Upside down Christmas trees?! What&#8217;s happened to traditional decorations?

I’m not so keen on an upside down Christmas tree, but wonder if it’s useful for those who don’t have a lot of space? I’d say my decorations are fairly traditional, apart from the Christmas elephants that hang on the tree – these were gifts from a fellow elephant fan🐘 🎅

malcolm r says:

Private Eye has a witty but rude “Christmas trees of the Third Reich” on P20 of the current issue. I couldn’t print it here.

Black Christmas trees were on offer a couple of years ago – that seemed a bit off the festive spirit.

We are conventional, with a fresh 6′ tree each year, but standing outside on the patio. The challenge is to engineer the support structure to withstand the inevitable windy gusts. It looks nice with the curtains open, and leaves more space in the lounge.

Is that a relative of Brian the Blessed in the bauble beard?

wyn says:

Buy a live tree and use a heavy pot!

wavechange says:

I hope the upside-down Christmas tree was artificial because it’s a bit of an insult to trees to turn them upside down.

I don’t think I have any odd Christmas decorations. When I cleared my late parents’ house I disposed of most of their decorations but kept a small glass ball in the shape of a walnut, which I remember from my early childhood. It’s insignificant and showing its age, rather like its present owner.

Alex Whittle says:

I believe they are artificial. The ‘trick’ to it is that the tip of the tree is on a base (similar to a traditional one) so I think it would only work if it is artificial so the base can be specially made. I did overhear someone talking about them and they asked if you’re supposed to glue the tree to the ceiling 🙈

wavechange says:

I was unaware of the popularity of upside-down trees. Enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAfSmwynSLU

Beryl says:

Only in America! Are you expected to unwrap your Christmas presents standing on your head! Or maybe hanging from the chandelier 🙂

wavechange says:

I don’t know, but at least there is more space for presents round the tree, unless you are supposed to stick them to the ceiling.

Beryl says:

I would hazard a guess the whole thing is a very subtle promotional exercise for inverted Scotch Tape.

Alex Whittle says:

My main concern was for people who have cats. I always hear of stories where the cat has toppled the tree, surely that is more likely to happen if it’s top heavy! 🤔

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John Ward says:

So how do you decorate your home for Christmas, Duncan?

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Ian says:

What does that mean, exactly?

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John Ward says:

Have you joined the PC Brigade now then, Duncan? Personally I think Christmas decorations are Perfectly Correct having been used in this country in some shape of form continuously from time immemorial.

Anyway, I hope you and your wife can still enjoy a very merry Christmas.

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Ian says:

So, Duncan, you sit in an unheated house, eating bread and water, muttering ‘humbug’ and resolutely refusing to send or accept presents? After all, commercial media is about consuming.

John Ward says:

I am sure Duncan has a much more enjoyable time than you give him credit for, Ian. What you have mentioned are just the highlights.

Ian says:

😅 😂 🤣

Wonderful!

malcolm r says:

I don’t particularly like the commercialisation of Christmas any more than, it seems, duncan does, but I can live with it. I see many people spending money on things others really do not need, paying inflated prices for Christmas parties of dubious quality, destroying forests to send cards and wrap presents, throw away masses of uneaten food, shutting down industry and reducing productivity, ………but people are entitled to run their own lives in the way they choose. And it seems to boost the economy. I fall victim to the celebrations though, although this year we are restricting giving presents to the young family members as the rest have most of what they need (apart from mrs r’s kettle – shhhhh!).

6 Christmas trees and thousands of lights might be seen as depriving the world of energy and contributing to global warming, but life is for living.

There are many complaints about people who are on their own at Christmas – some from choice, many not. It would be nice to have a matchmaking site where local people could be put in touch with each other to join forces on the day.

-1

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John Ward says:

We have reined in our Christmas displays since moving five years ago. We now just have one six-foot indoor Christmas tree and no outdoor ones. The Christmas tree is covered in little multi-coloured lights and a few baubles. There are a few ornaments around plus the cards on various surfaces, and that’s it. It looks OK though and creates a cheery impression.

