www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology when to take down tree

Hey 25 years ago, I was well humm...anyway by then I had a very young son and we could still buy a bottle of bubbles for ten cents. What a better way to pass the time of day than sitting in the yard blowing bubbles with your baby. TEN CENTS WELL SPENT!
Filled a lot of Christmas stockings with bubbles too

Pani Rose

Ah, how age dulls the memory. Jawbreakers and bubble gum were still a nickle in the 50s . Offhand, I can't think of anything that was a dime which would have been available for purchase in a dime store. 10 and 12 oz bottles of coke/soda were a dime, as were ice cream cones, but those were bought at the corner store or the corner drugstore soda fountain (a venerable institution at which I had my first job - as a soda jerk at the magnificent sum of 85 cents/hour , working for the best boss I ever had - may Hy Bornstein's memory be eternal).

Almost all of them had their beginnings or first real success in Pennsylvania. First they were "five cent stores" and then evolved to being called "dime stores", "five and dimes" or "five and tens".

There were a lot of chains scattered around the country. Ben Franklin's (where Sam Walton learned retailing), S.H. Kress' (renowned for the architectural beauty of the stores), G.C. Murphy's, and J.G. McCrory's were among the better known regional chains. F.W. Woolworth's (the pioneer), J.J. Newberry's, W.T. Grant's, and S.S. Kresge's were the big national names. Most tried unsuccessfully to "morph" into discount stores - remember Woolco? Of them all, only Kresge's survives, in the personage of its now very successful offspring - K-Mart.

You're excused . It's always fun to share and reminisce. Nice to have you back, Mary Jo.

Many years,

Neil

To All,

After a bunch computer glitches over the Christmas season and a few personal hardships it is great to read such a warm and lighthearted thread.

I always keep my tree up until January 6th (The original date of Latin Epiphany)and January 7th (Julian Calendar Christmas), in honor of my grandfather who was born on the 6th and reposed on the 7th. His middle name was "Gaspar", after one of the Magi who came to pay homage to our Lord. The Latin church, I'm sure you're aware, celebrate the visitation of the magi on Epiphany. I've continued this tradition also to celebrate the Nativity with our Julian Calendar brothers and sisters.

Mary Jo mentioned that the Magi weren't placed at the crib until Epiphany. I too am of German descent and in our house my parents did the same. The Magi were around, in sight, literally off to the east of the manger somewhere, but didn't show up until Epiphany. Do you think this was a German thing or a Latin thing in general?

And the memories of soda fountains and penny candy!

In Christ, Bill

My tree came down today. It was dropping needles and I just couldn�t leave it up any longer. It was not even up for three weeks and the house looks empty without it. Waaah!

On the postive side, I never got past putting lights on it when I put it up, so there were no ornaments to pick. :rolleyes:

Last night I was talking to a friend of mine who is a Roman Catholic priest. He was telling me the Latins used to keep their trees and other Christmas decorations up much longer (cribs stayed in the Church for at least another two weeks past Epiphany). But then, in past generations they were Christmas Trees and not Advent Bushes, so people were not tired of them.

Does anyone keep their tree up for the full 40 days of Christmas? That is, until February 2/15?

Condolences to the Admninistrator on the premature demise of his tree. Sic transit gloria mundi.
Here's a method I used to employ, with good success: buy a good tree, as late as possible, then stick it in a bucket of cold water and leave it out-of-doors until Christmas Eve. I believe that nowadays the florists and garden supply places even sell packets of nutriments for trees, though I've never tried them. Anyway, bring in the tree on Christmas Eve, and prepare one of those stands that allows the tree to have water. Position it so that it has the least possible exposure to indoor heat and dryness - away from the radiators and as close as possible to a window (preferably open, at least part of the time). Decorate according to your preferences.
Give the tree fresh water every day (in judicious quantities, so that you aren't soaking your floor!). That should keep the tree going happily for as long as three weeks.

Incognitus

Admin,

For many years, despite protestations, I would keep ours up until February 15 - especially in the years when I would buy a real tree with roots balled in a burlap sack. After that date, it would go to an enclosed porch and be treated with kid gloves until the ground was soft enough to permit its planting. I do believe that I may return to this practice next year, now that you mention it.

