Editor's note: This article was written by Mary Bramblett, Piedmont City Council-person, as she reflects on Christmases past.

In the 1940's in Piedmont, the Christmas season began after the first day of December and lasted until the first day of the new year.

I remember those days as being filled with anticipation. Usually the cotton mill turned the colored lights on in its' magnolia tree about the same time as the city hung row after row of lights, strung from one side of the street to the other. The windows along main street became a wishing place for all the kids in town as they stood pressing their noses against the glass, entranced by the wonderful displays of toys just inches away.

Some of my favorite places in town were the dime stores. We were blessed with two, one on each end of the street. They had dolls that could talk, wet their diapers and even take baths. There were police cars with sirens, trains that move along their tracks just like the real trains that moved daily down the track through Piedmont. All the toys were confined to an area in the back of the W.W. Mark store, and throughout the store were Christmas ornaments, tinsel, cotton, and long boxes of silver icicles. There was never a shortage of white cotton to pile under the tree. If your folks worked at the mill they brought home a roll of it right before the tree went up.

If you were lucky you'd have a little change for the candies in the big display cabinet at the front door. The older lady would very carefully slide the door back and go into the case as if it was made of gold. She would carefully pull out one square for a dime, weigh it on the scale, and picking it up with wax paper, slip the small bundle into a small white paper sack. If I tried I could make that candy last a week; of course it might have tiny pinches and drool on it, but I could do it.

Somewhere around the 15th of the month the Christmas parade was held. It started at the old high school and worked its way through town down by the lower end which was a row of stories with a porch across the front and was a hangout for a lot of people. After the lower end of the parade marched by the cotton mill all the way to the Y.M.C.A., the hub of activity in Piedmont. Everyone and everything was connected to the YMCA From old to young, everyone took part in the parade. High school bands came from all over the county, both black and white; also bands from Talladega and Gadsden. There were floats from every church, every organization, every class in school. At the front of the parade a police car carried the mayor and at the end of the parade was a fire truck carrying Santa Claus.

A few days after the parade, it was time for the White Christmas program at school. Each room had a basket. Usually school was dismissed at lunch so we went into assembly where the older kids usually performed a play. The principal would lead us in Christmas carols and the baskets would be carried down front; then we would all go back to our classrooms and give out gifts. Most years we drew names and sometimes you might get a gift from the teacher. Maybe a pencil or something small, but it was loved and appreciated. Before heading home we had cookies or cake, a few pieces of candy, and apple and an orange.

School turned out for two weeks for the holidays and during the first week we usually put up a Christmas tree. My dad would take is axe and we'd walk into the woods through broom sage and vines, until we found the perfect cedar. He'd cut it down and drag it back home. Once home, he'd try and nail two pieces of wood to the bottom like a makeshift stand, but it never succeeded. It didn't matter. The old decorations were dug out. We had one strand of lights and I though we were rich for having those. After the lights were placed across the limbs we piled on old ribbons and whatever we thought was pretty. Then mama would shoo us out of her way and place the cotton under the tree, and to this day I have never seen a tree that was as pretty as that cedar.

We never lacked for food since we grew most of what we ate. But Christmas was special. Just a day or so before Christmas or sometimes Christmas Eve, Mama and Daddy took us to Morgan's M & T supermarket. Mama took the basket and rolled it around picking up things we didn't usually get with out groceries. There were peppermint sticks, chocolate creams, and always the nuts; pecans, English walnuts, and Brazil nuts. Dad always wanted tangerines; Mama the oranges and coconut; and me and my brother John the big red apples. While waiting for Mr. Hanes Morgan to figure out what we owed he'd always talk about the mill. It was a good Christmas if the mill was working six day weeks, but a slow one if it was working three or four. My dad always said, "if you owe a debt you pay that before you go to the grocery store because you gave your word."

Finally, Christmas Eve.

Mama and Granny would cook all day. There was always a coconut cake made with raisins and pecans, chocolate cake and candies. There were pork chops and all kinds of meat. Then when night came Mama's family would gather at my Granny and Grandpa's. Their house wasn't very large, but at this time of year it grew even smaller. All the relatives packed themselves in, and acted just like kids again. They played with us, teased us, and loved us. There was usually a table full of food and somewhere hidden away a bottle of liquor stored in the kitchen.

We also gave out gifts on Christmas Eve and I can remember not getting a gift from my grandmother. She never had a lot of money but somehow managed to give everyone a gift. I still have the silk scarf she gave me on her last Christmas. I usually take the scarf out around Christmas just to remember her and the love she showed everyone she met. She always said that everyone is somebody's baby s be good to them, treat them with love and respect.

Christmas day was a repeat of the feast of Christmas Eve, except bigger. We got up early to open gifts, even before the fireplace warmed up the house. Breakfast was gulped down so we could play.

Happy and very loved — This is the way I remember Christmas. And even though family members have passed on, time can't erase the love we had or the memory of their smiles on their faces at Christmas.