Holiday Happenings Last Century

A lot was happening on this day in 1921. People were driving into town to wrap up shopping for the Christmas holiday. Community newspaper correspondents spread the news of holiday happenings throughout Bossier Parish. Pages of local newspapers were dotted with wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New year.

There were announcements of those returning home for the holidays and those traveling out of town to spend Christmas with loved ones. For those that were sick during the holiday season, there were well wishes for a speedy recovery in time to enjoy Christmas festivities. And with schools closing until the New Year, many teachers and students returned home for the holidays.

Since the advent of the American oil boom, there had been daily reports of the progress of oil prospectors across the parish. Holidays were no exception. The Bellevue oilfield had seven more wells, with four in operation. The work of the Roy Company at the Scanland No. 1 site was temporarily suspended due to labor trouble; operations were expected to resume after Christmas.

U.S. Christmas Seal, 1921-23, Unknown author
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The U.S. post office announced they would permit the
application of Christmas stickers and Red Cross seals on the address side of letters and other mail, provided they do not interfere with the address. The decision resulted from the suspension from December 1st to January 1st of the rule that forbade such stickers.

The following week, community correspondents for the Bossier Banner gave accounts of Christmas in their communities. Around Brushy, the correspondent reported that "Christmas was a rather dull season in this community." And that "Some of the residents of the Brushy community attended the Christmas tree given at Alden Bridge Christmas eve night. A good time was reported."

Reports from Carterville stated, "The Christmas tree and program at the Covington School House was enjoyed by all present." Pleasant Hill reported that "Old Santa gave us a wintery Christmas this year."

In Plain Dealing, "Mrs. Sarah Highlander entertained a number of the young people of this section with a tacky party Christmas eve night. There was a large crowd present and all seemed to enjoy themselves very much." Meanwhile, "The community Christmas tree at the High School Auditorium, while a complete success, was not as well attended as it would have been had the heavy rain not fallen early in the evening, causing the streets to be quite sloppy. The singing by the quartet was fine, after which old Santa Claus did his part."

Around Kingswood, the report stated, "The season was greatly enjoyed by our little community. There was a Christmas tree at the school house, with a nice program by the school children; then a bell rang to announce the arrival of old Santa, which was a joyous sight to the children. The tree was laden with presents for every one and, regardless of the bad weather all had a grand time."

While many were visiting friends and family and having a jolly good time, some community members worked hard. Like Sheriff Adair and Deputy Sheriff Job Wilson, who were accompanied by a few of the residents of the Dean's Point southeast of Benton, spending most of Christmas day locating and destroying a bootlegger's still.

By: Amy Robertson