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| Mother and Daddy at the Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco |
As it is the yuletide season, I will indulge myself in sharing a non-hotel Christmas memory.
When
I was about eight, my aunt Frances had given me five dollars for my
birthday in September of which I had saved some for a Christmas present
for my mother.
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| Snaggletoothed in 1950 |
At
the time, there were two dime stores in Aberdeen. Mack's was the oldest and most popular, officially called a "5 - 10 and 15-cent
store," and it was there that I went looking for a gift.
Mack's
was an excellent store to buy candy, dish towels, can openers, baseball
cards, and any number of other useful things. As Aunt Frances (who was a
particularly conservative interior decorator) would have been the first to tell
me, it was not the best place to find a tasteful gift for the home.
I was confident I had found the perfect Christmas present there, a little red lamp. I mean all red. Red
glass "hurricane" globe, red imitation-crystal droplets, red base. It cost $1.29, it was my
own money, and I was thrilled with the beauty of my purchase.
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| Mother |
The lamp and her reaction became instant family folklore. She explained with great enthusiasm that it was so special, that she was going to wrap it up and put it away safely in the attic as soon as Christmas was over, and then bring it down every year for the holidays.
Which she did.
I don't know what ultimately happened to my little red lamp, but I do remember it was still out in its prime spot, surrounded by holly and mistletoe, when I returned home in 1997 for what was to be Mother's last Christmas.
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The parents quite a few years later
Another Paris Christmas!
Here are a few hotels decked out for the holidays.
(Hotels are Parisian unless otherwise indicated)
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| Hotel Raphael --Clark Gable slept here! |
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| The Four Season George V courtyard |
Some creative reindeer at the George V
The Hotel Prince de Galles
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| The Negresco's original aquatic Christmas tree, Nice |
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| Sumptuous courtyard at the ex-Intercontinental, now the Hotel Westin (Eugenie, the last Empress of France, wife of Napoleon III, resided here in her declining years) |
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| Teddy bear tree at the brand new Hotel Montaigne |
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| All white at The Meurice (Salvador Dali lived here). |
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| Polar bear at the Lancaster |
Courtyard (above) and main lobby (below) of Hotel Bristol,
scene of Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris."
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| Looking back at the Biltmore Millenium, Los Angeles 2011 |
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| Montmartre |
MERRY CHRISTMAS !
Your input is welcomed. Click here to send email: hotel-musings@hotmail.fr
CROSS REFERENCING … a look at other postings
"Mother" was also featured in blog No. 46 "Grandmother Vivian, Doc and the Others" and No. 49 "Thanksgiving: Ruth and Dickie ... and more about Mother"; Aunt Frances was featured in blog No. 4 "A Two-Dollar Hamburger Under a Silvery Dome" and blog No. 61"Goodbye Rose" (to access, click on highlighted titles).
19 comments:
24/7 in France:
Beautiful - I love black & white tiled floors - so chateau-like! We stopped into Le Meurice for an apero, during our latest trip to Paris, but it was too crowded with no seating!
Wow! I love sharing your memories. I always wondered if you remembered if that "solution" worked for you. It certainly did work for the family through the decades. I thought you had the lamp.
Beautiful holiday pictures!
Dickie
Another great Musing!
I enjoy how you tell so much in so few words.
It's a gift.
Pictures put me in the spirit and I don't even celebrate Christmas.
So sweet and touching!
I still miss your Mom's divinity (candy) when I would bring groceries from Buster's!
Thanks, Terry. Me too!
A lovely memory from Christmases past, pity The Little Red Lamp is no longer with you.
Parisian hotels certainly do some sumptuous and creative decor for the Festive Season, and your photographic skills definitely do them justice!
Wonderful pictures, particularly of Jeanne & Norf. They're a treasure!
Your parents made a lovely couple. I find amusing that all of us as the years go by, we remember more and more our early years.
Such a handsome couple, they were!
I loved the Christmas blog......I could relate to that.....we all treasure the things our children give us. I have a particularly ugly little 'witch on a broom- stick' that young Richard fashioned for me out of clay about 30 years ago, plus all the funny little things the grandkids have made for me!
I so enjoyed the decorations in the various hotels....what a good idea!
A lovely story about the gift to your Mother. Isn’t this what Christmas is all about? The pictures of Christmas trees are a delight!
Frank what a great memory you are sharing, and the photographs were wonderful.
I have a similar story about a Christmas gift I purchased for my mother and my sister(also at Macks). They had a hard time “putting it away”. It was Evening In Paris parfume. I loved the blue bottle. My sister still speaks of that memorable gift!!
Such a sweet story. I can't get over saving your money up for your mother's Christmas present. It just shows what a a lovely thing for a little boy to do. So cute and what is more wonderful, that it was still there on your mother's last Christmas. A very moving tale!
And thanks for the picture. Really lovely to see.
The photo of your mother when younger is just beautiful......thank you for sharing and a happy New Year to you Rosanne
Thank you, I enjoyed the story of the little red lantern!
II enjoyed reading this Frank, I found it most interesting, strangely, however I overlooked to comment on it, dozy bugger that I can be sometimes. Still better late and all that..
The blog is a delight, and I do enjoy the comments!
Nice to see pictures of your parents. Lovely couple!
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