Christmas Decorations

Below are some pictures of our Christmas decorations.  Yes, we celebrate Christmas, not the generic, winter, non-denominational, gift-giving holiday.

Our 2010 Christmas tree
Our 2010 Christmas tree

Our tree is decorated with a combination of real and reproduction ornaments from the 40’s and 50’s.  There are also many decorated eggs from Slovakia and Eastern Europe.  There are also several ornaments that have been in our family since the 60’s.  The lights are LEDs.  Under the tree are paper buildings.  Before there was Department 56 and the like, people used to put paper houses under their trees.  These houses have cellophane windows.  People would put the old, hot C-9 bulbs inside these paper houses.  Between these kindling houses and real trees, it’s a wonder any of us lived to adulthood!

Paper houses
Paper houses

From this close-up view of the houses, you can see that some are original, but others are reproductions.  The reproductions are ca. 2005 Christopher Radko Shiny Bright.

Aluminum Christmas tree
Aluminum Christmas tree

This is my silver, aluminum Christmas tree.  You can just see a snapshot of this tree near its base.  The snapshot shows this tree on a console TV in someone’s house and is dated 1963.  The color wheel is original, as is the rotating base that plays jingle bells.  My wife never liked this tree until the year she volunteered our quarters at West Point for the tour of homes.  There were so many positive comments about this tree that she changed her mind.  My grandmother had one when I was a kid, but it was full size and lit by two color wheels.  My uncle and I would put our green Army men in the branches and when they came back around, we’d pretend we were shooting them out of the branches.  Invariably we’d find several Army men under packages on Christmas day.  My friend Chris found this one for me.

Charlie Brown tree
Charlie Brown tree

This is the Charlie Brown tree that my sister got me a couple of years ago for Christmas.  Now they sell them with a small blue blanket.  When I got this one, they didn’t come with a blanket.  My kids found a small baby blanket that we used.

Assorted Barclay figures
Assorted Barclay figures

Chris Palmer made the Christmas tree lot.  You can see the LEDs on it.  I added the pond, skaters, etc.  Many of the figures are original Barclay, some are new Barclay, and a few were sculpted by Chris.

Bubble light tree
Bubble light tree

Finally this is a bubble light tree.  Apparently these were popular in the 60’s.  I saw one a Chris’ house and have been wanting one.  I guess I’m a sucker for vintage Christmas stuff.  It’s nostalgia for a simpler time that probably never really was.  In any event, the originals I had seen were in poor shape, so I ordered two strings of bubble lights on line.  The kids found the tree for me at Home Depot.  An hour of struggle with the wires produced this result.  I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Happy Christmas!