Christmas decorations.

[Edward]

I've not bothered to decorate for years - I think the last time I put up a tree might have been 2002. Seems little point when we spend Christmas itself out of the country. This year, we're in Ireland with my parents; though my mother's condition has progressed that Christmas Day has long since been handed over to my brother's family, the folks do like still to put up a tree and some decorations, though it's mostly Dad doing the work now. Mum still insists on putting out the toilet-roll tube Santas we made in primary school, the oldest dating to December 1979 now. She used to have a pink and green paper chain I made at preschool in 1978 as well, not sure if that's still around now.

If the market picks up and we're able to move house next year, we'll likely put up a tree then. Im' torn between the idea of a large, real tree and a real tree in a pot that can live outside in the garden the rest of the year. Greta cat has never seen a Christmas tree, nor did her late sister Marlene. Marlene would have scaled it in a fash and sat on the top expecting all the attnetion of the tree fairy. She was sucha light little thing, never much bigger than when she was a kitten; regularly used to scale the clothes airer and then sit in a shirt like a hammock she was so light. Greta, bless her, is a chunky tabby who used to bring the airer crashing down when she tried that. She's an old lady of eleven and a half now, so hopefully she'll leave a tree alone next year if we have one.

 

[GHT]

Here's our finished tree, what an excellent pussy cat climbing frame it is too.

 

[GHT]

Tina has finished the Christmas cake, talk about soaked in brandy!

 

[Nobert]

Some things I learned about vintage Christmas lights:

In case you were ever interested in getting some old-fashioned, festive little fire hazards of yore, I recently got some of my, and here's some things I know now that I wished I'd knew then.

They come in a variety of sizes and shapes, but the most traditional are C6, C7 and C9.

C7 is probably what you had on your tree growing up if you're over 40. They have an E12 screw base, like candelabra or night-light bulbs, and average about 5v.


C6's are about the same length but narrower, usually the bulbs have striations.


C9's are bigger, length- and width-wise, and are more often used for outdoor or perimeter lighting. The fancier ones have a "fire" or "swirl" pattern.


All of these bulbs have differently sized bases, so you can't interchange them from one socket to another (which, although I'm no electrician, probably wouldn't be a great idea anyhow).

They are all available in modern, ugly, plastic versions, but you can also find old ones online without much trouble.

The strings come in lengths of anywhere from 7 to about 20. Be advised, some are strung on a loop circuit, with the strand exiting and entering the same plug, so they can't be strung end-to-end. If they have just two wires coming out of each light socket, that's probably what they are (See the Paramount C6 picture, above).

As far as the ones that do allow for extensions, boxes of seven or eight advise against hooking more than five or six strings together.

A string of eight seems to average about fifteen or twenty bucks. More if it includes the box. Sometimes much more.


Noma is apparently the premier brand, the Ford or Coca-Cola of holiday lights. Paramount, Clemco, Aurora and Propp are some others. Here's a pretty good online history page on the subject.

 

[GHT]

Talking of Christmas lights, driving home tonight I saw, down a side street, an impressive display of illumination. I'm not sure if exterior house decorative lights are an import. I can only remember it happening in the last twenty to twenty five years, nowadays though, neighbours seem to go out of their way in one upmanship. Each to their own, I'm just glad that I don't live near such a display.

 

[undakovr]

View attachment 290626 View attachment 290627 View attachment 290628

Talking of Christmas lights, driving home tonight I saw, down a side street, an impressive display of illumination. I'm not sure if exterior house decorative lights are an import. I can only remember it happening in the last twenty to twenty five years, nowadays though, neighbours seem to go out of their way in one upmanship. Each to their own, I'm just glad that I don't live near such a display.

That is very impressive indeed!

 

[1930artdeco]

GHT, is that a now 'normal' display of lights in England? Over here, our 'one upsmanship' would mean spend whole paychecks to buy lights and figurines. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation is a great visual representation of what some people do for the holidays. Don't get me wrong I love seeing house lit up like this as I think it is really pretty and I think it adds to peoples feelings of the holiday spirit. But I agree with you in that living next to a house like that, one would need blackout curtains.

Mike

 

[Zombie_61]

Tina has finished the Christmas cake, talk about soaked in brandy!

One of my wife's aunts used to make rum cakes with so much rum that when she'd remove them from the mold and let them sit for a short while the bottom 1/2" to 1" was saturated with rum. Funny thing was, you could see and smell the rum, but you couldn't taste it while you were eating the cake. More than a slice or two, and all but the hard drinkers would need someone to drive them home.

 

[MisterCairo]

Last Christmas, cats and small tree upstairs:

 

[Edward]

GHT, is that a now 'normal' display of lights in England? Over here, our 'one upsmanship' would mean spend whole paychecks to buy lights and figurines. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation is a great visual representation of what some people do for the holidays. Don't get me wrong I love seeing house lit up like this as I think it is really pretty and I think it adds to peoples feelings of the holiday spirit. But I agree with you in that living next to a house like that, one would need blackout curtains.

Mike

It was unheard of maybe twenty years ago. Then a few people started doing it in Britain and Ireland, doubtless a US import as it's seen in so many Hollywood movies that we get over here. Some folks do it for attention, some do it to attract donations they raise for charity. I remember one couple interviewed on the news put them up for December and the first fewdays of January; they said their electricity bill was £750 for that quarter. That was a decade ago; my electricity bill today is £20 per month.... I'd be more tempted if it was all solar powered....

 

[Correus]

Guess I'm slow on the uptake here... didn't even know this thread was here till today!

When we decorate we do a mash-up of Victorian and Edwardian. The pic of our tree is from a local historical society newsletter article dealing with 'vintage decorating'. This is the closest we've gotten to capturing the tree at night that gives a sense of what it looks like when we just light the candles on it. Yes - we use real candles - but only on Christmas Eve and Christmas night. Every time we try to get a pic with just the candles it's too dark. We used a filter on this one. Presents typically do not go under the tree most of the time, instead we put a collection of antique and vintage toys under there.