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Decorating the Tree — A Dangerous Christmas Tradition?
My wife, Barbara, and I were at a dinner party recently, and the hostess asked us all to share a story of a Christmas tradition that we experienced as children. Interestingly, the tradition that I recall involved a component that no one even uses today because it’s now considered too dangerous for children. Who knew?
Our LaBate tradition always began the week before Christmas on December 18th. That day is my father’s birthday, so he always waited until that day to buy our tree. Typically, he’d pick up a tree on the way home from work at one of the nearby tree lots, and he’d set it up in a special tree stand in an area of our home called “the reception hall,” a room at the foot of the staircase and near the front door. That was a perfect spot for the tree because we rarely “received” guests in that room; most people who visited came in through the back door.
The tree stand we used was special because Dad crafted it himself. He never really cared for the cheap and somewhat unsteady tree stands that they sold in the hardware store. So one year, he decided to build a truly sturdy stand that would securely hold the big trees that he preferred. At the time, Dad was taking a welding class through his union training as a plumber-steamfitter. When the new stand was finished, Dad painted it red for the season, and believe me, this…
