Every December I like to include a special Christmas memory in my posts. So today I’ll tuck away the photos and narratives of excursions taken this Summer and Fall and instead dust off another Christmas memory.
As many of you know, I have no family members, but I am lucky to have many memories, a plethora of photos and this forum in which to recount those treasured moments. Today I’m going to reminisce about pins.
All that glitters … well, it must be a festive 1960s Christmas corsage.
In the early 1960s, I remember how glittery (and sometimes gaudy) Christmas corsages adorned ladies’ Winter coat lapels during the holiday season. In fact, if you poke around Etsy’s website today, you can buy handmade, vintage-style Christmas corsages. (And yes, they call them “vintage” a word which gives me consternation when it is something I vividly remember.)
On Pinterest and Etsy, there were several vintage-type Christmas corsages, but this one reminded me most of mine which you’ll see in a few paragraphs.
As you can see, it’s rather elaborate and large. Usually, bells, baubles, pinecones, snowman, elves, tiny reindeer, or even Santa himself, were attached to a base of holly and/or silver or gold “leaves” and there was glitter, lots of glitter, which usually got all over your coat and inevitably onto your face. As a youngster, I was convinced corsage glitter went airborne on its own.
Every year, Nanny, my maternal grandmother, bought me a handmade Christmas corsage from street vendors who were selling them in downtown Toronto where she worked. In those days vendors always loaded their carts in the holiday season with hot chestnuts and Christmas corsages.
By the time elementary school Christmas break arrived, the corsage pinned to my coat lapel had gotten a little smooshed from hanging in the cloakroom, or in the closet at Sunday school.
While I didn’t save that first festive corsage, I will show you what it looked like. I took accordion lessons for three years at the Ontario Conservatory of Music and Miss Barker and our small class gathered for a Christmas carol sing-a-long and accordion recital at a local senior citizens rest home, circa 1963. The corsage found a new place to look festive. It took up most of the top part of my dress.
Ms. Barker played the accordion while the class sang.
And, then it was our turn to shine after endless afternoons of practice when I got home from school. I’m sure those practice sessions drove my mom crazy. Yes, I played a mean accordion back in the day. (This was a “starter” 12-bass red accordion; I graduated to a 120-bass black accordion shortly after this photo was taken.) I am sure I was crushin’ it here … (the corsage I mean).
Flash forward to a decade later ….
When I began working at the diner during college, Mom bought me Christmas pins, saying I needed to look perky and have some holiday flair. Customers would smile as my jingle bell pin tinkled merrily while Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” blared on the jukebox and I scrambled to serve customers on weekends and Christmas school break.
Then, when I began working in the 9:00 – 5:00 office world, I just kept adding holiday pins, scarves, earrings, hair ties and non-ugly Christmas sweaters. I could make a post some day just about Christmas clothing. Yes I was very festive in the month of December.
The merry little bell, pictured between Rodney Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman is 50 years old now. The incessant tinkling got on the nerves of a former boss at the law firm when, the morning after our office holiday soirée, he arrived at work with a hangover and asked me to please silence the bell. Oops.
I always wore my fun and festive duds and accessories proudly.
So, there is often a backstory for my cherished memory posts and here it is.
Deer, er … dear memories.
My collection of pins wasn’t just for the holidays.
You may remember my tale about Mom’s ill-fated silver locket she gave me to wear on Valentine’s Day, a cherished piece of jewelry for her, which chain broke or got caught in my coat and was lost in the snow way back in elementary school. And then she gave me her birthstone ring, an amethyst stone embedded in a swirly gold setting. I was twisting it around my finger and lost it at the movie theater. Here’s that post in case you missed it.
Now, I never would have entrusted another piece of jewelry to me and that time Mom did chastise me for losing the ring, but in the end she just “let it go” and was more forgiving than she should have been.
Mom had a story about quality versus quantity. She said she began her job as a bookkeeper with two wool skirts and a couple of pullovers for Winter and two cotton-blend skirts with a few white blouses for Summer. To dress up those Winter sweaters she bought pins and scarves and for Summer, it was pretty neckerchiefs. Mom tried to impress on me at an early age that quality was more important than quantity and also to strive to have a signature look, much as she had done on a shoestring. “Linda” she said “as you get older, you must have your own style and stand out in a crowd.”
