The Cinnamon Bear

I was just watching two early Christmas videos, Hard Rock, Coco and Joe and Suzy Snowflake. Maybe you remember them too. Every time I see them, I am taken back to my childhood.

Arcadia, the publishers of the Image of America Series, put together the following YouTube video for a 2007 book about Christmas memories and State Street. You will catch a mention of my favorite childhood memory in the video. Christmas on State Street 1940s and Beyond.

My favorite childhood memory is not available on video. If it were available on video instead of in my mind, I'd be a happy lady. However, since he captured my attention before we had a television, The Cinnamon Bear is in my mind because I had to imagine him since his story was on the radio - and he was in the hearts of children across the land. My children couldn't quite get into the story. Maybe they were too old by the time I found tapes of the show, or maybe their magic memories are visual from the days of television instead of in their imagination.

The Cinnamon Bear story was first broadcast in Portland, Oregon in 1937 and still plays on radio stations throughout the country. The radio show we listened to was sponsored by Wieboldt’s Department Store. They also sponsored the short-lived puppet TV show of the Cinnamon Bear in the 1950s. According to Wikipedia, Wieboldt’s sold a stuffed teddy bear version of the Cinnamon Bear for $2.98 in the 1950s. Santa would give out free Cinnamon Bear buttons to children visiting Santa. Wonder what they’d cost on E-Bay today? The Cinnamon Bear was magic to me and my sister!

For those of you who don't know it, the story is about twins Judy and Jimmy Barton who go with the lovable Cinnamon Bear to Maybeland in search of the Silver Star that belongs at the top of their Christmas tree. Each day between Thanksgiving and Christmas we listened to a 15-minute adventure, as they met unforgettable characters as they traveled to the Lollipop Mountains, the Magic Island, the Picture Forest, and the Wishing Woods and on the Root Beer Ocean. Their adventures finally take them all the way to the North Pole in search of the elusive Silver Star. We even saw The Cinnamon Bear in a parade one year.

You too can meet Jimmy & Judy, Paddy O' Cinnamon, the Crazy Quilt Dragon and others on their adventure to find the Silver Star. The magical story is available online at: http://www.radiolovers.com/pages/cinnamonbear.htm

Santa Claus is coming to town

"You better watch out

You better not cry

Better not pout

I'm telling you why

Santa Claus is coming to town"

A peek at more of the unique ornaments on the tree. The beautiful Santa was made by Patti. It is one of my favorite ornaments on the tree and always takes a special place on the tree.



Also on the tree are several handmade sets of Santa and Mrs. Claus. The whimsical pair below are such fun. The green silk ball is one of three on the tree that belonged to my grandparents.

Bye-bye Santa

In December 2006 we were hosting a family get-together after Christmas for two nephews and their wives who'd flown into town to attend the Bears vs. Packers New Year's Eve footbal game. My brother John, his wife Marianne, and their three children were travelling from Wisconsin to join my family in welcoming the North Carolina families to town. Late in the day, shortly before they all arrived we discovered that our Santa had been stolen from the front yard.

I was upset and wrote the following as a Letter to the Editor. It appeared the following week in the local newspaper. Our Santa was never found. At the time I looked for a photo of him and did not locate one during my quick search. I need to go back and really search through albums and boxes of photographs to see if I can find one of him. If not, he will remain just a memory - a very fond memory.

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Christmas is special – especially when viewed through the eyes of small children. Through their eyes twinkling lights, music boxes, and toy trains are filled with the awesome wonder of Christmas with Santa as their most recognized Christmas symbol. My children are now grown and living in their own homes. Two of them have children of their own

A very long time ago, in an effort to bring special Christmas joy to my children, I designed and painted a large old-fashioned “Father Christmas” Santa. This Santa and his bundle of pretend goodies proudly stood in our yard for almost 20 years. This wooden symbol welcomed friends and family to our home and always brought a smile to my face as it evoked warm memories of my own childhood and the childhood of my children. This Santa was more than wood and paint to us. It represented memories of Christmas past, and the joy of the Christmas season as seen through the eyes of a child.

Through rain and snow Santa stood less than 15 feet from our front window and front door as witness to children’s happy giggles and to those years when for the first time there was a symbolic empty chair at our table. Last year, as I wrapped packages I often glanced out the window where Santa was keeping a silent vigil with me while I waited for word from a 1,000 miles away about the severity of the stroke that suddenly felled my father. Wearing his Santa hat Dad died a few days later on Christmas Day so his was the chair that was symbolically empty at our table this year.

Unfortunately Santa wasn’t here to ring in 2007 with us. This family tradition met an unexpected end sometime the Friday night before New Years when Santa was stolen from our yard. Needless to say we felt violated by the vandals who deposited a string of Christmas lights in our yard in place of our Santa. Wonder who is missing some lights and if our Santa was unceremoniously dumped at the next house that was vandalized? This random act of vandalism cast a pall on the family festivities Saturday as we welcomed seven out-of-state nieces and nephews who grew up with our Santa and our family traditions.

Monetarily, our Santa was worth just a few dollars – the cost of wood and paint and my time and creativity. Besides, how do you put a price tag on tradition? To my family and to me our Santa was priceless. We have lost a tradition and a sense of well-being. Most importantly however, I am deeply saddened that my grandchildren have been deprived of our long-standing family Christmas tradition.

