O’Shea Christmases of Long Ago

Christmas was always a celebration in the O’Shea home, according to Bud O’Shea, Chief Executive Officer. He and his brothers recalled some memories of that holiday from when they were young for the book, “Born to Build.”

Their parents, Harold and Jane, were married on May 14, 1930 in Divernon at the home of Jane’s mother. The couple’s boys (Pat, Bud, Jim, and Paul) were born during the Depression, when families had to scrimp more than ever. “They cut deep into food and everything just to hang on to the house,” Bud said.

Holidays during the Depression were sparse, said Pat, Bud’s older brother, who passed away this May. “At Christmas, I think it only happened this one time, but our toys disappeared, then came back on Christmas. But they had been fixed, painted, and cleaned up. We felt fortunate to have a dad able to do that sort of thing, since he was a carpenter.” As usual, the boys would hang their stockings up by the fireplace, Pat added. “There would maybe be nuts or candy, occasionally fruit. Whatever went in the stocking was fairly limited. Frankly, we boys paid more attention to the toys.”

In 1940, when Bud was six years old, Walgreens advertised toys in the Springfield papers such as a “high powered, hook and ladder” fire engine with “a loud siren” for $1 and a panda pull toy for 48 cents. A pound of chocolates was 35 cents and a box of 25 “Garcia Sublime Perfecto” cigars was 95 cents, while a tobacco pouch with “gum leather lining” was a whole dollar. It seems laughably cheap by today’s standards, but it was a small fortune for some at the time.

“Every Christmas we gave Grandpa cigars,” Jim recalled. “No matter how we wrapped them to deceive him, he always guessed his presents were cigars.” Pat took up the story from there: “One year, dad fooled us when he brought in a long wooden container. Grandpa opened the huge box, which contained two boxes of cigars. Grandpa was delighted and everyone else was in laughter.”

 “Christmas was always a big event with my parents and they went all out to make it a joy, Bud said “We always had a nice floor to ceiling tree and fire in the fireplace. Dinner included our extended family of grandparents, aunts, and uncles. My favorite foods were turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry slices, and the selection of desserts.”