I have noticed that people seem to have toned down the amount Christmas decoration and gone for more long-lasting features. The number of houses festooned with icicle lights has reduced dramatically, together with the other rather tatty and ostentatious light shows. There are still a few houses that go right over the top with complete coverage of the house and garden and have a collecting box for charitable donations. I am glad there are none next door to us because spectators go in droves to see these Santa Spectaculars.

wavechange says:

We always used to refer to glass balls and the name ‘bauble’ has a negative connotation to me. Maybe it’s because modern plastic ones don’t look as nice.

John Ward says:

Didn’t it come from the world of fashion – as in “baubles, bangles and beads”? This is the title of a song in the musical Kismet but I guess a bauble is some kind of extravagant costume decoration that migrated to the Christmas tree.

In my childhood the tree ornaments were called ‘glass balls’ and some of them were very intricate with a concave face in a contrasting colour. Filled with nostalgia for these decorations we thought of buying some new hand-made glass ones the other day . . . until we saw the prices.

wavechange says:

I remember the glass balls that were not ball-shaped, but being fragile, none have survived, whereas the curvature of spheres helps the round ones survive falls and other minor abuse. Having mentioned the price of glass balls to a friend I have been given a box of sixteen glass balls bearing the brand name ‘St Michael’ (patron saint of wooly jumpers) to add to my collection.

Decorating a Christmas tree is not as much fun as it used to be, but I don’t think I will go down the route of pre-decorated trees, either upside-down or in normal orientation.

According to Wikipedia: “The Bauble Shop is a play by Henry Arthur Jones. It is about modern London life. It opened at the Criterion Theatre in the West End in 1893.”

Ian says:

“baubles, bangles and beads”? This is the title of a song in the musical Kismet” And the song was an adaptation of Borodin’s Prince Igor – specifically the dances of the Handmaidens. Borodin – as did most Russian composers – had a wonderful grasp of melody and wrote some stunning material, which Hollywood was only too happy to steal.

John Ward says:

Yes, Ian – I have always been a lover of his symphonies. Some fabulous music emerged from Russia before and during the Soviet era but it rarely gets performed in this country. We have a lot to thank film and TV for in cultural development. Don’t forget, there were a lot of Russians in Hollywood and performing in America during the inter-war years.

Ian says:

I’ve cut down a lot this year, and we now only have six trees; one Noble Fir, which we either cut ourselves or get a friend to cut, and which is kept watered throughout the season, and five artificial and smaller trees. One sits outside on the chalet veranda, and the tree, chalet, garage and drives are lit with LEDs on timers.

The top garden is also lit – one fir is smothered with LEDs and the bowered trellis gateway is outlined with Red LEDs. We used to light the entire East facing boundary hedge, but that took 3 x 40m lengths of lights and was simply too time consuming. It’s a long hedge…

Inside, it takes around 80 sets of lights to achieve a modest level of twinklyness and it does, when finished, look very pretty. But although we do take care to source the tree baubles from Germany, Austria and New York we don’t invest in any ‘novel’ baubles. Most are hand painted and sadly, once broken tend to be irreplaceable – which is a snag with regard to really nice hand-painted baubles.

Beryl says:

I imagine you must be visible from space Ian 🙂 Santa no doubt will have no trouble in finding you on Christmas Eve. I trust the hot toddies and mince pies are all ready lined up in readiness for his visit. 🙂

Ian says:

A bit like a festive version of the Great Wall of China 🙂 I really enjoy lights; I think we need them at this time of the year.

Alex Whittle says:

I think it sounds magical! We have a tree with the usual decorations, a wreath, bits of tinsel and small singing Santa. We also have two Christmas ties which my Granddad would wear, so we hang them in the living room. Not as Christmas-y as yours, Ian! 🙁

Ian says:

Like the ties touch, Alex. That’s nice.

bishbut says:

There seems to be some people who get any stupid idea taken up by the media and other bodies that can influence others one or two follow than many more just than follow like sheep Back to brainwashing again maybe /

Sophie Gilbert says:

An upside down tree would be punkish (in the positive sense), like an upside down cross, if it weren’t the latest ultra commercial gimmick – not that Punk wasn’t commercially exploited, and early on at that.

PhilipThomas says:

I really do not see the point of an upside down tree.

Alex Whittle says:

Hi Philip, I’m still struggling with the idea as well! Do you have any decorations that might be considered unusual?

John Ward says:

I think Philip was being ironical, Alex. You might have missed ‘the point’ [as it’s at floor level].

PhilipThomas says: