Vintage Christmas?

[Burnsie]

Mid century Christmas

Cool thread - the Mrs. and I just decorated yesterday (always a day or two after Thanksgiving to give us more than a month to enjoy). We love authentic 50's Christmas decorations, right down to the vintage silver tree.

 

[Foofoogal]

Fabulous Burnsie.
I saw a mint color wheel in a box the other day for about $40.00. I also collect vintage spaghetti figurines.
My honeys father worked for years for Alcoa and the aluminum tree was a staple so he is less than enthusiastic about them but I love them.
Your ornaments look in top notch. Hard to find now in such great condition.

 

[MaryDeluxe]

Very nice vintage 50's christmas decor Burnsie!

 

[Burnsie]

Foofoogal, we use a color wheel on the tree - it isn't in the pics, but it looks incredibly cool from the street at night (our tree is in front of a bay window).

MaryDeluxe, we visited Kicksville and you've got a very cool pad - Something tells me you've got some 50's Christmas decorations too...!

 

[flat-top]

We're in the middle of renovating our apartment, so we went the cheap route this year and bought a $20 pre-lit tree. We still put on some vintage ornaments and my pride and joy: my 50's starburst tree topper!

 

[MaryDeluxe]

MaryDeluxe, we visited Kicksville and you've got a very cool pad - Something tells me you've got some 50's Christmas decorations too...!

Hey Burnsie thanks for coming for a visit! Yeah, I guess it's probably time for me to get my Kitschmas on! lol

 

[Helysoune]

Not exactly vintage, but I was headed for a very clean and homey sort of feel with my tree this year. It's all done in varying shades of white, with gold and silver accents.

I'm probably going to make many gifts this year, having recently lost my job while heading into a divorce. I think I'll finally get around to crocheting that bed jacket my mother has wanted for about five years now.

 

[AmateisGal]

Beautiful trees, everyone!

Here's mine - but the look I was going for was more Victorian than 40s or 50s. About the only thing really vintage-looking in this picture is my new Crosley stereo.

 

[Foofoogal]

Very pretty. I think it looks Victorian. May I suggest a bowl of clove studded oranges on the table. I have the same stereo and am loving playing old Christmas records.
We had snow flurries the other night. This was from coming home from Texas where it was 80 in Houston. I am loving Christmas so far.

 

[Minerva]

Cool thread - the Mrs. and I just decorated yesterday (always a day or two after Thanksgiving to give us more than a month to enjoy). We love authentic 50's Christmas decorations, right down to the vintage silver tree.

Mmm, love the tree. We have a green one, but don't have a color wheel for it yet.

Your ornaments are stunning, too!

 

[Rachael]

Christmas is the most vintage of all seasons at my house. I use decorations that were my grandmother's and her mother's, and set things up the same way we did when I was young. It is a collection of Victorian, 40's, and 60's collectibles. We bake, mull cider, and make cloved oranges. My daughter likes to create gingerbread and wool felt ornaments for teachers and neighbors, to be delivered the week before Christmas.

This is just a wonderful time to honor traditions that came before, and feel connected to generations that we now miss.

 

[John in Covina]

Family Traditions

In the future, I'd like to get some Christmas decorations and ornaments that are like those my parents had. unfortunately some broke and others were lost in the move.

I am still intrigued by the old "bubble" style light strings that were used on Christmas trees.

The new style little sparkle type lights don't have the same charm of the colored/painted incandescent ones. (See the Christmas tree in "A Christmas Story" the glow is gentle, warm and comforting - very vintage.)

One thing also is: those that recall real lead tinsel know that they just don't make anything that hangs like the old deadly lead stuff.

The sense of anticipation as a child was an increadible enjoyable torment!

How many of you had the train set going around the base of the tree?

How many had the carved or cast miniature Nativity set?

Who hung up their Christmas stockings (with care) ?

Go to an evening (candle-light?) service at church on Christmas Eve?
(The singing was always soooo good and just overwhelmed me with emotion.)

