Listening to Loretta Lynn’s song about the coal miner’s daughter, I remembered that I too went barefoot all summer as a child, and had new shoes for winter. I did have summer shoes; canvas ones that actually fit my feet because I wouldn’t need them very long. But I didn’t wear them unless we went to town. Winter shoes were always at least a size too large so they would last the school year. Loretta’s were bought from a mail order catalog, and mine were too. Mom drew around my foot and sent the paper off with the order, specifying she wanted the next size large than the drawing. Dad included his own foot drawing when ordering his Blucher boots, although the order blank had a place to mark measurements of both feet.
Last week, two of my kids mentioned that they grew up poor but never knew it. The same was true for me. I thought everyone got their shoes the same way I did. Some of my friends had indoor bathrooms, but many had outhouses like ours, and used kerosene lamps. Most of the neighbors had a vehicle, and we had to share one with my uncle, but that wasn’t any big deal. We could send a grocery list to town with the mailman and he’d deliver the goods on the next mail day, which certainly wasn’t the next day. We didn’t need much from the store because we raised, and canned, most of our food.
My kids had it better, and I felt pretty wealthy as they were growing up. We had a vehicle and their shoes came from a store, but I sewed a lot of our clothing, including all my husband’s western shirts, a graduation suit for a son, prom dresses, and a majorette uniform. Most of our food was still home raised, but when we went to town, we generally carried a lunch to eat in the park instead of spending money at the café. My son says he never minded—the park was fun.
So, Christmas is coming and money is tight. You wonder how to make it through December, and beyond, which is even scarier. You can make it the same way we did, by going without some things you’ve taken for granted. The difference is, you’ll know you’re in hard times, and you aren’t going to like it. I suppose my parents and their peers knew it was hard times back then, but they didn’t share the worry with us. You’ll need to be honest with your family about the changes, because we’ve all gotten used to having what we want when we want it.
Give homemade stuff for Christmas. My family does this, and those are my favorite gifts. We still carry a sandwich to eat on long trips. Wear out what you have before buying new. Most of us have way too many shoes already. Stop buying soda, and drink plain water, not the bottled kind; ounce for ounce, its more expensive than gas. My daughter orders groceries delivered; it saves on impulse buying. Shop at the thrift store. Most of the things I get compliments on came from there. Stay home more. Cut up the credit cards and start paying them down.
My Dad managed to get the money somewhere because he had a few rules. Stay out of debt. Pay cash. Put a little in savings when you can. Don’t go to town unnecessarily. He’s probably the reason the family ranch has survived so far. Growing up poor was good for us; we thought we were having fun, and new shoes were a really big deal.