Gail Benson: Christmas 1909

BUENA HISTORICAL SOCIETY…….

CHRISTMAS 1909

According to Page 1 of the Atlantic County Record

by Gail Benson

It is December 25, 1909. The Atlantic County Record was a weekly published in May’s Landing.  Front page did a year in review.   Highlights included new looms being installed in the cotton mill.  The next week they reported that several hands were laid off due to installation of machinery.  Lincoln’s centenary was celebrated in February.  In November, deer season opened after being closed for ten years.  Deaths and marriages were also listed as highlights of the year.

Teachers were to meet in Atlantic City between Christmas and New Year’s for their annual convention. A study informs us that the cost of living has increased 37 percent over the past 13 years since 1896.  There is fine skating on Lake Lenape where they have been harvesting five-inch blocks of ice.  Trapper George Smith captured a large otter last Saturday.  These animals are growing scarce in South Jersey and their fur sells for prices ranging from $15 to $25.

As for the Christmas season itself, there was a Christmas Cantata at the M. E. Church, Santa Claus was holding a reception at the Opera House on New Year’s Eve, ice cream was on sale at Bartha’s, and the Post Office would only be open for shortened hours on Christmas.  The schools would be closed and schedules for church services were listed.  The employees of the Water Power Co. cotton mills would have a full holiday on Christmas, but only a half-holiday next week on New Year’s Day.

The front page takes us back to “Christmas Thirty Years Ago,” so we are given a picture of 1879 when potatoes are selling for 75 cents; eggs, 25 cents; butter, 25 or 35 cents depending on quality; and the train fare to Philadelphia and back was one dollar.  The Methodists are planning on calling their new camp at Peck’s Beach “Ocean City.”  They have 2,600 acres.  As soon as the new railroad is completed, May’s Landing will be in close relation with Newfield; May’s Landing will no longer be a foreign land.  It will soon have two express trains each way in the morning and the afternoon, besides the locals on the West Jersey & Atlantic. There is also a plan to incorporate May’s Landing and change the name to Maysville.  Representing Buena Vista Township as petit jurors in January 1910 were Harry Brown, Jacob Haiger, Richard Benson, and Antonio Graziana.

The final paragraph of the article “Holiday Thoughts” reads “Peace on Earth, good will toward men,” is the spirit prevailing to-day.  Do you bear a grudge against your neighbor, are you at enmity with your brother? Make it up with him if it is possible and fulfill the spirit’s command.

If you have any information for us, you can email BuenaHistorical@gmail.com or contact us by regular mail at P. O. Box 114, Buena, NJ 08310

Buena Historical Society meets on the third Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Buena Vista Township Municipal Building, Route 40, Buena.  Please join us.  January 20, 2010 meeting is our annual business meeting and election of Trustees.