Local Fame, No $

In a previous post, I stated that a recent photo I'd taken that showed two swans in the Nashua River (before the snow and ice) had been used in an online Nashua publication, the Great American Downtown.

This weekly online publication invites readers to email photos taken around the city of Nashua However, there's a scarcity of those who submit images although some local photographers regularly send in amazing drone images. Alas, I don't own (or plan to acquire a drone).

But no need for a drone, as last week another of my photos was used. This one shows a partial reflection of Clocktower Place apartments in a former mill building across the parking lot. Called the Green Milll it's been used as a warehouse, hotel furniture store, wine and paint event site.The second floor is currently in use as a dance school. Since this is an old building, most likely the window glass is original and caused the wavy reflection on this straight out of camera (SOOC) image. This was a chance shot as we usually park in the underground parking, but had parked outside as we were going out again. (My last name was purposely omitted for this post.)

There's no cash payment for photos used, just braggin' rights, that's OK with me.

Many thanks for your comments on my previous post about the Wilbur Chocolate Company and Wilbur Buds. It would be great if you could grab a sample taste from the post because they are really good. Sadly, that's not possible, but they can be ordered online.

Speaking of sweet things, on our way home from our recent PA road trip, we stopped in NJ to meet our new great niece. Willow was born the week before Christmas 2024. She's pictured with us and her parents, Michael and Julie, our niece.

While In PA, we also visited my high school friend, Sara, and husband, David, also former NJ residents. As their Christmas tree was still up, we followed our long-time tradition of taking group and individual photos. Many have been taken during the holiday season or afterwards.

We're always happy to see good friends and spend time together. It was great catching up on all the time in between our visits. I hope you also have some in your lives.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

Next week is my birthday; we're going on a unique adventure, 

Details in a future post

How Sweet It Was

Maybe, it's because we currently live in a former textile factory or that we always seek out older, especially re-purposed buildings. Either way, our recent trip to PA combined both of these interests.

Day and night views of The Wilbur Hotel, Lititz, PA

That's because our accommodations were in a former chocolate factory, After the Wilbur Chocolate Company closed is was redeveloped and this hotel opened in 2016.. What's not to like about that? The ever-so-faint scent of chocolate could still be detected or maybe that was our imagination.

This wasn't our first PA visit, but our first stay in Lititiz was a family visit. Youngest granddaughter and family live in nearby Lancaster, PA. Her December birthday was celebrated belatedly with an indoor pool party at a nearby recreation center.

Lobby views of The Wilbur Hotel, Lititz, PA

Hotel lounge views of The Wilbur Hotel, Lititz, PA

Of course, it doesn't look anything like the former factory, but still preserves some of the original construction with the large wooden beams. Look closely at the bottom right photo for a larger reveal in the next photo.

The Wilburettes were company employees who performed at holiday parties

If you look in the center of the above bottom right photo, you can barely see this photo of "The Wilburettes" the Wilbur Chocolate Company employee version of the NYC Rockettes  In the 1940’s, the company held employee Christmas parties, quite often the party ended with some dance numbers by these ladies. 

Former Wilbur Chocolate Company on Broad St, Lititz, PA (Internet source)

Current view of Wilbur Chocolate Company (January 2025)

The Wilbur Chocolate Company was a mainstay on N. Broad St in Lititz, PA, for over 120 years. In January 2016, its celebrated 125-year old chocolate-making tradition in Lititz ended when chocolate production ended at the historic landmark. It's now The Wilbur Hotel, a 74-room boutique hotel, part of Hilton hotels. 

This photo, circa 1927, shows employees posed for a group shot outside the PA chocolate company. Apparently, everyone dressed up for this photo shoot.

How it All Began 

Back to the origins of the chocolate factory, which incidentally has a NJ connection (doesn't everything?) As natives of the state, it's interesting, sometimes not so much, to see how often our home state is involved mentioned in seeming everything.

