Christmas on West Seventh Street

by: Jerry Fearing

Published by: Afton Press

Reviewed by Elizabeth Bright

My family once lived in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was near West Seventh Street and the memories I have of visiting are many, vivid and wonderful. When I saw Jerry Fearing’s book, Christmas on West Seventh Street, I wanted to devour it. The stories are wonderful and the cartoons added to the book. It was simply a blast to the past.

It’s 1940 and the depression is becoming a dim memory. The United States wasn’t involved in WWII yet and people were doing all the things they did in the ‘good ole days.’ They played hockey, took their sleds to Irvine Park, listened to the radio and went to movies. And kids actually left the house (at age 10) and wandered the streets without the intense supervision of adults. It was heaven–and a time like we’ll never see again.

In 1940 we saw the Armistice Day Blizzard (do people even know what Armistice Day was?) where many died. Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for his third term and Jerry Fearing drew cartoons for the occasion. One of them caused some problems with the nuns at school. Fearing remembers that kids walked everywhere. And he learned that if you strayed into another, tougher neighborhood there might be trouble.

In Fearing’s world, Christmas was Christ’s birthday to everyone but the kids. The kids lived for the ‘stuff.’ Fearing remembers his father’s contribution to the festivities (besides paying the bills). He took everyone to buy the Christmas tree. The trees weren’t flocked; most were short-needled pines and didn’t cost more than a dollar or two. The nostalgia of a Jerry Fearing Christmas brings to mind my own Christmases of long, long ago.

For a trip down memory lane of your own earlier days, enjoy Fearing’s life on West Seventh Street in this book.

Armchair Interviews says: A Christmas gift worth giving to those that remember.