Despite declaring that she would not gift me any more of her jewelry, Mom made one more exception. One morning, when I was still a schoolgirl, as Christmastime neared, Mom pinned three sterling silver deer onto my jumper and said “these were Mommy’s silver deer she bought with one of her first paychecks – now they are yours.”
I treasured that trio of silver deer and wore them on a sweater or cardigan for many years, even as an adult. When I thought about those dear deer recently, the kernel of this post was borne. I knew I hadn’t lost them; no, these sweet scatter pins were still nestled together in a tarnish-free jewelry box.
I opened the box – there they were, looking as bright and shiny as they did some sixty years ago when I got them from Mom. I pinned them onto a sweater to get this picture.
I was not content to just mention the deer, so I returned to rummage through the jewelry box and then a flood of memories enveloped me. Since I have been working from home since 2011, I admit I’ve not given a lot of consideration to my workday attire. I don’t do Zoom calls and I’ve not seen my boss since 2012. I return home from walking or errands and it’s either shorts and a tee-shirt in warm weather, or a sweatsuit in cooler weather, mooseskin moccasins and a messy bun. Where did the counsel about having my own style go? Sadly, all the accessories I amassed are languishing in various boxes or drawers, unused … but not unloved.
I picked up each pin in that jewelry box, reminiscing on when I got it, what I usually wore with it. Many of the pins were from my mom, like the pair of frogs scatter pins, also sterling silver, that were in the jewelry box compartment next to the deer.
There were scarves and scarf rings and clips and I looked at them all, but didn’t include them here, so yes I DID “let pins and scarves be my signature look” so the idea to have a style all my own was engrained in my soul. Yes, those words did sink in!
These are a few of my favorite things (as the song goes) ….
This pin I got when I was about eight or nine years old, a dog made of mink with a rhinestone collar to wear with my good dress at that time which had a mink collar and cuffs.
I wore it for a cringeworthy class picture in 6th grade.
Then I added to my furry pin menagerie with this fun feline with googly eyes, similarly made of mink.
Many moons later, Mom ordered me this cool cat from “Coldwater Creek” catalog – no, it was not on a hot tin roof, but instead made from the roof of a 1973 GMC truck and fashioned using a blow torch.
There were animals for every occasion. And traditional-looking pins, a few which I’ve included, most I’ve left out.
But through the years, the oldest pins remained my favorites.
Since unearthing all these treasures, especially the collection of festive holiday pins and silk scarves, each still carefully folded in their original boxes and my pins amassed through the years, I have decided I’m going to start wearing them and once again embrace the fun and festive flair I seemingly abandoned when choosing to work from home a dozen years ago.
I started by pinning “Santa’s Favorite Elf” to one of my wool hats.
The squirrels weren’t fooled by my festive pin – of course they knew their 5’ 9” (175.26 cm) “Peanut Lady” wasn’t an elf as she towers way over them. They were unfazed and just went on munching their peanuts.
I am joining Terri Webster Schrandt’s Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge: Festive.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
You need to take your accordion with you to entertain Parker and pals while they have their Christmas dinner!
They are your elves!
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Ha ha – Parker and his peanut pals might run for the hills when they hear me play, of course stopping to grab a peanut or two first! I have not even opened the case since we moved to the States. My parents looked for a teacher to continue my studies, but could find no one. So it sits in the case in the basement.
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I can see a millipeid playing it down in the basement!
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That would work well since you need nimble fingers to play the bass section and the keyboard section simultaneously and they have more than enough “arms” to do that!
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So beautiful & interested you sharing your special Christmas memories. Iam so.. so glad. I will enjoy your memories. Beautiful all Christmas photos. Beautiful your favourite some things. I like. Very interesting you sharing your college life.
Thank,Linda you shareing these memories.
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Thank you Raj – I am glad you enjoyed the special memories I have and put into this post. It was a nice look back at years gone by and I felt badly I had let these treasured items languish all these years. I aim to do better.
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Very nice you doing better.
Iam so happy,
I wish you happy Christmas 🎁⛄
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Thank you Raj – Happy Christmas to you as well!
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Pingback: Sunday Stills: Show Me that You’re #Festive – Second Wind Leisure Perspectives
What a collection of pins!!
I don’t see anyone regularly any more, but I don’t feel dressed until I choose a ring and earrings to wear.