Henry Wilbur

Way back in 1865, Henry Oscar Wilbur had a successful hardware business in Vineland, NJ. But, after meeting Samuel Croft, a candy maker, he switched businesses. The two men formed a partnership to produce hard and molasses candies for almost 20 years at a Philadelphia, PA, location. At that time, confectionery manufacturing equipment consisted of a kettle, a coal or coke fire, buckets and a marble slab. These hard candies were marketed to railroad companies to be sold onboard trains.

The partnership split up in 1884, Croft stayed in the hard candy business with a new partner. Wilbur went into the chocolate candy business forming H. O. Wilbur & Sons, with sons, Harry and William; oldest son, Bertram, later became a partner after Harry's death.

A 1911 newspaper ad featuring Wilbur Buds

The Wilbur Bud

What became the company's signature chocolate, the Wilbur Bud, debuted in 1894, and the exact date of a trademark is uncertain. But, the original machine used to make the candy was invented and patented by John Smith in 1889. The chocolate may look like another piece of well-known chocolate candy, but it was created first, 13 years earlier. More about that other candy later.

The machinery that made the Wilbur Bud chocolates

The chocolate's  creation was just good business. created by the company founder, Henry Wilbur. His mantra was that exceptional chocolate shouldn't be complicated, but he wanted it to be unique to sell more chocolate. Wilbur developed a process to deposit chocolate into a solid shape that looked like a flower bud. His creation was the Wilbur Bud, which is molded with a distinctive design and a flower shaped bottom. Each petal has a letter of the company name, WILBUR. Years ago, candies were wrapped, today the candies are unwrapped and sold in various packaging. 

Check out the price in this undated newspaper ad for Wilbur Buds

By 1905, the third generation of Wilbur family employees included Lawrence H. Wilbur, a European-trained chocolatier who invented a machine to foil wrap Wilbur Buds which were then packaged in boxes. Transport from factory to store shelves was slower years ago and protecting chocolate’s freshness was a concern. An exact date when this practice ended isn't known. It's speculated that the change occurred after the mid-20th century. By then, packaging technology had improved. The need for extra care lessened as new methods were adopted.

Ideal Chocolate Factory in Lititz, PA, was next to a Reading RR line

Although Wilbur Chocolate was still in Philadelphia, PA, another chocolate company was in Lititz, PA, Kendig Chocolate Company had started in 1900 and in 1902 was sold to The Ideal Chocolate Company which built a new plant at 48 North Broad St. adjacent to the Reading and Columbia rail station which made easy access to ingredients by rail. The company sold almond bars, chocolate cigars, and cocoa powder. In 1913, increased demand led to a five-story plant addition. In a 1927, Ideal merger with the Brewster Chocolate Company of Newark, NJ (another NJ connect) the company became the Brewster-Ideal Chocolate Company.

Red Book Magazine advertisement  for Wilbur Buds (year unknown)

Wilbur Chocolate Relocates, Eventually

Meanwhile,  H. O. Wilbur & Sons began business talks with a Swiss company, Chocolat Suchard, to secure rights to sell its chocolate. By 1928, the rights were purchased and the company name was Wilbur-Suchard Chocolate Company. 

Now comes the move to Lititz, after several mergers and acquisitions in the late 1920s, Wilbur-Suchard Chocolate bought out the Newark, NJ, Brewster-Ideal Chocolate factory and began operating three factories in Lititz, Philadelphia and Newark. Over time, the company shut down both the Philadelphia and Newark facilities and consolidated operations in the Lititz factory as that one was next to a railroad freight station. By year-end 1958, the company was solely the Wilbur Chocolate Company and it staying at the Broad St location there for nearly 60 years..

Besides the ever-popular Wilbur Bud, the company produced a variety of chocolate products and cocoa. In the early 1970s, a factory store was only open to employees for candy buys. Lititz is a small town, son word got out. Non-employees, mostly town residents, requested the store be opened to the public. And, it did in 1972 and, you know what, visitors came — to no one's surprise chocolate sales increased. 