With cut trees, my technique for long-term preservation is virtually identical to that described by Incognitus and it generally works.

Bill,

We were Irish and did likewise. It's my earliest recollection of understanding compass directions. Our downstairs neighbors were a childless Greek couple. She had no real charm about her, but her husband, Dr. K, of blessed memory, was a delightful man who was a veritable fount of information generally considered useless, but invaluable to children. He would come upstairs with his compass and he and my Dad would make a great show of calculating East to assure proper direction for the Magi. I was continually amazed that each year East was in the same place :rolleyes:

Many years,

Neil

My method of tree preservation is near identical to that of Incognitus and Neil�s. I buy the tree a few days before Christmas and put it in water immediately after making a fresh cut on the bottom. The tree stand I have holds about a gallon of water once the tree is placed in it. The first day the tree drinks almost a gallon of water. Thereafter, it drinks about a quart a day until it stops drinking altogether. The tree stands in front of a bay window over a closed heating vent, so that part of the living room is cooler. I have never used the chemical preservatives. I have a four-legged family member who likes to drink from the tree stand so I am not about to place her at risk by adding chemicals to the tree water. Some years it lasts 4-5 weeks, other years it lasts only 3 weeks. I have always had better luck when I go to a tree farm and cut down the tree for myself, but it seems I never have the time to devote half a day to devote to getting a tree anymore.

Neil�s comment about leaving his tree up until after February 15th reminds me of a great (and true!) story.

After I got out of college I shared a townhouse with some friends. Naturally we had a Christmas tree, a cut one, which we placed in front of the sliding glass doors in the living room. When the time came to take it down we took the decorations off it and carried it (still in its stand) out into the backyard to wait for garbage day, placing it in the middle of the yard.

But that night a deep freeze arrived with high winds and, because the sliding glass door was very drafty, we could not keep the living room comfortable. The very next morning I went to the store and purchased heavy plastic and tape, and we used it to cover the sliding glass doors, thus making the living room noticeably warmer.

Fast forward to spring and warmer weather. The first real warm up was at the end of March or early April, and the time had come to remove the plastic and open the sliding glass door to let in some fresh, spring air.

Guess what was still in the backyard? Yes, the Christmas Tree!

Now, to top this off it was also Holy Week. And garbage collection was on Tuesdays and Fridays. So on Holy Thursday night after returning from Matins I took the Christmas Tree out of its stand and placed it with the rest of the garbage at the collection spot for our row of town homes. This just happened to be in front of the town home of neat, elderly lady who was Jewish.

So on Good Friday a Jewish woman had a Christmas Tree in front of her house for garbage collection.

The whole neighborhood talked about it for at least a week.

Dime Stores, I remember them when I was quite little in the 60's. Obviously the name was already a holdover from an earlier time when most of there merchandise was in the dime range. They were great though, floors that creaked when you walked down them, 29 cent model airplanes in 1/72 scale. If I asked for one too often, my father quickly reminded me that "we're not millionaires" (that comeback still cracks me up) Woolworth seemed to have the floorboards that creaked the best though, at least the one in the Back Of The Yards did.

Ben Franklin is still around today, and I visited one a few miles away a couple weeks before Christmas. Great atmosphere compared to todays stores.

As for churches keeping up there trees till Feb, St John Cantius, the most traditional RC Church in the Chicago area does, or at least did when I was there a few years ago.

Tonight was the night had the last Christmas party of the season and the guest took down the tree (acutaly I hate taking down myself) so I invite others in to do it for me one smart cookie here,
but tell me more about the 40 days of Christmas, does it really last till Trinity Sunday?
Stephanos I

Lawrence,

Thanks for that tidbit. I didn't realize that Ben Franklin was still going. I checked them out on the web and see that these days the chain [www2.benfranklinstores.com] is divided into craft and variety stores and part of a national holding company that includes some other familiar retail names.

Minnesota is the leader with 35 stores, followed closely by Wisconsin (27), Iowa (22), and Michigan (20). They've moved beyond their regional beginnings and are in 44 states, Guam, and the Republic of Palau

Mary Jo might like to find that she can visit one either while she's sojourning in warmer climes or after she returns home

Many years,

Neil