Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Today I want to share with you one of my favorite books and my favorite Christmas inspiration, Have Yourself a Very Vintage Christmas by Susan Waggoner.
 Every year when I start thinking about Christmas decorations, I pull out this book and read through it. She does a fabulous job of pinpointing the feel of each decade from the 20s to the 60s. In each chapter she gives you crafts, decorating tips, the decades most memorable decorations and innovations, and a brief history of the era and how it effected the way people celebrated.

 From Dickens to Deco: the 1920s.

"For sheer change, it would be hard to find another decade quite like the '20s. It started with the ring of a cash register and raced along like quicksilver. American cities glowed with electric lights, women flaunted short hair and shorter skirts, the air filled with voices that anyone with a radio set could hear for free, and people born in Minsk or Naples or ten thousand other places landed in Brooklyn and rooted for the Dodgers like their lives depended on it. Nothing was as it had been. Except for Christmas."

 Home and Away--and Home Again: The 1940s

"There's nothing like a war to put the depression into perspective. No matter how hard the times had been during the '30s, people took it for granted that Christmas would be spent with friends and family. That changed on the morning of December 7, 1941. All of America was suddenly on the move. And when it was time to go home for Christmas, transportation was all but impossible to find. Yet the separation and uncertainty added a heartfelt longing that made Christmas all the more treasured. Peace, when it came, had much the same effect. Everyone who'd come through those years had sworn privately, a thousand times, they'd never take the holiday for granted again. For the most part, they kept their pledge."

Table top trees, cascade of bells, bottle brush trees, Shiny-Brites, banded ornaments, mercury glass ornaments and garlands, bubbler lights, .....

(I am not sure why, but the '40s have been my favorite this year. I am loving bells, vintage cards and Shiny-Brites!)

 Midcentury Modern: The 1950s

"The irony of war is that even if you win, the country you've just fought to save is almost unrecognizable by the time you get back to it. World War II catapulted America from the lingering Depression of the '30s to the hyper-modernism of the '50s and '60s. Nothing was as it had been before, but no one seemed to care. The world had been made safe, the Axis had been defeated, and everything was new."

Poinsettias, outdoor lights and molded plastic figures, heavenly blue, ceiling to floor decorations, Christmas themed accessories, reflector balls.....

Also included in the back of the book are vintage illustrations for decorating and craft projects.

And a bit of music to finish off, Frank Sinatra singing the title song.

A very vintage Christmas to you Friends!