Jim Bradshaw: All I want for Christmas is pure cane syrup

Last-minute Christmas shoppers looking for bargains are nothing new, and merchants have accommodated them for a long time.

A century ago, hometown newspapers’ last editions before the holiday were filled with what merchants proclaimed to be incredible deals on groceries, the stove to cook them on, and just about everything else.

In Franklin, for example, you’d think jeweler Frank Foti was losing money by selling record players for only $75, half the price they usually sold for.

He also promised great buys on a “nice line” of pearl necklaces and an “up to date” line of diamonds, wrist watches and cut glass.

Boudreaux Furniture in St. Martinville headlined its ad with, “Toys, Toys, Toys,” but also suggested that furniture was a practical gift for the whole family. Everything was on sale: living room chairs, cedar chests, wardrobe trunks, handbags and suitcases, sewing cabinets, waste baskets, card tables, electric vacuum cleaners, and also phonographs and records.

The Abbeville Electric Shop followed Boudreaux’s line of thinking. Its ad proclaimed that Christmas was a good time to buy those electric appliances you’d been thinking about all year. An electric toaster cost only $6, an iron went for $5, and for only $16 you could buy an Armstrong electric stove “complete with 13 combinations of cooking utensils.”

Electric lights for the tree, with “no danger of fire,” were a bargain at $2.25. Just down the street, Frederick Brothers was selling a Mirro aluminum 1½-quart sauce pan, with lid, for 45 cents.

In Rayne, Mervine Kahn said his store could contribute to your very merry Christmas with ladies’ long silk
gloves for just $1.50, nice dresses starting at $8.75, and fancy silver slippers for the same price.

Theo Kahn’s store in Jennings advertised Christmas neckties for 75 cents and an assortment of sale items including boys’ suits from $3 to $14.

In the ad just below his, the Phenix [sic] Drug Store claimed it was the best place in town to get one of those phonographs that seemed to be the hot item everywhere in 1922. (You probably remember that music was one of the things that put the roar in the “Roaring Twenties.”)

In Morgan City, Henry Leob promised “splendid values” in footwear, men’s and boys’ suits at big savings,
and a long list of “special offerings for the holidays.”

The Crowley Motor Co. suggested that Dad should treat the family to a new, four-door, Ford sedan for only $725.

For folks who couldn’t travel, Southern Bell advertised a special rate of just 25 cents for a five-minute long-distance call.

Grocery stores across south Louisiana advertised specials on the fixings for Christmas dinner, but Robicheaux’s in Welsh probably had the best deal for bakers planning to serve pecan pie.

Pure Louisiana Cane Syrup was on sale for just 60 cents a gallon, and — better yet — it was only 55 cents if you bought 10 gallons or more.

Practically all of the merchants and newspapers offered a Christmas wish in those Yuletide editions, such as this one from the Crowley newspaper:

“May this Christmas be one that, in years to come, will stand out as the most joyous Christmas Days you have ever spent.”

That sounds like a pretty good wish, and I wish it for you, with the added thought, “and may every one after this be even better.”

You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.