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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.
 |
| 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.
 |
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).
