By Stanley Greaves
The Advent of December anticipating the Christmas Season of celebrations, religious and secular, saw a change in activities from the rest of the year. There was excitement in the air, especially among children, whose expectations were not always met, mine included.
December meant housewives hopefully being able to do significant shopping based on husbands working overtime on the waterfront and doing odd jobs. The soldering man made the rounds to repair cups and pots using his coal pot and soldering irons. “Enamel wares solder,” was his call. He would collect everything that needed repairing before lighting the coal pot and placing the soldering irons in it. Cabinet makers, full or part time, were busy building or repairing furniture. The standard finish was French polishing, an art in its own right. I watched Mr Taylor in the next yard. He seemed like a magician or alchemist, mixing materials. I noticed the intensity of his paying attention to the results. Houses were rigorously cleaned. Floors and wooden steps were scrubbed with a metal scraper. Cobwebs were swept away with “pointer brooms.” I doubt that spiders were pleased about this, no flies for Christmas dinner.