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Yes, it is and I left the scarf clips, pins and holder and some more traditional pins out of the post. I have to change my tune going forward Anne. It was a real stroll down Memory Lane for me to see what I left behind. You remind me of Marge because she always said she would not leave the house without her earrings in and lipstick on. She said it didn’t feel right.
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Good for Marge!
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Yes – maybe I could use the two of you for inspiration going forward!
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Just do it if it pleases you. Or take a selfie and send it to me.
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Okay – that sounds like a plan Anne. I have become lackadaisical with the things that once were important to me and I have to do better.
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First of all your 6th grade pic is so cute–those glasses are back in fashion now! I love that your Nanny and mom adorned you with Christmas corsages, scarves, and pins. It’s a great way to wear something festive for the holidays (especially for work) and not scream Christmas all day. Back in the day, our church choir always had to wear something festive like scarves or pins over our hideous choir robes for the holidays. Thank goodness the new pastor threw them all out and we could wear real clothes again, LOL!
You look so cute playing the accordion! Hans’ mom played one too and she was quite good. When I was in 6th grade, our teacher was all about the arts. This was 1972 so you could still have Christmas songs in school without offending half the world. For some songs, we played the flutophone–kind of a cheap plastic recorder on which we tooted the notes. His wife accompanied us on her violin–what a cacophony! We weren’t that bad but…well, yes we were. thank you for sharing your festive memories with us for Sunday Stills. Hope you can join us on Dec 31 as we take a look at 2023 in favorite photos. Merry Christmas, my friend!
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Thank you Terri – that picture was right after we moved here in ’66 and those velvet headbands with velvet bows were all the rage. Who knew cat-eye glasses would eventually come back in style? I got my first pair of glasses on my 7th birthday and hated them. Those Christmas corsages were sized more for adults and I laughed when I saw how big it was in proportion to me, but my grandmother and mom always wanted me to look festive, no matter my age.
I feel badly for any parent who has to listen to their child practice a musical instrument, starting with doing the scales to practicing with the same piece every night and accordions are loud, as you know since Hans’ mom played one. I did a post in the past around Octoberfest showing myself with each of the accordions. I think my father may have had designs on me joining an oompah band someday! I remember the days of singing Christmas carols in school, especially the last day before Christmas break when we brought in treats to share with others.
I will be joining up for the December 31st favorite photos. I have done a favorite photos post the last few years and it was a lot of fun. I have some fun bird photos to use in conjunction with New Year’s Eve for a smile. You have a wonderful Christmas as well Terri!
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Your post is a delightful one and reminds me to look through my things and to wear some of the jewelry I have not worn since I retired nearly ten years ago. This is a wonderful way of sharing some of your earlier life – thank you.
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Thank you Anne, I am glad you enjoyed this post. I am going to change my tune too about enjoying my things once again.
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Lovely memories Linda 🙂
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Thanks Brian – it’s fun to look back at the holidays.
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What a fun post Linda! Gosh an accordion, I never would have guessed that one and that scarf with a squirrel on it was made just for you! So many memories with all your pins but loved your pictures the best!
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I’m glad you enjoyed the post Diane. I had fun taking the photos and writing the post too. Yes, the accordion – not something ladylike like a flute or piano. Nope. I often wondered if my father was going to get me into an oompah band one day. It was his idea to learn how to play it (he was German). I hadn’t seen those Christmas scarves since 2008, the last Christmas I worked on site and as soon as I saw the squirrel in the wooded area, I thought “this was made for me before I ever began my walking regimen – same color as Parker too.” Thank you Diane. I’m glad you liked the photos … it was not my best picture of me back in sixth grade, but that was the style and I wanted to show off that little mink dog. He is still in good shape, has not lost any fur, nor has the cat after all these years.
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My husband suggested I throw something away just tonight. I said no way, it is a huge memory of my childhood and my dad. So I know the feeling Linda.
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My mom never had anything out of place in the house and she tried unsuccessfully to institute a rule that for every new item brought into the house (clothing/accessories and other items as well), another item went out. I said that was ridiculous and rebelled as there are keepsakes which should never be thrown out – ever … but even then, things never looked like they do now. The day the plumber was here, after he was gone I realized just how bad it looked in here.
