General Chat

Have some fariy lights for my Mil that are nearly sixty years old am still trying to find a new bulb for them Valx

I have lots of baubles that were my Mum and Dad's,
when we brought the house off them when hubby got out of the army, they moved to a flat and had a small fibre optic tree so they divided the decos between me and my brother. Most of them were brought when I was born ( 1959) and consist of glass bells, like Deanna mentioned and I too also loved tinkling them when I was little. Hazel, I also remember having paper Father Christmases that opened out with fat bellies also the bells made the same way.
We also have a crib scene that Dad brought when he was on National Service in Italy which was about 1950. and every year that has pride of place on the unit. It has a background made of Bamboo canes that have been split and lashed together and we have a metal gold star that has lamenta strands that we pin above the scene and trail the strands down over the sides.
The very last thing that gets put on the tree every year is the fairy. She was always on the tree when I was little and has a silver wand and had a white crepe paper skirt with netting over the top. When hubby and I got married he was stationed in Cyprus and I went out to join him a fortnight before Xmas. The last thing that Mum and Dad gave me as I left the house to go and join him was the fairy. I had to replace the skirt about 20 years ago but she always is on the tree.

Wishing you all a peaceful and happy Christmas.

Helen

Ann, in Glos,,,,,,,,,THE FAIRY,,,,,,,,,how could i forget her,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I guard her with a passion,,she is so grubby but she still has pride of place on top of tree,,,,,,,,,,,she has hair, &a wand,,and moveable legs and arms

She was bought by my mum in 1946,,and cost ,one shilling and six,pence,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

My daughter used to cringe at the sight of it,,,,but now the tide has turned and she understand the sentiment,,,,,,,,,she will never thrown out,,,,,,

my mum has a bauble that was bought when my grandfather was born in 1902.
i think there is also a chocolate star from my gt grandmothers tree, not sure of its age but she died in 1965!
tina x

I have a cardboard figure of Father Christmas that belonged to my Dad when he was a boy. It is about 18ins tall. My Dad was born in 1921, so I would guess that this figure must be at least 70 years old. It is something I remember from my childhood and is one of my most treasured possessions. My grandchildren love it and know that it is very old and belonged to their gt grandad.

Frances

i remember making snowmen out of toilet roll tube and covering it with cotton wool

kids today couldnt do that in school cos they not allowed to keep toilet roll tubes due to health and safety

i have a fairy miranda

she was on our tree

when i was little a long long time ago

Making up for it now though Romany star??

It just takes a child, and the magic comes.

Deanna X

Every year I say, 'Ive got so many decorations Im definately not buying any more next year', but then every year I buy more, sometimes in the Jan sales. My oldest decoration is a bauble saying 'Rickys 1st Christmas', its 10 years old. Before my son was born I never had a tree, I was only 20 and not very domesticated!

My children did Colin.

I loved making things with them.
In 1944, my mother and auntie and my little sister, made decorations for the house and the tree.
news papers cut in strips, painted then stuck to make chains. cut out shapes and paste (a little flour and water) and a little glitter.

So that when my own children came along, I spent many lovely hours with them making decorations.

My eldest made some lovely ceiling decorations with tinsel, and two wire coat hangers..... remember them ?
BLUE PETER!
she made a red one and a green one.

years later my granddaughters made me decorations for the tree... they were like stain glass.... stars, little houses, trees... lovely with the lights shinning through them.

Deanna X

Sue, youv'e made me remember making bells out of egg boxes and covering them (and me) in glitter. Todays children have just not experienced the sheer joy of having glitter in your hair and up your nose!

Oh I am so glad I'm not the only one!

Our tree is covered in old decorations dating back to mostly my childhood but there is one which must be about 60 years old from my husband's side of the family.

I have made a lot of things too and every year I usually buy at least one new something so every branch groans under two or three decorations and we need a very big tree!

I've even got an old decoration made of egg cartons and milk bottle tops made by my sister in infant school when she was about 4. She's now 50! I did offer to let her have it when she got married and had her own tree but she has an all blue and silver themed thing!

If I had a big enough house then I might quite like a themed tree in a hall or something but I'd probably want a different colour each year so would need a huge supply of different baubles!!!

My Guides and I make some very nice little reindeer out of 3 clothes pegs!!! LOL

Sue
x

Kay, we had those clip on candle holders on our tree when we were children. I had forgotten them. Of course they were only lit for certain times and never when we were alone in the room.
They had a charm of their own, didn't they?

I also forgot my two oldest baubles which are, a silver, and a green glass bell which have little hammers inside to make them ring when touched.
They were always put on a higher branch in case the children broke them, and we lifted each child up to have a wee ring of them.

THEY are off my childhood Christmas trees, and they are over 60 years old.

Oh dear, the memory needs a bit of a kick start at this age... :-0)

Deanna X

My parents have these little robbins (four of them) that attach to the branch with wires. They're as old as my brother and he's 40 in March. It doesn't matter what we do with our tree with regards colours etc, there always has to be one or two of them little robbins on it. I'm thinking that I may pinch one for when I move into my own place *grins*

I still have a couple of glass baubles that I can remember putting on the tree when I was a child - so they are at least 55 years old! One is a santa and the other one a fish. How they survived I dont know. lol

And I have also saved some of the decorations my daughter made when she was at playgroup - so they are nearly 20 years old now.

i have some plastic bells which my mother had when i was a baby, 60 + years ago,also some wooden trains and father christmas's ,which i got with some tea 20+ years ago. iris

We were married Christmas Eve 1955 and I still have the fairy my aunt gave us - a bit worse for wear now - with the message attached:-"Take me home with you and you will always be happy".

I still put the same fairy on the tree (many time re-dressed) that we had on our first tree in 1960. she doesn't sit on the top any more, we retired her to a lower branch a couple of years ago as she is a bit shabby, but she is still there. she reminds me of the excitement of our first Christmas together, how proud we were of our tree, and of all the Christmases when the children were young, how excited they were each year when the fairy came out of the box again. 47 years old she is!

I forgot to say, I also have a choirboy candle which was my Mum's, never been lit, I can remember it when I was at home so must be late fifties.

My nativity crib was made from straws and a cardboard box in the early seventies by my daughter. Some of the figures are new though.

Ann
Glos

I have the paper tree decorations the children made when they were in nursery/infants.

They go onto the tree every year and although they are tatty now they bring back memories of when the children were small and the Christmasses we shared.

Sue x

I have loads of *old* really old glass decorations that were my grandmothers,,,,some clip on metal ,candle holders,and you can put real candles in them,! glass !birds with some nylon type stuff for tail feathers,,,and paper decorations that unfold into snowwhite and 7 dwarfs and into round coloured balls,,,,,,ok they dont look pristine now,,but on the tree they go,,,,,,

,,,,and one shaped like a silver heart that from schooldays xxyears ago when they took down the class tree we were allowed to choose one but that has been passed to my grandaughter,,,,,and my daughter has the tree lights that were used by my mum&dad,,still going strong old screw in bulbs which you can still get hold of,,

I dislike all the foil one about now too gaudy and sickly,,,,,,,,,,