12.9.23 … DLT’s Advent Reflections
“I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It's not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love.”
December 9/ Charlie Brown’s Christmas/Christmas trees
Charlie Brown’s Christmas came out on December 9, 1965. I was five. I remember watching this show every year at Christmas and always paying careful attention to the character Pigpen and worrying about that poor Christmas tree.
Why pigpen? My Atlanta grandmother, Rebekah Stewart, gave each of her four granddaughters that year pins with a character from the television special. She probably had no idea, but she gave me Pigpen. My sister got Lucy. My two cousins don’t remember this at all, but maybe it wasn’t traumatic for them, or maybe it was just one of many of her whimsical gifts.
Charlie Brown’s Christmas was actually controversial because it concluded with Linus delivering the Bible passage of the birth of Christ from Luke. 1
As for Christmas trees. I never really thought much about the quality of a tree. But over my lifetime I have learned that people judge you on your tree, and that people are very particular about their own trees.
My family always got ours at the farmers market in Atlanta. It always was a nice tree. We usually had colored lights but later moved to all white.
My brother reminded me of several live trees that we had and yes, actually planted. There was one when we lived on Burke Road. Every year, until it was chopped down, we would drive by to see the tree on our way to Lenox Square.
And then there was the one on Brighton Road. My brother remembers it better. “Lovely story but there is one addition/exception to your Christmas tree history that fits with the Charlie Brown theme. One year dad and I decided to go with a live tree. It was short and we had to put it on a table. Several in the family ridiculed the tree and our foolishness -- I will leave it to the guilty to come forward. After Christmas dad and I planted the tree outside the dining room window. And lo and behold how it grew over the years. (Regrettably, the new owners cut it down -- obviously not knowing it near sacred history.)”
And there is the year we bought three Christmas trees. If I remember correctly, the first died, the second Mary Stewart did not like when she came home from college, so we went out and got a third…
John, my husband, always went to cut down his own tree, and he has to have a cedar tree.. So John and I, Jack, Edward and Molly, and and all current dogs, always go to a tree farm cut a tree down. John prefers colored lights. I prefer white lights. We rotate between colored and all white.
This one was a wee bit too tall. :)
Elizabeth has to have a Fraser fir tree from North Carolina, and she is very particular about the way the lights go on.
Mary Stewart and Gary have been the most creative. For several years, they had a “tree” made of lights, no physical tree, and it could be seen from their front window.
And for quite a few years, I made a book tree of my Christmas books with Linus as the tree topper …
We’ve had several Charlie Brown trees … but as Linus Van Pelt said: I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It's not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love. “
Trees like people just need a little love.
-d
And why did Hershey’s have to make tree shaped Reese’s peanut butter cups ..
Charlie Brown on Apple TV: Why are people outraged? | Explained News,The Indian Express, https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/charlie-brown-holiday-specials-pbs-apple-tv-cbs-deal-7070309/
“Peanuts achieved great success with its television specials, several of which won or were nominated for Emmy Awards. It all started with the 1965 Christmas special, considered way ahead of its time in its anti-consumerism message. In the 25-minute production, Charlie Brown is seen dealing with seasonal depression, confessing that he just can’t catch the Christmas fever like everyone else. Commissioned and sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company, directed by Bill Melendez, it took an unconventional route by hiring child actors and featuring a jazz score by pianist Vince Guaraldi.”
The “Charlie Brown Christmas” Special Was the Flop That Wasn’t | History | Smithsonian Magazine, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/charlie-brown-christmas-special-history-television-classic-cbs-180957490/
We always had huge Christmas trees when I was a child. Here, we have a loft, and we'd put one in the corner of the steps for our cat Zoe. She would stare at it, sleep under it at night instead of her usual sleeping with us, sit on different steps to see it from different angles; she seemed to think it magical. The next cat, Biscuit, who showed up in the backyard declawed and starving, weighing under 3 pounds initially and only getting up to six, was overwhelmed. She tried to climb it, jump from the steps - nope, no more trees. The current cat, Old Baby Kitten (or just cat), she's never seen one and we're done with them. Ornaments were given to eldest niece to divvy between the three of them year back.