These items were in the former Candy Americana Museum

Its value as a tourist destination increased even more after Penny Buzzard, wife of a former company president, spearheaded a move to add a Candy Americana Museum within the store Later, a candy-making kitchen was added so that tourists visitors could watch chocolatiers hand-make small batches of customer favorites. 

Chocolate Meltdown or Mergers and Aquisitions

In 1968, Wilbur Chocolate became a wholly-owned subsidiary of MacAndrews & Forbes Company and was sold four more times in 12 years. In 1992, it became part of the Minnesota-based Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate family. In 2016, the aging Broad St facility was shut down. and the bulk of chocolate production that had been done in Lititz was shifted to Cargill’s other PA-based facilities. Today, Wilbur Chocolate is one of four premium chocolate brands produced and sold by Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate, others are Peter’s Chocolate, Veliche Belgian Chocolate, and Gerkens Cocoa Powder. 

The Wilbur Chocolate Store is located across the street from the former factory

The factory closed and so did the candy museum, but within a couple of years, the Wilbur Chocolate Store opened across the street from the former factory. Cargill, Inc. spent an estimated $250K dollars on the renovation of a former family-owned hardware store. Pieces from the museum are now in the store. A candy kitchen is also featured in the new space. 

Wilbur Buds are sold in two varieties: semi-sweet (dark) and milk chocolate

There's free samples of Wilbur Buds which have remained the most popular of all Wilbur chocolates. (Yes, we had some.) They're still produced according to Wilbur’s original recipe and still only in semisweet and milk chocolate. When the factory closed, the museum did too, so the store now includes a display of Wilbur artifacts that provide an insight into the company's history including the original Wilbur Bud machine.

Street view of the redeveloped Wilbur Chocolate Factory, Lititz. PA

The closed factory has been redeveloped not only to include The Wilbur Hotel, but also condos, a restaurant, hotel, luxury apartments, senior living and specialty market shops. 

A Kiss is Still a Kiss 

But, not as in the As Time Goes By song in the 1942 film, Casablanca. In the early 19th century, the term kiss was a generic term commonly used to describe a variety of bite-size confectionery products like chocolate, cinnamon and molasses candies. Irish poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is quoted as saying "imitation is the most sincere form of flattery," but is it true for business as well? 

In 1907, Milton Hershey copied the Wilbur Bud, packaged it as the Hershey Kiss, a bite-sized piece of milk chocolate, and trademarked the name. Each candy was hand-wrapped until 1921 when new equipment automated foil wrapping. It also allowed adding the “Hershey plume” a paper strip that extends from the top of every chocolate. In early 1922, the Hershey Company took out full page ads reading: Insist upon having the “GENUINE” Sweet Milk Chocolate Hershey’s KISSES. Be Sure They Contain the Identification Tag ‘HERSHEY’S. In 1923,  Hershey trademarked the Hershey's Milk Chocolate Kisses name. The plume was trademarked in 1924, which prevents any other conical foil-wrapped chocolate to use the same packaging.

Compared to the Wilbur Bud, a Hershey Kiss is a cone with a flat, plain bottom. But as its design was less fancy, the candy could be made mass-produced by dropping it on a flat belt instead of using a special mold like the Wilbur Bud which was hand created. Also, unlike the Hershey Kiss, the Wilbur Bud was sold in milk and dark chocolate and this remains the same, unlike its competitor which is now available in various flavors. In 1909, Henry Wilbur failed in an attempt to sue the copy cat candy company. However, I was unable to find out exactly why he was not successful.

The two products were often compared due to their proximity. Lititz is about 20 miles from Hershey Company headquarters in Hershey, PA. Wilbur remained a regional brand for years, today it can be purchased online and at select retail locations, unlike Hershey which became a global brand. 

This has nothing to do with chocolate, but Milton Hershey was a confirmed passenger on the Titanic's ill-fated 1912 voyage. After vacationing in France in the winter of 191, Hershey had booked passage on the Titanic, but work-related matters may have caused him to cancel the sailing. Instead, he rebooked passage on the SS Amerika (later USS America) and left 4 days before Titanic sailed. 

