So Bright!

I watched four of the ATM Christmas shows (1980, the two 1981s, and 1982), then cleaned up the spare room, which was still scattered with the remains of Christmas wrapping (there's one gift to go, but we can do that on the kitchen table), and folded up the table and vacuumed. Then I sat down to watch the two For Better or For Worse specials, "The Bestest Present," set when Elizabeth was small, and "A Christmas Angel," a later story set when April was a baby.

Now I have The Homecoming on. Glory be, how lovely it looks on this television!! I don't usually widescreen things that were made fullscreen, but this doesn't look too badly distorted and the Jackson Hole scenery is even more breathtaking in a wide format. I did like the original sets for this story! Granted, the set for The Waltons house was closer to the real Hamner home, but everything in The Homecoming looks as if it is vintage 1933 or earlier, and it looks much grittier than the series did, even in its first few years.

I particularly love the kitchen of the Walton house—the big Hoosier cabinet, the spice cabinet hanging on the wall, even the cast iron match holder next to the stove. Ike's store is great, too; the big iceboxes, the red soda keg, the old sewing thread cabinet in the background, Ike's butcher table, the post boxes with the coffee grinders on top of it—wonderful, wonderful set dressing. You can just smell the kettle of vegetable soup the kids have for lunch, feel the little chill in the general store heated only by a stove, taste the bologna Sheriff Bridges has for lunch, hear the hum that is in the air when it snows in the country.

Christmas Day Celebrations

Merry Christmas 2008 - Christmas Celebrations - Christmas Day

Christmas Eve Day in the Morning

Overhead on the telephone this morning:

Linda: "James, what were we bringing to the Butlers tomorrow?"

James: "The Thai ginger carrots. Wasn't that what we decided?"

Linda: "That's going to be a bit of a problem. We don't have any."

James: "Ooops."

Which explains why I was at Trader Joe's at 10:30 this morning. No matter. There wasn't a crowd and I was feeling rather chipper. I also bought a pumpkin tart and some French bread and oyster crackers.

Since I was the area I stopped at Michaels to see if their wrapping paper was already on sale. It was; I got some nice woodland designs.

Last night James has wrapped up some little gifts for a few of his co-workers. He forgot them this morning, so from Merchant's Walk I cut down the back way through Lower Roswell and Powers Ferry to his building.

On the way home I was going past the Heritage Pointe Michaels, so I stopped. They still had the cool bows, so I bought them. (I like to buy my bows for the year at Christmas. I use the red, green, and gold ones for Christmas and save the silver, blue, and purple ones for the rest of the year. But Michaels had interesting colors this year: a bag with golds, coppers, burgundies, hunter greens, and another bag with white, silvers, ice and sea blues. I ended up with a bag of both and three more wrapping paper designs.)

Now home for the day (hopefully). I've had some leftover pork loin from Fresh2Order, a glass of milk, and am watching Christmas episodes of Ask the Manager.

Visits from St. Nicholas

One of the most enduring of all Christmas stories, Clement C. Moore's (or was it?) story in various video forms:

A 1946 sepia version, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"

The Mabel Beaton Marionette version

A musical version done from book illustrations

Walt Disney "Silly Symphony" version

Disney Version with Ken Darby song arrangement

A Perry Como version with book illustrations

A Stroll on a "Christmas Eve Eve"

Or "Christmas Adam," as I understand it's called in some quarters...LOL. (How very apt, in fact, because December 24 is "Adam and Eve Day.")

Today I had a sleep in, then had a leisurely breakfast; so leisurely that I decided not to do what I was looking forward to this morning, but to postpone it to this afternoon so I wouldn't run into lunch-hour traffic.

So I finally got the last of the gifts wrapped—yes! Also tidied up, put the baking board away, tossed the trash, and vacuumed.

But the nicest part of the day was walking around downtown. I started at DuPre's, which was a department store until 1985 and is now an antique mall. It still has the original wide-board wooden floors, and if you go to the very rear of the store, there is a support post that still has nails stuck in it and papers posted on it from when the store was in business, like bills of sale and a list of prices for chicken and pigeon and other types of feed and a list of who was at what extension within the store. At Christmastime all these antique stores dot the sales floor with decorations, both vintage and new, so it's the best time to wander about.

I also walked to the antique store where Luke the poodle usually hangs out. This place has old Victrolas and today they had a 1960s television console I remember when it was new and being sold at the Outlet Company! They also have old Life and Popular Science/Popular Mechanics issues and some books.

I popped in the little toy/gift shop and the Hallmark store, then walked down to the smaller antique stores on Church Street. One wasn't open on Tuesdays. :-) I did wander about the one that was going out of business and moving into DuPre's (where I don't know, since I didn't see any empty space there!) and the other that sells primitive things. I bought a small primitive black sheep, although I was itching to buy more, and a small feather tree to boot!

Spent the evening chilling out. James wrapped my gifts, we had supper and watched Jeopardy and my favorite part of each evening, What's My Line? and To Tell the Truth, and finally a program I recorded off GPTV several weeks ago called Paperback Dreams, about the dwindling market for independent bookstores. Profiled were two northern California icons, Kepler's Books and Cody's Books. It brought back melancholy memories of Oxford Books at Peachtree Battle, and the old Paperback Books store on Weybosset Street in Providence. (And I wistfully wonder if Readmore is still hanging on out there on Route 44 in Taunton.)

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

My plan today was to bake cookies.

Well, I certainly did, and now my back is telling me stridently about it.

The problem was that I didn't just bake cookies.

It started out with the wine bottle. I couldn't get the gosh-danged cork out. Last year I fractured the darn thing and I had to filter the wine because it had cork chips in it. After tugging unsuccessfully and even calling James to see if he had a tip, I took a chance and screwed the corkscrew all the way in and then use it to pivot the cork—really what looked like a piece of plastic—and it did come out without falling apart.

Now when I expressed concern last night if we had baking powder, James checked the pantry closet for me to answer in the affirmative. But this morning when I measured out the flour, I discovered I was short a half a cup needed to make the second batch.

Since I was out of yogurt anyway, I decided to go to Kroger. I put on "Holiday Traditions" and bopped over to the store. I bought the flour, the yogurt, and a few other staples.

James and I had a few toys we wanted to donate to the Toys for Tots program. We'd been planning it for weeks, but first we didn't know where to go (unless we wanted to drive downtown). Finally I heard on the news that they were taking donations at Publix and we had planned to drop them off there over the weekend. Since that fell through, I wanted to get them there today.

When I got there they said the donations had already been collected. Arrgh!

Anyway, I took the groceries home and went to the Toys for Tots webpage and found a number to call. The lady who answered the phone said that the Steak'n'Shake restaurants had Toys for Tots barrels and that they wouldn't be picked up until late this afternoon or tomorrow.

Late this afternoon? It was only a little before one, so I jumped back into the car and drove toward Steak'n'Shake. Since Michaels was on the way and I needed more bows, I stopped there for a few minutes to get some, then went on to Steak'n'Shake.

The Toys for Tots people had just picked up their donation box!

However, there was a gentleman at the takeout counter who said they had a donation box at the LA Fitness a mile down the road. So it was back into the car.

Success finally! The woman took the bag of toys from me and I was finally able to get home and start baking.

I made two batches of wine biscuits. The wine was very dark and the dough turned a nice purply color, although the first batch was rather dry. I kept adding wine to it, but I was afraid of getting it sticky, so had to fight with the dough a bit. The second batch of dough was perfect. I think I made about 70 of the wine biscuits.

James doesn't like wine biscuits, though, and I thought I would try another of my mom's recipes for him. I had bought some almond extract at Kroger and I halved my mom's almond bar recipe since I didn't know how it would come out.

Julia Child I ain't. First it was too dry (I added a little more oil and the rest of the egg that I used to glaze the wine biscuits). Then it got sticky, which was correct, according to a printed version of the recipe. Oh, boy, was it sticky. It was so gummy that I didn't really get a chance to shape it; I just laid it in a long, pseudo-loaf shape on the wax-paper lined cookie sheet and put it in the oven. Minutes later it was spreading sideways like an bumpy-looking amoeba.

I cleaned up while it was baking and finally took it out of the oven when it looked brown enough. The directions said to cut it while it was still warm and a bunch of it crumbled, but...there it is. I tasted it, and it actually tastes pretty good, even though it looks funny! :-)

By then my back was screaming in surrender, so I took Willow out for her walk, picked up the mail, and then swigged two Tylenol and sat down to do what I'd wanted to do this afternoon: watch some Christmas shows! I've been through the 1958, 1960, and 1961 Lassie Christmas stories and am feeling a lot better...even if I still have ten more gifts to wrap!

More Christmas Photos

Since the refurbished ceppo is now on top of the curio cabinet, the feather tree is gracing the microwave cart this year. I like it next to what we call "Willow's light," with its Christmasy "lampshade." Below are some avian Christmas boxes and a little reindeer and Christmas cupboard.



