Christmas memories

[larryJ]

I wasn't sure where to put this, but here is as good as any.  There is a thread about what gets you into the Christmas spirit, so I thought there should be one about Christmas memories.  I sometimes quote articles from my local paper and this one prompted me to start this thread.  So post your memories of Christmas' past.

From the San Gabriel Valley Tribune---November 29, 2009-----

by Steve Lambert, editor and publisher of the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES OF A SIMPLER TIME

The holiday season is officially underway, which begs the annual question, "What kind of tree are we going to get?"

Real?  Fake?  Green?  White?  Red?

When I was a kid, the answer was simple: My dad, an ax and the nearest tree farm.

There, one Saturday every December, he'd chop down a live evergreen, strap it to the top of our Chevy station wagon, and hope -- pray --  that it would fit in the living room.

Occasionally it didn't, and the ensuing family drama filled our home with language far more colorful than the lights and ornaments that sat in boxes on the floor.

We learned to enjoy the show, my siblings and I.  Some dads dressed as Santa for Christmas.  Ours was Paul Bunyan.

The house down the street, on the other hand, had the yule tree thing down to a science.  Theirs came in a box, with hardware and instructions and enough static energy to light the neighborhood.

I was enamored with that aluminum tree, its silvery branches and perfect assembly line form epitomizing the prefab generation of the '50s and '60s.  There was nothing natural about it.  All man-made and hassle free,  Even the ornaments came in one size -- and one color.

The best part, though, may have been the lights.  A string of traditional Eisenhower-era Christmas bulbs would short out on the aluminum branches, sending shock waves through the house, if not burning it down.  Solution:  A back-lit rotating color wheel that sat on the floor and draped your tree in shades of red, yellow, blue and green. 

To kids for whom color TV was still a novelty, a Technicolor Christmas tree was too good to be true.  And indeed it was.  Just like Hi-fi's, variety shows and Apollo missions, the novelty eventually wore off.,

Time passed and I'd forgotten about these aluminum wonders until, a few years back, I saw one in an antique store,.  Soon I was on a mission to secure one of my own, landing a 6-footer, with one of those rotating color wheels, through an online auction.

We'll find a place for it this year, though the family consensus seems to be in favor of a real tree as our showpiece.  I guess by today's standards, my metallic antique isn't so cool.

That's OK.  I'll enjoy the memories.

Of a simpler time.

And some very colorful language.

_______________________________________________________________

Larryj

[larryJ]

My own memories of Christmas in Howard include a trip from Colorado with my mother to visit relatives and celebrate the season.  It was on that trip going back home, that I, age 21 in 1964, made the decision to move to Southern California.  My mother was teaching school on an Indian reservation in Arizona.  I dropped her off on the way and came to SoCal. 

Two years later, in 1966, while serving overseas, my mother passed away and I came home and drove with my brother to Howard on Christmas Eve to attend her funeral.  If memory serves, she was buried in Grace Lawn on the Wednesday following Christmas.  All visits to Howard in the past since then, always include a trip to the cemetery to see the stones over the final resting spots of my parents. 

Sadly, we did not go to Howard much during the winter, confining our visits to the summer season.  But I do remember a Christmas or two, when we were there, filled with soooooo many relatives, and sooooo much food.

Larryj

[Wilma]

Are we allowed more than one?

I will start with one.  Many, many, many years ago one of my Christmas presents was a doll.  Traditional, huh? Yes, it was, except this one was not so traditional.  My mother saw that I got a new doll each Christmas and tried to make each one different.  This one and pardon me for being politically incorrect, but it was correct for that time.  This one was a negro doll.  What was so memorable about this doll?  Well, it wasn't in the receiving of it but what happened over the years.  Some 10 years later when I was a new bride, I needed a present for my husband's step neice who was being raised by his mother and his step father.  Not having much money, and being ready to part with at least one of my dolls, I made this dollie a new dress and gave her to this little girl for Christmas.  Not memorable enough yet?  OK, fifty years later, while preparing my mother-in-law's house to be closed, this doll was found in a cedar chest.  I don't remember what I said but she immediately was put in my hands.  I felt like a baby had been returned.  There was no question as to who should have the doll and she is now in my cedar chest. 

I have some more if allowed.

[larryJ]

Go for it!  I bet there will be some more interesting stories such as yours.

