Pieces of the Past: Decking the Halls

Monday, December 7, 2009

Decking the Halls

Here we are trimming the tree in the little house on Crescent Lane. Sherry was 10 1/2 and Bill was 8. Ray always set the tree up and put the lights on and the kids and I did the decorating. I can see the one bubble light that we had on our tree for years, along with a little homemade Santa ornament that Sherry made one year. Aren't the things you put on your tree year after year precious? It would be nice to have a color coordinated, themed tree - but only if it was the second one! I love all the things you discover each time you put up the tree. Last night I went over to have dinner with Sherry and Barclay - and after we ate, I helped her hang the ornaments on their tree. One was a little thing she called "peanut Jesus" which was a seedpod filled with cotten and a little peanut with two little eyes drawn on lying on the cotton. Adorable! Who could resist a sweet little peanut Jesus. Is not that what it's all about?

When I was a child, our tree had a little rooster which must have been made of celluloid since plastic had not been discovered yet way back then. I think a nephew of mine has it now and I am sure he hangs it on his tree. We also had a little group of sparkly houses that you put a string of lights in. There were colored cellophane windows and the lights showed through. My father made a low table that was maybe 2 1/2 feet square with a hole in the middle for the tree. They laid a cotton batting on the table and the little houses on that. He also whittled a little fence that went all the way around the table, complete with a little gate. I wonder where that went. We had a chenille wreath with a light in it that hung in the window. The decorations back then were nothing compared to what they are today. The celebration of Christmas was actually more wondrous and simple, I think. Nowadays everyone is stressed out - what a shame.

We had a room in the basement and we put up a second tree down there. Bill was a real Christmas kid and full of enthusiasm. During the trimming of the tree, he commented - "This is togetherness!" Lovely times and lovely memories. (Click to enlarge)

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Old Pictures of the People in My Life

In this blog, I will post pictures from the past of the many people in my life who I love and have loved. The initial post and any that are labeled Pearce Family refer to my mother's family. Dan and Maggie Pearce had five children, Nelle, Nan, my mother, Harry (Ham), Leah and Ed. They took a lot of pictures and I plan to post many of them. My brother has sent me many pictures over the internet this past week - some of which I haven't seen - and this has prompted me to set up this blog to display those wonderful old photos.

I will also be posting pictures of my family, my husband's family, and our family. Those posts will be labeled by the family's name in the list on the sidebar. I hope this is something that will be enjoyed by anyone who looks in on

my blog.

I will try and tell as much as I can remember about people and places and events and of course much of it will be inaccurate but really just having the great old photographs to look at is fun in itself. And I do know who lots of the folks are.

Enjoy.