The feather tree close up. The Christmas baubles and plastic snowmen and Santas are 1950s vintage and were always on our family tree. I made the other ornaments and the gilded walnuts when I was in junior high school.



Here's what you see when you walk in our front door! You can see the close up of the little cow figurines on the tier table in the previous set of photos.



The miniature ornaments tree glows in the dark.



Here's a cozy place to read!



This year's version of the library tree, with even more ornaments. The garland didn't go on so well this year, though.



Before we had room for a village on our mantel, we had a "vignette," Christmas at the lighthouse. I've always been fascinated with the stories of the lighthouse keepers and their children in the 19th and early 20th century. They withstood great hardship to keep the shipping lanes and coastline safe.



Here's the village, with proper yellow lights!

Christmas Eve 1913

NOEL: CHRISTMAS EVE 1913
Robert Bridges

A frosty Christmas Eve
     when the stars were shining
Fared I forth alone
     where westward falls the hill,
And from many a village
     in the watered valley
Distant music reach'd me,
     peals of bells aringing:
The constellated sounds
     ran sprinkling on earth's floor
As the dark vault above
     with stars was spangled o'er.

Then sped my thought to keep
     that first Christmas of all
When the shepherds watching
     by their folds ere the dawn
Heard music in the fields
     and marveling could not tell
Whether it were angels
     or the bright stars singing.

Now blessed be the tow'rs
     that crown England so fair
That stand up strong in prayer
     unto God for our souls:
Blessed be their founders
     (said I ) an' our country folk
Who are ringing for Christ
     in the belfries to-night
With arms lifted to clutch
     the rattling ropes that race
Into the dark above
     and the mad romping din.

But to me heard afar
     it was starry music
Angels' song, comforting
     as the comfort of Christ
When he spake tenderly
     to his sorrowful flock:
The old words came to me
     by the riches of time
Mellow'd and transfigured
     as I stood on the hill
Heark'ning in the aspect
     of th' eternal silence.

(If this sounds slightly familiar, and you own the "John Denver and the Muppets" album, this poem was adapted into a beautiful song used on the album.)

Christmas Time is Here! (Photos Ahoy!)

I've divided this post into two parts. These are new items (or in one case, a major refurb).

The first photo isn't really new, but I don't remember posting a photo of it last year. It's my Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer tree, Rankin-Bass version, of course. The topper is simply a collection of red baubles to emulate Rudolph's nose.



This is the little display of statuary (and cards) on the secretary next to Schuyler's cage. I had thought to put the little feather tree here, but it would have been covered with discarded feathers and seed shucks. This collection is much easier to keep clean! As you see, I kept Skye in the company of birds: the Jim Shore angel has birds, the Santa tin has a birdhouse and birds, and there is an English robin perched on the bell.



Since we have a larger "night table" in there now, I decided to spruce up the guest room with a little Christmas display. "Rodney the reindeer" looks just right in this cool wire sleigh from Hobby Lobby with a peppermint stocking filled with peppermint decorations, all set next to a peppermint-bauble and candy-cane decorated mini-tree.



This is most of the gingerbread display in the kitchen.



I was in a Hallmark store last year and they had these cute little cow statuettes on sale. They're called "Mary's Moo Moos." Several were in a Christmas motif and I fell in love with this little fireplace with Papa Bull and his little calf. I didn't see a matching Mama Cow, but thought this cow and her quilt looked as if she went with the setup. She had a John Deere logo in the middle of the quilt which I covered with a printed quilt-block.

I had no idea where to put them until I realized there was a nice little space on the tier table.



Here's something old with a new look. I made this ceppo years ago to hold our miniatures tree. Since in the old house the Christmas tree was upstairs in the living room-cum-library and we were always down in the den with Bandit, the computers and the television, it was a handy decoration for downstairs. However, the first year I made it I was too late to paint it, and every year I procrastinated till it never did get painted. This year I decided I had the time (and the ability, since nothing was on top of the ceppo box—LOL). I found this heavenly, silvery blue for most of it, and painted the bottom shelf white scattered with different types of glitters to look like snow and the middle shelf with dirt and grass to look like a field in Bethlehem. (There are railroad diorama trees in the background.)

The blue delft-type angels on top are from the other Christmas shop in Gatlinburg, just a few blocks down from the Incredible Christmas Place, and the chickadees flanking from Hallmark. The "Peace" in the rear is from Michaels, embellished with the little wooden decorations from A.C. Moore.



I gathered these copper items from various venues (Big Lots, Michaels, and one branch from the Incredible Christmas Store) and put them in a little red basin from Michaels.



I found the little copper-topped bottle-brush trees with the Lemax Christmas village things. Not sure where the goofy deer came from (Gatlinburg, I think), but they seemed to be made for each other. :-)



This is James' airplane tree. About half of these are Hallmark ornaments (not sure if you can see Snoopy in his "flying ace" outfit also on the tree) and the rest are models James has built. The tree is not only silver, but made of a holographic material. The garland I bought because it was red and green like the directional lights on the wings of aircraft (the gold I had to live with). The star used to be on the library tree, but seems a good match.

This photo doesn't do it justice. It's much cuter.



A "Chris Moose" sits upon the new bench in the foyer. Don't you just love the box? I found it at Garden Ridge. Very late 40s-1950s type design on the box.



Anyway, here's the china cabinet, Mark II. :-) The Santa collection is back and a bit larger. Like the "Peace" to the rear of the ceppo, the "Falala" next to the charming little sheep is from Michaels, embellished with more little wooden decorations from A.C. Moore. On the opposite side is a sheep ornament from the Christmas store in Helen, GA; his sign says "Merry Christmas."



The little tree in the middle, purchased from a vendor at a Blue Ribbon Affair, is probably my favorite decoration this year. It came out like a little jewel. I was trying for a late 1800s, maybe to 1910 look, and Michaels had the perfect tiny ornaments. I picked the blue and white bead garland to offset all the red on the tree itself. I think the perfect little rocking horse came from Hobby Lobby, and then I tried for period-looking gifts of white paper tied with red string (really cherry-colored embroidery floss) on the opposite side.

"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...Easter..."

It's already 65°F here and supposed to be 67 for the high today. Tomorrow...more horrors: low 70s, and then 60s on Saturday. Since I wasn't brought up on the Australian-Christmas-shrimp-on-the-barbie-let's-go-to-the-beach philosophy, this is about as Christmasy as cold sushi served for Christmas dinner. In sheer self-defense I have my Christmas cassettes on and plugged in my USB Christmas tree for an additional fillip of cheer.

(I have to admit I'm glad that we don't have sleet and ice like the poor sods in Massachusetts—dangerous icy conditions are only fit for child molesters and Osama bin Laden—but this is ridiculous. I should have known this would happen when it got so chilly earlier in the season. Warmish is one thing, but humid and sticky is annoying. What's really aggravating is that three hours up the road it's 37°F! I wish Florida would keep its damn warm air where it belongs.)

I am delighted to listen to the cassettes again. I have a great deal of Christmas music still left on cassette. A few I have replaced with CDs, mostly if the tape broke or became crumpled near the leaders, and a few I could replace with CDs, but why fritter the money away? What I have left play fine [cross fingers, as the tape player did eat one of my tapes last year—luckily I could get another copy if I wanted) and I have several rare ones that I bought when Oxford Books went out of business, ones of British vintage.

The temperature has certainly confused the birds! There was a loud, melodic warble outside for the longest time; it came so close that I had to get up and peek out on the deck to see if I could catch sight of the bird. It was the little Carolina wren, his song almost larger than his little plump body with the upturned tail! He sounds as if it is mating season instead of December.

CHRISTMAS BOOK REVIEW: Christmas Past

by Gavin Weightman and Stephen Humphries

As mentioned in a previous review, this trade paperback was a purchase from the remainder table of original Borders Books on Roswell Road in Atlanta. I was delighted to find it because I had seen (and videotaped) the original television special years ago when it was broadcast on A&E (back when A&E showed quite a few documentaries). It is a history of the celebration of Christmas in Great Britain, and, like the television special, is crammed full of historical photographs about bygone holidays. It is especially fascinating talking about customs that are pretty much unknown in America, from the most familiar which might be the "Christmas cracker" to obscure customs like the "Mari Llwd," a horse's skull carried from house to house in Wales which was a legacy of pagan times (along with the wassailing of Christmas trees). Another once-popular custom—even more popular than having a Christmas tree—was a decoration called a "mistletoe," barrel staves decorated with tissue paper with holly or mistletoe mounted in the the center, that would be hung up as the main display. There are also memoirs from men and women who grew up poor in the early part of the 20th century and remember the meager Christmases of their youth, as well as memories of children and adults who had to celebrate in the workhouse.

And wait—there's more: memories of colonial Christmases in India, the Victorian contribution to the celebration, wartime Christmases...as full of goodies as a stocking hung on the mantel. Highly recommended!

