My niece saw the old Santa in a basket on my Blogger home page photo. She wanted to know more about him. I have never paid attention to his beginnings, but last night I did a bit of investigative work. I think eBay is now a source for all things unknown. . .anyway, the sitting Santa in this photo was a gift to my son many, many years ago, I would bring him from storage every December and then he would be packed away. (They look rather grumpy, don't they?) He along with three other Christmas items are the first things I take out, my little tradition although I never thought about it until now. I will show the other Christmas items as well.
The other standing Santa belonged to my husband, so by going into eBay and doing a search using the name of the manufacturer of the standing Santa and looking at all the Santas for sale I learned about our two jolly old gentlemen. I had put baby Christmas socks on the feet of the sitting Santa because his little fuzzy feet had been worn a bit, all of those years of going up and down a chimney can do that to your feet! You can also see in my Blogger home page photo that the old bear is wearing a baby sock on his paw, the straw and sawdust were starting to come out, that is my remedy for old cloth toys!
The standing Santa was made by Rushton and the sitting one was made in Korea by the Superior Toy Company. They were made in the late 1950's - 1960's. The standing Santa could have been a Pepsi Santa, but he does not have a Pepsi bottle. I was tempted to bid on a set on eBay that was well priced, two like our sitting one, but common sense took over; they would not have the very special meaning that these two have for me! If anyone wants to see them on eBay go to the search section, type in rubber face in Santa figures section or just do a search for Rushton rubber face Santas.
The three other Christmas decorations that I bring out are a little Nativity set made by my son, Keith. He is also the proud owner of the sitting Santa! In third grade the teacher had the children bring in bits of fabric and clothes pins. She had made the base with holes drilled in it for the clothes pin Wise-men, Angel, Mary, Joseph and the Shepard to stand and a little wooden block for the tiny baby Jesus, which she had also made. They are losing their cotton hair and beards, but in my eyes and heart they are perfect. What is really amazing is that these were made in a public school! There were no discussions of politically correct, it would not happen today. The other is a carved wood block print that Keith had made, we never used it to print, but every year it stands proudly behind the Nativity. I also always bring out the Star of Bethlehem, this was made by my son Geoff. It is like stained glass, his art teacher had made a special trip to Bethelhem, PA to buy these for his students to make. I adore my Star, you can get a glimpse of it next to the tree in the Living Room Window.
I hope everyone remembers that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus and it is not the gifts that will make it special, but the memories. While I decorate my home for Christmas I always remember all the the Christmases past, for as far back as I can remember.
1 comment:
Hi Martha, I have some of those rubber face Santas. None from my childhood,but I do remember having one as a child. I love your new car. I like this style for the same reason,it's got that old fashion look to it!Is yours the HHR? That would be my choice,if I were to get another!
Have a blessed week,Shelley
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