The Christmas TimesTM, the Official E-Mail Newsletter of Family Christmas OnlineTM and Affiliated Sites
This newsletter is for people who like celebrating holidays, especially Christmas. It is produced in conjunction with the following web sites.
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In this Issue
Welcome to the December, 2011 issue of The Christmas TimesTM.
Interest in all things Christmas has certainly brought many folks to our electronic doorstep since we started our first Christmas web page back in 2007. Our pages are adding members almost daily, with members from all around the world, but the most fun is hearing back how the resources we've provided are being used. In the last few weeks:
- A church in North Wales, UK included our article "Could Christmas Possibly Come at a Worse Time?" in an Advent service.
- A Lutheran pastor in Wisconsin used our "Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming" graphic in a pre-Christmas presentation.
- A church in Arizona worked a song they learned from us - "Now Passed is the Old Year" - into their New Years' Day service.
- The ninety-year old son of the author of "In the Great Walled Country" wrote to thank us for keeping his father's classic Christmas story available for readers.
- Countless readers have sent us photos of crafts or Christmas displays inspired by our suggestions.
- Even more readers have asked questions, some of which have given us ideas for new articles.
Such great feedback lets us know that we're reaching people, and that many of those folks value Christmas and their Christmas memories as much as we do.
For our part, we've been insanely busy, just trying to keep up with signups and questions. If you signed up weeks ago and are just now getting this newsletter, our apologies - we get slammed with e-mails this time of year, and we try to prioritize reader questions above everything else.
We did manage to squeeze in a couple of projects for our own household this Christmas season. Check out the marshmallow and garden railroad display articles for more information.
And here's one note I can't leave out this year: As a devout Christian and lover of Christmas traditions, I don't mind the idea of Christ's name being removed from 90% of what goes on in the stores and in the media this time of year. To me, the best way to represent Jesus during this season is NOT to become belligerent when someone wishes you "happy holidays," or to overreact when some business declines to attached the name "Christ" to its sleazy marketing schemes. The best way to represent Jesus is to try being a little more like Jesus, more forgiving, more compassionate, not less. Remember that each December, millions of people struggle with the disparity between the way Christmas is "supposed to be" and the way it really is in their lives. If God's grace is part of our lives at all, then this is the time of year to be especially gracious.
On that note, please accept our sincere, warm wishes for a great holiday season, including Christmas, New Years, and anything else you celebrate. And please especially enjoy any time you can spend with your family in these precious days.
Paul and Shelia Race
Topics discussed in this update include:
Editor's Note: "Papa" Ted Althof has spent thousands of hours cataloging and promoting vintage cardboard Christmas houses - what Ted's Pennsylvanian Moravian family called "putz" houses. Ted believes that each child should have a chance to experience the wonder of Christmas, and that each adult should take time to recall that wonder every year. The following is Ted's forward to the 2006 book Christmasland ReCollections. Enjoy:
There is but a very brief window in early childhood for us all, a period of time that lasts from birth until we are cast from the nest and into school. A time when all about the world is new and good. A time when we are open. A time when we take things in so deeply that they will form us ever after. So we imprint upon the Christmas of that time, and what that was is what it will be for us always.
That is what collecting is about. The power that an object unseen in decades can have to transport us in mind and spirit back to a specific period or moment of our lives - to unlock long-closed doors in the mansion of our memory - is the true value that it has.
We can hold such an object in our hands and know those times were real and welcome back whole parts of who we were into who we are - and let the inner child in each of us out once again to play - to live as part of us and and help us see again through our own "Magic Window."
Are you hanging onto things you don't really want because you think they might be worth something? Or are you just curious about the cash value of some heirloom you wouldn't dream of selling anyway? Either way, this article gives you some things to think about.
To see the article, please click the link below.
A hunk of used styrofoam, a couple of sticks, and a hole saw left over from a doorknob replacement project add charm to a winter fireplace display.
To jump to the article, click the following link:
At this writing, the Race family has survived its fourth annual Christmas-themed Open Railroad on the New Boston and Donnels Creek (Paul's outdoor "garden" railroad). We got up the lights, baked cookies, popped popcorn, got out the trains, put on the music, and welcomed guests. One surprise was how much the kids liked a new, relatively inexpensive addition - a battery-powered toy Polar Express train from Lionel.
To see the article and lots of photos, please click the link below.
For over a century, trains brought people home for Christmas - literally. Nowadays they put us in touch with our best memories of our best Christmases. Why is there such a strong connection between trains and Christmas, anyway?
To jump to the article, click the following link:
 Christmas Site Updates - Last month we introduced a brand new web page for collectors and builders of vintage-style cardboard Christmas houses. This month we're pleased to announce that the discussion forum is thriving, with many collectors and builders contributing and more folks signing up every day. In addition, with the permission of "Papa Ted" Althof we are now hosting an archive of "Papa Ted's Place," the Internet's most comprehensive guide to these little houses. Sadly, "Papa Ted's" health is not good, and he wanted to be certain that his work would carry on regardless of the outcome of his current treatment. We have also set up a forum on CardboardChristmas that is just for Papa Ted and his readers.
