Unwrapping Christmas gifts

For this last post of the year, how about a short walk down memory lane before the holiday season ends. I recently found a few more slides to convert and one was the first photo below, taken at our Macon Drive house in Atlanta on Christmas morning 1959. The two men in the photo are my Daddy, Sam Lankford (on the left), and my step grandfather, Hoyt Vest. Hoyt and Granny often traveled from north Georgia to spend Christmas Day with us. Opening the gifts are (from left to right) my sister Bonita (or Bonnie), brother Michael, sister Jennifer, and me. I can read the word STAR on the box Bonnie is opening so looks like she got a pair of roller skates. Michael got a racecar, Jennifer some kind of book, perhaps a coloring book, and my gift looks like a game of some sort, perhaps a mini pinball machine.  

Although there is no evidence of Christmas in the photo above, I remembered sharing another photo of the four of us on this blog which you can see in the photo below. In this photo, we have the same clothes on and you clearly see a Christmas tree behind us. Since there are still presents to be opened, the toys we are holding must have been from Santa Claus. Presents under the tree were not opened until after we had a big breakfast and the dishes done, and Mama and Granny took their sweet time doing both! 

Jennifer, me, and Bonita holding Michael

Christmas table scarf

This Christmas table scarf makes an appearance on my dining room table every year from late November through the end of December. I was recently asked whether I made it, so thought it important to document its origins for my family.

I wish I could take credit for its creation, but no, I did not make the scarf. Instead, it was hand made by a co-worker and dear friend. We worked very closely together for many years and at some point, started exchanging Christmas presents. She was a very crafty person so hers were often hand made. I do not remember the year I received the table scarf, but estimate it was during the early 2000s. The table scarf is 18” x 23” and reversible. One side contains patchwork squares and the other a floral print. All the fabric is some sort of holiday print except for the solid red, green, and ecru pieces, which of course are Christmas colors. I prefer the patchwork side so if you come to my house during the holiday season, that is what you will most likely see on my table. I do not know much about fabric, but if I had to take a guess, would say it is cotton. The scarf, which I consider to be a family treasure, is starting to show some wear. I think about my friend with fond memories every year when I place it on my table. 

Vintage Ceramic Christmas Tree

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know many of you reading this have one of these ceramic Christmas trees. Obviously, I do as well so why not take the time now to document its origins.

I moved from Georgia to Virginia in 1979, after five years of encouragement from a friend I grew up with in Atlanta. In the early 1980s, I often spent weekends at her mother’s house, about 20 minutes from mine. Her mother had her own ceramic studio set up in the basement, including a kiln, molds, and all the supplies needed to make Christmas themed items. She allowed me to make whatever I wanted, and I paid her for supplies and the use of her electricity. Late summer, my friend and I met at her mother’s house to start pouring whatever pieces we wanted to make that year. While we worked, we played Christmas music and sang along at the top of our lungs. It was the only way I could listen to Christmas music earlier than late November and we really had a good time!

We started by mixing the slip with water until the consistency was right, then poured the slip into the molds for ornaments, Christmas trees, and other decorative pieces. We next bound the molds with large rubber bands and set them aside to dry. Once dry, we scraped and sanded the rough edges of the mold seams, and then cleaned them with water and a sponge until each piece was smooth and clean. Small items like ornaments dried quickly, but larger pieces like the tree took longer, so we often poured on one weekend and cleaned on another. We had to remember to poke holes in the ornaments for the hooks and on the trees for the lights, although I do not remember if that was done while the slip was wet or dry. If I recall correctly, we only fired the tree once, vs. firing to bisque, glazing with the green paint, and then firing again. You had to be very careful when handling the tree before it was fired though, as it was very fragile at the point. One wrong move and a finger might go through the piece, forcing you to start all over again. The firing process took several hours and was not done until the kiln was full, so we usually left our pieces and my friend’s mother fired them before we returned the next weekend. Once fired, the tree was assembled with the electrical parts and lights. The tree itself consists of two pieces, a base, and the tree. When you turn the light on that is hidden inside the tree, the plastic lights shine in all different colors. 

I remember making two, one for myself and one for my mother-in-law. My oldest son now has one of the two. Mine sits on top of a dark red doily my mother made several years ago and I consider both the tree and the doily to be family treasures. 

As mentioned above, we made hundreds of ceramic Christmas ornaments, which were shared with family and friends. Many still hang on my tree today. You can see five of them on a December 2016 Christmas tree of memories blog post (a little past mid-way through the post). I also bartered a deal with a co-worker when I needed help with sewing a cross-stitch Christmas stocking I made for my oldest son Chris. I made her 12 ceramic Christmas ornaments and in exchange, she turned my work of art into a stocking. It was a deal made in heaven for me. You can see Chris’ Christmas stocking on a December 2015 blog post.

