Christmas: Browse The Strips

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Lynn's Comments: My dad took us to the Hudson's Bay store one year to see Santa. We were a bit too old to do the Santa thing, but this was something we felt we were doing for Dad. He was in a great mood and enthusiastically encouraged us to wait in a long line. As we stood there, he went on and on about the decorations and the scene in which Santa had been placed. I remember thinking that he was way more excited about this than we were. Eventually, Alan and I had our turns on Santa's lap, were photographed, given a candy cane, and allowed to go. Dad was beaming, and on the bus heading home, he quizzed us about our Santa experience. "Well," I said, "he was greasy and smelled like cigarettes and needed to use a toothbrush really badly."

Alan added, "His beard wasn't real and didn't fit right, and I didn't like the way he said 'Ho, Ho, Ho'." Dad looked out the window of the bus for a while and said little else about our trip to see the great Claus. When we got home, I overheard Dad talking to Mom about our excursion. As it turned out ... the man who was dressed as Santa was a great pal of our dad's!

Monday, December 17, 2012

Lynn's Comments: One of the things I loved about my dad was that he took things in stride. He didn't get too upset when something got broken. Stuff, after all, was just stuff, and what couldn't be repaired could be replaced. As long as it hadn't been maliciously done, occasional breakage was not a big deal. We did, after all, have a gift shop, and china got broken in transit all the time.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Mom was a master at repairing things. She could glue and sand and paint and varnish almost anything so that the crack, chip, or missing piece was restored. This meant that anything broken at the store that was salvageable, made it's way home. We had, therefore, a plethora of pots, vases, statuettes, and collectible objects strategically placed about the house. At the time, smoking was fashionable. On every table, armchair, and bookshelf was an ashtray with a butt in every one. Dusting the china and cleaning the ashtrays was often my job, and when I got to be a teenager, I swore that when I had a place of my own, it would have no bric-a-brac or dust-collecting junk anywhere. That was then. I now have my share of detritus but it's all in cabinets and there are no ashtrays!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Lynn's Comments: The story about the glass angel was a sort of feel-good Christmas story. It eventually became the outline for an animated special called The Christmas Angel.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Lynn's Comments: The real Farley didn't care much for candy, but he did like to chew stuff. Knowing he was not allowed near the Christmas tree, he would sneak across the floor like a stalking cat. Then, when he thought we weren't looking, he'd bite chunks off the candy canes and spit them out. I bought plastic candy canes to replace the real ones, and these later (when we no longer had a pet) became part of a family tradition: when Aaron and Katie helped decorate the tree, the candy canes were plastic but on Christmas morning, they "magically" became real!

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Lynn's Comments: I love to wrap gifts. This happy pastime evolved when I worked in my parents' gift and jewellery store. We offered a gift-wrapping service and mom was an expert. At the back of the shop there was a table all set up for this. Long rolls of wrapping paper and rolls of ribbon hung conveniently above the table where Mom kept tape, scissors, gift cards, and all kinds of floral toppers--for that final touch. She showed me how to fold the edges of the paper so the bottom and the sides of the package were beautifully neat. We made huge puffy bows with paper ribbon, and we "stripped" the ties 'til they curled. Gift-wrapping was a job I loved and the customers came back again and again for our wrapping skills ... and just to visit. We had one of those shops that went the extra mile! I still love to gift-wrap, and I've passed the skills on to my daughter who has taken this to an even higher level--she makes gift baskets that are too beautiful to open!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Once in a while, I would put a bit of religion into Christmas and Easter strips to prove that I DID know the reason for the celebration and to assuage the readers who thought I was far too focused on the commercial aspects. I could guarantee three kinds of mail when a strip like this was released: One came from the Christian right, who asked that much more focus be put on ecclesiastical issues; one from the atheists, who felt that I was pushing religion down their throats; and finally the moderates, who appreciated the occasional reminder that festivals like this deserve a nod to the deity for whom the chocolate was fashioned and the bells were tolled. Again, I tried to answer every letter I received. Even if I disagreed with someone's philosophy, I certainly appreciated the time they took to write to me.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Lynn's Comments: My bed had a white headboard and, for as long as I can remember, a violet, flowered bedspread. I would turn it into a vehicle, a flying carpet, or a tent in the wilderness -- and with each incarnation came a different position for sleeping. I used the pillow for everything from a headrest and chest protector to a dashboard and helmet. The blankets could be a cloak, a tent, or a capsule in outer space. In my bed, my imagination went wild, which was good thing ... because I was sent to my room a lot!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Comparing what we got for Christmas with the neighbourhood kids might have been a problem for our folks, except that everyone in our neighbourhood had just about the same stuff. None of us seemed to have more or less than anyone else, and those who were scrimping managed to look clean, healthy, well dressed, and confident. We lived on Fifth and Lonsdale. Folks living on Fourth fit into our "status," and folks on Sixth did, too. Above and below these streets, there seemed to be a marked difference. If we compared our yuletide haul with anyone on Third, for example, we were likely to be called rich. This was easier to take than comparisons with kids who lived on Eighth or Keith Road or the Boulevard. Our stash would be meagre compared to the kids who lived up there! Whenever I go home, I'm drawn to this area of North Vancouver. For the most part, the wartime houses and the tenement buildings have gone. In their places are impossibly priced condos and attached homes--hard for even the most confident buyers to afford, and I wonder if these subtle lines of "status" still exist. If so, it would be interesting to find out what the "poor" kids in this area get for Christmas!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Wherever Aaron was playing, Katie wanted to be, too. With their big difference in ages, she was considered a pest. The boys would holler for assistance and I'd rescue them from the fumbling hands of a little kid. I would then have to find something special for Katie to do so she wouldn't feel left out. I often wondered if her gravitation to the boys' bombs and light sabres wasn't a neat ploy to get 100% of Mom's attention!

