When I was a child, we never had a Christmas tree, but we had a large
nativity scene that we set up on a large table in the living room. It
must have been six feet long with stable a foot tall! I realize that
when we reminisce about our childhood thins seem a lot bigger than they
actually were, but this really was a large scene with mountains and a
creche. Sticks held up the canvas to make the mountains--I don't think
my mother ever saw a mountain, but she made a good representation of
them.
Setting it all up was a big deal, with stones and bushes on
the mountain. Of course, the Holy Baby Jesus wasn't put in the crib
until we came home from midnight Mass.
I did get to enjoy a
Christmas tree elsewhere in the family, though. My cousin June was six
days older than I (actually, her mother was my cousin) and since June
was so close to me in age, we hung out together. She was two grades
behind me, so we had other friends too. Her family always had a
Christmas tree, and I used to go to her house at Christmas-time just to
look at all the different ornaments. I was fascinated by it all. I
remember my cousin Walter lighting the candles on the tree, but only for
a short while. Candles on trees could be a dangerous thing, and we had
to watch them carefully.I'm not sure how old I was when they went to
electric lights, but they became popular around 1936.
We got
our first family tree in 1944, during the war, and it was almost
impossible to get lights and ornaments, but my niece Pat worked at an
independent Five and Dime store and one day they got a shipment of
lights--she called me and I went down and bought them. In those days we
strung colored popcorn and paper chains. It really was a simpler time.
I
am still in love with Christmas tree decorations. When I traveled, I
always looked for unusual ornaments, and I have many. I still like to
sit and remember where I got them. I know I can't expect others to feel
as I do, but I was disappointed in the last several years that no one
asked to see my tree, and sometimes it seems more of a chore than a joy
to decorate, but I always do and can enjoy it all for a few weeks.
