When I was growing up, my family had a fun Christmas tradition. Every year the five of us would go into town a day or so before we got our tree, and we'd each pick out one new Christmas ornament. Then each year as we decorated the tree, ornaments would call to mind the different places we had lived, and the different choices each family member had made.
Here's my choice for the year 1956 (I have of course catalogued all the ornaments). The next year I chose a snowman in similar style, but alas, he has not survived.
Here's my choice in 1959. It's a paper-maché ball made in West Germany. I find it rather alarming these days to see the same exact thing in antique stores!
1962 was a little different. I may have found a store-bought ornament, but I also made this one from a real egg. The gold florals are authentic die-cut scraps that came from a mail order place called the Brandon Company. It was a business that grew out of the discovery of a whole inventory of Victorian scraps in a barn! (I spent a lot of allowance money ordering from the Brandon Company.)
My ornament for 1976 was this replica of an antique grape cluster (or is it a pine cone?). It's more than 25 years old by now, so it might be an antique in its own right.
In 1979, I bought this delightful glass gyroscope at a favorite antique store in Pittsburgh. I'll be sharing more ornaments later in upcoming posts.
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Now I have an idea about those squirrel-knawed cones...
ReplyDeleteSorry, gnawed. And I meant to say, I think the few ornaments you showed are truly worthy of putting on an X'mas tree, bringing as they do huge sentimentality. And what's Christmas if isn't sentimental?
ReplyDeleteDear Columnist - I always admire picture-perfect trees — ones that are decorated as Martha Stewart would suggest — but I am indeed sentimental, and I love a tree filled with stories and memories.
DeleteHi, Mark - Love your ornaments!! Quite the range there. I've never seen a gyroscope ornament.
ReplyDeleteLoi
PS - That is a grape cluster ornament. I have one in silver with faux white snow.
Thanks, Loi — you'll see an even greater range in the next posting!
DeleteDear Mark - it is always tempting to be in the height of fashion with Christmas trees and decorations, but like you I enjoy seeing ornaments that we have collected over the years. Some of them, like yours, would probably be regarded as vintage. I regret that I do not have ornaments from my parents tree, if I was to see them I am sure that memories would come flooding back. Our Christmas tree at home was always brought into the house from the garden on Christmas Eve and decorated before we children went to bed. I do not carry on that tradition myself, I am far too organised to leave things to the last minute.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite ornament of yours is the one you made yourself out of an egg.
Half of the fun is actually exploring in the boxes each year and discovering them all over again.
Dear Rosemary,
DeleteI would not want to decorate a tree the night before Christmas, but by the same token, I'm put off that the season now seems to be expanding nearly into October. My mother said that when she was growing up, merchants started decorating about a week before Christmas, and that must have been very exciting.
A little later in the month, I'll be sharing an ornament from my grandparents' tree — it has quite a patina by now!
Dear Mark, What a lovely tradition your family had. To me it is what Christmas is all about. Yes, we can purchase a new box of blue bulbs and toss them away for something more in vogue the next year. However, then there are no lovely memories to share with friends.
ReplyDeleteYour very first ornament is a hoot. It reminds me of little tadpoles I captured when I was small.
Dear Gina - I'm glad you enjoyed my tadpole Santa. I believe that was the first ornament I ever picked. He doesn't have quite the authority I associate with St. Nick.
DeleteMark,
ReplyDeleteI want to thank you for the hours of enjoyment I've had in reading each one of your blog entries. I found your blog quite by accident while searching on Google for information on a Clark O.N.T. thread cabinet that my wife found at a Goodwill store. I've learned an incredible amount about design, art, history and many other things in the past few days. Thanks for sharing all of this, especially your own work. I look forward to your future blog entries.
Dear Jonsson,
DeleteThanks for the very kind comment. I can't imagine a Clark O.N.T. thread cabinet ending up at a Goodwill store, unless perhaps Goodwill has moved to Rodeo Drive! Congratulations on that stroke of luck!
Hello Mark, Sorry for the late response; I have been under the weather lately. Your first Santa has such personality; it looks like it could have taken part in Ladislav Starewicz' Carrousel boréal. Even the time period is about right. The gyroscope is pretty amazing--it makes one wonder what made them think of creating it.
ReplyDelete--Road to Parnassus
Hello, Jim - It's a funny phenomenon that when one has seen something for nearly a lifetime, it's not necessarily associated with a greater period beyond a time in one's own life. But by putting this posting together, I've seen how delightfully dated that Santa is. As for the gyroscope, perhaps a tastemaker thought it was time for something "high-tech."
DeleteI hope you're feeling better by the time you read this.
Dear Mark,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing some of your beautiful ornaments! My favorite is the egg you made yourself-- a family treasure! We've been collecting blown glass ornaments over the years with our sons, and its amazing how excited they get (rare in teenage boys) when they see the ornaments they've chosen through their childhoods. We wisely remind them of the importance of choosing a spouse that will appreciate their historical ornaments, Yoda, cheeseburger, Star Trek Borg, walrus and all (they have some really odd ones...)! It's funny, when we first started out, my husband and I went to great lengths to create a beautifully decorated and sophisticated tree, but we never loved it like we love our eccentric, crazy tree now! I suppose that's what the season is all about, and seeing your post has convinced me that we've led our boys down a good path, here... Thank you!
Warm regards,
Erika
Dear Erika,
DeleteYour collection sounds wonderful. Our family had several hand-blown glass ornaments, and my favorite was a clear glass fox, running with a chicken of white glass in its mouth. A little strange for Christmas, but it was delightful.
Thank you for that last comment. Your sons are collecting wonderful period pieces, and perhaps will in turn have children who treasure Star Trek ornaments as though they were Buck Rogers.
Best wishes,
Mark
Love these, Mark. What a wonderful collection. I don't put up a big tree anymore so my own collection of ornaments has been passed on to my daughter. I kept back a few of my favorites though and still enjoy looking at them. Love your photos, by the way.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Yvette. I totally understand. There were many years that I didn't put up a Christmas tree because the family always celebrated at my brother's house, and one tree-trimming was enough for me . . .
Delete