Trim Up the Tree (and the Mantel)

I finally got the library tree put up tonight. James had to add pins to the new animals I bought as well as the one figure, so I couldn't "dress" the tree until I had all the trimmings. I hate the way the bead garlands went on. I think I would rather do payment authorizations than put garland on a tree. Tinsel takes forever, but it looks breathtaking once you get it on. Garland is just a pain in the neck.

I have the village buildings on the mantel but have not set up the rest of the accoutrements. I would like to find yellow bulbs to put in some of the buildings rather than white...it's okay for the stores, but the house and the church at least need something "homier." I have orange bulbs in there now; it's not bad for the church but the house looks like Hallowe'en.

Of course I hope I can find yellow bulbs. I'm going to try Garden Ridge. The bulb supply at Hobby Lobby sucks. I suppose I could try Target or WalMart or such. Garden Ridge was good for bulbs last year—of course, here it is two weeks before Christmas...do they still have a good supply?

I decorated the tree in the foyer last night; once we pull out the ornaments for the big tree, we can pick out the airplane ornaments and decorate James' airplane tree. We have a lovely sparkly blue fabric to use underneath it.

If only the weather would straighten out! It's still warm and sticky. The cold front's on its way, but as far as I'm concerned, it's not fast enough for me! I hate decorating a Christmas tree when it's warm. :-)

CHRISTMAS BOOK REVIEW: The World at Christmas

by Charles House

This may be the weirdest Christmas book I've ever read. And I thought The Christmas Mystery was odd.

The true purpose of this book is to illustrate how other nations outside the US celebrate Christmas. The narrative has Our Hero planning to use something called "a Transvolo stone" to transport himself to the various countries at Christmastime. But things keep going wrong. He asks to be transported to Greece and instead a Kallikantzeros (a Greek evil spirit who makes mischief at Christmastime) appears in his yard. He does get his Greek tour, but no sooner is that finished when all the Scandinavian "Nisser" (Christmas elves) appear in his yard, arguing which is the true Christmas bringer. Other attempts to go to other countries are either thwarted or the gift bringer from that country comes to him, saying they were summoned by a mysterious voice!

Turns out the saboteur is...Santa Claus! In this novel he is petulant, insecure, and selfish, thinking that just because Our Hero wants to learn about Christmas customs in other countries, he also wants that gift bringer to come to the United States and put Santa out of a job!

Of course Santa does finally come around at the end and in the meantime we get glimpses of Christmas elsewhere, but by then you are tired of the entire thing.

Recommended only as a curiosity.

A Christmas Story Fandom

"Ralphies," Leg Lamp Fans Keep Film Thriving

A Holiday Weekend (and a LONG Post)

Friday seems a million hours away! We had a super-busy weekend, which unfortunately started out, for me, badly. I tried a new salad at Sweet Tomatoes and I liked it, but it didn't like me, so I was in the bathroom for about an hour at 2:30 a.m. By the time I got back to bed I was chilled and it took me ages to warm up and fall asleep.

Nevertheless, we had a full plate on Saturday. Before lunch, we had to go to the bank. I'd had a bland breakfast with a Pepto Bismol chaser, but James grabbed some lunch our and we went to BJs for a few groceries. James bought me a Christmas gift and we also purchased WALL-E, which we never saw in the theatre but everyone has raved about it. Then we had to go to Kroger for bananas and yogurt and other necessities.

I still wasn't feeling up to snuff, so James dropped me off at home and went to the hobby shop. I took some ibuprofin and then slowly proceeded to decorate. I put up the gingerbread things in the kitchen, the feather tree (it's on the little microwave cart this year) with its surrounding vintage-looking toys, the refurbished ceppo (on the curio cabinet), and little feather tree surrounded by my Santa collection (on the china cabinet). I also decorated the console and the secretary next to the birdcage. (Schuyler has the two musical things, natch: the silver-based Santa snowglobe and the Charlie Brown and tree Hallmark ornament). I also cleaned the hall bath and put all the blue decorations up: an angel, two Santas, a snowman, and the blue snowflake hand towels, plus the decorative soaps. I have the tree plugged in in the foyer, but never did get the ornaments on it.

James got home around three and I took some ibuprofin and lay down about four o'clock for a half hour. While I didn't feel like turning cartwheels, I was in "good stomach" enough that I asked James if, since we were going to be on that side of town anyway, he wanted to take me out for my birthday dinner. He said yes, so we left about five on our way to the annual Atlanta Radio Theatre Company performance of "An Atlanta Christmas," this year at the Alliance Theatre venue.

But first we were off for a treat: we went to dinner at the Colonnade. This restaurant has been open for about 80 years, originally on the corner of Piedmont and Lindbergh until they lost their lease in the 1960s. They moved to Cheshire Bridge Road in front of the Cheshire Motor Inn, which, back in those days, was a good neighborhood. It's a bit run-down now, with girlie bars and "adult novelty" stores, but the restaurant, in slang parlance, "still rocks." The food is so good that when the kitchen caught fire in the 1970s, evacuating diners walked out with their plates and forks so they could finish eating.

I understand the pork loin, beef short ribs, and fried chicken are all good, but I can't tell you, because I go there for the turkey dinner. I am really not a stuffing/dressing fan and usually only take a mouthful or two, but I slice up my turkey at the Colonnade and mix it with their absolutely fabulous celery dressing and eat it all tooth and toenail. I love their applesauce; it is not over-sugared. And the baked potato was delicious, too. I thought we might have to wait, as the place was about 3/4 full, but we got right in and were served right away—served so fast, in fact, that our dinners came before the rolls!

Pleasantly full, we returned to our route. We were a bit early, so we stopped at Book Nook. I discovered there was a third Nicholas Meyer Sherlock Holmes novel, after The Seven-Per-Cent Solution and The West End Horror, something called The Canary Trainer. I also found a really odd book (text printed on pink paper!) called Christmas in the World, which seems to be someone traveling around the world and meeting all the evil spirits of Christmas, like Krampus and Black Peter.

Finally arrived at the theatre; we hadn't been at this venue before. Boy, is it dark outside the building. Not a lot of signs that there is a theatre there at all!

Anyway, it was the usual enjoyable performance. There were two new skits this year, a news show spoof called "Rudolphium," about the discovery of the element that makes reindeer fly, and a rather silly skit about pirates and Christmas spoofing lame television holiday specials. Not sure what the latter had to do with Atlanta, though, but it had some very funny parts. The actress who portrayed Tiffany, the assistant to the mall Santa Claus in "Santa Claus Blues," was hysterical. Tiffany is always portrayed as being young and very earnest, but in this incarnation, she was also filled with wonder, as if this was the best job she ever had.

It was getting rather late, so we chatted only a bit after the performance, then headed home. I asked James if we could go past the place where my old apartment complex was, the place I lived when I first moved to Atlanta, which I always referred to as "the Cubbyhole" (it was a studio apartment). Last year when we drove past the location they had torn down the entire complex (Peachtree Garden Apartments), and when I went by a little later in the year it looked as if they were filling in the little "valley" the complex was in. Well, the area is still unfinished, but there are now two huge buildings there, complete with parking garages.

We came home via Mount Paran Road. This is one of those routes that is increasingly being taken over by McMansions of every stripe: there are "Italianate estates" and an "English hunting lodge" (complete with a waterfall and pond out front!) and many Classical-design homes. One we refer to as "Mr. Inflatable" because he has inflatable decorations (which I think look horribly tacky) outside the house for every holiday, even if it's only one or two. He had at least a dozen of the darn things in front of the house for Christmas, including a Tigger in a nightshirt.

Anyway, near "Mr. Inflatable" is a rather new development with these imposing Classical-style homes, and the two closest to the street seemed to be having a dueling lights contest. Every inch of both properties were covered in white lights: house, windows, trees, bushes, fenceline. It was bright!

We were up at nine this morning so we could have breakfast before the Marietta Tour of Homes. While yesterday was rather cloudy most of the day, today was sunny and clear—and only in the 40s. So much better than two years ago when it got up into the 70s and it was sweltering! The wind was quite keen, especially before noon, but it became more comfortable as the afternoon hours came on, but some people were bundled up like Eskimos!

We noticed something this year about all the tour homes: the decorations seemed to be the traditional greens—cedar and juniper as well as pine and holly—with red bows. One house did have fruit as part of the design, but with pine underpinnings. There were no "avant garde" type decorations like the people with the sofa frame two years ago.

The first house was the Hardage-Smith House, circa 1890. This had a very interesting shared fireplace system; the four main rooms shared the same flue in one corner of the room. The mantelpiece of the parlor was covered by little putz houses and bottle-brush trees from what looked like the 1950s, and the owners also had Santa collections like mine in several rooms, even the master bedroom, including a group of them which were two inches tall and shorter! As with most of these homes, they have had modern additions and this one is seamless, with the same molding and doorframes in the entire house. The bath had the same black-and-white tiles I remember from the old homes of my cousins.

Oh, one of the things on the wall was a framed report card of one of the owners' grand (or maybe great-grand) fathers, from 1920, complete with marks for deportment.

