12.20.07

A Child’s Favorite Christmas Songs

Posted in Daily Journal, Advent Calendar at 12:10 am by Administrator

“All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” was written by Donald Yetter Gardner in 1944.

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth,
My two front teeth, see my two front teeth.
Gee, if I could only have my two front teeth,
Then I could wish you “Merry Christmas.”

“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”, written by Tommie Connor in 1952.

I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus,
Underneath the mistletoe last night.
She didn’t see me creep
Down the stairs to have a peep.
She thought that I was tucked up in my bedroom fast asleep.

These songs were two of my favorites when I was young. During the Christmas holidays, our house was always filled with music, either from the radio or from the phonograph. One of the biggest thrills for our family was when my parents bought a stereo Hi-Fi, upon which we could stack many record albums, and let them play automatically in succession for hours. When the “A” sides of the albums had all played, we could just turn the stack over and listen to the “B” sides.

In 1958, “The Chipmunk Song” was written. Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. wrote the song and performed the voices of David Seville and all three chipmunks, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore.

Christmas, Christmas time is near,
Time for toys and time for cheer,
We’ve been good, but we can’t last,
Hurry Christmas, hurry fast.

My father had purchased the album “Christmas with the Chipmunks” and my family listened to the album over and over. My sister discovered that, if she used her finger to slow the turntable, she could clearly tell that the voices of the chipmunks were the same as the voice of David Seville, speeded up.

When I was in fourth grade, I bought my first “Peanuts” book, and over the next couple of years I bought several others. By 1967, when The Royal Guardsmen recorded ”Snoopy’s Christmas”, my whole family was familiar with the tales of Snoopy and the Red Baron.

Was the night before Christmas, 40 below,
When Snoopy went up in search of his foe.
He spied the Red Baron, fiercely they fought,
With ice on his wings, Snoopy knew he was caught.

My family owned a number of other Christmas recordings and we listened to all the standards. Today, Christmas songs bring back special memories of my youth, when absolutely nothing could compare with the excitement and joy of Christmas.

Written for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Day 21.

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Frank Niedzialkosky in the 1913 Worcester Directory

Posted in Daily Journal, Directories, Niedzialkowski, Occupations at 12:01 am by Administrator

My grandfather’s uncle, Frank Niedzialkosky was listed in the Worcester City Directory in 1913.

Worcester Directory 1913 Entry for Frank Niedzialkosky

SOURCE: Massachusetts City Directories, Worcester 1913, page 533, Frank Niedzialkosky; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 December 2007); citing Worcester directory 1913 containing a general directory of the citizens, a business directory, and the city and county registers, with map. LXX. 1913. Worcester, Mass: Drew Allis Co.

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Worcester Directory 1913 Entry for Frank Niedzialkosky. The brief record states the following:

Frank Niedziatkosky was a moulder at 95 Gold who resided at 18 Huntington avenue.

The spelling of the surname, Niedziatkosky, is in error. The “t” should be an “ł”.

Previously, Frank Niedzialkosky worked as a moulder at 100 Prescott. In 1913, he worked as a moulder at 95 Gold. I’m still not certain what a moulder does and don’t know the company for which he worked, either at 100 Prescott or 95 Gold.

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