'Old-time' Xmas in Guyana: Decorating the Xmas tree
Stabroek News
November 28, 2004
(This is the first in a four-part series on preparing for the Christmas season in decades past by Godfrey Chin)
On the fourth Sunday before Christmas, the annual ritual to set up the family Xmas tree would begin. Every family believes their Christmas tree is as spectacular as the one at Radio City Rockfeller Center, and in the last fifty years I have so marvelled at the improvements made in decorating the Xmas tree that I share these with you so that you will more appreciate every facet of the decoration on your own tree this season.
Trees
In British Guiana, during World War II, Christmas trees were hand-made with Dennison crepe paper, punched on wire and twisted to form the branches. Shredded, dyed rope, twirled between two strips of wire, in similar fashion to bottle brushes, followed, and these artificial trees, local or imported, could be reused annually. Live evergreen trees - spruce and fir - are popular abroad, but never really caught on locally, neither were they propagated by the Forestry Department.
C A Phillips, Water Street, first introduced imported cut live trees into BG with a shipment of 50 firs on the vessel Alcoa Partner. The initial tree was decorated with their top-line Cadbury's chocolate and presented to the St Ann's Orphanage. The first shipment packed in ice did not last the whole season, and the next year, a larger shipment was received in a refrigerated container. The Mounted Police were called out to control the crowd for the sellout.
By the early fifties, imitation silver pines made of aluminium became popular, with a revolving light that bathed the tree in swathes of changing colours. Flock or artificial snow in cans sprayed on green trees gave the impression of heavy snow-bound branches, but in the equatorial tropics of my homeland, this was only popular with those who dreamed of Bing Crosby's White Christmas. In our 'Buy Local' years of the seventies, decorated tree branches adorned the living room. Today, in contrast, a wide variety of gaudy artificial trees are available, with the emphasis on changing the decor themes each year.
Tree stands were home-sawn crossboards, later replaced by inverted funnel bases covered with elaborate base skirts, appliqued with Xmas motifs. These were ideal places for the presents to be displayed awaiting opening on Xmas morning. Of course failure to anchor the tree properly resulted in 'timber,' and then the pointer broom would be required.
Ornaments
Ornaments initially were home-made, a variety of knitted, crocheted, or clever hand-made substitute figurines carved or sculpted from wood. Before WWII, Woolworth introduced a fragile range of hand-cast/hand-painted elaborate santas, globes, teardrops and pine cones, which were sold individually, as few families could afford more than one or two each year. There was a Woolworth on Frederick St, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and their range of decorations was available locally, mostly from Psaila's 5 and 10 store, Fogarty's, Bookers, Bettencourt's and Ferreira and Gomes. Trips to Trinidad were by schooner, Lady Boats or the Grummans of Panam or Art Williams!
After WWII, America introduced low-cost mass-produced ornaments, following modifications to Corning's glass light-bulb machines, and Voila! the choice of precious 'globes and teardrops' in red, green, gold and silver were available. Precious, 'cause if one fell - Humpty Dumpty!
Eckardt's Shiny Brite range followed, with window-paned boxes and a wider variety of colours - chartreuse, turquoise, yellow, purple and orange, plus Saturn shapes with multi-coloured bands - silk- screen images and beehive ripples. Can you remember the reflector ball, with its recessed medallion of silver, reflecting a kaleidoscope of colour?
By the mid-fifties, clear-coloured glass balls, decorated with bands of opaque colour or sparkling glitter were popular. Novel elongated teardrops, lemon drops and bells followed in metallics, and later plastics, easily poured and moulded. They were thin and lightweight. There were also snowmen, reindeer and santas on offer. Balls in chenille wraps, and minute disco prisms, were temporary fads. Though breakable, shiny glass balls have been the perennial favourite Xmas tree decoration. Expensive glass sculpted or blown figures are also popular today with the sophisticated few.
Tree-toppers
Our tree-topper of the forties was a filigree star, which cost one bit [eight cents] - yet gave the three-tier branches a proud max height of four feet. Thus climbing was avoided on the newly french-polished furniture, of which the rocking chair and the Berbice chair were prized jewels, but the cause of regular family duels. When four picknees fight to sit simultaneously in one rocking chair, all fall down like London Bridge!
The intro of translucent moulded plastic allowed for lighted tree toppers, and while other icons such as santas were introduced, the Bethlehem Star and the Angel remained the king and queen of tree-toppers.
Lights
Now to light the tree. In the late forties, there was no fear of 'blackouts' which was a post-Independence epidemic. I can't remember if we ever had 'black-out' war drills, but do recall hearing on the local ZFY Station from North and New Garden Streets a popular war time ditty When the lights go on again - All over the world.
My family could barely afford a string of 12 socket bulbs, red, blue and green whose candle-power diminished each year, but they survived intact, as silver paper from the local Lighthouse cigarette boxes inserted in the bases ensured conduity. I will never forget the family sacrifice then to forego a five-pound tin of the ritual Marie Custard Cream biscuits so we could purchase the must-have popular water-bubble lights from Searchlight, on Camp St. The 1948 price was the equivalent of a day's pay of $5.
The inventor who thought of filling that small candle-like glass tube with coloured liquid, which bubbled when heated by a small lighted bulb deserves a Nobel prize for the joy it provided the little ones. Before television, the novel bubbling lights engaged our rapt attention, until Father Christmas arrived with his small but appreciated gift bundle, fore-day morning Dec 25.
I never found out when electricity came to the city of Georgetown, but the ubiquitous small sets of screwed bulbs must have followed soon after, together with safety plugs and strings of lights that could be connected to each other.
General Electric introduced the cone-shaped bulb, while Japan and recovering Europe gave us novel shapes of Santa, angels' bells and other fanciful forms. Noma introduced bulbs of Disney characters following the popularity of Snow White, 1937; Pinocchio 1950; and by the release of Cinderella, 1950, they dominated the Xmas-lights market until 1965. Noma also gave us blinking lights in 1955, General Electric introduced lighted iced bulbs in 1958, while fairy lights introduced by Italy in 1950 has made Christmas a 'lighted wonderland' ever since.
Every Guyanese home from the sixties thus became an Aurora Borealis of twinkling candleflies, as these new 'pepper lights' blinked, generated no heat, posed no fire hazard to paper or tinsel, and the increased lightbill was less than a large XM.
The screw-type bulbs were easy to replace, but these new-fangled mini-light bulbs were wired together on the same strand, and it was 'ning-ning' - testing every bulb to find the 'culprit' when the string blew. As the eldest, this chore was my responsibility, and it did teach me infinite patience, together with a colourful vocabulary of creole 'swears,' requiring confession every Saturday afternoon at Brickdam Cathedral.
The confessional priest, rather than pick-up a swearing habit from listening to my exhaustive litany of swear expletives, prescribed penance before I finished my opening plea of "Bless me father!"
Of course to avoid the annual task of decorating the tree, etc, a popular friend of mine erected his tree on a wheeled base, rolled it in and out of a closet every year, decor all intact, touched up with a can of spray each year, plugged in the lights and it's a Merry Xmas.
Okay, the Christmas Tree is finished, Let's have a drink. Next time we will tackle the task of Decking the Halls - indoor and out.