HISTORICAL COMMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER 12-27-14

The Christmas Tree

         

A long-held practice has been to put up a Christmas tree at this time of the year. Over the years, there have been many different ways to accomplish this. People used to go out and cut down their tree. This was fine if you knew who owned the land where you were getting the tree. Or, you could just go out and hunt the public lands for that most perfect of trees. Either way, it was always a good adventure for the father and the kids to spend a Saturday at this time of the year. It sort of added to the excitement that children always had. Sometimes, the children would pick one out that was somewhat less than perfect. It didn’t matter to them, it was their tree, and the decorations would more than make up for any defects nature had bestowed upon it.

         

Following this practice was the advent of the Christmas tree lot. These were usually trees that had been cut as early as September, and it was only a knowledgeable father that could tell if the tree would fall apart as soon as it was brought inside. Making sure the needles were firm was of the utmost importance. If they weren’t, you might have a very scraggly-looking tree within a few days of putting it up. Cutting the bottom few inches from the base was very important as that is where the tree would absorb water. Watering the tree was a daily ritual and one that was usually assigned to a child because of their small stature making it easier to get under the lower branches.

         

The old-fashioned decorations are not seen much anymore, and that is a shame. Strings of popcorn took a lot of time but provided activity for the children. There were also the strings made out of construction paper. Strips about one inch wide were cut from different-colored sheets of construction paper and then glued together to make a long string that would then be hung on the tree.

         

Electric lights replaced candles many years ago and they were always the job of the father. Along with the standard bulb-shaped bulbs, there was the occasional bubbling candle light. I can remember we had only one of them and, when it heated up and started to bubble, we were properly amazed. In the old days, when a light burned out, you just replaced it. The new strings all go out when any other light burns out.

         

The next-to-last accoutrement of the tree was the tinsel. The tinsel of the 1950’s was made of aluminum, and my mother always saved it from year to year. It was quite a job to take off all that tinsel and store it properly, but it was aluminum and that was something like gold is now. I, myself, am particularly fond of tinsel. One year, I put on 11,000 strands of tinsel when my boys were small. When the lights were off, it looked like a large silver tree in our living room. But when evening came and the lights were on, it was the most magnificent tree ever. Pictures and memories of that tree are all I have left now.

         

The absolute last ornament to go on the tree was the Christmas angel on the top of the tree. When that was proudly resting on the topmost branch, the tree was ready for the season.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!