The Little Red Lamp

Mother and Daddy at the Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, circa 1944

        
        When I was about eight, my aunt Frances had given me five dollars for my birthday in September of which I had saved some for a Christmas present for my mother.

       In those days, there were two dime stores in Aberdeen.  Mack's was the oldest and most popular; by the 1950's it was called a "5 - 10 and 15-cent store," and it was there that I went looking for a gift.  

       Mack's was an excellent store to buy candy, dish towels, can openers, baseball cards, and any number of other useful things.   As Aunt Frances (who was a particularly conservative interior decorator) would have been the first to tell me, it was not the best place to find a tasteful gift for the home.

That's me minus a few teeth in 1950

         I was confident I had found the perfect Christmas present there, a little red lamp.  I do mean all red.  Red glass "hurricane" globe, red imitation-crystal droplets, red base.  It cost $1.29, it was my own money,  and I was thrilled with the beauty of my purchase.

       Come Christmas morning when I brought out my prize find, I was proud to see Mother's absolute delight with her magnificent gift.  

       The lamp and her reaction became instant family folklore.  I don't know if she had any advance warning from my father, but she certainly didn't miss a beat.   She explained with great enthusiasm that it  was so special, so beautiful, that she was going to wrap it up and put it away safely in the attic as soon as Christmas was over, and then bring it down every year for the holidays.

        Which she did.  

       I don't know what ultimately happened to my little red lamp, but I do remember it was still out in its prime spot, surrounded by holly and mistletoe, when I returned home in 1997 for what was to be Mother's last Christmas.   

 The parents quite a few years later

   
 
Your input is welcomed:  frank.pleasants@libertysurf.fr