All through the house

The tree is up - in a new place again this year and without ornaments. Guess they will be put on later today between sneezes. So, instead of a decorated tree, I'll think of Santas all through the house.

It all started when mother gave me the Coke Santa seen first to the left on top of the television cabinet nearly 40 years ago. Since then, the Santas have arrived one or two a year. There are a few that I made, like the Santa on the wall. Another came from Mike's childhood home and others were made by the children or given to me as gifts. The items on the table are mostly boxes with places for hidden treasures or musicboxes. The grandchildren love to watch as the figures inside the musicboxes move around to the music.
















Guess you could say, "I Believe in Santa" just as the sign in the window below proclaims. That handsome fellow perched on the mantel was made by my sister Susan. As were the Santa sleigh and reindeer atop my great-great-great grandfather's hutch. The Santas fill the house from top to bottom. They are on every surface, and on the walls. Some are store bought, others are handmade, they are old and new, come in all sizes and shapes and are made from all kinds of materials.




Santas also fill the tree. I've never counted them - how about you.

Can you tell that the Santas share a tradition with the tree? They too are seldom in the same place from one year to the next.

Merry Christmas Y'All.

The Christmas Tree

Our first Christmas tree was sparely decorated. Hand-me-down ornaments were not yet part of our Christmas tradition. That first Christmas a couple of glass ornaments, a set of twelve china bells given to us by Mike's mom, tinsel and lights made for a very sparse tree.

After the tree was set up, we drove into town after work the next day to see if we could find a tree topper. I found nothing for the top of the tree that I liked or could afford. After walking up and down the aisles of the Five & Dime to see if I could find an alternative to the ready-made tree toppers, I settled on a silly little Styrofoam teddy bear.

When we returned home, I cut a hole in it to fit on the tree and thought to myself, "That will do until we can get something better"- little did I know that this silly teddy bear would be repaired, repainted and reused every Christmas since that first one in 1962.

After the first year, one ornament was bought for the tree and one for Mike. For their first Christmas, and every Christmas since, each of the children were given an ornament of their own. That way, when the children grew up and had their own trees they would have a bit of the tree they grew up with, and we'd still have enough to have a full-tree. Many of their ornaments have a story behind them as they told about things the kids were involved in or their interests. They got their new ornaments at dinner the night we put the tree up.

Through the years we got hand-me-down ornaments from Mike's childhood tree and from the tree I grew up with at my grandparents house. Friends gave us ornaments as gifts and soon we had a tree full of unique ornaments. Some of them are the children's art projects and we also made some of the ornaments. The red carved candles were made by Mike as a gift for me.

The following three ornaments are from my grandparents' tree. The kitty became a play toy for our cats one year, and is much the worse for wear with out his ears and the paint on his body - I love him anyway. Don't remember if he met his fate the year the cats decide to climb the tree and knocked it down. That happened only once - from then on we tied our real trees to the wall with fishing line.

In the background is one of the original bells from Mike's mom. I have since found another set from the same era - however, the new ones are minitures of these bells.

The little green frog always brings a chuckle. Don't you wonder about her story? I'd love to be able to date her to see if she might have begun life on the tree of my great-grandparents.


Some of the ornaments, like this little house, are no longer perfect. This ornament was also on my grandparents' tree and has always been one of my favorites. I never remember it with a chimney. Also in this photo is a tin icicle - we have four originals from their tree. Over the years I found newer versions of this old-fashioned ornament so now the tree is full of them - like tinsel but easier to put on and take off the tree. They twist in the air and reflect light off of the tree.


Some of the ornaments were hand-made by friends and family. The large circular ornament is one of a pair with different scenes that my sister made for me. Susan is no longer with us although she is always with me in spirit. Her first grandchild was born last May. This ornament, made by a grandmother she will never know, will be given to McKinley for her first Christmas tree - the tradition goes on. Mike made a ladder and I made an elf like the one that sits by our tree for my sister one year. I do not know which of Susan's five children have it now - or if still sits by the tree in the home where her children grew up.

When Rob was away at college the first year, John was upset his older brother was not here when we put up the tree. So, the following year we went out and purchased an artificial tree so we all could put up the tree when Rob was home for Thanksgiving break. We trimmed the tree the day after Thanksgiving and that day became the traditional day for trimming the tree at our house. We have never gone back to a real tree. That is probably a good thing since the one and only fight Mike I had in a year occurred annually when we went looking for a tree.

We also have a smaller tree that is filled with houses, snowflakes, candles and crystal.

As the kids moved out, their box of Christmas ornaments went with them. No longer are there transformers and Star Wars ornaments on the tree. Yet,there are many ornaments they consider part of the tree of their childhood memories. The rest are on their trees at home, if they choose to hang them.



















There is one thing however that is not a Christmas tradition. At my house the furniture is always on the move. Mike insists that sneeking in was never an option for our children, nor was going to the kitchen in the dark because the furniture might be in a different place than you remembered and you'd likely trip. Lately, what started out as our living room and a family room have changed uses too. Now, one room is used as the dining room - and depending on the year, it could be in either room. So, the Christmas tree is seldom in the same place two years in a row.