The next house was called "Oakmont" and had a varied history. It was originally "Kennesaw Hall," a small plantation home, originally with 800 acres. The property was burned by Sherman's troops and only the foundation and the granite slave cabin in the rear survived. It was rebuilt and made into quite a large Queen Anne type house in Victorian times. Over the years it was actually downsized to a small one-story house, although then a small half-story was added above. For a long time a piano teacher lived in the house, giving lessons in the cabin, and most Marietta children of the time would have had piano lessons with her.

The house is still small, but the owners have done marvelous things with the place. There is a new state-of-the-art kitchen (like all the houses), but the old one still stands used as a combination laundry, mudroom and craft room, with a floor made of reclaimed bricks. The upstairs is a marvel of all available space used: there are cubbies on the stairway and a cute little den in the main area at the top of the stairs. At either side of the den are the little girls' rooms. Each has a bed, plus spaces under each dormer where a friend could stay for a sleepover or they could just read. One little girl had a private space in what probably started out as a closet under an eave. It had a light inside, a little pallet and all sorts of little girl treasures. The kitchen had great drool factor. The big stove was flanked on either side by what looked like architectural wood decorations, but were really vertical spice drawers. You couldn't tell unless you pulled them out!

They also had cool antiques like a wind-up Victrola and railroad memorabilia and the last existing set of shelves from the larger house's library. When they started refurbishing the house, they discovered the rest of them rotting in the yard!

The former slave cabin has been turned into a guest house. It was completely made of stone and you can still see the burn marks on the inside wall of the bedroom portion, which has had the plaster stripped from it, from Sherman's march through the city.

The third house was of World War II vintage, the Wellons-Brackman-Gronewald House. The woman of the house is an interior designer and it showed, although it wasn't flashy. The house is dotted with beautiful antiques including a campaign desk. Like most homes of this era, the original part was very small, and in the rear the kitchen has been extended and a master suite added, and a screened porch on the side was turned into a compact library.

The High Cotton House was next. This was built in 1867 and the insulation in the walls, future remodelers discovered, was packed cotton! It used to have a complete wrap-around porch but part of it is now reclaimed by a nice comfy den. The parlor had a beautiful carved oak fireplace surround and mantel (originally from a brothel in Savannah!) with a peacock-shaped firescreen. The master bedroom was completely done in beautiful ice-blue paint with matching spread, curtains, etc, even a blue Persian rug, and a wonderful flocked Christmas tree with blue ornaments. The master bath had a gorgeous pink dogwood-theme stained glass window over the bathtub.

We had a bobble here. We took the opportunity to go upstairs and when we came down James slipped on the step nearest the landing. (Well, the people near us said he slipped on a tilted board, but when he stumbled there was a sharp crack, as if the step had given under his foot.) He caught himself, but his right knee is still hurting.

The fifth house is officially called the Orr-Johnson House, but the docent told us it was nicknamed "Mosley Hall," since the hallway was so wide it was "mos(t)ly hall." LOL. It was a large hall, filled with antique cabinets. One had a collection of statues of the various gift-bringers in different countries, like Santa Lucia and Grandfather Frost. The doors to each room had big adjustable transoms over them to regulate the cool and warm air circulation in those days before central air and heat. A beautiful stained-glass window was in the parlor and this also had the most unusual stool made of longhorn horns, dated 1915.

The owner obviously does cross stitch and many of her projects were dotted around the house. I was quite taken by a Christmasy one in the kitchen (another redone kitchen, of course!); I would love to have the pattern! It said "Christmas is holly with berries of red, and the heavenly fragrance of warm gingerbread."

The final house was a few steps away, the Cash-Cooney House from 1907. This is owned by a couple (the house originally belonged to the woman's grandfather) with four boys, all but one who are sports fans, so the bedrooms were quite heavily decorated with sports themes. They also had themed Christmas trees. The little movie-watching room had a tree hung with movie candy boxes, and dad, a baseball fan, had the neatest tree, which was covered with enlarged baseball cards and boxes of Cracker Jack! As with all the homes, the kitchen had been completely redone, this in a beautiful cherry finish, and we were directed to what looked like a corner cupboard at the rear. When you opened the doors, it turned out to be a pantry closet the size of a walk-in closet!

Our final stop was at the tea room, this year located at the Anderson Mansion, one of the big old Victorian houses on Whitlock Avenue. We each had a small treat, as we were intending to have lunch at home. This house put me in mind of my original allergist's office, which was on Waterman Street in Providence, once a toney neighborhood. Dr. Freedman used the first floor of a similar-type Victorian house and there were other medical offices upstairs. It was the same setup, parlors in the front and a kitchen in the back, the pocket-panel doors, etc., except when Dr. Freedman had it, the place was rather dark. When he retired and my next allergist, Dr. Sturam, took over, he had the place redone. It was much brighter, but he had a lot of the historical look removed from the place.

At home we had some lunch and James had some Aleve and rested his knee. We then spent about 90-minutes putting up the lights outside. We did the same setup as last year, with the lights around the columns and the purple stars "falling down." Then James got that "guy-look" that men get around Christmas lights and disappeared into the garage. We had bought about five boxes of blue miniature lights several years ago for a dollar a box and two sets of blue LED bulbs. We put the LED bulbs on the stair railings, then one set of miniature lights zigzagged on the railings, one set draped over the bushes in the front of the house, and one set draped over the bushes toward the side. So we're even more "bluetiful" than before. :-)

Seriously, I like the minis on the bushes especially; it looks like small blue stars have dropped on them.

We had turkey breast with salad for supper and worked through the rest of the backlogged What's My Line episodes. GSN's showings of The Name's the Same ended and we saw some of the early episodes of To Tell the Truth where Bud Collyer collected the "votes" from the panel rather than them putting up their choice and stating why they picked that person.

While we were doing this I was trying to catch up on things on my laptop. To my surprise it was running very slowly and oddly. Windows Update kept coming up and telling me my Windows Update was not on, and sure enough, when I went in, it had been disabled. How odd. Not only that, but when I went into Internet Explorer, something called "Antivirus 2009" kept popping up saying I was infected with at least three things including a two Trojans, one wich was showing up as "critical." For me to clear this problem, I had to install this "Antivirus 2009," which I didn't want to do, knowing nothing about it. But you could only run, save or cancel it. When you cancelled out of it, it didn't stop; you had to use Task Manager to get out of it. Well, when I did this I got a message saying "Are you sure? If you install, your PC will remain unsoiled." "Unsoiled?" I don't think Microslop uses words like "unsoiled."

So I ran AdAware and it was screaming about a Trojan called "Virisure" or something of that ilk. I removed it. I guess this "Virisure" encourages you to install this Antivirus thing to get rid of it, probably installing yet another Trojan in its place or not removing it in the first place. What a pain in the butt.

Sigh...still never got the tree in the foyer decorated!

A Man Called "Santa Klaus"

I had this out of the library last Christmas—note the spelling of "Santa's" name; it's from 1909! In any case, the whole book is reproduced here, except for one page that was badly scanned.

The Story of Santa Klaus by William Shepard Walsh.

Good Things in Small Packages

This is my little Christmas wall display from "Country Pickins." They come every year to the Yellow Daisy Festival from Kansas. I haven't seen them in any other Georgia craft show. I think I would be in trouble if I did. They're not online, which makes it safer, too. :-)



They make several different sizes of these display shelves (to give you an idea of the size of the little things upon the shelf and on top, the width of this unit is a little less than 5 inches) and there are varying themes: winter, Christmas, fall, spring, summer, seashore, quilting, kitchen, apples, and more I can't remember. Some are portrait-sized, some are landscape. They also have little shelves, and then larger displays that look like little hutches or stepback cabinets. The little display shelves like this one are less than $10, but when you start adding all the little things to them, it starts getting expensive. That's why I bought the wintry/Christmasy combination background. Once winter comes I will swap out the Santa/Christmas things with snowmen and winter things and it will do dual duty.

I have a fall one that stays out most of the year, and a little mostly apple-based one that stays in the kitchen (where this is now, since my feather tree would block it if it was in the usual place).

Whose Night Before Christmas?

And just in time for St. Nicholas Eve:

Mary S. VanDeusen's massive, absorbing website includes these pages about one of her ancestors: A Mouse in Henry Livingston's House, her investigation into the mystery of who wrote "A Visit from St. Nicholas."

Enough her to keep you busy for days!

Christmas Sparkles and Sputters

My first impulse this morning was to go straight to St. Ann's for the Apple Annie show so that I wouldn't have to park on Roswell Road.

However, I did need to get a couple of more packages out and postage for my greeting card going to England. So, juggling about four tasks at once, I dribbled packing peanuts in one box, wrapped the gift to go in the other, and printed out two Christmas letters, one for a box, one for the English post.

Then came the time to do the labels. I handwrite all the cards, but the labels are printed. I had already purchased labels, so I figured I'd put them through...

