I grew up in the 1960's and my Gramas had these little darlings, so did my Mom; Gurley Candles. Mom had the Jack 'o Lantern man and the two Pilgrim people. I remember the Christmas Santa too, all part of my happy childhood holidays.
Finding a Gurley candle still makes my heart beat faster. Faded, slouching due to heat exhaustion, they peek out from thrift store shelves or flea maket tables and my memories run right back to those 'back in the day' times of simple holiday decorating. I hate to admit that my folks didn't spend three days putting out their Christmas decorations like we do.
On Saturday, entering into the sixth hour of decorating (my Mom came and helped us too) I walked up to Mr. Wonderful who was putting up the second tree and whispered, "I am so happy that you love Christmas as much as I do!"
My Dad gave this little sleigh to my Mom on their first Christmas together in 1955; it was stored in the original box with graphics as adorable as the tiny reindeer themselves! The silver deer head is a hood ornament! It has wiring to light up the antlers. How's that for Christmasy? Mister wouldn't put it on my car...boo hoo.
This vignette is full of family memories; my Little Grama, the cake decorator gave me the colored bells, deer and toy soldiers, the Santa and horn came from Mr. Wonderful's 107 year old Grandma, the angel with star is from his Mom...
Ah, it is
The Hap-Happiest Season of All!
That sleigh that you dad gave your mom is just precious. I've been having fun looking over all your special collections. Your Gurley candle collection is so charming. A few more are headed your way. Final touches on a package are happening tonight so that I can send it first thing Friday morning. Extra Christmas hugs!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog entry,nice to hear someone that loves Christmas
ReplyDeleteas much as I do.
I'm in my early 30's,but remember seeing a lot of the same decorations at my
grandparents house.
My mom even had a Christmas Santa that was a wax candle similar to the one in the
picture you posted.
He's partially broken now,and his once bright red coat faded due to time,now
it's a light red,orange looking,but every year since I was born my mom puts out this
Santa candle,along with a few other older decorations my mother was able to maintain
and keep over the years.
The older Christmas decorations just seem like they were better quality,and made
with more love.
I also really like the Coca Cola Christmas bottles you have.I too collect Coca Cola Christmas items
when available,although rare to see these days.
Thanks for a great blog entry.
What sweet memories and stories Tammy! :) I've been seeing several of those Gurley Girl candles, I think they are just so cute! And what a lovely gift from your dad to your mom! I love this time of year! :) Happy Holidays!! xo Holly
ReplyDeleteLove all your Gurley candles and the sleigh your dad gave your mom is so precious!! What a special treasure to have!! Love those little red deer, too!! So fun to see all your pretty Christmas decorations! Have a great night! xo Heather
ReplyDeleteAfter reading so much about the Gurley candles, I just had to order one online!! Your displays are so, so cute!!
ReplyDeleteLove seeing your favorite Christmas decorations....don't you just love putting them out and remembering?
ReplyDeleteHugs chris
I have those same little choir boy & girl candles that you have. Mine were my grandmother's. She had a bunch of Christmas candles that she set out on the fireplace mantel every year. I have them now, and they're a bit faded and distorted from heat, but I still love them and put them out every year.
ReplyDeleteLove your collection of Christmas things. It's nice to know that someone is as crazy about Christmas as I am.
It's the most wonderful time of the year ... lots of lovely decorations and wonderful memories. Love your new holiday header! Best wishes, Tammy
ReplyDeleteaahh i love the fact you have so many warm memories attached to your lovely decoartions. Love the little santa and his sleigh and the santa with his horn and WOW 107 years old i bet she could tell you so many stories of christmas past. Wonderful decorations i can't wait to get my box out of the loft now in a couple of weeks time its like seeing old friends again. dee x
ReplyDeleteThat's one thing I don't collect, yet. But I sure love the little gurley candles. They are from my childhood for sure.
ReplyDeleteLove those candles-and the way you described them. Your decorations are looking so festive.
ReplyDeleteThank you for that nostalgic story about gurley's. Your displays are so sweet! I love all of the littles. :)
ReplyDelete-Denise
Claire and I have three more trees to decorate tomorrow..We all did the sports tree and the BIG tree last night...Love your littles and all the gurlies..You have a magic touch..smiles..Renee
ReplyDeleteHi Tammy!
ReplyDeleteOh...My goodness! Just look at your darling header. Of course, Santa, loves the color RED, too.
What a fun post so filled with childhood memories.
Have a great weekend, my friend.
Carolynn xxx
How wonderful that you have so many sweet decorations and associated memories! Absolutely lovely:)
ReplyDelete~Cindy
I'm a Gurley girl too! Inherited my grandmother's collection. Just posted one on Wed if you're interested.
ReplyDeleteAwww, I love this.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy, that you are so happy! Your love for Christmas and decorating sure shows!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Susie
Funny -- I always seem to come across those heat-exhausted Gurleys. I have a droopy Gurley Christmas tree that looks like it needs to be watered. -amy
ReplyDeleteI was going back through some of your posts that I missed and found your Gurley Choir! :-) You know I love those! When I was a kid, we decorated the tree, put out a few decorative candles, hung the Christmas cards that came in the mail, and had a nativity scene... and that was probably it. We didn't spend more than a day decorating, but we DID spend many happy hours baking cookies, tarts, pies and candy, as well as crafting ornaments. Mom would put the ping pong table up in the family room, covered in every craft item we had in the house, and it would stay there all month, so we could just come and work on crafts anytime during the month of December. So much fun and such great memories. That little tomten (elf) in my last post was made at that pingpong table.
ReplyDelete