A Vintage Christmas

I think you all know me well enough to know I love old.  My philosophy in life is, ‘Why buy new when there is old?’  And the same theory holds true for all things Christmas.

The only place I draw the lines is vintage Christmas lights.  I have a strand my mother-in-law gave me from the 50s, and while I treasure them and never will throw them away, I am afraid to plug them in.  Maybe one day I can figure out how to use them in a cute way without plugging them in.  But I digress.

Anyway, this year I did my typical Shiny Brite tree with over 300 ornaments.  Shiny Brite ornaments were made in the 40s and 50s and I have been collecting them for years.  I could go on and on about the different types of Shiny Brites (the ones made during WWII, for instance, had cardboard toppers because there was a metal shortage), but I will save y’all the details so I won’t bore you to death.

Here’s some of the boxes…I gotta admit, I like the boxes almost as much as the ornaments.

I’ll never forget the day we moved into Brogdon House and Miss Eleanor gave us a candy box from the 50s.  I looked inside and wrapped up in tissue were 10 or so different Shiny Brite ornaments.  Every year when I put those special ornaments on the tree I think about how they’ve been part of Brogdon House’s Christmas for almost sixty years.  Wow.

 Every year my grandmother gives you fun money for your birthday.  This year I took part of my money and bought a vintage 1950s green felt 12 days of Christmas tree skirt off ebay.  I love the sequins and the gold trim (so do MM and Coco who can’t keep their paws off of it).

Nine ladies dancing.

 Three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Another thing I bought (off ebay, of course) was a 1950s tree topper.  I think it’s totally tacky and gaudy…but isn’t that part of a 1950s Christmas?  Here’s C. after he “installed” it last week on our gigantic tree.

And in case I haven’t told you yet, Merry Christmas.

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