Hm. The ink didn't stick to the labels. I knew it wasn't the printer's fault, as it printed the letter fine. I had some other labels. These were glossy. Same thing happened. Well, phooey.

So I just handwrote the labels, and finally got going. I was planning to mail them on the way back, but there is a huge post office on Lower Roswell Road, near the synagogue, and almost no one was there. Hm. Either go to this empty PO or the one downtown with the torn-up parking lot. No brainer, eh?

That done, I headed to the church to wander about for 90 minutes. I still had to park on Roswell Road, but by now I was pretty mellow, the packages being taken care of. I like this church; I get nice vibes from it.

There were lots of nice things at the show, but as always lots of jewelry, which I'm not interested in. Not a lot of cutesy kids clothing like Yellow Daisy or some of the other craft shows. Many decorative things I couldn't afford. I did buy a tiny pair of skates and a sleigh with winter greenery in them and a gingerbread girl made from a tiny flowerpot. I also bought a couple of things to benefit the Youth League: a candle topper that looks like the front of a house surrounded by fall trees and a little tealight holder that looks like an old-fashioned stove with the backboard and warming shelf, all decorated with apples, in black and white and red.

The woman who paints the wonderful bird pictures was there, so I bought the little chickadee I skipped last year; she had several chickadees, but this one had the cutest face. I also bought one of the chickadee bookmarks because I liked the verse she had on it.

The other purchase was three bars of herbal soap for dogs. Miss Willow's going to have a niiiiiice bath at some point.

(I had a fun time but people still drive me crazy with their heedlessness. The booths are very close together and it's frustrating when a knot of people stand chattering in the middle of the way, and there was a woman in a scooter blocking about ten people from using the stairs because she was looking for a signal for her cell phone! Sigh...)

On the way home I stopped at Michael's for a frame for the chickadee and at Office Max for—of course—labels that clearly said they were for laser printers, and, oh, yeah, at Trader Joe's, since we won't have time to come back over the weekend. I asked about the open house, like they did last year—and it's on a Tuesday, and only from four till seven! Phooey.

My last stop was downtown to buy the tickets for the Marietta Tour of Homes this weekend. That took about a minute, and since there was a train roaring by anyway, I walked toward the square and then turned on Church Street just to peek in a couple of the little antique stores there. One is moving and the sale prices are still high, but I love some of the things. I will have to go back to one store; they have some pretty small things in a primitive theme. What I would like to do, if it's cool enough, to go back next Thursday, on my birthday, walk around, maybe have lunch.

CHRISTMAS BOOK REVIEW: A Worcestershire Christmas

compiled by David Green

Atlanta originally only had one Borders book store, located at the Tuxedo shopping center at the corner of Roswell Road and Piedmont Road. Even after they expanded into other locations around the metro area and moved that particular Borders to a large, two-floor store near Phipps Plaza Mall, I always missed the original store. It was more like a neighborhood bookstore than one of the "box" stores and often had more obscure offerings than Waldenbooks and BDalton, which were the two front-runners back then. It also had comfy chairs in odd corners and was rather homey even though it was stuck in the lower part of the "U"-shaped shopping center and parking was often a "bear."

The particular delight of the original store was the remainder tables. Where the other stores had the run-of-the-mill bestsellers languishing on their remainder tables, the original Borders always had more exotic fare. British-published books often showed up and I'm pretty sure that's where this volume originated, since my copy of Gavin Weightman's Christmas Past was also a original Borders remainder find.

These are short prose (and the occasional poetry) excerpts from books about life in the Worcestershire area of England. Some of them are fictional offerings, including a chapter from a novelization of the British radio serial The Archers, which has been running since the 1940s or 50s, can't remember which, and is still broadcast on BBC radio. Other excerpts are personal memoirs of life in the area...fascinating bits from writers and celebrities about growing up mid-20th century when an apple, an orange, a little toy and a penny was a grand Christmas gift, and when the snows of winter fell so thickly that it was a struggle to walk from croft to barn to tend the livestock. (Make no mistake: some of the memories herein are not pleasant.) Several of the entries are by Fred Archer, who became famous for his books about the vanishing rural landscape of England.

If you're not an Angliophile or fond of nostalgic stories, this probably isn't the volume for you, but I found the stories fascinating...perfect fireside reading!

"Deck the Halls..."

I seem to be in the middle of it all this year. The window lights are up, and the wreaths on the front and inside doors, and the decorations on the porch (but not the lights, since James is having knee problems). The one display I do have up is the woodland tree and Santa.



I found the patchwork tree when James pulled the boxes out of the closet this morning; don't even remember where I bought it, but if it wasn't in the boxes then it was after Christmas sometime.

Before I can decorate I need to put all the Thanksgiving stuff away, so that is my next step. Lots of steps, lots of steps...LOL.

CHRISTMAS BOOK REVIEW: Uncle Toby's Christmas Book

illustrated by Julian Brazelton

Someone mentioned having borrowed this volume from the library on one of my Christmas groups, which made me curious. I have several collections of Christmas short stories or Christmas books where stories are included, and several are repeated ad infinitum, such as Pearl Buck's "Christmas Day in the Morning," Taylor Caldwell's Christmas story, etc. The copyright on this book is 1936, before most of these repeated stories were written, so when I saw an inexpensive copy of this volume on sale I put in a bid for it.

This is a well-worn copy that someone obviously loved for years. I can imagine someone in the latter years of the Depression or, especially, during World War II, getting some comfort and ideas from its convivial food-and-games section, with its suggestions for playing games like charades (including the very old-fashioned supposition that everyone has an attic filled with old dresses and suits for playing "dress up"). The one thing I was afraid I would get was half of the book being a reprint of A Christmas Carol, but I was pleasantly surprised to find only a read-aloud version (not Dickens' read-aloud version; I could tell from the modern colloquialisms inserted into the 19th-century text!). Appearing was another story I hadn't read in years, "A Candle in the Forest," about a poor family rich in love and the wealthy boy who is drawn to them. (This is a lovely story—I think I originally read it in "Reader's Digest.")

There is also a story about the Christmas Truce of 1914 I had never read before, two different Christmas memoirs by Theodore Roosevelt, one of my favorites: Lincoln Steffen's classic "A Miserable, Merry Christmas," and other vintage stories, poetry, and carols.

The only "fly in the ointment" of this volume is one of those sad little "humorous darky stories" that seemed to be so popular in those days. It is called "How Come Christmas?" and has some little boys and a minister having a rather minstrel-show like discussion of who came first, the Baby Jesus or Santa Claus. The story is, of course, all in dialect. I am not a person of color, so I cannot judge how angry this might make someone. For my part, stories like these from that era make me sad: that otherwise intelligent and creative people could not look beyond the color of someone's skin and see them as equal. I read this story thanking God that, except for a few misguided souls, we have gone beyond "humor" and attitudes of this sort.

A worthwhile volume to find if you are a lover of vintage books.

CHRISTMAS BOOKS REVIEW

• Christmas Through a Child's Eyes, Helen Szymanski
Here's a great bedtime book for the Christmas season. These are very short personal memories about Christmas from over a dozen writers, many stressing stories of hard times during the Depression and World War II, when an orange and some candy was an exciting gift and that one special gift, even if it was used, could make your day. Some stories are about a child giving up a beloved gift to someone else who has nothing. All are heartwarming, although some are rather amateurish in style.

• Take Joy!, Tasha Tudor
From childhood reading the unforgettable The Secret Garden, I was in love with Tasha Tudor's lovely, delicate drawings and watercolors. I ended up buying a hardback of Secret Garden simply to get her color illustrations. Take Joy! is a mixed confection of a few Christmas stories and poems, Christmas music, small legends of Christmas, and a section talking of Christmas preparations at Tudor's Vermont farm, all liberally decorated with color and black-and-white illustrations of birds, children, biblical figures, Christmas plants, decorations, homes and fields of snow, animals, and of course the corgis of Tasha's "Corgi Cottage." For Christmas and Tudor lovers everywhere!

A Happy Thanksgiving...and What Came of It

It was a nice quiet fore- and early afternoon. James had "paused" the pre-Macy's parade show so I could see the White Christmas Broadway cast performance while eating a nice bowl of hot oatmeal, and it was a jolly parade (except why can't Al Roker interview real people watching the parade rather than second-rate actors promoting their programs?). My favorite was the briefcase drill team sponsored by a men's clothing store! And I was right, the action did look spectacular on this television. I loved the wonderful zinnia/pumpkin/autumn leaf fall bouquets/garlands around Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer in the broadcast booth.

The National Dog Show followed. About one o'clock I had a sandwich to tide me over until dinner. I should have guessed something was up when the sandwich made me queasy. I took some Pepto Bismol and lay down for a half hour, but I was still not feeling well and developing a headache when we headed to the Butlers.

