Woman, 72, still recalls excitement over doll at age 5
SANTA FUND No money for toys in 1930s immigrant home Boarders in child’s house put name on gift list
Growing up in Toronto in the 1930s was far from pleasant for Laura Osadchuk. Her parents came to Canada from Ukraine in 1929. The family — her mother, father, two sisters and herself — rented a house on Euclid Ave. but they had only three rooms to themselves. The others were let out to boarders to help pay the rent and make ends meet. Her mother sewed piecework for factories on Spadina Ave. Her dad made money unloading wheat from ships. But it wasn’t much. The family was always tight for money for food and clothing.
It was a difficult period for her family, Osadchuk recalled. And what made it even more difficult was a sense of discrimination and alienation. “ Foreign people were looked down upon,” said Osadchuk, 72. “ My mother went through a bad time to bring up three children in a strange country . . . In Ukraine they were comfortable, then they come to a foreign country and have to fend for themselves.” Her parents were proud people, she recalled. And they didn’t ask for help from anyone. But things were even harder at Christmastime as people all around them were celebrating the holiday. There simply wasn’t any extra money in the family for a few little luxuries or gifts. Even a Christmas tree was beyond their budget. It was a hard lesson, especially for a small child. But then the Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund stepped in and the magic of the Christmas season came alive for 5year- old Osadchuk. Somebody — Osadchuk suspects it was one of the boarders in her parents’ house — put the children’s names down for gifts from the fund.
“ I was very excited when I got it,” Osadchuk said. “ I still remember the doll I got. It was my first doll. It had a lacquered head and hands and feet. The rest of its body was canvas or stuffed cotton. And — this I remember really distinctly — there was a little bubble in the head and you were able to thread a ribbon or bow through it.”
That’s why Carolyn Osadchuk, one of Laura’s three daughters, has made a donation to the Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund this year for the first time. “ I recalled how my mom had mentioned some years back that she and my aunt had received gifts from the fund,” said Carolyn Osadchuk. “ They were very excited about it. My grandparents couldn’t afford a lot. It was like a gift from heaven.”
Carolyn thought a donation was the least she could do. “ Christmas is for children. It seems every year there are more and more people who can’t accommodate their kids on Christmas. I can just picture the excitement on my mom and aunt’s faces when they got their presents.” Her donation, along with donations from thousands of others, will help make Christmas a little brighter for 45,000 needy children from across Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Ajax and Pickering. The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund, which began operating in 1906, needs to raise $ 1.35 million to cover the costs of the gifts, which include a sweater, hat, mitts, a toy, candies and a book. If you have a tale to tell about how the Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund touched your life please email dblack@thestar.ca or call 416869-4850.