Speaking of Trees

There wasn't much going on yesterday as I rested my achey fingers.  It always amazes me just how much popping and cracking there is when I first stand up.  I take a hint from the doggie critters ... I do doggie yoga every morning just so I can walk without waking Jonathan up.  

It seems that tinsel brought about lots of Christmas memories.  I think we got our tree about fifteen days before Christmas.  You were at the mercy of the tree lot guys, who were very scary to look at.  We would pick up several, twirl them around and see if they were even.  

After being cut, wadded up and hauled clear from the forests of Oregon, they were a little worse for wear. I later realized those guys worked really hard for that money and were always covered in pitch.  This was a once a year money maker for them.  There were maybe five tree lots in town.  Now the only place you can buy a very sad tree is at Home Depot or Lowes. 

There were rules.  It could never come in the house that day.  It had to sit outside in a pail of water while all the critters fell to the ground.  We learned that after swatting all the bugs that dropped to the linoleum floor.  Finally inside and firmly screwed into the red tree stand, it was ready for the boxes of ornaments.

But WAIT .... you had to wait at least one day for the branches to settle in.

There were more rules.  The lights had to go on first.  Those big heavy strings were always tied in knots and were so hard to unravel because of the big light bulbs, multi colored of course.  Don't dare break one of those bulbs, because replacements were very hard to find.

There was also one very special string of lights we were not allowed to touch.  Have you ever seen bubble lights?  They are filled with liquid (I've no idea what) and when you plugged them in (after warming up) they bubbled and looked like candles.  I would sit and watch them for hours.  I kept those lights for many many years, and actually think I still have a replica set stored high in my cupboards.

Next came the ornaments.  The thin cardboard boxes were so old you had to be even MORE careful not to drop and break anything.  You got swatted for that.  There was no sparing the rod in our house.  The bulbs were plain, which few exceptions.  

Every year we cut thin ribbon to the correct length and tied it tight to the bulb, then tied every bulb on the tree.  I don't think they even had "hangars" back then, although on occasion we did use paper clips if we could find them.

By the way, none of these pictures are of my family or our trees.  THIS one however, resembles our tree more than any other.  Oh yeah .... the tinsel.  It came in a little (also thin) cardboard box.  You would gather up the tiniest amount and begin to place it on the branches one piece at a time.  Again with the rules.  

As Doris mentioned, do NOT let it touch the branch below.  It should just hang straight like the icicle it represents.  I wasn't so good at that part.  If we ran a little short, we would get out the box of aluminum foil and cut enough strips to finish the tree.

It was always my job to water the tree.  The more water, the less mess you had to clean up when all the needles fell to the floor.  Sadly, I wasn't very good at that job.  Cleanup after Christmas was epic.  The good thing was we did not have carpet.  There was no carpet or rugs in our house, so sweeping was mandatory.  Come to think of it, we never had a vacuum cleaner either.  Brooms and mops were the tools of the trade.

Mom always wanted a flocked tree.  We would see them going out of the tree lot looking like they had just been in a huge snow storm.  Back then I had no idea what they used ... something with lots of glue I guess. 

 At long last (we must have had a good cattle year) Dad said we could afford a flocked tree.  We lost a lot of flocking on the way home.  Sadly, the smell of the tree disappeared completely.  It had a chemical flavor that permeated the house.  Decorating was a little difficult, and every time we even touched a branch, the flocking would fall to the floor.

There was never EVER a flocked tree in our house again.  What a mess it was to clean up.

After that came these.  Anyone have an aluminum tree?  I think it was discussed at one point due to the easy setup and cleanup, but it never went anywhere.  This was not going to be a Christmas tree in our house, no matter what.  

This wasn't my idea of a "tree" either, but I admit, I was the first in the family to buy an artificial tree.  I still have it in the garage 35 years later.  After all these years of service, it is now losing its needles too.  It's not the pre-lit version of today and you have to spend hours hooking dozens of light strands together to cover it's nine foot height.  It's a beauty, but WAY too much work!!

The folks who put up these trees for Christmas probably have the right idea.  Turn it upside down, stuff it in a box and you are done.  

So what are your Christmas tree decorating stories?  I imagine practically everyone will have different memories.  It's fun to think about them.  Makes me want to put up that big tree again.  

No ..... no it doesn't!!!!