This one could almost qualify as a wordless post, because catching a glimpse of Grandma's special stocking says it all. However, I will give just a little background. This one is of Grandpa and Grandma Daniels, back before I was born, probably in the 1960s or so. When I found the photo, I loved the look captured between them on a busy Christmas morning - but as I took in their surroundings, I laughed out loud when I studied that fake fireplace behind them....yes, Grandma had put up her nylon pantyhose as her Christmas stocking that year! I'm not sure if it was meant to stretch and therefore hold more loot, or if it was a small protest, reminding the children that Mom deserved something from Santa too! The motive could be a little of both considering this is the same woman who painted hoof prints on her forehead in the 1980s when "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" was the hit song that year.Christmas is a time of laughter - enjoy!
CD
12/18/10
This precious photo, as faded as it is, has a caption on the back: Christmas 1936. This was taken on the front porch of Nellie and John's home. All of their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren grew up visiting Ma here, and sneaking more than one cookie during their visit. Nellie is the woman center front. Travelling to the left is her mother, Oleva Ellen Mockbee Cox, and the young woman on the far left, trying to hide, is one of the daughters (my Grandmother), Freida Beyersdoerfer Watts. 
This is the house a few years fore they razed it.....but no one has lived in it for years, and with no indoor bathroom facilities (there's another memory I have from childhood!), I'm not very surprised. It sat on a hill in northeastern Pendleton County Kentucky. Each time we make these cookies, we picture this place, and the warm, loving woman inside working to make her family welcome and comfortable. 
Come to find out, Grandpa was the mall Santa Claus at Northgate Mall in the Colerain area of Cincinnati. Plus, he was also the Santa Claus at his Masonic Lodge each year for the annual family event. So, for several years, it was our own Grandfather's lap that we sat on while whispering our Christmas wishes.....no wonder Mom and Dad got it so right every year....Santa was on speed dial! 
The above photos were taken on my brother's first Christmas, which was still a year of belief for me, although I knew this one was Grandpa. The one below is from one of his Lodge gigs as Santa. From the look on my face, I knew it was him. 
From those days onward, he was known as Santa or Mr. Christmas. It was his absolute favorite time of year, and it showed. From hardened soldier to lovable Santa, we were always so proud of him. When it was his time to leave us, he waited until very early Christmas morning, 2004, and hitched a ride upward in Santa's sleigh. He was 93.
This little gem is from the very early 1950s - Dad and two of his sisters. I cannot tell for certain, but this looks like a real tree to me....which would have been in Ohio....gasp! We have one earlier than this from 1945, but it is very faint, and the tree also looked like a real one, so this would be an early phase for the Daniels family - apparently, a real tree! That tinsel behind them reminds me of a childhood memory....for a few years during my own childhood, my Mother decided to throw that sprinkle tinsel on the tree, but that stopped after she got tired of cleaning it out of the litter box....eww.... I know, but we had a cat that loved to eat that stuff, and we figured that was not good for her!
This next tree was Grandma Daniels' next phase...the metallic or tinsel tree! This one is from the 1960s. We have several photos of this one, so it might have lasted close to a decade....but completely ushers in the remainder of Grandma's Christmases as only consisting of artificial trees. 
Once the 1970s arrived, I could finally grace them with my presence, and this ushered in my Parents' phase of the toilet bowl brush tree as mentioned earlier. This sucker was around until my brother was born in the early 80s. 
Ah, and then the 1980s arrived, and this picture perfectly reflects the memories I have of this newer model - the soft plastic branch tree. So easy to put up - after we had to wait for Mother to meticulously clean the entire house of course - but as you can see, the weight of the ornaments was not kind to this one, and it progressively got more and more droopy as the years went by. I guess these years were my favorite. Both my brother and I were still kids, and in our little Cincinnati house, the Christmas atmosphere was perfectly achieved every year. 
Our family moved to Kentucky around 1993 and from that year onward we had a real tree. Mainly because we moved to a farming community and with the influence of our neighbors who happened to be family, we fell in love with the scent and uniqueness of real trees. Our first year down here, we even had a cedar tree instead of a fir or pine. There is a memory I will always treasure: Grandpa Watts taking my brother, cousin and Mom into one of the back fields to cut down that cedar and haul it back on an old wooden sled. The cedars were quite painful to decorate, but what a wonderful smell and perfect for an old fashioned country Christmas! I know the ease of an artificial tree has tried to lure me away, but even my own trees have remained real over the years - just hooked on this tradition I guess.
And for one last memory that surrounds Christmas Trees: While in Cincinnati - and even now when we visit - it was customary to visit several amazing sites around town. One favorite tradition was the 
Posts