Christmas tree of memories, an update

In December 2016, I shared photos of some of the ornaments on my tree, along with a little history behind each. If interested, you can read that post here. Today, I'm sharing others—a few old favorites and some new ones.  

I bought the first group of ornaments at a craft show many years ago. All four are hand painted on wood by a local artist.

My siblings and I lost Daddy at the age of 93 in 2019. We lost Mama at the age of 89 this past April. My sister Jennifer made these two ornaments in their memory. The green felt on the back side of Mama’s ornament is made from one of the bags that held her ashes. Jennifer took that bag of ashes back to Florida and scattered them off the pier Mama loved to fish from in Daytona Beach.

Mama made these ceramic ornaments many years ago, and I added the photos. The one on the left contains a photo of my two sons Kevin and Chris. The one on the right contains a photo of my in-laws, Earl and Mary (Athya) Murphy.

My brother made these stained-glass ornaments. I bring a few home every time I visit him.

I have come to love Hallmark’s Beauty of Birds series so now buy a new one each Christmas.

In this photo, you see another bird ornament as well as a snowflake crocheted by my sister. 

I have many white snowflakes crocheted by Mama. Before Covid, she started using red thread.

When cleaning Mama's house out this spring, we found a box of ceramic ornaments she had poured, cleaned and fired. My brother took them home and painted them. He gave these to me when I went back home in the fall.

Jennifer is a very crafty person, and this year started painting. This ornament is her take on a Little Debbie Christmas cake.

I continue to add to my White House collection. I love the gingerbread house this year. It even came with a recipe.

This Sikorsky H-34 helicopter, part of the White House Historical Association’s White House Christmas ornament series, isn’t one of my favorites but my husband likes it. When I met Charlie, he worked for Secor, who was bought out by Sperry, who merged with Burroughs and became Unisys. Then Charlie’s division broke off to become Paramax, and then was reabsorbed by Unisys one to two years later. Then again Charlie’s division was sold to Loral, who was eventually sold to Lockheed Martin. Charlie worked 42 1/2 years as an electrical draftsman and engineer at the same job during all of these changes. Seventeen of those years were with Lockheed, followed by five years as a contractor for Lockheed so he proudly hangs this ornament on our tree.  

My daughter-in-law added this red edition Swarovski crystal to my collection, and I added the 2022 edition. This continues a tradition that’s been going on since at least 2007. 

As I said in 2016, these family treasures are all special to me and I can't wait to hang them every year. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Making fruitcake with Mama

I recently watched Trisha Yearwood’s Food Network Ugly Christmas Sweater episode and it reminded me of the many times Mama (Fay Lankford) visited me in Virginia for Thanksgiving. She always asked to see any new cookbooks I had and then spent hours paging through them looking for new recipes. Once she found something that looked interesting, we’d turn on the Christmas music and head into the kitchen. Of course, singing was involved while we cooked.

This fruitcake recipe was one we made several times, although I can’t be sure if she found it in one of my cookbooks or had already discovered it at home and wanted to share it with me. After all, we both had some of the same cookbooks. Whatever the case, her handwritten notes dated November 25, 2001 are written beside this recipe in my cookbook so I know we made it together. This recipe comes from the 2000 Taste of Home Annual Recipes cookbook.

Miniature Fruitcakes

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped dates
3/4 cup chopped mixed, candied fruit (about 4 ounces)
2 eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Halved candied cherries

In a bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Combine egg yolks and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into batter. Fill greased and floured muffin cups two-thirds full. Cover the muffin tin tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake at 275° for 1 hour. Uncover; top each fruitcake with cherries. Bake 5 minutes longer or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of each cup; remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Yield: 1 dozen.

Below is a photo with Mama’s handwritten notes.

It appears she made the adjustment to use the mini-muffin tins which would be nice for a party or gift giving.

Although Mama didn’t include anything in her notes, we would have changed this recipe. I never had walnuts in the house but always had pecans at Thanksgiving time. She also didn’t care for citron so we would have just used candied cherries and pineapple instead of the fruit mix sold in stores. Mama even made a gluten free version for my brother-in-law and nieces. My sister Vanessa remembers the fruits being expensive for Mama’s budget, but she refused to let Vanessa pay for them. Vanessa said Mama was determined to let them taste a good fruitcake. So instead, Vanessa said she’d sneak cash into Mama’s fanny pack. My guess is Mama knew that though—she always knew what was in her fanny pack. I can see her holding the money up when she found it, shaking her head, grinning all the while. The photo at the top is Mama cutting up candied fruit at Vanessa's house. 

