Mocha With Linda hosts a weekly meme called Flashback Friday. She’ll post a question every Thursday, and then Friday we can link our answers up on her site. You can visit her site for more Flashbacks.

I think I am going to answer this in list form this week.

When you were growing up, when did your family put up and decorate the Christmas tree?

I don’t remember when we put it up. Never right after Thanksgiving, but early in December, I think.

Was it real or artificial?

Always real, though my mom had a 2-ft. aluminum tree that had belonged to her dad that I think she put up sometimes. I think I either had it in my room or took it to college. I think they did get an artificial tree when I was in college.

It was customary, when I was growing up, for people to put a white or aluminum tree in their living rooms in front of the window with a rotating disk of different colors aimed at the tree, then a regular green tree in the family room. We never did that because we never had separate family and living rooms, but it was pretty common in the 60s.

Who usually decorated it?

I think we all pitched in.

Were there special decorations?

My favorite ornament was one I made in school. We made a paper cone that was a body (supposed to look like an angel or choir robe) and then glued a face on top that was supposed to look like ourselves. I don’t know if it is still among my mom’s things — I don’t know if my step-dad still puts a tree up.

What was on the top?

I think a flashing star.

White lights or colored, blinking or steady?

Multi-c0lored, NON-blinking! Blinking lights really bother my eyes.

How much did your family decorate for the holiday other than the tree (wreaths, dishes, snowglobes, miniature villages, etc.)?

I don’t remember that there were a lot of other decorations. I know we had stockings and must have had a wreath, but I can’t remember what they looked like. I guess that comes of not having been home for Christmas in maybe 20- 25 years. We visited each other’s homes when we first got married, but after a few years we stopped and usually visited in the summer when the weather was better and people could get out and do things. Plus we wanted to do Christmas our own way with the reading of the Christmas story in the Bible, which neither of our families did.

Did y’all do outdoor lights? White or colored, blinking or not?

We did a few — multi-colored, non-blinking again. Not anything elaborate.

Are there special memories associated with decorating for Christmas?

Not really from the family I came from — I’m sorry that I’ve forgotten so much of it! Most of my favorite decorating memories come from early married days and then the fun of decorating with kids. My husband and I were married in Texas Dec. 21 and pulled into our new home in SC late Dec. 24.  Our landlord invited over for Christmas dinner, and then we hit some after-Christmas sales the next day for ornaments and such. I think we did use that little aluminum Christmas tree of my grandfather’s that first year. One favorite set of ornaments we got that first year were some of my favorites — little angel candles, a boy that looked like Jim and a girl that looked like me. We discussed that every year as we took them out. Alas, a couple of years ago during a particularly hot summer they melted a bit in the attic.

I can’t even get them out of the plastic bags they melted in any more, but for some reason I still keep them.

I had to come back and add a couple of things I had forgotten until I read Linda’s post. I do remember as a child we always had to have those shimmery thin metallic icicles on the tree, and we always put them on one or two at a time after all the other decorations. And we always used to take one evening and drive around looking at the lights and decorations at other houses — until the “energy crisis,” when people in general stopping decorating with lights outside to save electricity. It was so nice to see the lights come back after a few years.