I thought the headache was simply from being hungry and had a few of Lin's little piecrust-and-cinnamon treats as well as the wonderful little appetizers brought by Leigh's friend Tony and his sister. A luscious turkey, some "roast beast," Ron's great mashed potatoes, and other goodies followed for dinner, with additional goodies of conversation.

Despite the food, I developed an annoying sinus headache and we headed home around nine o'clock. I sorted out my sale flyer clippings for tomorrow, got my clothes ready, and finally we gathered the trash for the pickup tomorrow and went to bed.

I set the alarm for 5:50, as my first stopping place was only a fifteen minutes' drive from the house. However, it was lucky today was trash collection day, as the alarm never did go off. (I checked it later; it's a seven-day clock and it turned out it thought today was Saturday.) I was fit to be tied as I got dressed; it was only thirteen minutes from the time I leaped up to the time I got out the door, munching a breakfast meal bar.

I wasn't out for a lot today and I was glad of it, as I could still taste dinner from last night—sigh...the next time I zero in on a pair of turkey wings, someone remind me, okay? my stomach just can't handle it anymore. I was looking for a larger memory card for my camera at Staples and did find it. Next I was going to Target with the idea of buying a broom vac. I was feeling so rotten when I saw the lines I said the heck with it. Instead I went up to the Town Center Office Depot and picked up something else.

Well, I had in my hot little hand a Barnes & Noble coupon for 40 percent off any one book if I used my MasterCard. I have a MasterCard that I don't often use, but I won't cancel it because it's my Sears card and that took me years to qualify for. Arrgh! When I got there it was only 8 a.m. and they weren't opening early. I did get some pumpkin loaf at the attached, open Starbucks for dessert, then went back to Costco (which wasn't open, but the gas station was), stopped at Borders for a few minutes, then went to Michaels.

I have to note that none of the places I went to were crowded. Staples was next door to Marshalls and there wasn't even a minor crowd there. Target had a lot of people, but it wasn't a ravening crowd as I'd seen in previous years. Not even Michaels was that all crowded. I didn't get much there; just some snowflakes for winter decorating and some "bling" for a gift.

By this time B&N was open. I had my eyes on Christmas Through a Child's Eyes, but almost bought Eden's Outcasts. But by this time all I wanted to do was get home, so I grabbed the Christmas book and made tracks home.

I have a part of my nose that was fractured 28 years ago, just before my birthday. Sometimes when it's going to rain (like tonight and this weekend), it starts to hurt. And now it was hurting to the point where I couldn't think of anything else but the pain. So when I got home I took some ibuprofin and did what I usually do after shopping on Black Friday—took a nap!

I was up at 1:30 to watch Rick Steves Europe and have my lunch, but the moment I put my glasses on, the pain started to return and the queasiness returned. Nevertheless, I went to Barnes & Noble at Akers Mill to get Eden's Outcasts (it's a biography of Louisa May Alcott and her father Bronson), stopped at Bed, Bath & Beyond to use a really good coupon ($10 off a $30 purchase) on a saddle stool, and then finally stopped at Michaels with my 50 percent off coupon for more rechargeable batteries.

This time when I got home I took some Tylenol. It took care of the nasal pain but not the queasiness, so I had James bring me home a plain baked potato for supper and we had the pumpkin loaf for dessert. Even the latter aggravated my stomach. Ugh.

Can't wait for this front to go through. In the meantime I'm going to finish this and take my glasses off, since my stupid nose is hurting again.

Christmas is Coming!

Christmas is Coming

CHRISTMAS BOOK REVIEW: The Curious World of Christmas

by Niall Edworthy

New publication in the United States of a book published in 2007 in Great Britain. This is a gift-book sized volume that is, nevertheless, crammed with Christmas goodies: quotations both for and against the holiday (George Bernard Shaw's nay vote prominent in the text), odd things that used to be done during celebrations, such as the Asses' Mass, where a donkey was ridden into church and both the priest and the congregation were encouraged to bray, and just plain oddities, like King Henry II's jester who was known for his farting. The book is written in an informal, conversational style that does have a few scatological references—apparently those courtly old medieval types were really fond of farting and rude words relating to bodily elimination sure to make teenagers giggle.

Edworthy also traces the holiday history through the ages, Christmas symbols and customs, with text, diary entries, newspaper and magazine excerpts, etc., with iconic little drawings scattered within the text. A great book for next to the bed before Christmas, where you can read two passages or two pages.

CHRISTMAS BOOK REVIEW: Christmas Curiosities

"Old, Dark and Forgotten Christmas"
by John Grossman

The images of Santa Claus we have today are so ingrained and considered so "traditional" that it is hard to imagine that even 100 years ago the image of the Christmas giftbringer hadn't been standardized. This delightful little book is a fun read, watching the development of "old Santeclaus" from an early 1800s poem to the red-clad figure we know today, through a collection of images, mostly from old postcards, some from the United States and many from Europe.

Santa is such a genial figure today that it might seem horrifying to discover that early St. Nicholas characters carried around birch rods to whip naughty children or traveled with a devilish-looking character named the Krampus or Knecht Ruprecht who administered punishment or threatened to take disobedient children away in a sack.

Other photos show Santa conveyed by other means than reindeer, with more benevolent companions like angels, and other Victorian images for Christmas such as fairies, dancing food, animals celebrating Christmas, and...dead birds! Wonderful stuff; a great book for anyone interested in the history of Christmas.

Prim is Proper

While James was at his club meeting today, I went to the home of a woman who does primitive designs. I had bought some of her things last year at the Apple Annie Craft Show, and she sent me a postcard about a sale she was having.

This was quite nice. I figured at Apple Annie she would have pretty much all Christmas designs and I wanted to see if she had other holiday items or even non-holiday stuff. She did. All of it was at least 25 percent off and most of what I bought was 50 percent off. One Hallowe'en item was 75 percent off (a little cornucopia), but she couldn't remember how much the original charge was and gave it to me for free! I got two small Thanksgiving items, a pumpkin with a star embossed in it with the words "give" and "thanks" popped up on wire and a tiny platter not more than two inches long that says "Happy Thanksgiving." I also got a little square that says "Life is short. Eat chocolate" and a little framed item that says "Love Abundantly" and two metal hearts with small bells in them and filigree openings that are supposed to be for Christmas but which I am saving for Valentines Day.

The rest were Christmas things: a small painted wood gathering of candles and a little primitive sheep with long black stick legs, and then the gingerbread stuff, which was all half off. There's a little holly-trimmed cup-and-saucer with miniature gingerbread men, candy canes, and other Christmas flora inside it, and a white metal cornucopia with the same contents, and then a gingerbread tea set with a cookie jar, a crock, and three nesting bowls. (These are all small; the "cookie jar" is about three inches tall and is the largest of the five items.) The ginger stuff is all for the kitchen.

If you are a primitives fan, you really need to be reading the magazine "Early American Life," and if you love Christmas prims, at least get the December and Christmas issues of the magazine.

I started reading the magazine once in a while when they had a New England article, but always bought the December and Christmas issues because the photos in the magazine were so nice. A few years back, the magazine almost went out of business. When it returned, I discovered they were having more historical articles which I was interested in. This year's December and Christmas issues, for example, besides showcasing several nice primitive-decor homes, have articles on ice skating, Christmas candy containers, tin cookie cutters, the surprising source of the College of William and Mary's founding funding, and holiday displays at historic sites.

What, No Pumpkin Pie?

Debunking Thanksgiving Myths at Plimoth Plantation

Most of the myths about Thanksgiving were created whole cloth by the Victorians.

Not to mention that Plymouth Rock is a lot smaller than everyone thinks it is. The story of the Rock is rather odd. It was once more than twice as big and was in the middle of a Plymouth wharf. People walked over it every day and no one paid it any mind, until one day circa the mid-1800s they were planning to demolish the wharf and get rid of the rock. An very elderly man protested, saying his grandfather had told him that it had been handed down in his family that this is the rock the Pilgrims had used to "step down" from the Mayflower. ::cough:: They actually came ashore in smaller craft.

Since it would be terrible to destroy this historical artifact, they attempted to pull the rock out of the wharf area. It broke in half. They transported the part that broke off to a prominent place and labeled it Plymouth Rock. Then for years Victorian tourists were allowed to chip little bits off it as souvenirs. Finally they decided to mount a permanent and protective monument around it. They moved the stone again and it broke again. This time they glued it back together and put it in the little enclosure that it's in today.

And that's the story of Plymouth Rock! :-)

CHRISTMAS BOOK REVIEW: Christmas Long Ago

by Marian I. Doyle

This is another in a series of wonderful Schiffer price guide books like the Robert Brenner Christmas books, in which the "price guide" is in reality a very small part of the book and the volume is really packed with full color photos. This is Christmas ephemera from the Victorian era: postcards, advertising cards, magazines illustrations, engravings, Christmas cards, book illustrations, early photographs, and even a few magazine pages. The illustrations are peppered with text explaining the customs of the time, and passages from period writings, from Harriet Martineau's diaries of touring the United States in 1835 to late Victorian passages from magazines, along with other quotations. Delightful, eye-popping illustrations of winter sports, Victorian decorating, gift-giving and gift-bringing, the evolution of Santa Claus, and celebrating Christmas Eve and Day. You don't need to collect anything to enjoy this wonderful book!

