One of the fun (?) duties of the BDC's part-time assistant is responsibility for changing out the Research Room display case from time to time. Cassi recently did so with a "Winter Holidays" theme with snowflakes and a snowman as key decorative elements.
She choose some Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa related materials to highlight that the BDC collects "local holidays," too. I also see the selection process as a way for my assistants to learn the collection. It takes time to search the catalog, browse the shelves, and integrate both the theme of the display case with potential items to share through the display. Not only do the selected items need to cover the theme, the items should be visually interesting and/or visually demonstrate the variety of formats we house here in the Research Room.
Cassi chose the following items for the top shelf :
A stuffed snowman sits to the left of a photograph from reproductions of Lucille Hasell Culp's photographs relating to Beaufort County's Blizzard of 1973 and The Chinese Christmas Box. We try to collect copies of titles published by local presses. The Chinese Christmas Box by Gerald Chan Sieg; calligraphy by Han Sun Woo was a product of poet Edith Dowling's private press, "The Peacock Press, LTD." The booklet was printed by the Beaufort Gazette in 1970.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, the Christmas letter (love them or hate them) is a post-WW2 American phenomenon. The BDC has one book of Christmas letters that I love and the subtitle says it all, Christmas Letters: An African-American Story, 1968 - 2003 by Ervena Faulkner. Faulkner taught in the public schools, was a school counselor, shared her life and recipes through a column in the Beaufort Gazette/Island Packet newspapers, and was honored by the Penn Center 1862 Circle in 2019. In this book, she shares stories of the goings on, successes and challenges of her family life and career. Her prose is always upbeat and full of warmth. What I most admire is that she wrote a letter every November for 35 years without fail. Now that's impressive! Copies are available in the BDC Research Room and available for checkout in the Local History sections at the Branch Libraries.
Dennis Adams wrote a lot of longer and shorter essays and web articles during his long tenure here at Beaufort County Library. His "Answer Man" newspaper columns featured a number of holiday traditions: candles, cards, carols, pyramids, and trees. The one that Cassi put in the display case is "Kwanzaa celebrates unity of Black Family." It was published in the 21 December 2003 issue of the Beaufort Gazette. The index to all his "Answer Man" columns and the clippings are available in the Research Room.
Pinned to the back of Shelf 2 are the two letters to Santa. I have transcribed the letters published in the Beaufort Gazette for you. Bernadine [no last name] was a bit creative in her spelling but concise in her requests:
Mr. Santa Claus
North Pole
Dear Santa Clause
I want some things.
This is tow [sic] things I want a game and a birthstone ring from Bernadine.
Sylvia Alston was quite specific in her requests, provided her address - just in case Santa needed it, I suppose - and was a bit more chatty in her letter. Though I must admit, it's a little unclear whether the clothes are part of the "something left on the table for [Santa]" or if Sylvia had an afterthought and discovered that she wanted clothes for herself too:
Sylnia Alston [sic]
709 Ribaut Rd.
Beaufort, S.C.
Santa Claus
North Pole, U.S.A.
Dear Santa Claus,
This is what I would like for Christmas. I would like to have the Suze Homemaker Washer Dryer. And I would also like to have the wardrobe of Francie's on page 626 in the Sears catalog. And I would like to have Barbies house and Francies Case. Tell Mrs. Claus and the reindeer I said hello. There will be something left on the table for you.
PS And some clothes to.
Sylvia Alston
I doubt that there are very many little girls left who would ask for a play washer dryer these days.
I do appreciate Sylvia's specificity regarding the Sears catalog. As a young child in the 1960s, I too remember the excitement of the Sears Christmas catalog arriving in the mail box. I would flip the pages in hopes that Santa would be able to bring me at least something pictured thereon.
Shelf 3 also has a letter to Santa.
Sherri Fickling begins by complementing Santa with her good esteem and then gets straight to business.
From Sherri Fickling
Beaufort
S.C.
to Santa
Beaufort, S.C.
FRME Sherri [sic]
Dear Santa, I like you. And Here is what I have to say. I want A Hi. Q. game, and trouble. and I want a Babie Magic.
and a big bike.
Pinned next to the letter is a Culp photograph of the
Mather School float in the 1956 Beaufort Christmas parade.
Holiday Cooking in This Old House by Orral Ann Moss is a more personal cookbook of family recipes in cursive script, spiral bound in seasonal red and green, with illustrations drawn by the chef. She includes an easy to prepare "Yum Yum Salad" on page 35: 2 boxes lime jello
1 can #2 pineapple (crushed)
1 pint Whipping cream (whipped)
1 cup grated cheese
Dissolve jello in 2 cups of boiling water when cool add cheese and whipped cream. Chill.
On top put this "Dressing for Yum Yum Salad"
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp. chopped celery
2 tbsp green or red pepper
2 drops onion juice
red cake coloring
Mix all ingredients and color red. This is from my Aunt Luddie Tuten.
... which leaves us all plenty of time to finish wrapping those presents while the jello congeals and before Santa arrives. The BDC Research Room has the
only copy of this title in the SCLENDS Consortium.
The clipping "It's beginning to look a lot like the Symbols of the Holidays" is from the 21 December 2003 issue of the
Beaufort Gazette pages 1C-2C. It, too, is normally housed in a
BDC vertical file.
Shelf 4 features two books
I Walked in Santa's Boots and
Dem Twelb Day.
A memoir is the least objective, most personal form of writing. I Walked in Santa's Boots is a memoir by Jack Gannon of his 23 years helping out old St. Nick here in Beaufort County. You can see an interview by Sandy Bernson host of "Talk of the Town" a few years ago with him. Copies of the book are available in the BDC and Local Histories sections if you would like to check it out.
Dem Twelb Day by Mary Pinckney Jones, illustrated by Larry Sturdivant (1992) retells the classic "Twelve Days of Christmas" in Gullah dialect and has a twist at the end. It begins: On duh fus' day uh Christmas uh felluh come tuh see me an 'e say come fuh co'te me. 'E brang me uh pa'tridge a-settin' in uh peah tree. Now oonuh fuh tell me, wuh I gwine fuh do wid dat? Well, I say tuh muhsel' I kind fry up dat bu'd w'en hongry duh nab an' I kin plant dat tree an' mebbe I hab some nice peah fuh eat nex' summuh. So's I say tengky kin 'ely tuh dat fellun.
On the next day the suitor comes again and brings two cooing doves. She again decides the birds would make a delicious supper but she doesn't give the man much credit for intelligence:
Bres Gawd, on duh berry nex' day hyuh 'e come 'gen-dat felluh. Dis time 'e brung me two uh dem dooey dub. Dat felluh yent fuh got one lick uh sense. Well, I reckon as how I kin pot dem dub an' dey gwine be nice sometime fuh muh suppuh. So's I say tengky 'gen tuh data felluh.
This humorous retelling ultimately includes love, marriage, and a whole passel of young ones. The BDC has the only copy of this title in the SCLENDS consortium.
I hope that you will agree that Cassi made good choices - and that the exposition that I built from her choices adds a little local history flavor to your upcoming holiday festivities.
Reminder: The Library will be closed December 23 - December 27 and on December 31, 2021 and January 1, 2022.
I hope that you will agree that Cassi made good choices - and that the exposition that I built from her choices adds a little local history flavor to your upcoming holiday festivities. 
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