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EDISON PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY, DECEMBER, 1916
"Amberola Andy"
Tells About
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CHRISTMAS hez changed a lot sence th' time when th' shepherds saw the bright star 'nd follered it, carryin' this here frankincense 'nd myrrh ez gifts.
Fer one thing th' price uv frankincense 'nd myrrh hez gone up 'nd it ain't so easy fer peepul t' git 'nd give presents ez it used to be.
It ain't the season of universal rejoicin' thet lots o' peepul make believe it is. 'T seems to me thet the only dif'rence is thet et Christmas time peepul who hev things t' be happy fer are happier 'nd them who hez things t' be sad fer are sadder.
There wuz th' case of old Grubbins.
Littleburg ain't got no organized charity associations. I guess we ain't up to date enough fer thet yet. We don't believe in the scientific alleviation o' sufferin', ez th' feller sez. We kerlect our own funds 'nd we don't pay no salaries fer distributin' 'em. A few little meetin's jest 'fore Christmas, 'nd there's presents fer the kids 'nd money fer them thet needs it t' help 'em over the worst o' th' winter. We've alius held the meetin's in my store, 'cause it's a reg'lar town hall anyway. 1'our city stores is all O. K. in some way, 'nd then in some ways they ain't. They're all right in the daytime with their big floors, wide aisles, and beautiful goods. But they ain't in it on winter evenin's when us little storekeepers hev fires in 'r big base burners— fires so hot thet the stove jest glows all over. Th' right kind o' country store kin be more then a city store kin ever be. A country store hez a
Amberola Andy"
heart 'nd a soul. Thet is, it hez if it hez the right kind o' perprietor. I alius 4iev lived in my store 'nd peepul are welcome here both day 'nd night, and, Lordy, it never made enny dif'rence whether I thought they could buy er not. They're welcome anyhow.
Well, the time I'm tellin' about, it wuz Christmas eve 'nd inside the stove wuz red 'nd outside the ground 'nd everything wuz white. It wuz snowin', fer who could prevent snow from fallin' on Christmas eve. It hez t' fall in great big fleecy flakes er it ain't Christmas eve, thet's all. About ten uv us wuz in the store packin' up the presents thet we hed bought fer the childern 'nd thet Robbie MacPherson wuz goin' t' take 'round arter the little ones wuz all asleep. Besides me and Robbie, there wuz Al Streeter, Si Snedeker, old man Swathmore, 'nd the parson, 'nd some more thet I jest can't remember. O yes, there wuz old Henry Kimball, a-settin' over in one corner mumblin' to hisself and smilin' like these old, old peepul do. He wuz more'n eighty years old 'nd wuz the oldest man in Littleburg.
It seemed ez though we wuz goin' to be short o' money th' last thing in spite uv all I cud do. We hed presents fer all the childern but there wuz some o' the poor old peepul who wuz goin' to miss Christmas onless somethin' developed. I played "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled" 'nd got five dollars more out 'a Robbie MacPherson, which goes a long way toward showin' the power uv music, ef