Larryj

[W. Gray]

My most memorable Christmas trip to Howard happened along the way in the late forties. Howard was 200 miles away and we did not have a car. My dad hired a neighbor to take my mom, me, and my sister to Howard after school let out for the holidays. My dad was going to come along later by bus. I was five or six and my sister, three or four.

We were in a Model A Ford, the kind that has a rumble seat in the rear but even if we had been allowed to sit there, it was too cold. There was also a lot of snow but the highways were clear. All of us were in the front seat. Somewhere along the way, I became quite sleepy and conked out, as did my sister.

The next memory I have is of waking up for a few seconds while lying on my back in a snow bank next to the fence line. My sister was lying along side of me and not moving. My mother looked frantic and I could see the neighbor flagging down a car for help. I went back to sleep.

The next time I woke up I was on a hospital gurney. My sister was sitting up on another gurney and playing with some "Pick Up Sticks" the staff had given her. I was extremely upset that I was too far away from her to be able to play.

According to family lore, we had been overcome with carbon monoxide coming from the heater. I am not sure if Model A's had a heater, but there was an exhaust leak somewhere. The adults apparently were not affected yet and my Mom discovered the problem when she noticed that both her kids had taken on a blue tinge.

[Diane Amberg]

You were very lucky.... the next step is a red tinge and then it's bye, bye. My goodness, how awful. Thank goodness most Christmas memories are good ones.

[larryJ]

W. Gray's story brought back another memory.  My mother and I were living in Artesia, NM., and so was my cousin Edith Redmond.  Edith was the girls athletic director at the high school.  We were traveling on a dirt road somewhere around Liberal, KS.
Edith had wanted to visit a friend.  The three of us were in the front seat of a 1956 Pontiac and we had brought along my dog, a terrier mix.  There were boxes of homemade candy in the back seat.  All of a sudden, we had two tires blowout.  I remember there were a lot of tumbleweeds blowing around.  Anyway, the car swerved and turned over in the ditch.  My cousin couldn't reach the keys in the ignition and yelled at me to shut the car off which I did.  We managed to get out of the car and Edith and I were unhurt, but my mother had suffered a broken pelvis.  The dog was in seventh heaven eating the candy which had spilled.  A station wagon came along and we got mom into the car and drove her to the hospital.  I think Edith and I went on to Howard, and then someone drove us back to Liberal to visit with mom and then on to Artesia.  I lived with Edith for four weeks until mom came home.     

Larryj

[frawin]

I have lots of Christmas memories - growing up we always spent Christmas Day at my Grandmother's house.  There were Christmas programs at our country school house we all participated in. Then, as I married and had a family, lots of memories of Christmas with our children, then grandchildren.  However, there is one memory that stands out as it was so different from anything we ever experienced in Kansas.

We lived in West Texas and our daughter had come home from college for Thanksgiving.  We decided to get tickets and take in Christmas on the Pecos on Friday evening.  We drove to Carlsbad, NM that day, took in the craft fairs, went to the Natural History Museum and Park, tried out a good restaurant while we anxiously awaited for darkness to arrive.  As the lights were coming on in the park that the Pecos River runs through anticipation was building.  We soon boarded "party boats" (pontoon) and started up the river.  People who live along the river decorate their houses and back yards that are against the river, there were many many lights and themes.  The children on the boats sang Christmas songs sometimes, some in English, some in Spanish as their excitement exploded.  There was so much to see, that we simply watched on one side going up, and watched the other side as the boat turned around and returned to the dock to take more spectators!  Even though it was a chilly evening, we all enjoyed it and our daughter still mentions it at Christmas how many lights and different themes there were.
Myrna

[Wilma]

Here's another one.

The year I was born, the job my father was working on was finished and my parents had piled everything they owned into Daddy's truck and were on their way to my maternal grandparents.  The truck broke down somewhere between Argonia and the grandparents.  So they called Grandpa and one of my young uncles came and took them the rest of the way.  Now, here is the memory.  When we got there Grandma had a real Christmas tree decorated with real candles and they were lit.  Can you imangine what a sight that would have been?

What?  You ask if this were the year I was born, how can I remember it?  Well, I remember being told about it.  So what if it is my sister's memory?  I wish it were mine.

I have some more.

[larryJ]

I can hardly wait!  Keep 'em coming!

Larryj