My immediate family wouldn’t consider this an heirloom recipe, but I’m sure Vanessa does. It brings back sweet memories for me so I know I do!

Mama as she arrived on her last trip to Virginia

Picture with Santa

I brought home a few old slides last month and one of them happened to be this photo of my sister Jennifer (right) and I (left) with the jolly old elf himself, Santa Claus.

Me (Denise) and my sister Jennifer

The photo would have been taken in the 1960s and if I were a betting person, I’d say it was taken at the Stewart-Lakewood Shopping Center not far from our Atlanta home. Stewart-Lakewood was the home of the big Santa, a local landmark. I have shared photos of the big Santa in the past but since it has been a while, I’ll share again.

We look so excited to me there lol.

Me (standing) and my brother Michael

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a photo of me or any of my siblings with Santa, so it was a treat to discover this one. 

Christmas morning in Monongah, West Virginia

This series of photos celebrates memories of a Christmas past in my husband's family. The children pictured below are my husband Charles and his sister Colleen. The photos were taken at their home in Monongah, West Virginia in the late 1950s. 

Christmas morning that year turned out to be a musical one. Charlie told me the instruments did in fact play music, if you knew how to play them. Charlie didn't know how to play the clarinet at the time, but he did go on to play the trumpet in his high school band. 

Charlie remembers the train set in the next two photos. He loved it and tried, without any luck, to find one for our boys. The train set stayed in the family until at least the 1970s.

 

Santa was good to Charlie that year. Besides the clarinet, you can see he got a Huckleberry Hound bowling game, train set, Block City building blocks, a farm set, gun and holster, what we think are several cars or model car sets, maybe a book, and some clothes.

The next photo is the Bridge Street house they lived in that Christmas. Charlie estimates living there four or five years before moving to Virginia.

I hope Santa to good to you this year. Merry Christmas!

Family gathering in Nutter Fort

This series of photos was taken in the basement family room at Ralph and Jean Murphy's home in Nutter Fort, West Virginia, ca. mid-1950s. Families represented include Murphy, Athya, Dudley, Gregory, and Pitchford. 

If you look closely in the first photo, you can see the corner of a fireplace mantel on the left. My husband and brother-in-law remember and loved the tongue and groove wall paneling. The room had a door that led to the garage, one to the utility room that led to the stairway, and a door to the backyard. Dinner was served on china that featured dogwood flowers, which I believe Aunt Jean still had when we visited her about 10 years ago. 

Earl and Mary Murphy were my in-laws.

Left: Earl Murphy, Mary Murphy, Ella (Nellie) Windows,and James Dudley.
Right: Ralph Murphy, Majorie Murphy, Raymond Murphy, and Jean Murphy

Raymond Murphy sitting at the kids table

Mary Murphy (note the angel candle sitting on the small shelf  behind her --
this photo told me it was taken during the Christmas season)

Marjorie Murphy helping the kids

These photos are part of the Ralph Murphy collection given to my husband by his Aunt Jean Murphy. To see more from the collection, click here.

One happy young man

This young man, proudly holding up a piece from the train set Santa must have left him for Christmas that year, looks pretty happy to me. Unfortunately, I have to classify him as a lost relative not knowing who he is. The photo was most likely taken in West Virginia, perhaps Nutter Fort. If you recognize him, I hope you will share his name.

This photo is part of the Ralph Murphy collection given to my husband by his Aunt Jean Murphy. To see more from the collection, click here.

Presley Church family of Littleton, West Virginia

Presley Church, born September 29, 1900 in West Virginia, was the son of Robert Church and Lucinda Murphy. He and his wife, Nellie Cumberledge, had three daughters—Betty Lee Church, June Louise Church, and Doris Jean Church. June married Bill Daniel, the young man in the photo below. My best guess for when these photos were taken would be the mid-1940s and was probably taken at the Church family home in Littleton, Wetzel County, West Virginia. Presley was my husband's grand uncle. 

June Church, Bill Daniel, Presley Church, Doris Church,
Betty Church, and Nell (Cumberledge) Church

Nell and Presley

The Church family and Bill Daniel

 

Presley and Nell

Presley was a descendent of Henry “Old Hundred” Church for whom the town of Hundred was named.

These photos are part of the Ralph Murphy collection given to my husband by his Aunt Jean Murphy. To see more from the collection, click here.

Lankford family memories from Christmas past

Daddy and my brother Michael

 

Sister Vanessa and Michael

Daddy and Vanessa

Sister Bonita

Bonita, my Granny Daisy, and Michael

Uncle Clark and Aunt Alice Lankford

Sister Jennifer

Cousin Kathy

Vanessa

Me (I hated having my picture taken so
often hid my face. I regret that now!)