![]() A porcelain Baby Jesus found at a flea market spends each Christmas front and center on my dining room table. A chalkware set of the Holy Family from the 1950s resides on the living room coffee table. I have special places near my trees for other vintage Christmas pieces. In fact, my guess is that in those times, people needed Christmas more than ever. It reminds me that people made do with what they had. One of my dearest from back then is a simple pink ball with a thin string attached to the top. Many American ornament makers ceased adding the inner silvering, and used paper hangers and caps instead of the metal ones. And I’m always on the look-out for “un-silvered” ornaments from the mid-’40s.Īt the start of World War II, precious resources were rationed. I hang the stars on a mirror in my hallway for some extra sparkle. ![]() I have star ornaments from the 1950s that remind me of women’s jewelry popular in those days. If you look closely, ornaments are really a snapshot of history. I also have a multi-colored bottlebrush star featuring a foil rosette with small mercury glass balls and American flags. Plastic ornaments here hold up well against steam from the shower. In the bathroom I keep a few vintage bottlebrush trees-ever so slightly kitschy, sturdy and easy to put up and take down. ![]() Snowman and Santa Claus blow molds of hollow hard plastic, popular from the 1940s to the ’70s, flanked either side, cheery company for my morning coffee. Last year I adorned it with knee-hugger elves and spinner ornaments that twirled from the heat of old-fashioned lighted ice balls. My tree sits in the center of the island and has become a focal point for elaborate holiday vignettes. I think a tree in the kitchen is warm and welcoming, if a bit unexpected. I want my guests to feel as cared for as I did when they see a tree set up just for them. One December afternoon when my mom brought me home from a checkup, I was delighted to find a little tree Johnny had set up in my room. As I put it all together, it feels as if I’m channeling his kindness. Under it I place a 1950s light-up Santa given to me by my brother, Johnny. I decorate a small tabletop tree with white lights and glass balls. Or I use only pine cones-something that has a calming vibe for a good night’s sleep. There I lean toward a selection of Victorian paper “scrap” ornaments, which are typically illustrations of children or angels affixed to wreaths of early tinsel or wire. For the bedroom I like a serene tabletop tree. I put two tabletop trees in the dining room, one on the buffet and another on the main table. The Balsam is in the next room over, where I also keep my “Hollywood Tree,” so named because it has a bit of the glamour of the late ’30s and early ’40s, with its hand-painted silver ornaments dazzling against the tree’s white branches. Nearly everyone says something like, “My grandmother had one of these,” or “These remind me of my aunt.” The ornaments call up memories we all have in common.Ī tall, thin white tree with white lights sits on a mahogany demilune table in my foyer, a warm welcome for folks coming in from the cold. While I decorate each tree for my own pleasure, I find a true Christmas spirit in sharing my trees with family and friends. Or the antiques collector who put aside some pieces he knew I’d appreciate. ![]() Time my German grandmother handed down to me the Father Christmas ornament she bought in the 1930s. Like the One of Bob’s trees, festooned with vintage ornaments I remember where I got the piece and from whom. As I unwrap each treasure, memories flood in. I always begin decorating right after Thanksgiving-if I can wait till then. Many are tabletop size, some artificial, some live, and easy to tuck into corners. I’m a big believer in having a tree in every room, and I decorate about 20 a year. In my living room I have a nine-foot Balsam fir, my “Evergreen Lady,” where I hang many of those ornaments Dad gave me more than three decades ago.
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