Geizig Skinflint's First Christmas

By Kurt A. Pare

Who is Geizig Skinflint?
Born in 1887, Geizig Skinflint, a seasoned bachelor, lived life as his parents decisively raised him. He successfully managed his inherited business as a cold-hearted dictator. He was not known for being a magnanimous person.
Geizig's parents never gave Santa Claus his address. Therefore, throughout his lifetime, he never felt the joy of receiving a single Christmas present. He also was known as possessing a strong pessimistic attitude toward accepting any joy from the traditional Christmas season. Skinflint's sour attitude to the Christmas season was known vociferously and robustly throughout the town.
The 1957 Christmas season became a major transformational time in Geizig Skinflint's future. Henceforth, he'd view it differently. For Geizig Skinflint, his first Christmas was a Christmas to remember.

Geizig Skinflint's First Christmas is a heartwarming and inspiring Christmas story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: PTP Book Division
• Release date: Jul 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223824374

Kurt A. Pare

~~~ Kurt A. Pare` was made and borne in the USA, during 1934, at Peshtigo, Wisconsin. His entire professional career, spanning over seven decades, was in the world of Gutenberg’s Perfume, printing, advertising, journalism, while holding various management positions. He has experienced the numerous challenges of entrepreneurship as an owner of a printing business. These real life experiences contributed much toward his background for this story. Now retired, he’s had several articles about western history published. His lifetime story is revealed in Alluring Memories, his autobiography. He resides in Fountain Hills, AZ

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Kurt A. Pare`

PTP

PTP Book Division

Arizona

Copyright 2023 by Kurt A. Pare‵

Printed in the United States of America

All Rights Reserved

This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

Reviewers may quote passages for use in periodicals, newspapers, or broadcasts provided credit is given to Geizig Skinflint’s First Christmas by Kurt A. Pare‵ and PTP Book Division, an Imprint of Saguaro Books, LLC.

––––––––

PTP Book Division

Imprint of Saguaro Books, LLC.

16845 E. Avenue of the Fountains, Ste.325

Fountain Hills, AZ 85268

ISBN: 978-1-0882-0755-0

Library of Congress Cataloging Number

LCCN: 2022948552

Printed in the United States of America

First Edition

Acknowledgment

~~~~

My story is now finished; however, prior to its completion, there were some key individuals who provided vital support with editing, proofing and technical assistance through the digital computer world. Collectively, these individuals made it happen:

Cindy Carol Couture

Dr. Bill Myr

Anne Wicklund

Carol Kronn (MPS)

