American Folk Art: Outdoor Christmas Decorations

The only thing that bothers me about decorations is lack of symmetry. Really, is anything more annoying than a rooftop design with not one; but, two or even more flashing lights on one side of the center than the other? Or an over abundance of red lights on one side and nearly none on the other.

How about when the reindeer antlers are incorrectly decorated? Or when Santa is little more than a windsock and sometimes just hangs from a flagpole looking...well, not very lively? I had a neighbor years back who really confused people. She had a half dozen santas on her front lawn and due to the structure of her home, two santa sleighs with reindeer on the roof...headed towards each other! It was insane and all these things had lights. The good side was that during the holiday season I never needed to use indoor lighting fixtures or lamps when I was on that side of the house, her santas and reindeer and other gizmos and holiday magic items all used thousand watt bulbs. Saved a lot of time for her as well when it came to clearing snow from her walkways since there was so much heat from the bulbs. She also had a magnificently lush lawn during the second half of December. She moved away after a while and things were never the same again.

Last year I debated for a while on decorating the tree over on the corner of the property which overlooked a parking lot. Eventually I succumbed to the holiday spirit and got it in order. This year I'm in different place and have yet to even put up the Happy Chanukah banner or get the doorknob santa thing on the doorknob. On a plus side, I finally got the Chanukah greetings out yesterday...good thing there are 8 days for them to arrive.

The biggest problem with those creches all over the place has always been the animals wandering off the set and getting into the traffic. It has created traffic nightmares for centuries...even before the automobile, horse and wagon were often delayed waiting for the sheep and goats to get off the road. My understanding of it all is, that; Joseph and Mary were delayed in getting to Bethlehem because of escaping creche animals and therefore were forced to hang out in the manger for the kid to be born. Sure, there are those who doubt the veracity of this; but, what they don't know is that George Lucas had ancestors who were into creating epic stagings. It was interesting how they got the star to work so well since electricity had not yet been discovered. It was actually originally meant to have a dozen dueling stars and was indeed the first Star Wars production. It was produced by Moishe Lucasbergersteinowitz. The manger where the Jesus kid was born was part of the original stage set. Apparently it didn't get good reviews, so Moishe changed his name to Matthew and wrote a story in a huge book that was floating around and being added to at the time. Something called The Bible. They were looking for good writers of new material and Moishe, now known as Matthew stepped in and did his part.

In the entryway downstairs a neighbor put up a wreathe. The first few days were fine, now there's a strange odor coming from it. Smells like an air freshener, which might be okay were it not for the fact that the smell is sort of citrus and not pine! Someone sprayed an orange air freshener on a pine-branch wreath...EGADS! What next? Latkes covered in chocolate? Wait, that might not be a bad idea.

Well, the holiday season is truly here...

Happy ChanukmaswanzaaSolsti everybody.

Sturgis--

Thank you!

One of the great joys of Folk Art is lofty discussion of other people's strange ways of decorating a yard. You are a Master of Lofty & Kindly Detachment.

What do you think about Santa's sleigh landing on the roof of the creche?

Some years I'm distainful. Some years I'm delighted.

Symmetry and repetative patterns. Symmetry Sturgis covered well. When the patterns don't flow, like blinking colored lights on the bushes and solid white lights on the eaves, it doesn't work for me. Well, usually not. I suppose there could be instances. I hate those blow-up decorations. But, the snowglobe blow-ups have intregued me. Not into wanting one, but in trying to figure out how they work.

Noddy...the Santa sleigh landing on the creche roof might work but only if it isn't too big. Then (although only if it was known in advance) it would be sleighted as a crushed creche. Personally I'd also like to replace some of those wiseguys...I believe the gentiles refer to them as Wise Men. How wise could they have been giving away gold and stinking the place up with myrrh? Myrrh has a truly atrocious smell to it. Anyway, I'd like to replace them with Santa's elves. In order to include non-Christians in the celebration, the elves should be giving the kid a dreidel. Imagine for a moment changing the gold, frankincense and myrrh into something more useful. A tray of latkes, a few dreidels and a coupon for a free Bris a few days hence. Maybe even toss in a Haggadah that reads front to back instead of back to front...and someone to help lug those scrolls around at Bar Mitzvah time....those things are heavy. Maybe throw in Holly and Ivy while we're at it...provided of course that they're not too busy doing other things.

Seriously, a Santa sleigh on the roof can have a certain charm...as long as the Santa is quiet. Don't get one of those loud laughers, they drown out the sound of Priests and Nuns saying prayers to forgive the heathens who put the scene together.

Chanukas will be the death of me I fear. I can't get the oil squeezed out of the reindeer to light my menorah. (ever notice there are eight reindeer and eight nights of Chanukah? Who came up with this anyway?)



As to you littlek, how are you going to teach those little children if you don't know how to blow up a snowglobe? Nitroglycerin is the usual component needed.
Oy vey! Vut ist zthee verld coming to?

Littlek--

I'm not sure what is in the snow globes. I have a feeling it might be as harmless as Ivory flakes--or something extremely toxic. I know in old time melodramas when Our Heroine (with or with out Babe in Arms) is tossed out into the Teeth of the Blizzard someone is back stage pulling on a rope so that Ivory flakes flutter down, colder and bleaker than Her Father's Heart.

Sturgis--

I've seen creche scenes with Santa on the roof and the elves alternating with the shepherds and the wise men.

You realize if the Gentiles hear that you are rendering reindeer for candle makings that the Paranoid Puritans of the world are going to come up with hundreds of years of ugly rumors--and hold Israel responsible?

Your idea of an ecumenical buffet is excellent. Church suppers are Protestant communion.

Did you know that the tracks from the myrrh caravans are still visible from the air in the desert after nearly 2000 years? Tradition is durable.

Thought:

Do you suppose all of the Little People were sent to the North Pole in the way that American Indians were assigned to reservations?

Ooooh, kids would like blowing things up, wouldn't they?

Well, I took this pictures yesterday and everyone was just in awe
seeing that house so beautifully decorated. If more do such a good job,
it might catch on with others....

That's purty!

I wrote this on Edgar's thread before I saw this one:

CJ--

Beautiful. Just beautiful.

Sozobe--

Having spent years and years with small boys who assume Balloons are to Pop I've been thinking of the havoc a car of misbehaving teenagers with an air gun could create in suburbia.

Even worse would be two competing cars filled with too-old-for-Santa brats.

I can also visualize the trophies hung up on cyclone fencing like the pelts outside a gamekeeper's lodge, but just because I can visualize it I don't expect the hypothetical carnage to go that far.