What I am about to tell you is going to prove Pampa was the Mayberry of the Panhandle!
Come Christmas time, during the 1940s, the downtown was really decked out for the season.
Colored lights hanging everywhere, inside and outside the stores. They were stretched across Cuyler Street and a decoration hung on every light post. A Salvation Army bell ringer was at the entrance to every store which added to the Christmas Spirit. Many of the clerks in the stores wore elf costumes, etc.
The City of Pampa decorated Central Park with all kinds of Christmas scenes including the Nativity scene. There were different Choirs from churches and schools who were scheduled to sing Christmas Carols throughout the days leading up to Christmas Eve.
Naturally there was a BIG parade down Cuyler with decorated cars and trucks, floats, bands, and Santa Clause throwing candy to all the kids. Everyone in Pampa was lining the streets, cheering the parade as it passed them!
Now check this out...The weekend before Christmas, there was a big sale in all the stores, and at 8 p.m., we all gathered in and round the front of La Nora Theater and from the outside balcony that had the marque on it, The mayor, Fred Thompson (I think), and City Council members threw live turkeys out into the waiting crowd and whoever caught them got to take them home for Christmas meals. What fun! There must have been 100 turkeys thrown down! Back in those days, the crowd maintained a cordial attitude, and no fighting. We all enjoyed watching someone chasing a turkey down the street! There were loudspeakers down the street playing Christmas music. America had much to be celebrated during those days, the war was over, and our loved ones were back home after that horrific war in Europe and Japan.
The civic clubs all had lists given to them by our Sheriff Rufe Jordan of people in the county who needed a little help to make their Christmas a little brighter. All of them: Lions Club, Kiwanis, Rotary, Elks, Moose, and Jaycees were busy collecting toys, food, clothes for the needy.
Pampa had lots of Christmases with snow! Yep, back then we had lots and lots of snow. It was great for us kids in the different neighborhoods with snowball fights, sleds to pull one another, or building a snowman. Central Park had slopes for all the kids and their sleds.
My dad worked for Magnolia Oil Company; they had an oil lease close to Lefors where there were lots of canyons. Dad had a big ‘41 Pontiac that could carry eight to 10 jubilant boys with four or five sleds in the trunk. He would take us to those canyons, and we had a blast racing down the hills and falling off into a snowbank!
As I said, WWII was just over and most of us were so conscience and thankful and appreciative of the American way of life, especially at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, that we WANTED TO CELEBRATE AND SHARE THE FREEDOMS OUR GOOD LORD GAVE US TO ENJOY!
So, as Tiny Tim says in a wonderful Christmas story, “MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO All A GOOD NIGHT!!!”
God Bless Everyone.