CHRISTMAS BOOK REVIEW: Christmas and Christmas Lore

by T.G. Crippen

I found this book in the library last year after hearing it referred to by Bill Bryson as "scholarly and ageless." It is a much easier read than Miles' 1912 book about Christmas customs and certainly more readable than Dawson's Christmas: Its Origins and Associations from 1902, which seems obsessed with how royalty spent the holiday (and which I have previously reviewed). Crippen's 1923 book begins with the origins of the holiday, continues with the various symbols of Christmas, celebrations through the ages, and also covers the other holidays around Christmas: St. Thomas' Day, St. Stephen's/Boxing Day, Childermas, the new year, and Twelfth-Night/Epiphany. You will find sections about the origins of wassailing and regional customs like Hogmanay and the "Mari Lwyd" in Wales, and some old-fashioned recipes for what sound today like gastronomic indigestion and beverages guaranteed to have you under the table. What I finally purchased was a reprint copy from 1972. A great addition to the library if you are interested in Christmas history.

Here's Bryson's commentary about the book and Christmas in England.

CHRISTMAS BOOK REVIEW: The Modern Christmas in America

by William B. Waits

This is a different sort of Christmas book for me, as it is a sociological textbook, albeit one that starts with an amusing piece by Corey Ford. Critics of the 20th and now 21st century Christmas blame its excesses on "commercialization"—Mr. Waits (and what an appropriate name for a man who is comparing the old Christmas with the new!) examines a different theory: that the change of the United States from a largely agrarian nation to an urban one brought about the change from the idea of home-crafted personal Christmas gifts as being appropriate to the purchase of manufactured goods (since the seasonal lull for farming families would not happen to those employed in an industrial society, and thus no time for making gifts).

The main draw of this intriguing book is the reproduction of advertisements from the 1880s through the 1930s showing the change from the original manufactured gifts (notions or "gimcracks") to the simple elegant card to more expensive gifts, including those which years before would not have been considered gifts, like appliances, automobiles, and everyday clothing. There's also an examination of how advertisements made people think certain gifts (and therefore themselves) as inadequate, and also how the face of the woman consumer changed across the decades from the Gibson girl to the fun-loving flapper to the elegant, detached matron of the 1930s, and how advertisements composed after the closing of the frontier emphasized manly gifts for boys as a way of strengthening their manhood without a need for them to experience the frontier for themselves.

I quite enjoyed this...your mileage may vary!

CHRISTMAS BOOK REVIEW: Quizmas Carols

Gordon Pape and Deborah Kerbel

I don't usually like trivia books in question-and-answer format, Christmas or not, but I make exceptions occasionally. This little volume is packed with not only questions, but dozens of interesting facts in text about the hundreds of Christmas songs written over the years. It is divided into chapters like "The Earliest Carols," "English Carols," all the way down to chapters about media songs and Christmas songs written for children. Each chapter contains an introduction and then a few pages of narrative bookending the trivia questions. A great little book for those interested in the origins of the songs that crowd the airwaves in December.

The authors also have a "Quizmas" trivia volume.

How You Know Christmas is Coming...

...the bellringing Hershey kisses arrive on television!

It Wasn't Always Merry

Puritan influence in New England died hard: "Christmas in New England before 1860"

Holy Lightbulbs!

James said he saw Christmas lights tonight on his way home, a few blocks away from Smyrna City Hall!

Martinmas Day

"One very cold day, near the city gate of Amiens, France, Martin of Tours saw a beggar who was freezing. He took his sword and cut his cloak in two, giving one half to the beggar. The next night, he dreamed he had given his cloak to Jesus.

St. Martin's Day marked the first day of Advent in the past. Back then Advent, like Lent, was a fasting time. Now it is seen as a period of reflection and preparation for the coming of the Christ Child, and today fasting is done only on Christmas Eve and involves eating light meals and fish rather than abstaining from all food.

Here are some good sites about St. Martin/Martinmas:

Feast of St.Martin (Martinmas)

Liturgical Year: Martinmas Traditions

St. Martin's Day: The Magic of Eleven

Eating a Goose on St. Martin's Day

The Celebration of St. Martin

Interesting that St. Nicholas, like St. Martin, rides a white horse!

We're having turkey tonight, not goose, but it's close! :-)

CHRISTMAS BOOKS REVIEW: The Life Book of Christmas

This is actually in three volumes, published in 1963. It originally came in a slipcover and probably looked quite grand. I bought my copy off eBay and it has become quite battered in the intervening 45 years (of course, I've become quite battered in the intervening 45 years myself! LOL).

The first volume is The Glory of Christmas, which illustrates the story of Jesus from the prophecies of the Old Testament to the original spread of Christianity. These volumes are mostly illustrated, and this one has some magnificent reproductions of medieval and Renaissance art. There is narrative, and some small stories and poetry in each section as well. The second volume, The Pageantry of Christmas, is illustrated with paintings, tapestries, woodcuts, drawings, and finally photos that trace the history of the Christmas celebration from the early Christians to ethnic customs brought to American from other countries. Touched on are St. Nicholas and the conversion of Christmas from a drunken feast to a family-oriented holiday.

The third volume, The Merriment of Christmas, brings the volumes to modern times. There are recipes, of course, as well as some Christmas crafts, a Christmas play, suggestions of old-fashioned games, and some literary selections, including Christopher Morley's "The Tree That Didn't Get Trimmed" and a humorous selection by Robert Benchley about Christmas feasts in the 1880s.

A nice collection for your Christmas library, but nothing essential.

A Classic Christmas: The Ed Sullivan Show

I found this used in an FYE today and played it when I got home. It is a compilation of both black & white and color Christmas performances from The Ed Sullivan Show. The performers include The Supremes, Bing Crosby, Johnny Mathis, Señor Wences, George Carlin, the Cowsills, and more.

The bad thing about this DVD is that to squeeze it into 46 minutes, several of the performances, like David Seville and the Chipmunks and Rich Little doing A Christmas Carol, are edited. On the other hand, what there is is delightful. There's a compilation of "Jingle Bells" made of cuts of different performers, including Paul Anka and Shari Lewis with Lamb Chop and Charley Horse. There is about one or two minutes of footage of New York City in 1960. The great Mahalia Jackson sings "Sweet Little Jesus Boy." A German children's choir perform. There are two performances by Jim Henson's original Muppets: once with reindeer characters and a second sequence with Arthur Godfrey.

And Topo Gigio closes the show by a'kissin' Eddie good-a night. :-)

Don't pay too much--but this is a great 1960s nostalgia item.

"Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November..."

A happy Bonfire Night to our friends in England!

A Disney Hallowe'en Treat

Here's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," narrated by Bing Crosby.

Part One

Part Two

Ghosties and Ghoulies

The Vintage Halloween Website

Halloween Alliance

"Autumn burned brightly, a running flame through the mountains, a torch flung to the trees."

. . . . . Faith Baldwin

Pumpkin Face

Carve your own pumpkin.

Operation Ceppo, The Homestretch

Everything is now painted except the "snow" on the bottom level. I am detailing this a bit with—believe it or not—Elmer's glue. With the "nose" of the glue bottle, I draw an outline of a shape that is supposed to look like a snowdrift or just something covered with snow, then fill it in with the glue. Then I let it dry. Then I put another layer on certain areas, and a third layer on a couple of them. I realized that since I am using paint instead of the previous cotton, the area will look flat. The glue "drifts" and piles are there to give it a little contour. Once I have them the way I want them, and they are dry, I will put a coat of white paint on them and then scatter that with various kinds of glitter. I have some white glitter from JoAnn that almost looks like flocking (great for snow!), a fine white glitter, and one small tube of white glitter that is in hexagon shape. (These are from the little six to four tube glitter sets JoAnn has in its dollar bins.) I don't want to waste the hexagon shape; it's a good highlight. I also just found that one of the collections has a glitter that looks like clear beads...may use a dribble of that, too.

Operation Ceppo

I had to bring something downstairs to the "holiday closet" during lunchtime today and looked up to see the box with our "ceppo." You might call this an "Italian Christmas tree." Most ceppos are pyramid shaped, but this is an alternate style. A traditional ceppo usually has a Nativity scene on the largest level, and other levels contain food gifts and other little Christmas keepsakes, with candles on each level on each of the four corners.

This was the only Christmas decoration I put up the year my mom died.



We always put it in the den in the old house; the tree was upstairs in the living room, a room we seldom used unless we needed a book (the library was located there), had company, or at Christmas. The miniature tree on top was our tree downstairs in the den, where Bandit and later Pigwidgeon lived and where we spent all our time.

