性视界APP

Well, that hasn鈥檛 changed much in the succeeding 30 or 40 years.

Christmas merchandise still makes it appearance in August each year.

I have noticed that Halloween has made a big push in recent years. Early Christmas displays are somewhat overshadowed in August, September, and October by all the Halloween stuff. (If you care to look deeply enough, you might find that a bit unsettling, too.)

When Halloween passes and all the candy and costumes are gone, the Christmas push is fully underway. Strangely, the loser seems to be Thanksgiving Day. It鈥檚 hard to imagine鈥�. Thanksgiving lost between the 鈥渕arketing鈥� of Halloween and Christmas. I, personally, find that unsettling, too. It is, unfortunately, a sign of the times.

In the days of my youth, it seemed Christmas was not given much thought until Thanksgiving Day was past. It was about that time, (by design, I鈥檓 sure) that the Sears Roebuck and Company Christmas Wish Book arrived in the mail at Route 2, Carthage, TN. That鈥檚 when my brothers, my sister and I got really serious about Christmas, especially Santa Claus. For the next four weeks, we gave that Wish Book a going over.

At the McCall household, Santa Claus relied heavily on Sears Roebuck and Company. So, the McCall children took shopping the Wish Book very seriously.

That wish book got very little rest. With four boys and a girl actively 鈥渟hopping,鈥� it meant the catalog was in use during most waking hours. This led to many a heated fuss.

When the issue of time with the catalog became hotly contested, my mother served as referee. I distinctly remember many conversations relating to the Wish Book.

鈥淢ama, make him give me the Christmas catalog! He鈥檚 been looking at it for an hour!鈥� a brother would say.

Sometimes, to keep the peace, my mother would impose a 30-minute limit.

The next one in line for the catalog would watch the clock. Invariably, that yielded this announcement: 鈥淢ama, his 30 minutes are up. Make him give it to me!鈥�

鈥淕ive your brother the catalog!鈥� she would declare.

The one giving up the Wish Book would hand it over to the one waiting for it and snarl, 鈥淵ou big baby!鈥�

For over a month it was passed around, day and night. What to choose? How to decide?

I鈥檝e spent many an hour studying the pages of a Sears Wish Book. Back and forth, page by page. And I changed my mind a thousand times. I would go to bed thinking about my possible choices. Then, the next morning I would need to see the catalog again.

Sometimes it became misplaced which created a household crisis. Years later, looking back, I suspected my mother hid the darn thing just to cut down on the racket.

By the time Christmas arrived, that Wish Book was missing its front and back covers, was dog-eared and as limp as a dish rag.

Sometimes we changed our minds at the last minute and put in our order to Santa Claus too late, and didn鈥檛 get exactly what we asked for. But no one was ever unhappy on Christmas morning.

As I recall, the Sears Wish Book was delivered to our mailbox at no cost back in those days. But price or no price, we surely got our money鈥檚 worth.