Vic and Sade Christmas

Through the years, Christmas was an important theme on Vic and Sade. What is interesting is how many times it comes up in months other than December!

Although Vic and Sade was clearly targeting housewives, it was not a Soap Opera. It aired every afternoon and was sponsored by soap companies and shortening manufacturers. However, there were no dashing young doctors, no pretty girls with amnesia, no swelling organ music or cliff-hanger plots.  Vic and Sade featured everyday stories about "Radio's Home Folks", the family who lives in "the small house halfway up the next block."

Wise men, from Charles Dickens to Charles Schulz, have tried to teach us how important it is to keep Christmas in our hearts the whole year round. Getting pressured to order Christmas cards in June is probably not what they had in mind!

Several important people in Sade's life, including Grandpa, her sister, her next door neighbor and the lady who lives across the alley all sell pre-order cards for the same company. Not only do they each pressure Sade for her order, but they are generally terrible Christmas cards - one card read, "Give me a kiss for goodness sake, / Have a nice Christmas or jump in the lake."

Choosing the right Christmas present is something we all have to face, but young Rush realizes that the important thing is how many presents he gets! He is filled with admiration for his friend, Smelly Clark, who has figured a way to weasel his way onto many people's shopping list.

As though his own life weren't complicated enough, Vic winds up doing Christmas shopping for many other people. Every year his coworkers take up a collection for the boss's present, but it falls to Vic to choose it. One year, a company big shot gives Vic $20 so that Sade can do his shopping, and then gives him a long and complicated list.

Sometimes hinting is out of the question, like the time Fred Stembottom tells Sade that he and Ruthie expect to receive an automobile tire for Christmas. This seems like a very practical approach to things, except that Sade knows Ruthie would want nothing to do with a tire for Christmas!

Vic and Sade was a different sort of show, more comfortable than flashy. Just the thing we need during the hectic Holiday season.