Christmas Tree...

When I was young, our family put up the Christmas tree about ten days before the holiday. Of course, at that time all Christmas trees were live. My Dad always seemed to have the knack of picking out the perfect tree. I never remember going as a family to tree shop. Daddy would always arrive home one evening with the tree tied to our 1951 or 1960 Pontiac.

I remember my Daddy taking lots of time deciding which side of the tree was to face forward. He was always careful to have the tree placed away from electrical outlets and chords. My Mum was the director, and my Daddy was the worker.

Daddy strung the tree with the large multi-colored old fashion Christmas lights. I do not remember seeing the tiny Christmas lights of today until I was about 16. When he finished the lights, we hung the Christmas ornaments. I remember our hands painted ornaments were made of very fragile glass. Many of our ornaments dated back to WWII. Every year at least one fell and shattered. I can remember crying each time the fragile glass scattered on the floor. Even at such a young age, I knew the broken ornament was irreplaceable.

After the lights, the ornaments placed, came the best part, the careful hanging of the silver icicles. At that time, icicles were made of lead. We did not know that lead icicles were dangerous. It was years later before they completely disappeared from the market. I remember using boxes and boxes of icicles. After the tree was covered in silver ice, Daddy would place our Christmas Angel on the very top. I never remember using another Christmas tree topper other than this angel.

My Mum used a crisp, freshly ironed, white sheet as a tree skirt. After the sheet was in place, Daddy would turn of the room lights, and turn the tree lights on. I can still feel the excitement, which I felt as a little girl. I remember sitting up late on weekends looking at the wonder of our beautiful, ice-covered tree. The colored lights shimmered in the refection of the icicles.

To this day, I can honestly say, I have never seen more beautiful Christmas trees than the ones my family shared. I think the secret was lead icicles. The cellophane silver ones purchased today are not the same. I remember being so disappointed with plastic icicles that I quit using them all together. I started using garland as a young mother, never to return to icicles.