dreaming of a House and Garden Christmas

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Every December I return to the House and Garden Holiday Issues-there is always something to become reacquainted with.

I'm dreaming of an HG Christmas
just like the ones I used to know
Where the Roehm Tree glistens
and Carolyne listens to hear Westies in the Snow
Oh-
I'm dreaming of an HG Christmas
with every Christmas Cover I sight
May your days be stylish and bright,
and may all your Christmases be white


I'm dreaming of an HG Christmas,
just like the ones I used to know
May your days be stylish and bright,
and may all your Christmases be white
and may all your Christmases be white
-apologies to Irving Berlin

So much for nostalgia- Since HG is gone with the slush and salt. Here's what some of the House and Gardens of OLDE had to say about the holiday:

from 1927 "We know, as surely as we know anything, that happiness which comes without effort, without sacrifice, without bother, without disturbing the even tenor of work and living, is rarely worth either the giving or the receiving. The Christmas that hasn't caused bills to mount up isn't worth celebrating. If it doesn't leave one tired out, it isn't worth remembering."
What? Obviously the date tells us it was written before the crash of 1929.

from 1936 HG puts "on its Christmas thinking cap and shows five ways of decorating your house without using conventional mistletoe or holly." Sadly in 1936 HG likely did not imagine the advent of silk wreaths, mistletoe and holly Ah! Those were the days. Get something LIVE for the house. Other ideas from making a new look in your Christmas decorations-Set up a creche in the fireplace(don't use the fireplace-Just a suggestion), tack up blue cellophane with silver stars in a window (Child's play) & finally hang a swag of pineapples and leaves over a mantel. That sounds lovely, like a load of work, possible runny sticky pineapple juice about the mantel-but if the colonials of Williamsburg could endure- It might be worth a try. Interestingly- Colonial Williamsburg as a preserved area had only begun in 1926 with Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin, rector of Bruton Parish Church &philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr., being the city's historic building restoration patron saint.

from 1941 "Use a light touch with the holiday greens."
try "An UPSIDE down tree to save space in a small apartment."-Edward Steichen. The man lived to be 94 years old, he was 62 when he came up with this one- It may have been one of the firsts in this not attractive-idea.

from 1987- One of my favourite covers- a cat tea party by Setsuko, wife of Balthus. This December issue features Chalet Balthus in the Vaudois region of Switzerland & NOT ONE Christmas decorating idea. These were the loftier House and Garden days when editor in chief Louis Oliver Gropp was still producing serious(ly) beautiful stories, perhaps- upon reflection- in the vein of  World of Interiors.

 a beautiful Holiday edition-December 2007- House and Garden's last and many blogs are revisiting this season.

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