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I love these posts amd seeing your fondest memories…merry Christmas Linda!
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Thank you for saying that Michael; I really enjoy stepping away from nature for a bit and writing these type of posts for the holidays. Merry Christmas back at you Michael!
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I do love reading your walks down memory lane. You remind me of the way things were and I love seeing the photos from back then. I had similar hair styles and cloths and even pins. Pins were important back then. I have saved a couple of pins that my great grandmother had. Wonderful memories Linda.
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Thanks Sandra – I’m glad you liked this post and the others about treasured memories. Yes, those styles were different and supposedly all styles make a comeback eventually. When I was younger, my mom was all about the putting pincurls in my hair on Saturday night so I had curly hair for Sunday School. The pins and sparkly brooches were a big thing back then. And hatpins too. My grandmother gave me a hatpin to wear so my hat didn’t blow off when we walked up the street to Midnight Mass … this has to be almost about 40 years ago. We went together and I put the pin in my hat to secure it and the pin fell out walking home … just like the locket. We went and looked for it in daylight Christmas Day, but didn’t find it. (You may remember that story as you went back and read my older posts and I did write about it and had a picture of the fedora-style hat I wore.)
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I’m so happy you went through the pins and found photos to share of you wearing the treasures when you were young. I love the green sweater backdrop for displaying them in the photos you’ve shared. Very festive. I laughed at this line: “I am sure I was crushin’ it here … (the corsage I mean).” And, it’s so sweet that you’re going to wear some of the pins again and enjoy them as you venture out on your walks. That is so joyful and festive! My mom had so many pins and she changed them out to each coat she wore. She’d be smiling at yours and wishing she had some of those too! I love the ones that you find your favorites! 😍🥰🤗
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Shelley, I was sure I had a picture of the dress with the mink collar and sleeves and wearing the furry dog pin. I found Christmas pics with the dress, but no pin – it must have been before I got that pin. I wasn’t happy with the sixth grade picture and how I looked but it had the dog pin, so I decided “what the heck – I’ll use it anyway.” That velvet hairband and bow was the big style back then. I’m glad you liked that line about crushin’ it. 🙂 I thought we must have sang first, then played the accordion, or the corsage likely would have been flattened from the heavy accordion against my chest. I did think it would be fun to wear some of the fun pins … some were a bit delicate, but I had some Hallmark ones and they will be okay to wear. Pins were big back in the day – brooches too. When we went to visit my grandmother, before she got the heart problem, we would walk up the street (a steep incline) to go to Sunday mass. I can picture her having a brooch on her dress coat – something sparkly. I was torn what sweater to use as I have a dark green sweater with a huge cowl neck and it has silver stars to fasten the cowl neck. I actually dragged the Christmas tablecloth out to take the Christmas pins picture. Now to put it back.
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It’s so fun that you have such vivid memories and know where to look for the photos to use. Some day I’ll get through my old photos and re-learn what I have hidden as treasures.
You’re right, brooches were big. My mom had so many that I parted with in our big sale, but I kept a few as they were extra special to her and our kids.
You made a great choice on what to use for the back drop. Ah, yes, the put it back phase of blog posts, I have to do the same! 🤣
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It was a rainy-day project and my kitchen lighting is not good. So, I had to have the kitchen light, a floor lamp and a desk lamp and it still wasn’t great lighting due to minimal plugs. By the time I fiddled with that and also did the photographs for my Christmas Eve post, I had had enough for one day, so restoring order waited for a while. 🙂 The brooches show up in estate sales at art auctions as well. We have a big art-type gallery that advertises a lot on the radio and they have lots of vintage jewelry from “local personalities” and you do see lots of ornate brooches if you look at their online auction. I often listen to the news online and this place advertises on their website.
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Rainy day projects are the best. It’s odd to say rainy in December, though.
That’s a fun place…are you going to go to it this year?
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Yes, rainy day projects is when I get things done as I am not out gallivanting. 🙂 But this weather is so nice – it got to 43 today and near 50 for Christmas. It is good traveling weather for folks and that is good. I have not been to this place since I worked on site. I used to work about a mile from Downtown Detroit. If I didn’t drive I had to take two buses or walk that one mile, so I would walk different routes. That was one of them and they had a fantastic window display so I went in a few times. Truthfully, they are out of my price range and these were estate sales for big houses of local celebrities who had died or were moving.
