Mill City Times Invites You to Share Christmas Ornament Nostalgia

Every year is a walk down memory lane as the Christmas tree transforms into a glowing and sparkly vision, loaded with ornaments acquired over decades. Much like Thanksgiving 2020, Christmas 2020 will be different for many of us, and it has me more nostalgic than usual.

We imagine many of our neighbors are feeling the same way, and after a year filled with angst, we thought it would be uplifting to give Mill City Times readers the opportunity to share photos of treasured Christmas ornaments and the stories behind them.

Pictured above is a box of Shiny Brite glass ornaments, which my parents acquired in the late 1940's. They came into my possession after my mother's passing in the early 90's, and I've been decorating our trees with them ever since. Over the years I've watched in horror as four of the twelve have shattered to smithereens on the hardwood floor. Makes me wonder how these delicate things survived a household with nine kids!

Those of us who've been around the block a few times remember when safety wasn't "priority #1" - cars without seatbelts, lead-based paint, etc. These ornaments always remind me of a short-lived Christmas treat we loved as kids, giving no thought to how germy and potentially deadly they were: unwrapped hard candies the size, shape, color and flavor of a cherry; impaled with a metal hooked "stem" so they could be hung on the tree (and removed by grubby little hands, licked, and then re-hung with a sly giggle...) Aah, memories.

We invite you to share your ornament memories! Send your story and picture(s) to kim@millcitymedia.org. I will post them on our website, and share on Facebook.

Best wishes for a safe, healthy and holiday season!

Kim :)