Special foods and meals for the holiday, the specific list of who the family would go to visit and who would come to visit your family.

We had a lot of traditions that made up the Christmas holiday.

Also as kids my brother, cousin and I would be dropped off on New Years Eve at the Roll and Ice in Amityville on Sunrise Highway (sort of across from the Johnny All-Weather Drive In) to ice skate for hours and hours while our parents had their party.


We did things from year to year to build traditions and as kids we took comfort in them, you pretty much knew that you could rely on a certain precession of events that added up to the complete Christmas experience. Aspects of this are vintage because they are passed down from parents to kids and I know we were doing what generations of our family did before us.

 

[dhermann1]

Bubble lights

About 4 years ago I saw a string of Bubble Lights at Macy's and grabbed them. They were modern repros of the original. The way they work is, of course, the heat from the bulb underneath makes the contained fluid boil, which makes the bubble. The fluid is able to shed just enough heat so that it continues to boil and bubble without blowing up. Unfortunately, about 4 of the 7 bulbs didn't work, they just sat there. Very disappointing. But by the same token, I'm not so sure I'd trust a vintage set of lights, either.
Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I still have my family's set from the 50's of original GE bulbs, still in its box with a big bright full color Santa face on it. IF I find it, I'll post pics.

 

[dhermann1]

Rockefeller Center Christmas tree

Right now I'm watching the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree on the tube. I've seen it live a couple of times. It's fun, but crowded.
Anyhow, they just introduced two brothers who supplied this year's tree. They're the Varanyak brothers, from Hamilton, NJ. They said the tree was planted in 1931 in their back yard. Starting that first year their mother went out every year and fed the tree a mixture of cow manure and water, and said right from the beginning that one year the tree would be at Rockefeller Center. Well, she didn't live to see it, but she was right. I think this is a really cool story. What an act of faith it is to plant a tree, and what a strange and wonderful inspiration that lady had to believe all those years that her tree would wind up where it is tonight.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nytree1114,0,5044078.story

 

[MaryDeluxe]

Merry Kitschmas!

Doing a little Kitschmas decorating this weekend!

 

[BinkieBaumont]

Christmas Eve at Joan Crawfords place everyone!

Supposedly Joan went "Ga - Ga" over Christmas.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0USou0QGQU

 

[Dixon Cannon]

"...right down to the vintage silver tree."

I love that silver tree. I've wanted one of those for years!

-dixon cannon

 

[scotrace]

Me too - makes me NUTS we threw my grandmother's out!

 

[Paisley]

Scaling Back

It used to be the custom that only children received Christmas gifts. My parents and I are reviving that one. None of us has minor children, so we aren't bothering with gifts for each other.

As for their great-grandchildren, they never call and never say thank you for presents. My parents aren't getting them anything, either.

I sold all my Christmas decorations to a Russian immigrant named Oleg years ago.

I plan to go to a Christmas dance and have a Christmas dinner with my parents at a restaurant. That's it.

It seems like a lot of people are scaling back.

 

[AmateisGal]

It used to be the custom that only children received Christmas gifts. My parents and I are reviving that one. None of us has minor children, so we aren't bothering with gifts for each other.

As for their great-grandchildren, they never call and never say thank you for presents. My parents aren't getting them anything, either.

I sold all my Christmas decorations to a Russian immigrant named Oleg years ago.

I plan to go to a Christmas dance and have a Christmas dinner with my parents at a restaurant. That's it.

It seems like a lot of people are scaling back.

I wish I could get my grandmother to do that. She has lots of grandchildren and great-grandchildren and always tries to buy something for everyone. With being on such a limited income, she really can't afford it. But try telling her that. However, she has started giving away some of her own things. Last year I received beautiful, hand-made doilies from her that she had made early in her marriage. They are very precious to me.

We're scaling back this year only in that we are putting a price limit on the gifts.