MUSINGS FROM THE BOWER 51
Christmas! It’s that
special time of year. I think as you get older you treasure Christmas even
more. It’s a time packed with memories, of loved ones no longer with us, of
long ago happenings –opening stockings, making decorations from crepe paper,
shaping milk bottle tops round a lemon squeezer to make bells for the tree and
enjoying enormous family get-togethers when my Dad and Uncle John played
festive songs on their harmonicas.
 |
| Small Roddy fairy lovingly passed down from the 1950s |
 |
| 1930s' celluloid fairy |
This is the one time of
year that I have an excuse to make my dolls the centre of attraction. At
Christmas they can be incorporated into the general festive scheme quite
legitimately. First and foremost of course is the Christmas fairy. I have a
selection of these, mainly vintage, so they take it in turns to be the fairy on
top of the tree. Have you noticed, incidentally, how difficult it is to buy a
traditional fairy doll nowadays? Angels are easy to find – but Christmas
fairies? They all seem to have fluttered off. I can remember as a child seeing
shop counters massed with little plastic fairies. A special Christmas treat was
to buy a fairy doll for the tree; after Twelfth Night she would be my ‘extra
present’. Did you know that in the 1920s and 30s, fairy dolls were often made
of celluloid, which is highly inflammable? As the trees often had lighted
candles clipped to the branches, it must have been very hazardous.
This year my fairies are
clustered together in a large festive bowl. They look delightful together, and
they can gossip about the one who has been chosen to grace the tree. (You think
I’m joking? Fairies might look sweet, but I’ve often come downstairs in the
morning to find a fairy or two on the floor while the others, tinsel wreaths
over one eye and wands akimbo, peer gleefully down at their victims.) Tableaux
are fun to make – all you need is a roll of white packing fleece, some blue or
black card for a background, maybe a mirror (if you want to make an ‘ice-rink’)
and plenty of glitter, and your winter dolls will make a super display. You can
have them skating, skiing, sledging or even building a snowman, depending on
the props you include.
 |
| Two 'Vanity Fair' dolls from a local garden centre |
 |
| A 1930s' styled Patsy toddler |
Last week I visited one of our local garden centres and discovered a couple of porcelain dolls that had been marked right down in a sale, and were dressed in coats, scarves, boots and mitts – perfect for a winter display. They are now ensconced in the living room on a ‘snowy’ table, with a sledge laden with wreaths and a mini Christmas tree. They look very festive. A favourite doll of mine is dressed as a ‘Snow Baby’ in a fleecy white coat with matching hat and leggings, looking very 1930s, whilst another wears a brightly coloured jumper and hat with a pair of quilted trousers. She has skis and ski sticks, an excuse for making a cotton wool ski-slope.
I make a point of going to as many garden centres as I can in the run up to Christmas, because so often they have stunning Christmas displays with coloured lights and animated effects, just as good, if not better, as any department store. Van Hages this year has a life-size animated camel! Garden centres are also a good source for unusual or quirky gifts, often featuring handmade or craft items, while of course a pot of bulbs or a Christmas Hellebore make lovely presents. I’m not so keen, though, on the ‘themed’ Christmas trees – one centre I went to last year was proudly displaying white trees with black decorations, while many have trees all in purple, gold or even brown. Our tree always has a mishmash of decorations, some that I inherited from my parents, some my husband and I bought for our very first Christmas together, some that my children have made, and some that have been purchased on shopping sprees over the years. Of course, I always have to give pride of place to the paper snowflake made by my son when he was at nursery school
thirty-something years ago, and the red cardboard Father Christmas that he made
at infants’ school. This Santa is very unusual as he has no beard. Or arms….
(My son once told me he had no arms because his hands were in his pockets.)
 |
| A large camel at Van Hages Garde Centre, Amwell |
Just like everyone else,
we have our own family traditions – a sparkler in the Christmas pudding is a
‘must’,as is blowing the ceiling decorations to see who can make them spin the
most. We always put up a paper owl (it is very tatty now, but we’ve had it
almost forty years, so can’t complain) and however it is hung, it still insists
on facing the wall so all we see is its back. And a local tradition is – or was
– children in our area being told that Father Christmas keeps his reindeer in
the woods near the Hastingwood roundabout! (Okay, they might be fallow deer,
but to a small child they are magical.)
Happy Christmas everyone, and please don’t
forget to put out some seed, nuts and a dish of water for our feathered
friends, especially if it’s really cold. I’ll see you in the new year– I’m just
off to decorate the bower with fairy lights!
To get you into the festive mood, you might like to venture to:
where some of my bears and toys are acting out their version of 'Twas The Night Before Christmas!
 |
| Two 1920s German bisque fairies in a decorated sleigh |
No comments:
Post a Comment