Sherman , set WABAC machine .....
For this post , I 'm going waaaay back to the late 60's / early 70's. Or as I like to call it, my childhood.
Christmas was always a magical time for me ( in my mind ) . I loved everything about it. The tree, the lights, seeing Santa on almost every corner. I loved going with my parents to pick out the tree from one of the lots that would spring up around Denver. Then I'd get to help my Dad saw off the bottom of the trunk ( always making sure that it was as level as we could get it so it would stand up straight ). Filling up the stand with water, then watching my Dad string up the lights. That was his job, no one else could do it. Just like it was Mom's job to put the tinsel on the tree after all the decorating was done. That was a job that was much too important to relegate to a 7year old.
I'm sure some of you remember tinsel. The stuff we had was heavy lead-laden foil that Mom would put on strand by strand and then take off again after Christmas, making sure to keep it nice and neat for the following year. It was a Christmas staple in most homes up through the early 70's, when they banned all lead-based products ( poisonous you know ) and went to flimsy mylar-type stuff. Mom hated it.
Well every year after we got the tree, my Dad would go to the
Firestone tire store & the Goodyear tire store. Because , you see, every year you could pick up a free album of Christmas songs by popular artists. People like Julie Andrews , the Morman Tabernacle Choir, Percy Faith. It makes you laugh now but this was one of the highlights during the holidays. Then we'd get to listen to the albums on our coffin sized stereo hi-fi system as we decorated.
One song that's always stuck with me to this day was a little-known song by Bing Crosby. Not actually a Christmas Carol , but it had the sleigh bells for backround rythm and a bouncy melody, and I think ( in my 7 year old mind ) it gave me an idealized version of what Christmas/Winter would/should be ...
Anyhow - I've always loved Bing Crosby, I watch Holiday Inn & White Christmas every year instead of that sappy thing with Jimmy Stewart.
So for my retro Saturday - Bing Crosby & The White World of Winter ....
