Opening the December 1954 issue of North Dakota Living holds all the excitement of a child opening a gift on Christmas morning. It is a Christmas treasure. Visions of nostalgia dance in one’s head, perhaps yearning for a simpler, different time in rural America.
Yet, it also speaks to the magic of Christmas. There is something so warm and pure and enduring about Christmastime. It’s a topic, a season that doesn’t get “old.”
Enjoy these “Top 5 Christmas Tidbits” from Volume I, No. 6 of this 70-year-old publication.
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Cally Peterson is editor of North Dakota Living. She can be reached at cpeterson@ndarec.com.
1. Oh no! Bobo the Bearded was one of four elves who lost their face – and so close to Christmas! On the children’s page, Santa Claus enlisted the help of children to draw the elves’ faces.
2. Mrs. Leonard Texel, a Mountrail Electric Cooperative member from Stanley, shared three of her favorite recipes for the yuletide season: cranberry salad, apple crisp and butter taffy.
3. Willie Wiredhand, the longtime mascot for rural electrification, pitched electric appliances as Christmas gifts for everyone on Santa’s nice list.
4. In addition to “decking the halls” inside, North Dakota Living suggested decorating the exterior of one’s home, which would have been a newer concept in rural areas. However, readers were reminded to practice safety, ensuring outside decorations were designed for outside use, proving safe electric use has always been a priority topic in the magazine.
5. The magazine announced an exciting new Christmas giveaway: One lucky rural electric cooperative member would be drawn to win a free, new Frigidaire electric dryer worth $179.95! More than 10% of North Dakota Living readers entered the contest. Entries stacked 14 inches high and totaled 3,208.
Late on Christmas Eve 1954, Mr. and Mrs. John Suckert, Verendrye Electric Cooperative members from Velva, received a telegram from North Dakota Living. Mrs. Suckert was “overjoyed” to learn she would be getting an electric dryer for Christmas.
Five Reasons Why We Need A Dryer
If I’d win a dryer, how happy I’d be,
The dread of hanging the wash would be over for me.
In winter I freeze my fingers and toes,
To say nothing about wear and tear on my clothes.
In summer the hot sun fades the clothes,
And boy! Oh gee, how it burns my nose.
While I hurry and hang, I hope and I pray,
If there’s a snake around, it won’t come my way.
This poem was written by Patsy Schmidt, a Verendrye Electric Cooperative member of Minot, in December 1954. She submitted the poem with her entry and hope of winning a new electric dryer in a North Dakota Living giveaway.
