Remembrances of Christmases Past Ingman Ralph: “I probably had a little bigger part in the Christmas program than I would have liked.”

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By LeAnn R. Ralph 

COLFAX   — Ingman Ralph, who grew up on a farm west of Colfax in the Norton area, says that many of his memories of Christmas revolve around the Norton School Christmas program and the Sunday school Christmas program.

“What I can remember about the programs is that I probably had a little bigger part than I would have liked to have. It was the same every year. The Monday after Thanksgiving, every year we got our part (to learn). We might have gotten them before that for Sunday school. The Christmas programs were kind of fun,” he said.

Ingman’s first memory of school involved walking to school. 

“My first recollection of starting grade school, I was five years old. It just happened my teacher was not 18 yet. She was only 17. (My mother) didn’t have polio yet. It was practically days before she got it, though. She had to walk with us until she could see that we got to school — on top of the hill there (on state Highway 170). I and a friend, Billy, we liked to stop and play in the culvert,” Ingman recalled.

Norma Halvorson Ralph, Ingman’s mother, was stricken with polio in 1942 and was paralyzed in both legs. She spent six months in the hospital in Madison — and for the rest of her life, she walked with crutches, swinging both legs out from the hips. 

Official greeter

Ingman’s first recollection of a school program ended up being a non-speaking part. 

“It wasn’t the Christmas program, but it was the first program I was in. I had to greet the people. There were other first graders, too. I can still remember right where I sat in that room. I was going to welcome the people (to the program). They opened the curtain just enough for me. I looked out there  — and started crying. My part was over. Nobody ever mentioned it afterwards,” Ingman recalled.

And, as he noted, not only was there never any mention of him bursting into tears when he saw all the people in the school, the teacher also never again asked him to greet the audience.

“It was a cold winter. Then (my mother) got polio. They were quarantined. My dad and my grandpa were quarantined. But we stayed with our aunt and uncle (Ingman and his sister, Loretta). Our great-aunt and uncle — Othilia and Sigurd. I can’t remember if we were home for Christmas,” he said.

After his mother returned home from the hospital in Madison, the family lived in Eau Claire for a few months until school started that next year.

Another memory of the school Christmas program is the one time it should have been an easy part to pull off.

“When I was in one of the upper grades, Kenny Jump and I, we were in the same year. We had a part where we sat up on the stage. Kind of a ‘visiting’ part. We visited. My dad always (made fun of me about it). I couldn’t hardly get off the stage fast enough. The line was, ‘Let’s go out in the kitchen and pop some popcorn.’ I said, ‘Let’s go out in the kishion and pop some popcorn,’” Ingman said.

Santa

Santa Claus was an integral part of the Christmas programs at school, too.

Ingman recalled that Ingman Iverson played Santa Claus, but that he did not wear a regular Santa Claus suit. 

It was a Norwegian “Santa Claus” suit with lots of bells — the same Santa Claus that Vickie Iverson Hendricks spoke about in her story of Remembrances of Christmas Past published in 2021 when Santa Claus would come to the Iverson farm for the family’s Christmas celebration.

“He had a lot of bells, and he was quite peppy,” Ingman said.

“We had confirmation, school and Sunday school. It was seven days a week for a couple of years. And it usually was cold. It seemed like December was an awful lot colder than it seems like it is nowadays. My dad said after that one Christmas program, it was the coldest it had ever been,” he said.

“Of course, we probably were in a Model A car. And they didn’t really have a good heater. They had a little thing, a funnel like on the manifold. It was supposed to blow warm air off the manifold. There was a little trap door you opened up, and that was it. It was about next to nothing,” Ingman said.

Shopping

When you live out in the country on a farm, and there is a large quantity of snow in the winter, the local country store can make all the difference. 

“A big part of those days, we did some of our shopping at the Norton store. It was a big part of the whole year,” Ingman said.

“And if my dad didn’t have a reason to go to the Norton store, us kids wanted to go. We’d play with the same kids. Most of them we went to confirmation with. Most of them we went to Sunday school with. Most of them we went to grade school with. Most of them we went to church with. There were hours we spent around the Norton store. And there were always a bunch of kids around,” he said.

“We used to ride on our sleds a lot in the winter. Pretty much everybody had a sled. Pretty much everybody had a bicycle in the summer time,” Ingman said.

“(Dad) would walk to the Norton store for groceries. There was so much snow. It had been windy and drifted. He could walk right across the top of the fences. If the snowplow came, and it was opened up, you went to town right away. Otherwise it would blow shut,” he said.

“(Dad) said they came with a great big county machine, an Oshkosh truck or something. And they got stuck. It drifted. They couldn’t get in, and then they couldn’t get back out again. So they left it sit, and after awhile, they came in with a Caterpillar to open it up,” Ingman said.

“Good thing we didn’t have milk (to haul to the creamery). How would the milkman ever have gotten in? They did milk before that, but they sold the cows to Glenard Stene after my mother had polio,” he said.

Christmas Eve 

“Our first years, we didn’t have electricity. And our Christmas did not start — we had our Christmas programs — but our Christmas did not start until Christmas Eve at noon,” Ingman said.

“We had a pretty good meal. And then we went out and got the Christmas tree and trimmed it. The presents didn’t get underneath the Christmas tree until sometime during the night, when Santa would come. When New Year’s came, then the Christmas tree was taken down. On New Year’s Day, if not the day before,” he said.

“Our first years, Sunday school vacation was after the Christmas program. We had three months off. January, February and March. We had church every other Sunday, and then they didn’t have to heat the church for Sunday school,” Ingman said.

Later on, they had the summers off for Sunday school rather than the winters off. 

The church was located a half mile south of the farm. 

“We also got a big sack of candy, both at church and at school, with an apple. They had extra apples for the people who didn’t get sacks of candy. Like the dads. I’m sure the PTA had something to do with all of it. The school picnics too,” Ingman said.

“The big boys would always put up the stage for the Christmas program. And we had to have curtains. It was quite the production. But you couldn’t hardly believe how much we could learn from all that,” he said.

“Things were so different back then. You got your chores done before it was too dark. Then you had to light the lantern. And make sure there was wood for the stove. And the washing machine was a washboard. And the clothes dryer was a clothesline outside,” Ingman said.