Christmas comes but once a year, and unluckily the Christmas shopping season lasts longer than that. There was a time when Christmas advertising didn’t appear in newspapers, magazines, or on television until the first week in December. Slowly, but surely, the kickoff date was moved to the day after Thanksgiving. It was then forwarded to just before Halloween. This acceleration continued, and some ads occurred shortly after Labor Day. At this progressive rate, we’ll be Christmas shopping all year long!

On December 1, 18880, a telephone was first installed in the White House. It assured the public that the President of the United States could keep in touch with the needs of the nation.

On December 1, 1913, the first drive-in gas station was opened in Pittsburgh by the Gulf Refining company.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus. Miss Parks had finished a long, exhausting day of work and on board a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, she chose a seat near the front of the bus rather than walking back to the rear. The African American seamstress was arrested when she refused to give up her seat to a white person. This was a crime back then, not only in South Africa, but right here in America.  This incident sparked a citywide boycott that progressed into a court battle and eventually ended in a U. S. Supreme Court ruling that decided against the racial segregation of public transportation throughout the nation. This confirmed that one small individual can make a difference in this world.