Gerald Ford was President, a position he had stumbled into upon the resignation of Richard Nixon in August 1974. He had inherited an economic mess with the inflation rate for 1975 averaging 9.1%. Wages were stagnant and the buying power of American households was not keeping up with the increase in prices. Much of the decade would be remembered as the “Great Inflation”, or noted as a period of painful “Stagflation”. A year later, it would contribute in costing Ford the presidency, and four years after that, the worsening economic conditions would, in part, do the same to his successor, Jimmy Carter.

But in December 1975, folks in Westmoreland were determined to have a fine Christmas anyway. The birth of Christ and the visits by Santa Claus were on the minds of the good people of the community, and though decorations were not nearly as numerous as today, the Spirit of Christmas rested deep in the hearts of those who celebrated.

The Christmas season was shorter back then. Thanksgiving stood alone, but also heralded the start of the buying season the following day, Black Friday. The department stores in Nashville and Rivergate Mall saw noticeable upticks in traffic, but for many of us, the true beginning of the Christmas Season started with the arrival of the catalogs from stores such as JCPenney and Sears. These “wish books” were filled with photographs of clothes, shoes, appliances, tools, and, most importantly, toys! The link below allows you to thumb through the first 100 pages of the actual catalog. Note the bell bottoms and the bright colors of the clothes!

Or look at these pages from the Sears Wish Book from 1975. This section focuses on the toys that were sold then. A look at this section certainly brings back memories!

As children, we focused on the toy section, and my maternal grandmother, who lived in Maury County, Tennessee, always asked us to select a few toys as possible gifts for her to order. We would dutifully crease the pages containing the pictures of the items we wished for and circled our choices. Our mother passed along the information to our grandmother, who matched it with her own catalog, and we hoped for a good outcome on Christmas Day.

In Westmoreland, the local paper, the Westmoreland World, reported in its November 13th edition that the annual Christmas Parade was set for Saturday, December 6th. The paper also noted the parade would be sponsored by the city, owing to the previous sponsors, the Westmoreland Jaycees and Jaycettes, having been disbanded. The Planning Committee was set to be chaired by Eugene Carter while Kenneth and Barbara Beasley, H. G. Kirby and Wanda Harrison served as committee members. The parade would be financed by local merchants, businesses, and private donations.

On November 27, the first Christmas ads appeared in the paper.

A person could walk into the store of Willard and Agnes Harrison in 1975 and purchase anything from a tricycle to a set of tires for their car. I remember buying a stereo there in 1980. I set the purchase up on a payment plan of $10 per month. Fearful I might not be able to make such a payment each month, I remember my hand was shaking as I signed the contract. That purchase was my first experience in adhering to a budget, and was a great lesson for a guy to learn…and I appreciated Willard Harrison having faith in me that day. When he asked me the source of my income, I told him “mowing yards with my push mower.”

He replied, “That’s good enough for me.”

Down the street, next to the venerable Park Hardware, the Westmoreland Furniture and Appliance Store offered some of its items for sale for Christmas.

Westmoreland Furniture and Appliance was owned by Hubert and Francis Jiles. Again, note the offerings that could be had in downtown Westmoreland at that time. By Christmas of 1975, the Appliance store had been in business for 22 years, all in the same Park Street location. Hubert and Francis Jiles would continue to operate the business until it was sold in 1981. Hubert served on the Westmoreland City Council, and was the father-in-law of the popular future Westmoreland Mayor Ricky Woodard.

In the same edition of the paper, and just up the street from the Appliance Store, Pat and Prunell Greene offered various Christmas items for sale in their Dollar General Store; Christmas trees for sale in both 4 foot and 6 foot height, wrapping paper and bows, along with stocking stuffers aplenty abounded. The store also offered Christmas Lay-Away as an option. Many a child in Westmoreland would stand near the cash register at the front of the store hoping to catch a glimpse of Pat’s “Drinking Bird” taking a drink of water. The Greene’s took great enjoyment watching the reaction of the children if they were lucky enough to see the bird dip its beak into the water.

