When this writer (Peggy Weyel) was 3 or 4 years old (about 1950) we went to visit my dad’s (Jesse C. James) aunt Florence and uncle Frank McCoy at Christmas time. Aunt Florence McCoy had a beautifully decorated 6 foot tree with real, live, burning candles on most of the branch ends. I remember bouncing up and down to make the candles really flicker. Then mom tapped my behind to tell me NO jumping. She showed me the lit candles and said that I could have caused a fire. I never jumped again, but the beautifully decorated tree with the lit candles fascinated me. And, I never saw another candle lit Christmas tree…to this day.
Dad’s Recollection Begins
Many years later (1990s) I asked dad about Christmas and tree candles like aunt Florence had. He shared his memories of Christmas when he was a kid in his parents, Jesse G. and Clara James’, home at Bexar about 1930. He recollected that he, Jesse C., was about age 7; sister Thelma, age 5; and baby brother Kenneth, age 3. He continued, “We were expecting Santa to show up to fill our stockings, but we also needed a real tree for Christmas Eve. Uncle Rob (Uncle Frank and Mom’s brother) took me up in the road to find a tree or tree branch that we could decorate. Uncle Rob let me carry the hatchet. We walked, didn’t ride our horse, because we didn’t want a bouncing tree branch and hatchet scaring the horse.”
Cutting Down and Bringing Home the Tree
Dad told me, “We searched for a green leafy tree or limb that looked like it would decorate easily. When we did find one, Uncle Rob allowed me, Jesse, to take a few whacks at it. When it was cut down we pulled it a couple of miles home. Out in the work shed Uncle Rob found two thin boards, nails and a hammer to make a cross-sticked base for the tree. When it was ready to stand up, they took it inside so the other two kids could help decorate it. This was always a really happy time in our home.”
Making Christmas Tree Decorations
“I learned to make colored rings from construction paper and LePage glue in first grade. I even got to take some paper home. Mom had no money for bottle of LePage glue, like we had at school, so she made her own glue. Her glue didn’t really look like LePage, but it did stick stuff together. She made it from the brown sap that oozed out of mesquite trees and a small amount of water. Everyone said that her brown glue could “glue mule’s ears together.” It didn’t need to do that, just glue paper and it did. Everyone helping took turns gluing the cut paper into long colorful chains that we draped on the tree.”
Photo source on Pintrest: www.homemadechristmas.blogspot.com
Real Lighted Candles are Placed on our Tree
He went on to say, “Mom also had to make all lights and ornaments for the tree. She made small slender candles about 2 inches high. She had purchased years before little candle-holders with clips. When we were ready, when all the other home-made ornaments and popcorn strands were on the tree, we clipped the candles to the ends of the tree’s branches. They had to be carefully placed so the little flames did not touch any branch, leaf, or ornament above it. Then we had to make sure there was at least one bucket of water near the tree to douse any unwanted fires. I had heard stories told of other homes that had burnt down from careless placement of their tree candles and no water nearby. Mom also taught us that when we left the room, to make sure the candle flames were carefully and thoroughly extinguished.”
Source of this photo is Tom Conrad, in December 11, 2013, Huffington Post, “Your Grandparents Were Right, Candles on Your Christmas Tree Really ARE Awesome.” <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-conrad-/christmas-off>
Our Christmas Gift from Santa
“Our Christmas stockings – real, big, old socks – were hung on each door knob around the living room. When we woke up on Christmas morning we were so happy to see that we had an orange and an apple, some hard candy, and a couple of small gifts to surprise us. This was a lot more than some other kids in the neighborhood had, so we felt we were very lucky.”
Christmas Dinner
“Every year Mom raised turkeys to sell at the store in Somerset for Thanksgiving. She’d always manage to save one for us for Christmas dinner. She’d fix the best dressin’ and open the jars of fruit and vegetables she’d canned last summer. We really feasted.”
Electricity and Bubble Lights for Christmas!
“The year we got electricity, about 1935, I was about 12 years old. That was the year Mom got bubble lights for our tree. The bubble lights were tall like our candles, but were glass tubes with red, green, blue and yellow colored liquid in them. When the liquid got heated up from the lights in the base, they started to bubble in the little tube. Mom still put the old wax candles on the tree, but she never lit them. We no longer had to dodge the water bucket or fear brushing against the tree with lit candles.”
When the light in the red and green “bowl” at the bottom heats up the colored liquid in the tube. bubbles rise from the bottom of the tube to the top of the tube. Source: Vermont Country Store image.
A New Problem is Born
Then, dad thought a moment. “Come to think on it, we all DID have to watch out and not trip over the electrical extension cord that was from the tree across the room, lying on the floor from the tree to the electrical outlet on the outside wall. We didn’t trip on it but once or twice.”
