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Despite the war, the 1943 Christmas season went on almost as it had in the past. The season officially began on December 1 when merchants began handing out tickets with each $.25 purchase. For example, each dollar spent would be worth four tickets. Shoppers then wrote their names on the tickets and deposited them in boxes in the different stores. Beginning on December 11, drawings were held each Saturday night until Christmas. Due to the wartime scarcity and rationing, war bonds and stamps were given out instead of merchandise and cash as had been the custom in the past.
The town’s Christmas lights were turned on for the first time on December 11. In addition to streamers draped across Main Street, two Christmas trees were attached to each of the 27 granite light poles that lined Main and Oak.
The final drawing was held in the afternoon on Christmas Eve. Following the drawing, “Santa” arrived in a truck bearing treats for the children. Due to a shortage of candy, nuts, and other goodies, youngsters were asked to take only one treat and not try to sneak back into the line for more.
The ladies of the Legion Auxiliary were working to make sure every man and woman in the service was remembered with a Christmas gift. As usual, the gift was cigarettes, except for those who were known not to smoke.
Some of the local girls were suffering from the wartime shortage of men. “Pity the poor gals this year,“ wrote Editor Allison. “We know of one who generally gets a hold of a half dozen sweethearts in order to get more Christmas presents. It’s different this year and she told us the other day that she didn’t even have one. It’s a sad life for the little chiselers these days.“ After Christmas, Allison reported that “one gal who thought she had lined up enough suckers to get a bunch of presents was very disappointed. It seems the suckers got wise and banded together to buy her one dime bottle of the most vile-smelling perfume they could find.”
Women today would never resort to such tactics. Would they?
On the evening of December 21, the children in the lower grades presented their annual operetta to a packed house in the City Auditorium. The 1943 production was “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” The part of Snow White was played by Norene Maw. Other characters included Edith Skovbo as the Wicked Queen; Billy Jim Huetig as the King; Duane Lukes as Prince Charming. The Dwarfs were played by Harold Dirks, Robert Solso, Bob and Dickie Schuler, Jerry August, Eugene Church, and Gary Coonrod.
Unlike Disney’s planned remake of Snow White, little Norene actually did have “skin white as snow” and the dwarfs portrayed by genuine little people.
The Juniors also presented their class play in the Auditorium. The cast of “Tell It to the Marines” included Marjorie Moore, Clark Smith, John Peterson, Wanda Huetig, Beverly Sohler, Verneil Lundquist, Aileen Carlson, Della Reimers, Natalie Burns, Junior Brockmoller, and Kenneth Wacker. During the first intermission, LaVon Shearer and Shirley Rimel sang two Christmas songs. During the second intermission, the boys quintet sang two negro spirituals. The latter was said to have brought down the house.
An Advocate editorial noted the “Big Four” Allied leaders had laid down a plan to deal with the Axis nations after the war. At the first conference held in Cairo, Egypt, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Chiang Kai-Shek decided that Japan would be stripped of all its possessions, confined to its home islands, and reduced to a thirdrate power.
At a second conference held in Tehran, Iran, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin hatched a plan for the total destruction of Germany. “The Germans are to be crushed to the point where they will be too busy existing to prepare for world domination.”
But a funny thing happened on the road to destruction. Stalin took over much of Eastern Europe and helped export communism to China and North Korea. Suddenly China, which had been our friend, became our enemy; and Japan, which had been our enemy, became our friend. Russia, which had been our friend, became our enemy; and what was left of Germany, which had been our enemy, became our friend.
In other war news: a bomber piloted by Lieutenant John D Haskell, son of Mr. and Mrs. C. D. Haskell of Laurel, was forced to make a crash landing in the Adriatic Sea between Italy and Albania. Haskell’s plane suddenly went out of control and he ordered the crew to bail out. But one man had trouble with his parachute and was unable to jump. Haskell rode the plane down and made a crash landing in the sea. All members of the crew survived and were picked up by an Italian rescue boat.
Nice of the Italians to do that as Haskell had flown more than 50 missions over Italy and had participated in the bombing of Rome.
Another bomber crash did not have a happy ending. Staff Sergeant Francis M. Wiley of Hartington was a crew member on a bomber that crashed during a training flight in Kentucky on December 23. All were killed. Wiley, the only son of Clerk of the District Court and Mrs. Otto Wiley, was born in Hartington and graduated with the Class of 1938.
During his high school years, he joined the Hartington National Guard Company and then enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942. He had just been home on furlough for the birth of his second child and had returned to duty on December 13 ten days before his death.
A memorial service was held at the Logan Center Church in honor of Emory Graffis, who had been killed in the line of duty on Guadalcanal.
Reverend E. C. King was in charge of the service with Reverend John Caldwell of the Presbyterian Church assisting. Lieutenant Warren Patefield of the Army Air Corps spoke a few words. The closing ceremony was in charge of the Laurel American Legion.
