The Vintage Reader

Have a crafty Christmas

Haven't decorated the mantel for Christmas yet, but don't want to brave the Saturday-before-Christmas traffic just to go get some merry home-dec gewgaws? Never fear. As long as you have some aluminum foil and a couple of doilies, you're all set. Here, from Alcoa's Book of Decorations, copyright 1959, are some ideas.

Now, this book has some history itself. My grandmother, who was somewhat famous in her circle for crafts she made from styrofoam balls, tulle, felt, and plastic rolly eyes, had this book when I was little and I was completely fascinated by it. It has crafts for every holiday (those will surface here as the year progresses), and they're all made from aluminum foil.

Well, as time went on, I completely forgot about the Alcoa book, and went on about my life without missing it. And then... last year at the infamous AAUW book sale, what to my wondering eyes should appear but THIS:



Of course I had to have it. And in the spirit of giving, I'm going to share some of its secrets with you, the four or five people who actually read Vintage Reader (even though most of you seem to be looking for liver sausage recipes, for some reason). But on with the crafts.

Choirboys Carolers were big Christmas decorations in the 50s. My mother has some made out of industrial-strength cardboard with heads on springs so they bobble. They're coated in some sort of glittery shellac that I swear was originally intended for spacecraft. In any event, they have stood the test of time. Not so with the Alcoa choirboys. I doubt that these things lasted more than a week or two. In my house, they would be history as soon as we realized that we'd used all the foil that was meant to seal in the turkey succulence to make Christmas decorations.
Starburst mobile Plastic drinking straws! What can't you do with plastic drinking straws! A friend and I once used them to stabilize a hard drive so it wouldn't wobble around when it spun. But this is a far cleverer use for them: wrap them in foil, stick them in a styrofoam ball, and hang the whole darn thing from the ceiling. And don't forget the artificial flowers.
Santa Claus What a charming old elf this fellow is! I particularly like his whimsically clownish shoes and the lovely presents (also wrapped in Alcoa, I'd wager) he's sort of gesturing at.