It’s looking pretty likely that it’s going to be another flip-flop Christmas. Current weather forecasts are calling for temps flirting with 70 degrees for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Bah! Humbug! We will not top the warmest on record (76 in 1982), but the holiday thermometer will put 2025 in the top 10 list. I’ve been around for five of the warmest 6 (2015 and 2021 are tied).
I certainly do not want that arctic blast that set in for Christmas in 2022. But I’ll take the snow that blew in on Dec. 24, 2020 and hung on through the next day every year. Christmas gatherings tended to be smaller that year due to Covid-19. Plans were delayed a day or two, so I had a lovely solo Christmas enjoying the snow and the requisite brunch of French toast.
A century ago, the weather was wintry, but not snowy, with highs around 48 and overnight lows in the 20s. Nothing for the records books. At the time, Bejamin Morton was the mayor of Knoxville. The president of the H.T. Hackney Company, he was a prominent figure in the creation of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Morton Overlook is named for him. He quite famously put his support behind Anne May Davis during her 1924 run for the Tennessee House of Representatives. She won. Davis came up with the idea of turning the Smokies into a National Park, and is known as the GSMNP’s “founding mother.”
Fundraising for the “Smoky Mountain Park” was in high gear in 1925 as Tennessee and North Carolina had to help buy the land. On Christmas Eve, it was announced that the Knoxville Power and Light Company had donated $5,000 to the cause. That same money today is about $92,000.
The Riviera Theatre was showing Cobra starring the legendary Rudolph Valentino. The Queen had The Home Maker while The Strand had Mannequin. The Bijou featured Family friendly vaudeville from the Keith circuit. The Duncan Sisters (Rosetta and Vivian) were headlining at The Lyric with their comedy act Topsy and Eva.
Christmas fell on a Friday in 1925. The Elks Lodge provided a celebration for 300 area poor families. A big tree, a dinner, gifts of food and clothing and a musical program were all on deck. But most importantly, Santa Claus was there to hand out toys and stockings filled with nuts, fruits and candy for the children.
The regular Thursday nigh dinner dance at the Whittle Springs Hotel near Fountain City was postponed from Christmas Eve until Christmas Night. A Christmas Eve ball was on tap, with a “snappy” 9-piece orchestra, seating for 500 spectators, and an appearance from Santa at midnight. The cost for the chaperoned shindig was $1 per couple. It’s unclear whether that included the touted cider and donuts. The hotel was already advertising for reservations for the following week’s New Year’s Eve party.
That Christmas Eve, the original Miller’s Department Store on Gay Street was staying open until 8 p.m. for all those last-minute shoppers. Kern’s, in its original location on Market Square, was advertising for last-minute gifts as well, perhaps some candies from its own confectionary or a Dolly Madison Fruit Cake. And from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., a Christmas turkey dinner could be had for fifty cents.
Whatever you are doing over the next few days, I send you Season’s Greetings, wish you Happy Holidays and the Merriest of Christmases.
Peace on earth, good will to mankind.
Beth Kinnane writes a history feature for KnoxTNToday.com. It’s published each Tuesday and is one of our best-read features.
Sources: The Knoxville Journal digital archives
Follow KnoxTNToday on Facebook and Instagram. Get all KnoxTNToday articles in one place with our Free Newsletter