Friday, December 28, 2012

Lynn's Comments: This is one of the strips I actually used in an effort to find someone. The names "Stan, Gretchen, Barb, and Kenny" appeared on a Christmas card with no last name and no return address. I never did find out who they were ... so if you're reading this, folks, and you sent a card to the Johnstons in 1983 ... this is why you never got one in return!

Monday, December 2, 2013

Lynn's Comments: For the longest time, the Sears catalogue was our window into the world of new toys. Every Christmas, the special edition came out and was devoured upon delivery. These days the big box stores have it all right there, and the Internet will find you anything "unique."Â The catalogues are smaller now and feature clothing, mostly. Parents can pick and purchase toys before the book even comes out. Another tradition bows to instant availability!

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Lynn's Comments: The crawl space in the strip was based on the one we had in our Lynn Lake house. The entrance was about three feet square with a door you pulled off and set to the side. The space inside was wide and went right under the house, which made for some dark and spooky spaces. Just inside the entrance, however, the kids had a playhouse, which saw a lot of action during the long, cold winter months. The crawl space was awkward to get into and a dusty place to store things, but we used it all the time!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Putting up Christmas lights on our log house was a challenge. The high peaked roof was a difficult place to climb, and the sides were hard to reach because of a glass porch we'd installed. When we learned that some folks were putting up smaller lights and leaving them all year 'round, we did the same. Still, the image of Dad having to struggle with Christmas lights every year was too good to abandon in the strip!

Friday, December 20, 2013

Lynn's Comments: I not only cry during children's stage plays, I cry at parades! All those lives, all that talent and potential makes me very emotional.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Lynn's Comments: We always had bubble lights on our tree when Alan and I were young. They were our favourite ornaments. We loved to play with them and take them apart. One Christmas, Alan was very sick. He had a high fever, and just to prove it, he put the glass tube from a bubble light in his mouth--and it bubbled! What a nifty thermometer! We thought Mom would be angry, but she wasn't. When you're feeling miserable on Christmas morning, anything that makes you smile is just fine.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Lynn's Comments: This is the prayer my grandfather always said before a big meal. "For what we are about to receive, may the lord make us truly thankful." We thought it was a great prayer. It was sincere. It was genuinely heartfelt, and it said what needed to be said--before the gravy got cold!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Lynn's Comments: I have always been uncomfortable around guns--even toy guns. Aaron, like most boys, ran around with his friends shooting sticks or fingers or whatever they could find that was shaped like a firearm. When a relative sent him a realistic toy gun, he was thrilled and I was upset. If he had any gun at all, I thought it should be purchased by his parents and given to him along with a stern lecture about weaponry, war, and the seriousness of shooting living things.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Christmas has always been my favourite time of year. I start looking for the perfect gifts in January and continue on until December. Funny stuff is best, and when I find the perfect thing for the perfect person, I can hardly wait to wrap it and give it away. Maybe it's because we had so little when I was young that makes shopping such a treat. My brother and I were lucky to get one special toy. Anything else had to be useful--like clothes or school supplies. We learned to save and to spend judiciously. When birthdays or Christmas came the suspense was awful; knowing we might get something we had been longing for--if we could afford it. Even now I wonder what our parents did without so Alan and I could have something special for Christmas.

Our parents were adept at making ends meet. Even though we had little to live on, we had everything. In looking back, I can see that we had what mattered most: a solid, caring family, a comfortable home, good friends, and confidence in future. This is what I tried to portray in For Better or For Worse. No matter what happened, there was always something good to look forward to.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Some of the names used here were Katie's friends. Other were kids that had bullied her at school because of the strip, so this was a way to include the local children and show that we wanted to include everyone we could, whenever possible.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I think I was in grade three when I was cast in a school Christmas pageant as a wise person. I was told to wear my bathrobe as a costume, but my mom was so upset by its frayed condition that she hurriedly made me a new one out of striped material--much like the robes worn in Christian-Hollywood flicks. Though my behaviour wasn't particularly saintly, I wore my pageant bathrobe for years, pretending I was right out of the Bible!