Christmas of 1930 promised to be a dreary one in Autaugaville, Ala. It had been just over a year since the stock market crash officially started the Great Depression, but hard times began months before for farmers in this central Alabama town, where the boll weevil was wreaking havoc on crops.
The hardships were evident to Edward and Ercille Pearson, who owned a local general store. Each day, the Pearsons saw the wistful eyes of children as they roamed the shelves of dolls and train sets and jars of penny candy while their parents bought the groceries to feed their family, according to a 1958 article in The Huntsville Times.
Edward and Ercille had been married eight years and had made a decent living with the store, at which they sold everything from groceries to plows to furniture, according to the Pearsons sons, James and Rufus, who were interviewed for my 2011 book “Christmas Tales of Alabama.”
The store was, for a general mercantile of the day, considered fancy. Its floors were concrete rather than plank, and an Artesian well in the center of the store served as a drinking fountain.
Edward was ahead of his time in another way: he served everyone in town, no matter their skin color, and all were welcome to drink from the same fountain.
On Christmas Eve, Edward Pearson looked at the still-filled shelves of his store and knew that this year few toys would make their way under Christmas trees or into stockings in Autaugaville
That Christmas would be just another day for most local children. The supply of juicy oranges, ripe apples and tasty candies in Edward’s store would likely go to waste. Soon he formulated a plan, according to a December 1958 article in The Birmingham News – he would give the items to local children for Christmas.
On December 26, Edward and Ercille, with two-year-old Frances in tow, placed the unsold items into their Chevrolet sedan and drove through town, distributing them wherever they found children.
That first Christmas of the Depression turned happy in Autaugaville. For each year after that first giveaway, Edward would make the same promise: whatever was left in the store the day after Christmas would be distributed to any child who came.
As the tradition grew, the distribution changed. The Pearsons would erect signs around town and tell local folks where they would be on December 26. All children were welcome.
Ercille gave birth to little James in 1931 and Rufus in 1933, and before long, the three children were accompanying their parents on the annual Christmas giveaway. Edward eventually began giving gifts to children outside Autaugaville.
Pearson knew he couldn’t afford to give all the merchandise from his store, so he would spend weeks before Christmas driving around the state, picking up donations so that kids would have fruit, nuts, candy and some type of toy, perhaps a small doll, a wooden truck or a stick gun, for Christmas.
Edward began to ask friends to play Santa Claus, and he would make stops at several distribution points throughout the day. At some stops, he would find five or 10 children waiting for toys, fruits and candy. At others, as many as 30.
Although there were times when Ercille wanted her family home for Christmas, Edward would not disappoint the children. He continued the tradition until 1961.
Edward died on Feb. 21, 1962. That Christmas, Rufus and James, who had always told their father that they would carry on his good works, organized Christmas for Autaguaville’s families in need. They realized, though, that the tradition wasn’t the same.
Not only did the brothers miss their father, who was at the heart of the effort, but also times had changed. People were more affluent, and fewer families came for free gifts. It would be the last Christmas for the Pearson giveaway.
Today, many people in Autaugaville still recall the Pearsons, who were Autaugaville’s town version of Santa and Mrs. Claus, and the way they brought Christmas to town for more than three decades.