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I’m happy to read the weather is nice for you this weekend. I hope you get out and enjoy it!!
Thanks for clarifying the place and how you found it. It sounds like a wonderful window shopping kind of place!
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Yes, even if you’re not interesting in buying anything, it is fun to window shop … I felt a little awkward going inside … here is a preview of a December auction. You click and move your mouse to have 3D … lots of artwork, fancy dishes/glassware/silverware:
https://www.dumoart.com/preview/
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That is such a cool place! Thank you for the link!!!
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I thought you’d get a kick of it Shelley. I took a few trips around the showroom for kicks before passing the link to you. A few of their furniture pieces might take up an entire room at my house. DuMouchelles is the place to go when you win the big lottery and suddenly are NEW rich, but you want to look OLD rich. 🙂
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Thank you, I love it!
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I love the trio of silver deer your mom gave you — what a precious memory of her for you to treasure. Especially since they had special meaning for her and yet she entrusted them to you in spite of your losing those earlier gifts. I also like her fashion advice, making do with a few items of good quality.
Your passion for pins made me think of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and her pins. Whenever she was on TV I used to notice the different pins she wore each time. She said they conveyed messages she wanted to get across to foreign dignitaries. You might enjoy reading about her collection: https://readmypins.state.gov/
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I’m glad you like the silver deer and they look just like they did the day I got them – no marks, or tarnishes. They went back in the box after admiring them and photographing them. They are very special to me.
That was very interesting Barbara – thank you for sending me the link. I did not know about Madeleine Albright’s passion for pins and what a collection she had. I was enjoying looking at all the nature pins. Scatter pins made a comeback a few years ago and I had a few small pins of different animals or birds, some very tiny, maybe to wear on a blouse collar or a dress. I totally forgot to mention stickpins as I had several of those as well, but they weren’t nature related. Another fashion fad that was popularized by Oprah Winfrey was wearing a plain wool skirt and you got a matching wool scarf, in a plaid usually and the scarf was about six feet long and three feet wide and you gathered it a little, then wore a belt to secure it and a big pin, to pin onto your turtleneck sweater to wear it over one shoulder. I liked the look, but only wore this when I knew I had an easy day at work as the scarf sometimes shifted or fell off your shoulder and I had long hair – it was an art keeping it all together. 🙂
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I had a snowman pin. You pulled a string and it lit up. Loved that thing.
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You know there were such fun holiday jewelry back then – I don’t know if companies make them anymore. All they have is this “ugly Christmas sweater” trend.
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I enjoyed your reminiscing, Linda, because my late mother complimented her outfits with similar adornments, especially at the holidays. Never over the top, never too eye-catching, always complimentary and classy. She understood the concept of a “look” but also to be somewhat understated. Her style and physical appearance were very similar to Nancy Regan.
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Thank you Dave – it was fun writing this post and taking photos of those pins. It brought back a lot of nice memories spent with my mom if we went shopping or she would order some jewelry from a specialty catalog – all to ensure I would have my own style. “Coldwater Creek” was a favorite catalog for unique accessories. I realized that maybe I missed the idea of getting dressed up more than I realized. That is exactly what my mom told me for years – there are times you can be a little festive and fun but it is better to stick with classic clothes and accessories and you can never go wrong. I know some of my dress clothes will never go out of style, just like how your mom dressed – classic, tailored fashions. I did like Nancy Reagan’s style much more than the FLOTUS clothing styles today … hers was classic all the way.
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Love the six grade photo of you!! And that fur dog pin is to die for!!!
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Thanks TD! I wavered on using that picture … the cat-eye glasses and velvet bow and for class pictures that day, my mom insisted on making my hair look like it had waves. 🙂 I wanted at least one photo wearing one of the pins. I love that little fur dog and it has not lost any fur, nor rhinestones from its collar – neither has the cat for that matter and they are now both about 60 years old.
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I have been hit by holiday nostalgia twice this week! The other day a woman in the grocery store was wearing a Christmas vest that looked just like one I made 40+ years ago and now… OMG… Christmas corsages! I had completely forgotten about those but my mother had a new one every year.
Great post, Linda and thanks for the trip down memory lane. I have a few of my mother’s pins too. I don’t wear them but they are very dear to me.
