December 23, 2007

Christmas in 1946 had fewer presents, batteries

By Gene Krider

The first Christmas my family filmed with our new 8mm movie camera was 1946. Those two reels, along with all our home movies, have been transferred to a two-hour VHS video cassette. The Christmas films run a total of seven silent minutes and cost $6 each. It cost $25 in 1983 to have the 200-foot movie reel containing all our home movies transferred to video tape.

Back in ’46, a gallon of gas cost less than 10 cents and a Coke a nickel, as did a big Hershey bar. That was 16 months after the end of World War II. I have been viewing the tape and thought you might be interested in what Santa brought the Krider children.

First, I should set the scene. A huge Christmas tree was in the center of the wall, and the camera — on a tripod — was in the doorway to my room.

Our camera had a normal lens and could not be zoomed. There were two 500-watt floodlights on each side of the camera. Special indoor color film was used. Each of us came on in turn with our toys around us.

My 4-year-old brother, Danny, came first. He showed his toys to the camera: a tricycle, a large stuffed panda and a toy boat. Next, my 5-year-old brother, Johnny, displayed a tricycle, a large teddy bear, a toy trumpet and drum. My 6-year-old brother, Billy, got a tricycle, a football, a small 78 phonograph and a “busy” table that had pegs and other objects that you could pound on with a wooden mallet.

Ten-year-old Nancy received a baby doll carriage with a baby doll, a pair of skates and a small display doll with a wide ruffled skirt. I got a 78-rpm disc recorder and radio, blank recording discs, a single 12-inch recording of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and a record set of Tschai-kovsky’s “First Piano Concerto.”

There was not a single battery needed for any of the gifts, and only two needed to be plugged into an electrical receptacle.

By today’s standards, this was a meager haul, but to us, it was a bonanza. After this staging of Santa gifts, there is a shot of my grandmother, Ida, with the others around her and me holding up the microphone so they could each describe their presents. Finally, there was a view of me at the piano with a Christmas carol book displayed, but I can tell that I was actually playing Chopin’s “Polonaise in A-flat,” my signature tune at that time.

Then the film ran out.

The recorder started my lifelong obsession with recording music. Unfortunately, the discs deteriorated over time, and the only one I have been able to play and transfer to CD is a recording of me playing Chopin’s “Military Polonaise” that I had learned from music instead of by ear.

I played this difficult piece at a breakneck pace, and I thought that my playback machine was going too fast. I got out the music and checked the notes with my piano, and it was right in tune.

I hope everyone remembers to buy extra power strips so you will have space to plug in all the battery chargers that will come with the electronic gifts you receive so you will have a merry holiday.