Back in the Day: What are some of your Christmas tree traditions

By Alonzo Kittrels, Tribune Correspondent
The Philadelphia Tribune
Reprinted – by Texas Metro News
https://www.phillytrib.com/

When many of us were little girls and boys, families only had live Christmas trees, the exception being the aluminum trees on which rotating spot lights were reflected. Anyone still using one of these aluminum Christmas trees is not only from back in the day, but is still living back in the day.

While I embrace the true spirit of Christmas, a tree is a must in order for it to truly be Christmas. After marriage, my family initially had live Christmas trees before moving on to artificial trees. Several years our trees had the roots covered with burlap that eventually went outside and planted after the holiday. As a child, we had the typical trees that were cut without the roots.

Back then, purchasing a Christmas tree was a big deal for my family. Our home had a living room ceiling that was at least 12 feet. We always had a Christmas tree that touched the ceiling. One year, my father came home with a tree that could not have been more than eight feet tall. Although my father was upset with us, my sisters and I returned the tree to exchange it for a size we were accustomed to having in our home. Back in the day, a tree was often transported home by tying it to the top of an automobile; very few establishments delivered trees. In the case of returning the small tree that my father purchased, it was a matter of getting out my wagon to transport the undesirable tree and pick up the right tree.

Do not tell me that you waited until 11 o’clock on Christmas Eve to get your Christmas tree. Many did for at this hour, trees cost less and in some cases, they were being thrown away. A friend told me that she and her father would routinely go out at the 11th hour on Christmas Eve to get a free Christmas tree. One year when they went to their usual lot, all of the unsold trees were cut into several pieces. After crying, with great disappointment, in not having a Christmas tree, she gathered several branches as her father instructed and once arriving home, they were nailed to a 2×4 to create a Christmas tree. Perhaps, this was the first Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Do you recall the difficulty in getting your tree to stand securely? It was not unusual, after the tree had been completely decorated, to later find it lying on its side. I can still see my father tying a rope around the tree and securing it to the mantle so that it would not fall. There was also a concern with Christmas trees drying out and becoming a fire hazard. Thus, a small can with sugar and maple syrup was placed on the stand before the tree was attached to keep it moist. Did this actually work? Many people did this, back in the day.

Decorating a Christmas tree, in the past, was a real challenge. Families often fought and fussed over tree lights. Can you count the times that you put lights on the tree only to find that the lights would not work? You may remember that if just one of these lights were bad, it caused all of the lights to malfunction. A string of lights did not automatically blink in the past as you had to purchase a “blinker.” Back then, Christmas tree lights had two options, on or off. There was nothing in between like the fancy lights that alternate settings on trees today. Do you recall the lights with a long stem and a liquid that bubbled once they became heated? This was popular, back in the day.

There were no Black ornaments when many of us were young children. The first Black ornament I can recall seeing was after Black became beautiful. It was in the ‘60s, a time when everyone had to have a Black angel on the top of their tree. Before that, a star appeared on the top of the Christmas tree. Today, however, every Black American household with a Christmas tree must have at least one Black ornament, and that one Black ornament is usually a Black angel. Back in the day, while many fathers did not participate in decorating the Christmas tree, it was generally a tradition for the man of the house to place the star or Black angel, on the tree.

Perhaps you recall some other practices from the past for decorating trees. Do you recall making paper Christmas decorations in school as a child? How many of you cut paper strips from construction paper to make circles that would interlock, and used as a garland on the tree. I seriously doubt if any of you still hold to the Victorian-age tradition of stringing popcorn to go around your tree from top to bottom, just as you string a garland today. I also doubt seriously if anyone still places cotton balls on their tree to simulate snow. Perhaps you still spray your tree with a white substance from an aerosol can to give the appearance of snow. Or just maybe you still place tensile, referred to by many as icicles, on your tree. Back in the day, no tree was complete without tensile.

Of all the decorating experiences connected with tree trimming, I disappeared when it came to putting angel hair on our tree. While it looked great on the tree, to touch it resulted in you itching for a day or two. In our household, my oldest sister placed the angel hair on the tree while wearing gloves. If you do not know anything about angel hair, believe me, you are not missing anything. It is from back in the day and should remain back in the day.

Christmas bulbs were very fragile in the past and you dared not let them hit the floor as they would shatter. Do you recall using paper clips or hairpins to secure the bulbs to the Christmas tree? These bulbs were uniquely decorated and, interestingly, are highly collectible today. There is just something very special about a Christmas tree today that is decorated with these types of bulbs from back in the day.

For me, the final touch in decorating a Christmas tree was setting up a toy train to go around the base of the tree. My love for and my interest in collecting Lionel trains is directly related to the train that ran around our Christmas tree, back in the day.

For many of us who struggled in the past with life in a segregated America, the thought of a white Christmas was not in keeping with the Afro-centric views and traditions that we discovered during the civil rights struggles of the ‘60s. Thus, it may interest you to know that it is possible, now, to dream of a Black Christmas. While not being related to the Black experience, there is a tree that was a big rage in Europe in 2005 that is still found today. It was a Black Christmas Tree. This tree was new in the United States in 2006. It is flat black and is shown in most pictures with silver decorations.

We, as Black-Americans, should claim this tree as our own. A Black Christmas Tree would enable us to have had a Black Christmas, something that none of us could dream of, back in the day.

Alonzo Kittrels can be reached at backintheday@phillytrib.com or The Philadelphia Tribune, Back In The Day, 520 South 16th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146 The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Philadelphia Tribune.