Holmes Market on Park Street announced that on December 20th, $150 in groceries would be given away. Customers could register to win $100, $25, $15 and $10. Across town, in the Twin Hills Shopping Center, Smith Brothers CeeBee occasionally offered a chance to win a coveted shopping spree at their grocery store.

In 1975, Holmes Market was owned by Betty Keen Holmes. She was the widow of William Holmes who tragically died on February 11, 1971 while returning with his three sons from a basketball game in Macon County. His death stunned the community. William Holmes was popular and outgoing and never knew a stranger. He often sported an unlit cigar and a pencil or pen tucked behind his ear and was adorned in a white butcher’s apron while working in his store. After his death, Betty was left to raise their three sons while managing the family business. Later, she would also write a column in the Westmoreland World in which she often recounted the exploits of the fictional husband, “Edgar”, who was likely based on her second husband, Warner Bell. Betty was a daughter of the highly regarded Clyde and Eugene Keen.

Holmes Market would eventually become Holmes Bestway, and would later be bought out by a boy who first worked there sacking groceries, Mike Williams. The store now serves the community as Mike’s Food Valu, with that sack boy owning it and two other grocery stores in Lebanon and Red Boiling Springs.

Next to the post office on Park Street, in the current site of Jairo’s Taco’s, one could shop at Holder & Jent’s Department Store. There, ladies like Norma Davis, Erma Carr, Faye Meador, Mabel Dodson and Mabel Sanders offered a wide selection of dresses, overalls, dress shirts, and shoes – “wearing apparel” – for the entire family, and no clothing store would have been without offering the ubiquitous leisure suit of the 1970s!

Across town, the Ben Franklin Department Store, located in the Twin Hills Shopping Center beside Smith Brothers CeeBee store ran a large ad in the newspaper offering a wide variety of toys in its “Toytown”.

And at Westmoreland High School, Mrs. Carver’s FHA students were carrying their Tom-Wat Showcases door-to-door, selling Christmas cards, toys, personal grooming sets, tool kits and so forth, all priced from $1 up to $2.95.

As the day of the Christmas parade neared, local churches, businesses and organizations made preparations for their floats and entries that would represent them to the community. Garages, barns and backyards became makeshift construction sites where wagons, trailers and truck beds were converted into outdoor stages meant to celebrate the season.

The 1975 Westmoreland Christmas Parade turned out to be a success even though a light rain began to fall toward the end. It was reported in the paper as being “twice as large as ever before”. The pictures of the parade that follow appeared in either the WHS Yearbook or the Westmoreland World:

The Christmas Day edition of the Westmoreland World announced that Jane Turner was the winner of the $100 in groceries from the Holmes Market. Bessie Adcock, Mable McDole and Myrtle Gilliam won the other grocery prizes. The paper also included a weekly column written by Westmoreland resident Maxine Gregory named “Here and There”. Many will remember Maxine Gregory in her later years as an elderly, eccentric lady who was seen walking to and from the stores around town, often in a long overcoat and a scarf. I will close out this remembrance of Christmas in Westmoreland 50 years ago with her eloquent description of the season that appeared in the Westmoreland World on Christmas Day, 1975:

“Christmas is the happiest and busiest season of the year.  Many look forward to exchanging gifts, happy family reunions, and many observe the holiday solemnly with religious ceremonies and prayer.  They feel reverence for the momentous event which took place in Bethlehem nearly 2,000 years ago. 

The custom of exchanging gifts began in memory of the shepherds and the wise men brought to the Christ child.  In some countries children believe in St. Nicholas and in other countries they believe wise men or the Christ child brings their gifts.  But perhaps the most joyous symbol of Christmas gifts is old Santa Claus.  His cheerful face and twinkling eyes seem to set the mood of happiness and good cheer for everyone. 

May each of you enjoy the holidays with happiness and safety and may the year 1976 (2026!) be a year of happiness and prosperity for each of you and your families.”

Merry Christmas!!