Debbie Skehen

Dedication

~~~~

With Precious feelings

of love

To Elaine

A Charismatic Lady

Author’s Note

––––––––

Geizig Skinflint throughout his long life was not known for being a magnanimous person.

Skinflint was egotistical yet possessed a life-long singular love affair. He was an extraordinarily successful, small town entrepreneur and a seasoned, confirmed bachelor. Now, nearly seventy-years old, he never exhibited or flaunted any interest over all that ridiculous nonsense he referred to as the Christmas season.

Skinflint was one hundred percent German. He pronounced his German first name as gai-tisch. It was fitting, for when translated, it meant stingy.

What feelings for true love did Geizig have in his heart? Perhaps, even at seventy, he still didn’t care, because the solitary passionate feelings he possessed in his heart were only for himself. Regrettably, he believed having extra room in his heart for just one greedy desire was enough.

Geizig Skinflint never was blessed with the touching gift of sharing nor the warm pleasures rewarded from love. He didn’t care; yet, he did possess a lifelong selfish love. It was a very robust, materialistic, singular love affair, which provided him a cold heart, the perfect temperature for him. For Geizig Skinflint, good, old-fashioned love of money satisfied everything so-called love others required. Ergo, for those reasons, Geizig Skinflint was not known for being a magnanimous or generous person.

A truly warm heart is similar to a magnet. It attracts the splendor of love from many unexpected heavenly venues. The chemistry, which formulates everyone’s hope for true love is lurking in the unknown shadows of their future. When the time is right, at last, the shadow will be no more. The chemistry is ready. Then there’ll be two big hearts touching each other with beautiful, warm, true and timeless love.

It takes two warm hearts overflowing with passionate feelings, which are enchanted and cherished, to know and to appreciate a wonderful love begot during a lifetime. Regretfully, a love of only material objects begets selfish, false-hearted, cold feelings.

The kind of person you’ll be known as throughout your lifetime will be obvious from whether your heart is caringly warm or selfishly cold. The temperature of your heart, warm or cold, will be reflected in your personality and attitude. Your heart’s temperature is your choice alone.

Now, kindly think about it.

Kurt A. Pare‵

Fountain Hills, AZ

September 20, 2021

Introduction

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When the Revolutionary War ended in 1784, it gave birth to a new nation, the United States. That was the opening for an eager populace who had waited years for their opportunity for a new way of life.

Then followed the First American Industrial Revolution, encouraging change and innovation. Those contributions aided the United States over time to become recognized worldwide as an industrial giant.

From that Industrial Revolution, arose a new style of businessman. They were greatly gifted entrepreneurs who visualized the potential of virgin and untapped opportunities. They fathered companies that dominated many industries, which endowed them with enormous riches. History remembers those tycoons with names, such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J. P. Morgan, John Jacob Astor, and many others who prospered enormously, and would be honored in the pages of history for their unique business prowess.

Worldwide, American entrepreneurs were recognized as gilded barons of commerce. In various ways, all were masters at their management style. They were creative, bold, cunning, strong minded, ruthless, and aggressively parsimonious in their pursuit of business opportunities. Whatever their individual modus operandi, they became incredibly wealthy. Nonetheless, many, during their later lifetimes were recognized for being unusually magnanimous, giving much back to the country, which had rewarded them with  great wealth.

Meanwhile, in thousands of small rural communities across America, there emerged local small businessmen who also had dreams of their own prosperity. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, an aggressive craftsman of a needed trade would open a small, storefront business. Should the enterprise profit and expand from its original storefront into a larger facility, the business would be recognized and respected as an important economic generator for the village, while simultaneously enhancing the entrepreneur’s dreams of prosperity. This meant there were hundreds of very wealthy, small-town business proprietors who, for the most part, were virtually unknown outside their localities.

Set in a remote, north central part of Wisconsin was an area with a lush forest, encircling rich land suited for farming, logging plus a wide river, flowing with clear, rushing water, named Beaver River. Gradually, the area became populated with settlers; next, followed the merchants and tradesmen, all hopeful of being rewarded with prosperity by a young, growing town, Beaverville, named for the river running alongside it.

Young Julius Skinflint, seeking a new way of life, learned Beaverville needed his trade. Julius, a master wood craftsman, and his wife, Greta had emigrated from Germany. Opening a small storefront business, Julius and Greta labored tirelessly as they proudly hand-crafted the finest furniture—chairs, tables, dressers and caskets. His reputation as a master of this trade, as well as the quality of his work slowly became firmly established in Beaverville. When word of Skinflint’s reputation spread beyond Beaverville, his business and profits expanded.

On December 25, 1887, a son, Geizig, was born to the Skinflints. At an early age, his parents taught him to speak German then English. Julius began preparing the young Geizig for his eventual succession to the business. First, he was instructed in the woodworking craft as an apprentice. Also, whenever Geizig wasn’t in school or working in the shop, Julius was unendingly mentoring him in his philosophy, which was the art of a firm, strict, no-nonsense and penny-pinching management style.

"Geizig, my son, remember. Owning a business is profoundly serious business. Never forget, it’s all about making money. Nothing, nothing else is more important than making money when you’re in business," Julius lectured, repeatedly.

Geizig’s father Julius was a good teacher. Ergo, Julius’s son, Geizig, was a good student.

Geizig Skinflint was sixteen when his father died. By that time, the business had two employees. Geizig’s approach to running the shop wasn’t just as a hard-fisted master as his father had taught him to be. He was even firmer. His was a double-hard-fisted approach.

Geizig proved himself as a gifted entrepreneur. He recognized the need for growing his wooden goods business. He