All the decorations on the ceppo were packed in a cardboard box with the ceppo, which I had built several—maybe it's more like "many" since I'm pretty sure it's at least twelve years ago!—years ago from two circular plaques 8 inches in diameter, one 6 inch diameter circular plaque, and a 1 inch diameter dowel cut into three pieces, after seeing a drawing of one in the book Celebrate the Wonder. I finished it right before Christmas, so never got a chance to paint it before it was time to decorate. You can tell in the photo that it is still "au natural."

And every year, instead of keeping it out to paint, I bundled it away immediately because it had to go to the very back of the top shelf of the little closet we used for the Christmas decorations if everything was to fit.

Seeing the box down in the new, larger closet, unencumbered and not containing anything but some silver tinsel rope and the little nativity figurines, made me think once more about painting it.

I decided to paint the bottom shelf white since the figures there are for a snow scene with St. Nicholas. The "snow" I had previously was made of cotton balls; I want to paint the lower level and then treat it with the three types of white glitter I have to simulate snow. The second level will be painted a sand color since that is where the little nativity set, a Hallmark miniature set which I bought one year at Thalls Pharmacy in Cranston, will go. I am thinking of getting some little trees or bushes to go in the rear to make it look more realistic. Since in the past two years I have put the ceppo on the china cabinet, where you can't see the top level, I could just paint that level white also, but should I find another place for it, I would love to put the angel and the star up there, as it used to be when I originally built it (before I had the miniatures tree on top). So I would want it blue for the sky.

My original thought was to paint the edges of the "rounds" and the vertical dowels in silver, to match the silver snowflakes I had around the top edge of the bottom level. Then I found a bottle of "Metallic Blue Pearl" from a previous project in my paint stash. I decided to use that for the top level and it is so lovely I want to use it for the edges and the verticals as well. The silver snowflakes will go perfectly with the silvery blue paint. I'll need to buy another bottle first, I think, as well as the sand-colored paint. So that's what this week's Michael's coupons will go for.

It will be odd to have it painted; it's been "natural" for so long! :-)

[Later: Well, cool! I may have enough of the blue after all...I'm crossing fingers. For the second level I painted the area that will be in the back a sage green I had, then dry-brushed a little brown and yellow on it so it would look like winter grass. At the front where the stable will be I mixed up "beachcomber beige" and "real brown" from my small set of Apple Barrel gloss paint set and made a sandy area, which I sprinkled with a little bronze glitter and a little gold glitter...not enough to make it glitzy, but just to give it a little shimmer where the Christ Child will be. (90 percent of it will be under the stable structure anyway!) Then I gave a first coat to the edge with the blue. It looks like I have enough for a second coat, which is all it may need.

Then all I need to do is put another coat of white on the bottom level and sprinkle it with the different white glitters.]

"The Leaves at Play"

Come and watch the merry little leaves at play:
Jolly times they're having this October day.
Down they gently flutter like the flakes of snow;
Chasing one another, flying to and fro.
Don't tell me they're only driven by the wind;
I am sure they 're doing just as they've a mind.
See those two go racing swiftly down the street!
Red 's ahead, now yellow, which think you will beat?
Over in that corner there's a dancing-class,
See them wildly waltzing o'er the withered grass.
They have lively music, led by Mr. Breeze,
Listen to his whistling up there in the trees.
Some have gone in swimming down in yonder nook,
See that host of bathers diving in the brook.
There a crowd has gathered in an eager talk,
Now they're widely scattered all along the walk.
So they gayly frolic through the sunny hours, .
Careless of the winter with its icy showers;
But the cold is coming, and the snow-drifts deep,
When, their playtime over, quietly they'll sleep.

                       . . . . . . D.C. Hasbrouck, St. Nicholas, October 1881

"Autumn"

Thou comest, Autumn, heralded by the rain,
With banners, by great gales incessant fanned,
Brighter than brightest silks of Samarcand,
And stately oxen harnessed to thy wain!
Thou standest, like imperial Charlemagne,
Upon thy bridge of gold; thy royal hand
Outstretched with benedictions o'er the land,
Blessing the farms through all thy vast domain!
Thy shield is the red harvest moon, suspended
So long beneath the heaven's o'er-hanging eaves;
Thy steps are by the farmer's prayers attended;
Like flames upon an altar shine the sheaves;
And, following thee, in thy ovation splendid,
Thine almoner, the wind, scatters the golden leaves!

                                             . . . . Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

2008 Marietta Pilgrimage Home Tour

Woot! The homes being toured this year are on Whitlock Avenue. This used to be the "ritzy" area and the homes are all big Victorian/Queen Anne types with wraparound porches, chandeliers, and "all the trimmings," as they'd say in The Right Stuff. The Christmas decorations should be quite nice.

This year's tour is December 6-8. Tickets can be purchased at the Marietta Historical Society office at Marietta Square (it's not on the square; it's across from the train tracks, opposite the little engine and tender).

(Ah! And the Mistletoe Market is in two weeks at the Cobb County Civic Center. Why they hold the darn thing in October is a mystery, but...there it is...)

A Site That Keeps Getting Better and Better

The Antique Christmas Lights Site

George Nelson adds more to this site every time I check on it. There's now a section on angel chimes, vintage advertising, reminisces by people who remember Christmas trees with candles and the arrival of the early lighting outfits, and more. You could literally spend days reading on this site.

1920s Chic

Anyone remember Dennison? They were a paper company out of Massachusetts which was bought out by Avery awhile back. The main thing I remember Dennison for was stickers ("gummed seals" as they called them back then); they had all kinds. I bought some of their dog stickers just to get the collies. :-) In the 1910s and 1920s, however, they were also famous for selling all kinds of crepe paper (not just streamers) for use in holiday decorating and even for making temporary costumes for parties and playlets that children could put on. They would come out with yearly booklets, the "Bogie Book" at Hallowe'en and the Christmas Book, to give you ideas for decorating using their paper products. These booklets are rare today because folks just tossed them out after the holiday and now they sell for $$$ on e-Bay.

Well, some kind soul scanned one of the Christmas books from 1922 and it is linked at Google books:

Dennison Christmas Book

Really neat look back at was considered "trendy" back then in decorating for the holidays; also interesting to see party game suggestions—and 1920s price list as well!

God Rest Me Merry

If you walk by my cubicle today you will find me playing Christmas music. Why? Well, because I just bought the three-CD set and didn't want to wait to listen to it? :-) This is the O'Neill brothers music, piano instrumentals, which I bought at the Yellow Daisy Festival on Sunday. Already finished playing their "Autumn" album.

Besides, it's end of fiscal year and I need something to cheer me up!

Lots of Christmas Links!

Christmas Links

Christmas in July

Some Christmas specials online:

This is an odd one: 1970s effort about aliens coming to earth and finding out what Christmas is all about. The animation makes the aliens look like ethereal wise men.

A Cosmic Christmas

Another animated curiosity from the early days of video games:

Christmas Comes to Pac-Land

Produced by the Mormon church:

Mr. Krueger's Christmas

The Emmy award-winning animated special done in the style of Victorian illustrations:

A Christmas Carol

Some network standards, available for purchase on DVD:

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

A Charlie Brown Christmas

A Garfield Christmas

Christmas crackers from the British:

Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean

Vicar of Dibley: "The Christmas Lunch Incident"

A blast from the past:

Bob Hope Christmas Pacific Tour 1958

The Origins of Christmas

So today I was searching for the "Children in Need" Doctor Who specials, made a turn at Christmas, and discovered that last year the BBC made a special about the Dickensian origins of Christmas. Here's the article from the "Radio Times":

Griff Rhys Jones on the Dickensian Christmas

And here's the special, in two parts...not sure why it's on a Japanese site:

Charles Dickens and the Invention of Christmas, part 1

Charles Dickens and the Invention of Christmas, part 2

And here are several other documentaries on the origins of Christmas that I'd never seen:

The Origins of Christmas

The Unwrapping of Christmas: Its History, Myths, & Traditions (The hostess says this is one hour, but only 31 minutes of video are posted)

Beyond Today: "Christmas, Mirth or Myth?"

Download a Song or Two

You can buy and download Christmas albums in .mp3 format at Amazon.com.

The 2008 Hallmark Christmas Dream Book

Ornament Catalog

Particularly noted: a very nice Father Christmas, page 5; very pretty shell remembrance ornament, page 9; two new Rudolph and Grinch ornaments, page 15 (should get a Grinch for the library tree); a CLASSIC Ernest Shepard Pooh ornament, page 33 (much more appropriate for the library tree than the Disney version) and also some bears reading "A Visit from St. Nicholas"; Snoopy and the "beagle scouts"—too cute!, page 47; a Mach Five!, page 49; a new Lady and Tramp, page 50; a ViewMaster and a jukebox that plays swing music, page 57; a Jonny Quest ornament!!!!, page 63; a Star Trek communicator and a very realistic Indiana Jones, page 65; the Canadian Santa, page 70. There are, of course, ornaments for High School Musical, Hannah Montana, Pirates of the Caribbean, WALL-E, and other hot items as well.