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It’s funny how a photo can evoke memories from years ago Janis. As I wrote this post, I wondered if the Christmas corsages were just popular in Canada where I grew up, or if they were an American tradition, so it’s good to know you remember your mom having a new one every year, so they were a “thing” over here too. The poor corsage really had to be replaced at the end of each holiday season as the ornaments would come loose, glitter settled on your coat, etc., but oh – they looked so festive. How odd to see a Christmas vest like the one you made all those years ago – did you give it to a charity? I gave an odd-colored coat to a charity once and if I didn’t see someone wearing it at the grocery store. It was a down coat, the color of a cantaloupe and had to be mine as I had it for years and had just gotten rid of it.
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Accordion, huh?! That’s some kind of talent. I like all your little sentimental keepsakes. They are something to cherish that I lack entirely.
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Eilene, I took lessons for three years but no one taught accordion here in the States after we moved here, so unfortunately it is a bit of a waste of money for lessons as the instrument is still in the basement and I haven’t played since 1966, but I won’t throw it away. I have a lot of sentimental keepsakes – I am a saver, not a thrower. 🙂 Speaking of sentimental keepsakes, your recent post about the suet pudding had two earlier posts you had written at the bottom of the post as WP does and one got my attention as I saw a doily. I wrote a post years ago about doilies I had from my great grandmother who did tatting and made doilies and the two in my living room sit under table lamps and, since she died in 1953, they are at least 70 years old.
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I understand about keeping the accordion. I kept my trumpet for a very long time, and even had the opportunity to play again when I went back to school in 2004. But I could sense my time with it was limited and I later donated it to the high school music department. I still have not mounted and framed that doily, but I will do that. Maybe this winter I shall have the time, at last.
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I feel badly about the accordion, but it’s not an instrument that you’d just pick up and start playing, like a guitar. I also have a guitar my parents bought me as I expressed an interest to learn how to play because I worked in the Creative Department at an ad agency and the “creative folks” would sit in an office and each would bring a guitar and play as a stress reliever. I took lessons for about six months, but it was a teenager teaching at a music store and he moved on and they’d didn’t fill his position. I have my doilies under lamps – perhaps I should be treating them more gingerly like you are doing.
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Not necessarily. I’m a believer in using things, even if they’re old. I just don’t really have a use for one doily, and it appeals to me more for its art and history.
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I see. I mentioned the pins to a friend of mine who suggested I mount them/frame them all together, the entire collection, not necessarily including the holiday pins, as I would get more enjoyment from seeing them rather than wearing them. I thought on that idea, but decided against it.
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I loved reading about your trip down Memory Lane! My mom and mother-in-law both were big fans of wearing holiday pins. I still have my MIL’s collection of pins from Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc.
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Thanks Laurie – I’m glad you enjoyed this post. I do have some pins from Easter and Thanksgiving too, but just a few, not as many as for Christmas, a season which seems to start earlier each year now. I think wearing pins was more popular years ago – a subtle way of making a fashion statement and I remember my grandmother always wearing a sparkly brooch on her coat lapel.
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Lovely post, Linda! I’m so glad you didn’t lose those deer — and you took such good care of them, too. Your mom had good instincts.
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Thank you Rachel – I am glad you liked the post. Sometimes it’s nice to stray from the ordinary walks and nature photos and get a bit nostalgic. I’m glad I didn’t lose the deer after my abysmal record of losing other pieces of jewelry my mom gave me. They look good, not tarnished. Long ago I bought a jewelry box with non-tarnish lining, so it works well for earrings or pins, anything that tarnishes. I agree with you about my mom – she trusted me again, which I’m not sure I would have given my track record.
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You’ve got quite the collection of well-loved pieces. It’s cool to see.
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Thank you Rachel … I really felt sentimental gathering the pins, photographing them and writing about them. I am so glad I decided to write about these well-loved and memorable pieces of jewelry.
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I love this post, thanks for the memories Linda. I remember those Christmas Corsages and had one! I have a lot of pins from my Mom and Grandmoms, I actually started wearing them before the Apocalypse struck so then stopped as we didn’t go out much but I have started wearing them again. Not just Christmas pins. I told my girlfriends I was determined to make wearing pins come back into fashion lol. Such memories and I love the scarf with birds and squirrels on it that you still wear.
