DECORATING THE TREE

Posted by Sheila Connolly (Sarah Atwell does only cactus)

I had to go out and buy new Christmas tree lights this week.  That shouldn't be a big deal, but it really brought home to me how much lights have changed since I first became aware of them.

I have pictures of every tree my family had, starting in 1950 (left).  I won't bore you with them all (unless you really, really want me to), but they are surprisingly consistent.  We always had real trees, and we always decorated them the same way.  We resisted (and continue to) artificial trees, including those trees pre-wired with all the lights.  We resisted "theme" trees in single colors, especially pink.  I'll admit we did for a time use tinsel (that strand-by-strand kind), but eventually abandoned it.

Our tree-decorating was a tradition, and each year we would gather as a family, pulling each ornament out of the boxes (some of which are as old as I am), commenting on when and where we got them.  My mother would sit back and supervise, dictating where each one should go, and how to balance the color distribution for the lights.  It's a tradition I've tried to uphold ever since I officially left home, starting with the tree I had in my first apartment in Cambridge (right in the nice bay window in the front, facing Harvard Street), and the memorable tree in a later apartment for which my roommates and I enlisted the help of friends and neighbors at a party–which may explain why there were plastic molars (yes, teeth, from the orthodontist who lived upstairs) and carefully strung potato chips on that one.

But I was going to talk about lights.  My parents had twinkle lights long before they were common–the string even had its own transformer, and the bulbs were hard to find, but at least they lasted.  Then they invented lights that twinkled without help, although they give out pretty quickly.  More than a decade ago I found a string of "programmable" lights that did all sorts of things.  This year I plugged them in and they refused to do half of their tricks, and I didn't like the ones that were left. I've found an all-white one that is close but not quite the same. A couple of years ago I found a fabulous short string of lights that actually changed colors!  I love those, but I can't find any more of them, and I've already broken one of the fragile bulbs.  So I was left with one string of standard bulbs that I bought in 1972, which looks just like the string of standard bulbs my parents bought in 1950.

Obviously it was time to go shopping.  I was surprised to find that there were pretty much only two choices:  those (@#$%&*) little white/colored things (I have plenty of those, and I don't like them) and the more recent LED lights.  I don't want to think of myself as a Luddite, so I bought a few strings, round and pointy (does that pointy form have a name?  Does it think it's a pine cone?  A flame?).  And I'm going to grit my teeth and give them a try this year.

I could go on and on about the ornaments.  I was even going to give you a forensic analysis, zooming in on the pictures of the trees from the 1950s and demonstrating that, yes, I'm still using some of the same ornaments; a few have survived and are now semi-antiques–as am I, I guess.  Of course new ones have been added over the years, so many that there's no longer room for all of them on one tree.  My sister and I usually give each other at least one new ornament each year, which keeps increasing the collection. And this year we have two kittens who have no idea what a treat they're in for (we introduced Dexter to snow today, and he's quite confused), so I'm guessing we'll be using the indestructible wooden and plastic ones this year, rather than the heirloom ornaments.

But I'm hoping I can get my (small) family to join in the decorating, and to remember the happy times of Christmases past. There's something magic about a twinkling, glowing tree covered with memories, isn't there?

What's your favorite ornament?

Comments

[Edith]

I also got LED lights this year. I am very disappointed by the white ones - they have a very sterile blue cast to them, and I won't use them again next year. Plus you can't swap them out for other colors. But I feel good about using less energy.
Favorite ornament? Too many to count, although I do know the provenance of every single one.
And I have very special memories of tinsel from childhood days. Remember how heavy it felt? Later it was made of plastic or something and the heft was not at all satisfying.

[Angela (signlady217)]

I'm not sure, but I think the old tinsel actually had silver in it. That's what made it feel heavy and also caused some tarnish, if I remember correctly.

I use all white lights, but they don't have a blue cast at all! That would be awful! I got mine from Dollar General several years ago, and only had to replace 6 or 8 bulbs this year (even if a few bulbs go out, the rest stay lit). I have about 20 strands (most of them 100 lights) that I use. I hope you find some that you're happy with.

Have a great Christmas everybody!

[Kimj]

Favorite? Is it ok if I say all of them? Ok, I do have several favorites. The baby in a walnut shell, purchased in a Christkindlemarket in Heidelberg. The canoe, made locally of birch bark. The little metal bicycles my sister found in Frankenmuth. The little German birds with plastic whisk tails, that just look beautiful.

[Sheila Connolly]

Edith, you're right--some of those LEDs are bluish and alien, like some car headlights these days. I think the makers realized that and make some "antique white" ones now.

I must have ten strings of those little white ones, many inherited from my parents. The problem is, some of them are the kind that when one bulb goes, the whole string goes (remember those?), and the hoarder in me insists on going through them bulb by bulb by bulb...I must have something better to do with my time.

Kimj, my mother loved birds and bells. We still have some of the blown-glass ones with tails (which fall off regularly). I buy new ones whenever I see them, in her memory.

Happy holidays to all, whatever form your decorations take!