The Short Fat Christmas Tree....The time of putting up Christmas trees has changed...Back in the 40's when I was a little girl, it would go up a week before Christmas...We didn't have far to go to get our live Christmas tree...at the corner of my block was Gettings gas station...Mr. Gettings always sold Christmas trees...oh the smell of pine as we walked up to all the trees in the small lot...we would drag the tree home and dad would make the wood tree stand...up it would go, and mom and I would decorate it...full of silver tinsel, little colored bells tat would tinkle, and metal icicles that would sparkle amongst all the colored lights...we also had glass ornaments and glass birds with the broom like tails, they clipped on...mom would cut out our last name on cardboard and sew it onto ribbon and hang it like garland, then my dog trixie and I would sit in front of the tree so mom could take a picture for the Christmas Card...The tree always came down the day after New Years...so it would be up for two weeks, and with no water, it would really be dry...we were so Lucky that we never had a fire...
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When my kids were growing up the tree usually went up 2 weeks before Christmas...it did have water...a pain in the butte having to crawl under the tree to make sure it had water, and then go and get water and pour it in...because the tree was always low to the ground, and very, very short and fat...the kids were almost as tall as the tree...Every year Jim would talk the kids into the short one...everyone helped decorate it, and of course everybody decorated in there own style...I use to try and control the situation, but decided just to sort of direct from the background...The day after Christmas the tree would come down...The neighbor kids would take bets at how fast the tree would appear in the back yard...then we would add popcorn garland and stuff for the birds to munch on...I had a flash of a memory of that old short fat tree when visiting my daughter Linda....her hubby went out and came home with a tree that was short and fat....just like the olden days.....
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I miss those days, of putting the tree up together...now I put up 3 trees...and they usually go up the first part of Nov...I put a large artificial one in the family room, a middle size one in my kitchen with cookie cutters and tea strainers, and a smaller one in the front room with bee and bears...to go with my antique honeypots...I would drag the boxes up from the basement, and all the boxes of stuff from upstairs storage down...it is alot of work, but I do love to sit in the evening and see the beautiful lights...but now it is time to take them down...yuck...I hate that...I'm not rushing...I can work on it slowly because I have to organize upstairs and get rid of alot of my decorations that I haven't used in years...Oh and it is a tradition to put the tree up while watching Chevy Chases "Christmas Vacation"...well hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas, and now to move on to the New Year...2011
5 comments:
Christmas has changed over the years, when the children were small it was a wonderful time putting the tree and decorating it. When they flew the nest my husband used to go away for Chritmas then sadly I was left alone so now I visit my children and see the excitement of the grandchildren.
Happy New Year to you Judy.
Yvonne.
Happy New Year Judy! Our tree usually comes down the day after New Years Day. This year I did it a little early though. Such beautiful memories to warm the heart on a cold Ohio winter night.
I love going to blogs, for someones memory sparks a memory for me...thanks for stopping by JO and Yvonne.....happy new years...
As a child, our tree went up Christmas Eve, making it a very festive evening in our household, and came down the day after New Year's, so it was just up over a week. We always set it outside for the birds too. No curbside tree removal in those days, and we never lived in town, always, just past the city limits.
My kids experienced some of those short and squat trees in their youth too. Not many people choose that type these days.
Christmas was a whole different ballgame when kids still lived at home. It's so much more quieter, saner, and boring now. Sigh.
I miss those days too. But, we all have to go through the quiet years I guess. Blessings to you in this brand new year. I'm not hoping for bells and whistles in our economy, but hopefully we can survive day by day with kindness, faith, and good friends. All we need is just enough, the days for extravagance are over, in all areas!
You're right, reading memories from blogs does spark memories for the self. Reading your blog induced memories for myself of Christmas preparations from my childhood and upbringing.
It's interesting how you set up your three trees as you do during the holiday season. I imagine your house looks very homey and serene during those times. A place does when a Christmas tree is up, seems to recreate the atmosphere.
Thanks for sharing!
-Holly Jean Whicker
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