, and pent up consumerism flexed it muscle.
Shacklette Jewelers had recently opened in the New Adair Hotel, as had the Adair Fruit Market in the Lacy Building, Campbellsville Street, and come the 20th, Wooten's Restaurant would open to serve three meals a day. In the December 18th News, the last edition of the year, another relative newcomer to the Columbia business scene expressed Christmas greetings to its customers and to readers in general.
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