Day 4
FAMILY TRADITIONS
My childhood memories of Christmas traditions
(these pictures are not mine but represent pretty close to things I remember)
I am the oldest of three. We lived in Columbus, Ohio and we would travel to see both sets of grandparents for the holidays in Cleveland (mother's) and Parma (father's), Ohio. At my mom's parent's, I remember drinking chocolate milk in our own Donald Duck cups, green Grasshopper Pie that I thought sounded gross, eating at Big Boy's at some point during the visit, and all these relatives I didn't know well. LOL
My father's mom and step dad had the white fake Christmas tree with the blue balls, it turned, and there was a light that changed colors aimed at it. They made their own Italian sausage that was scrumptious. Grandma was always dressed in the latest fashion. And more relatives that I didn't know well. Being they all lived about 2 1/2 hours north, we didn't see all these extended relatives much.
It was Christmas when the little wooden Nativity set came out and was displayed on the mantel. I remember my mom's old record player playing The Chipmunks or Bing. You could stack 2 or 3 records to play and each would drop down when one record ended. I thought that was such a cool invention for music!
One year, my mom got the bright idea that us kids would make these beaded sequined ornaments for the grandparents and some other family members. I will never forget how hard the pins were to push! I don't think my fingers have ever recovered! The angel photo (above on day 3) is the exact thing we made! I think there were a wreath, bell, and Christmas tree.
We had our hot chocolate in Santa mugs. It was fun looking up 1970's Christmas Time photos!! The memories.
My father had made these large plywood snowman people he drew, cut out, and painted that we would put up in the front yard. They were of each of us – mom and dad with two snow girls and one snow boy.
Our decor looked a lot like most of these photos. We had too much tinsel, beaded ornaments, little wooden people, flocked animals, paper accordion fold out Santas and bells, hard plastic light up Christmas mouse, and that weird melted plastic popcorn looking stuff in all sorts of snowmen, Santas, reindeer, bells, and candy canes.
Here are some other things I found:
39 Retro Christmas Recipes Mom Learned in the ’70s
https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/retro-christmas-recipes-1970s/
From an article ........ "If you've never had Watergate Salad, you're truly missing out on an American classic. This five-ingredient dessert salad is so easy to make, and the pistachio Jell-O, whipped topping, walnut, marshmallow, and cherry flavors pair together perfectly for a light and fresh-tasting treat."
Have Yourself a Very '70s Christmas Dinner
https://www.bonappetit.com/story/very-70s-christmas-dinner
So, ... these look pretty gross! LOL
Lazarus
http://www.thedepartmentstoremuseum.org/2010/05/f-r-lazarus-co.html
Again, I have many fond memories of this department store at Christmas time. So magical!