Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

I can still remember the smell of the silver spray paint we used when making those macaroni Christmas wreaths in Hobby Class. It was an afternoon arts and crafts group that met at The Brown School on Willow Ave in the early 1960’s. We also made those wreaths and other Christmas decorations in school.

Unfortunately, none of those pasta wreaths survived the years here at the Circle Del Ranch. However, the light up plastic window Santa, though held together with tape from years of repair, is still with us. My parents bought it in 1952. We also still have small wax choir boy ornaments and the traditional fragile, vintage ones. Some are nearly 70 years old! They have been carefully wrapped and stored year after year.

At St. Clements school, we made our parents gifts of small calendars using religious Christmas cards from the year before. There’s one that my sister made in the cellar from 1959. Remember that mucilage glue with the pink rubber applicator tip?

One year, back in the 60’s, one of my uncles made beautiful wooden mangers, complete with a light, for each of his in-law families. It’s also in the cellar. Most families have at least one or two old Christmas decorations that lasted through the ages. Some still have an aluminum tree and color wheel saved.

Remember the window stencils that we sprayed on with Glass Wax or Bon Ami? Today they sell plastic stick on snowflakes, Santas, and the like. We bought those old stencil packs at Woolworths, Grants, and Kresges. My friend’s family home here in Somerville still has the remnants of a stenciled snowflake on one of the windows. It’s been there for 50 years, somehow forever embedded in the glass.

We made Christmas candles out of cardboard toilet paper rolls and tin foil. A friend recalls making wreaths at her Brownies group out of a coat hanger, green tissue cut in strips, and twisted on until full. Then it was topped with a red paper bow.

Another friend shares this memory: “I have all my mother’s Christmas ornaments. My favorite is a pink angel that she bought when I was 1. She is always the center of the tree I decorate with all of moms’ ornaments. What a blessing.”

I remember making decorations in school and coming home with glitter on my clothes and hands. I loved peeling dried Elmer’s glue off of my fingers.

Many people still have their grandparents’ decorations and others that have been lovingly preserved and passed down.

I sure wish our loved ones were still here to celebrate with us but unfortunately they weren’t made of glue, paint or glitter. Having our precious heirloom decorations are just another link to remembering the warm, loving Christmas’s of days gone by and the people who shared so many heartfelt holidays with us. Merry Christmas!