A Vintage Holiday

Greetings, Gather writers, and welcome to Gather's Thursday Writing Essentials. Today's feature is "A Vintage Holiday." Whether we look back at the Dickens classic of Tiny Tim in "A Christmas Carol" or recent holiday favorites like "Christmas on Walton's Mountain" (who doesn't remember The Walton's...goodnight, John-Boy, goodnight, Elizabeth...) Please submit articles on your idea or memories of a vintage holiday. Interpret "vintage" to your own liking, whether Victorian or a flashback to the '50's-the choice is yours. As writers, we have the gift of chronicling holidays thoroughly and creatively. We can archive our present as well as our past. These chronicles become gifts-and often we, the writers, are the recipients!

Rely on your own background to choose whether to write about Christmas, Chanukah or another winter holiday. I've chosen Christmas, and my piece is included below. I look forward to adding yours throughout the day.

Treasures

I found them in old musty boxes in the basement. I told my husband I'd go through each one and see if there was anything our older kids could use to set up housekeeping. Expecting to find chipped plates, worn pots and pans and an occasional greasy trivet, I faced the job with low energy and aggravation. There were far better things I could be doing at this time of year. The items had been packed away more than a year ago, in the months since both my father-in-law and mother-in-law had passed-within just four short months of each other.

The first box was as I'd expected. Not much there of any worth. I set it aside to be taken to the dump. The second box yielded some old dishtowels in good condition. I set them aside. They'd look nice displayed in my kitchen that's decorated from the 40's and 50's.

In the third box I found treasures. Little glimpses into my husband's childhood Christmases lay dusty and hidden amidst old flowerpots, cookie tins and threadbare linens. A collector of antiques and vintage decorations, I knew I'd hit the jackpot on more than one level.

Vintage Christmas decorations from the 1940's and 1950's are a hot commodity on eBay these days and typically sell quickly in antique stores, but being relics of my husband's past I couldn't bear to part with them. I cleaned them up and found-to my complete amazement-that even the electric pieces were still in good working condition.

I had vowed this year that I wouldn't go overboard with Christmas decorations. I loved to set things out and marvel at their representation of the true meaning of Christmas. I didn't look upon Santa Claus as a sign of commercialism-instead preferring to see the jolly old boy as a sign of generosity and the joy of giving to others. Our Nativity, with its animals missing tails or an ear, and the glued-back-together telltale crack down the front of Joseph, are part of our history as a family. Still as much as I loved these items, I grew weary at the thought of packing them all back up after New Year's Day.

My digging through the boxes in my in-law's basement, and subsequent treasure trove of vintage decorations reminded me of why I decorated for Christmas in the first place. In addition to celebrating the season, I was celebrating the past. Ornaments on the tree had meaning, as did the pieces I spread throughout the rest of our home. Not taking them out was denying my family-and me, too-of the rich history we all shared.

This year, however, the bright shiny pieces have taken a backseat to the finds from my husband's childhood. Instead of glistening modern accents in our living room, the windowsill and mantle boast heavy worn plastic items with faded patina and a little dirt no modern cleanser could eliminate. The result is true beauty-vintage Christmas made new once more, with sweet old cherished memories resurfacing.