 In addition, through the diligent efforts of Tom Elmore, an Alaska-based short-wave fan, we've been able to add an archive of Bill Nelson's 2003 "Antique Christmas Lights" web site. Our "OldChristmasTreeLights.com" is a reconstruction of George Nelson's 2008 site, but Bill had content that his brother George removed and vice versa. So it's nice to be able to offer both versions for people who are want to know more about historical Christmas lighting, who want to date a light strand they've come across, or who just want to stroll through memory lane.
To jump to our CardboardChristmas.com site, please click on the link below
To jump to "Papa" Ted Althof's site, please click on the link below
To go to OldChristmasTreeLights.com, our reconstruction of GEORGE NELSON'S 2008 CHRISTMAS LIGHT SITE, please click on the following link:
To go to Tom Elmore's reconstruction of BILL NELSON'S 2003 CHRISTMAS LIGHT SITE, please click on the following link:
People have been putting electric trains and little towns around Christmas trees for over a century. It's great to live at a time when we have so many choices. Trainwise, you can choose from:
- Really Big Trains, such as the Bachmann Big Hauler train sets that look great on display railroads, around really big trees, or in really big rooms.
- Medium Sized Trains, such as the Lionel Christmas trains, including a very nice Polar Express train, that look nice around Christmas trees or Christmas villages.
- Village-sized trains - such as the Hawthorne Village and Bachmann On30 trains that were designed specifically to look great with Christmas villages.
Every fall, I take a look at what is available - I try to keep up with removing descriptions of discontinued trains and towns and adding descriptions of new trains and towns. The one universal this year is that very few new products were introduced in 2011, and many of the products that were introduced before 2010 are now sold out.
I especially like the passenger trains, because you can see them run when you've turned out all the lights in the room. If you want a really big passenger train in Christmas colors, you're in luck - Bachmann has reintroduced the red version of their Large Scale Christmas passenger train, and it's a jaw-dropper.
If you want a medium-sized passenger train, the O Gauge Lionel Polar Express train is a great train, even if you haven't seen the movie (although you really SHOULD see the movie some time).
For a passenger train that will look especially good with your Christmas village, consider the Hawthorne Village Thomas Kinkade Christmas Express. It's been the most popular On30 Christmas train ever, but it IS a limited edition, so there may soon come a time when it is unavailable. Bachmann, who makes the frames for the Thomas Kinkade train, usually has their own passenger set, but this year the "old" set sold out before the new set hit the stores. The new version has red cars and will be # 25021, but it will probably not reach the stores before Christmas. If you want to keep an eye out for it, go to Amazon.Com and search for "Bachmann 25021."
What ever kind of train (or town) you'd like this year, if you see one you want, order it now. If you DON'T order before December 15, all bets are off. I used to spend many of my hours between December 15 and 24 helping people track down trains (and towns) that were available a few days earlier but were suddenly gone from the shelves across the country. But I've made the decision that after December 15, my family and friends come first.
For more information on really big Christmas (Large Scale) Christmas trains, click the following link:
For more information on medium-sized (O Gauge) Christmas trains, click the following link:
For more information about Hawthorne Village On30 Christmas trains (and towns), including the Thomas Kinkade Christmas Express, click the following link:
For more information about Bachmann On30 Christmas trains, click the following link:
Keep in Touch
Each month, we get more interest in this newsletter, in our Christmas sites, and in the Christmas traditions, ideas, and memories we discuss. We welcome your questions and comments as indicators of what we should be working on next (also, we always try to answer reader questions quickly). In addition, if you have any photos, tips, or articles you'd like to share with your fellow Christmas enthusiasts, please let us know.
Best Wishes! As always, our hope is that we can continue helping you and your family (as Dickens said of Scrooge):
Honor Christmas in your heart, and
"try to keep it all the year."
In the meantime, please keep in touch, and let us know what you'd like to see added or changed.
May God grant you joy and wonder every season of this year,
Paul and Shelia Race
http://FamilyChristmasOnline.com
http://CardboardChristmas.com
http://OldChristmasTreeLights.com
In the meantime, please accept our very best wishes for a great holiday season!
Paul and Shelia Race
Click the following link to view our November, 2011 newsletter:
To return to the Family Christmas OnlineTM Home Page, click here.
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New Article: How Much is My Collectible Worth?
New Craft Suggestion - "Ready-to-Roast" Marshmallows
Report: Fourth Annual Christmas-Themed Open Railroad
A Classic Musing: What do Trains Have to do with Christmas?
Train and Town Availability Update