For the Smith family it had been a hectic three months getting ready for winter and finally tackling the six inches that had fallen on Field a week before. Henry had lots of work up until Thanksgiving and then the building surge had slowed down. He was a home a lot now, but that was fine because after Christmas he was going to be starting a new job as a printer. He has a friend who owns a printing show and had said he got really busy during the winter. He asked Henry to help and Henry was happily enjoying this break between jobs.

Anna and Joseph were very excited about Christmas coming in three days. Anna had of course asked for a bicycle, but as a back up plan she asked for a bottle of the beautiful perfume she had found in the general store and some hair bows. Joseph had asked for a box of the newest toys…Crayola Crayons. Basically, they were colored sticks of wax could be used to draw on paper. Two boys in his class had received some for their birthday from their parents, but now everyone was asking for them for Christmas. His dream gift would have been a signed baseball from the first World Series that happened two months ago on Oct. 1-13. Just as everyone was predicting, Boston won and the fans went wild. Joseph had seen pictures in newspapers of masses of fans rushing on the field after the game was over.

Mary said, as all mothers say, that she didn’t want anything for Christmas. But, Anna and Henry had saved up half of the pennies their father gave them each week and bought Mother some vibrant, blue yarn that she could crochet with. In the shed out back, Henry had hid a new pair of crocheting needles and a beautiful, pearl hair clip for Mary’s long brown hair. He knew she was eying that clip up at the dress store the previous weekend.

Despite its fast approach, Christmas was not what was on the mind of the Smith family that night. Father had brought home a copy of the Sunday Chicago Tribune that had been published two days before on December 20, 1903. On one of the inside pages there was a fantastic illustration of an airship that had flown in North Carolina and pictures of its two inventors, Orville and Wilbur Wright. The caption below it read,

“It is built on the aeroplane basis, with a framework of light timbers, covered with canvas. It is 33 feet wide, 5 feet deep and 5 feet across the top. It carried a gasoline engine and is propelled by two six blade propellers, one sticking out behind from the center of the machine for the forward motion, and another under the frame for the upward motion. It is steered by a canvas fan shaped rudder, which sticks out from the center of the machine.”