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Thanks Susan – I am glad you liked it. A few other bloggers around our age also remember the Christmas Corsages … were you young wearing one or older? Pins were so big back then, all year around. I remember my grandmother having a sparkly brooch on her coat lapel … I can picture her wearing that and a hat when she went to church. Women got dressed up more then. I am going to do the same thing with my pins. I felt badly seeing them when I had so much joy wearing them for years and, I saw that scarf when I took it out of the tissue paper in the box and thought “well this scarf is more ME now than it was years ago!”
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I sure enjoyed your trip down memory lane, seeing your corsages, pins, and scarves. I love pins too, and have lots, some I’ve had since I was a little kid. Some were given, some were bought at yard sales or antique/vintage shops, but the best are the ones I have had the longest. 🙂
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Thank you ghostmmnc – I’m glad you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. It was fun for me writing about the pins and photographing them and reminiscing along the way. It’s interesting that we both saved pins from when we were so young and our favorites are the ones we have had the longest. 🙂
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I don’t think I have ever seen a Christmas corsage like that. I remember Dad buying Mom a flower corsage to wear to church for any holiday and at some point he started getting me one, too. Those adorable corsages with Christmas balls and baubles would be so much more practical! And I love your collection of pins and memories.
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Those corsages were quite ornate Zazzy. I went on Etsy to see if people made them and if they were still a thing. I was surprised to see how many vendors sold them. I liked one that was done in pink and silver – it was pretty. Some of them used to stick way out on your coat lapel. When I worked at the diner in the 70s we had a lot of people come in to eat Sundays after church. We have a lot of churches in our City and had about four within a few blocks of the diner. At Easter, many of the ladies had Easter corsages made with carnations. The owner bought me one on Easter Sunday. I had complimented a customer on hers and she got it at the flower shop across the street. It was open, so he went and got one for me … I was kind of surprised as he’d never done something like that before (and I already was wearing an Easter pin). I haven’t thought of that in years. Thank you – it was fun looking back at the pins, photographing and writing about them.
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Miss Linda……………………………………..I enjoyed your blog on old fashion pins………………………………….I used to wear a lot of them way back then when i was a first grade teacher……………………………..it was a “Must”…………………………………….to wear them and the kids like seeing them too…………………………………………………….I do remember them being “large and gaudy”………………………….you have a good memory for your wonderful years……………..and you always were a cute young lady……………………………..
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Thank you Ann Marie – I’m glad you liked this post. It was fun to look at those pins, take photos and write about them and I was a bit misty and wistful looking at them as well. I know your schoolkids would have enjoyed looking at your pins, especially at the holidays. I am glad I have good memories from those days – they were good times for sure back then. Thanks, but I have to admit, I thought twice about putting my sixth grade picture in there though. 🙂
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Hi, I might have visited your blog in the past, but it as been awhile. How fitting on the day I read I am wearing an old Christmas brooch that belonged to my Mom. I enjoyed your post and the photos.
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Thank you – I am glad you enjoyed the post and photos and I do remember you visiting here before Timelesslady. I think that I evoked some nice memories with this post as others have said they also have brooches or pins that belonged to their mom. Your Christmas brooch makes the memory of your mom even more special knowing part of her lives on as you enjoy wearing her jewelry, doesn’t it?
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Yes, it truly does…I enjoyed reaching up and touching it throughout the day.
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That’s nice – gives you some nice memories. I am going to wear the Rudolph earrings this year – they are post earrings, but the reindeer jiggles back and forth. 🙂
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Oh, my goodness! I have *so* many Christmas pins and earrings. I wore them to work faithfully every holiday season until we had to start wearing our office IDs on lanyards. The lanyards made wearing any other jewelry problematic.
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Linda – you are like me as it was so much fun collecting them over the years. Once my boss and I left the firm and went out on our own, we moved to a different building, we also had to wear our office ID on a lanyard or a clip-on as it was also our “swipe pass” which was something we never had before as we were in an old building.
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Loved the pins! They reminded me of the ones the ladies in my family wore. The Christmas sweaters are still seen at my house!
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Thank you JP! Pins have always been a big part of my life accessory-wise. I think I have to get back into a festive frame of mind for the holiday season and wear some of my holiday things and next year I have to decorate!
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