Members of the Fred Haberman family are still around, but they may be too young to remember many of the things that he wrote about in letters that he sent each Christmas to his friends.  

   But before we get into those fascinating letters in the collections of the Marion County Historical Society, let me tell you a little about Mr. Haberman. In  the 1920s his was a household name in the Hemmerly family since Ray was a mechanic at the Haberman Chevrolet Garage. While our humble home was a double on North Prospect Street, the Fred Haberman family lived in the mansion where Delaware Avenue separates from Main Street, across the street from the Fred Guthery home. Not only did he own the garage, but also the Haberman Hardware store at 113 North Main Street with his brother Harry, and son Fred, Jr. 

  Writing in the 1930s he describes the Marion of  "60 years ago" so he must have been in Marion by the 1870s. He watched Marion's transition from a  small village to a bustling town. It was during the 1880s that most of the wooden stores along Main and Center Streets gave way to fine brick structures, and that the Huber Manufacturing Company and the Marion Steam Shovel drew workers from nearby areas to manufacture machinery. 

    With this background, here is Mr. Haberman's letter of December 20, 1932, typed on linen finish paper now brown with age:

                                                                                                             
Gospel Hill, Marion, Ohio

Dear Friend:
                       Sixty Years ago I remember:

When you could buy a hooker of popcorn whiskey with a beer chaser for 10 cents. When "smoked side meat" was 3 ½ cents a pound. When women wore sun bonnets, calico dresses, gingham aprons and gaiter with elastic webbing on the side, men wore high top boots and the boys wore boots with red tops. 

    When people did not go calling at bedtime from 9 to 10 and stay and stay. When we had plank side walks and the only strangers in town were Jennie Thomas' new milliner and the new telegraph operator at the Bee Line depot. When women, the fool things, drew their waists in to a circumference of 16 inches. Fat women could not compete so they wore a look of proud disdain. 

    When there were no radio announcers that are afflicted with catarrh, that lie, groan, blat, bleat, shout and give deep-voice recitations with slow music. When we used flat irons, or bricks, or stove lids wrapped in old shawls for foot warmers. When rabbits, quail, and sausage were fried and "put down" in lard for summer use. 

     When bankers were considered as shrewd, keen and conservative business men and we regarded them kinda like sacred cows. When we cooked apple butter in the back yard in large copper kettles and baked a weeks supply of mince pies every Saturday. When we used sulphur matches, 3, 4,10,15, and 25 cent shin plasters, blue window glass and blue lamp chimneys. When brass candle sticks and snuffers were mantle ornaments. When there was no sparking after 10 p.m sun time. 

    When women knot wool socks and made tatting.  When we used red table cloths and the floor coverings were rag carpets except the red ingrain in the parlor and the parlor furniture was covered with horsehair cloth. When merchandise was sold "on tick." When the Germans and the Irish were nearly all Democrats and the Negroes were all Republicans. When women were two faced, had double chins and wore wool stockings. When "big bugs" rode in buggies drawn by nags, and horse cars were drawn by mules. When we had two street car lines, one from Ackerman's beer garden to the brewery, the other one from the fairground to the graveyard. 

    Today we have gangsters, banksters, racketeers, hot-shots, "frosh", "Hi", "cagers", :jay-walkers", big shots, eugenics, fried pigs feet, B.O. butter and egg men, ice-tiddy fodes (rats) home brew, K.O. gigolos, and non-tax paying congressmen who pyramid our government expenses and who are called pea-nut politicians, semi-morons, Socialists, radicals, ward heeler, congressional jack-asses and tax eaters. 

    So now! if you think that life is still worth living I wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR.
                                                                     Yours truly,
                                                                    
        Fred Haberman, Sr.

These letters were sent to the Mr. and Mrs. Frank Berringer. 237 Olney Avenue. We are indebted to them for saving the letters, and giving them to The Marion County Historical Society for posterity. 
   Look for more letters in future "Day Before Yesterday" articles.