The Wilbur Hotel gives guests a sample chocolate package

As chocoholics who have savored various types of chocolates, our preference is for the Wilbur Bud.

This was the view from our living room window early this morning. An overnight snowfall has nearly filled in the Nashua River. (I never tire of this scene.)

What Is This, the Reveal

There were a lot of guesses to the What Is This? in last week's Friday Funnies post. 

Good news is that several folks were absolutely correct ! 

You ALL know who you are as there were quite a few, but the first one to ID it right on was Brenda, seconded by Sandra and then many others. 

It just goes to show that fooling some folks can be tough. Still, it was fun to read the other IDs which included a lighthouse, tower. chimney stack, building vent and staircase rail. 

Yes, it's an outdoor trash receptacle that was photographed in downtown Nashua, NH.

Far too many times commonplace things catch my attention and I'm too easily amused (just ask Grenville). This gets me wondering if such images would intrigue others too.

Thanks for playing along and there may be similar posts in the future.

Friday Funnies

This week's Friday Funnies photo is different for a change up. It’s a What is This photo? that was taken in Nashua, NH, recently.

No clue?

Here's some hints, which may (or may not) help.

This item is not unusual and this is a shadow photo. The actual item is something found in an outdoor location, even if not in this exact shape. Despite the fact that the shape can be different, it is something that is used by folks in many places. Most likely, in your town too.

As usual, no prizes awarded to those who get it correctly, just braggin' rights. 

Good luck and the reveal will be next week.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone & Stay Warm

A slight warmup coming after single digit temps overnight, daytime in the teens

Here We Snow Again !

Nashua River snow scenes from our living room window

This past weekend, NH had several inches of snow Sunday overnight into early Monday a.m. Official tallies place the amount here in Nashua at just over 6 inches and due to temps that plummeted from the 40s to the teens, this snowfall was very fluffy. By mid-morning Monday, most area roads were down to blacktop, but roadway traffic was light as it was a federal holiday celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr and federal offices, including the postal service, schools, banks and some business were closed. 

Instead of going outdoors to walk on snowy or icy walkways, my exercise was walking inside the very long mill building hallways. The main floor or 3rd floor, is a 1/4 of a mile, there are five floors in two connected buildings. In addition to exercise, the walk provided a look at displays outside the apartments of other residents.

These figures were the size of a small child

A campaign to create Martin Luther King Jr. Day began after the civil right leader's April 4, 1968 assassination. (A date that coincides with my brother's birthday.) In 1983, the holiday was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan, yet wasn't officially observed until 1986. 

Why? there was resistance from groups and some states who questioned whether King deserved a federal day of commemoration. Since 2000, MLK Day has been recognized in all 50 states. It's always observed on the third Monday in January, which falls near King's January 15 birthday.

Other displays were quite smaller

Yesterday, celebrations for MLK Day and Inauguration Day coincided for the third time. (Please refrain from comments about this irony; it's not a political post.) Each time this has happened for a U.S. President's second term of office. President Bill Clinton was sworn in on January 20, 1967. President Barack Obama was sworn in on Sunday, January 20, 2013, but Inauguration Day events took on Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, MLK Day. These two events won't coincide again until January 2053.

Besides snowman, penguins and gnomes were popular displays

Only a couple of southern states, Alabama and Mississippi, have combined the holiday with Robert E. Lee Day to honor the January 19 birthday of the Confederate general. When we lived in Virginia, Lee-Jackson Day was celebrated as a state holiday to commemorate two Confederate leaders, Lee and Stonewall Jackson. The date was celebrated as a state holiday during the dozen years we lived there. It was eliminated in 2020 and replaced by Election Day as a state holiday.

In addition to shelf displays, the entry of some resident's apartments feature floor rugs and flags that included snowmen and also a moose.

There's no further snow predicted in Nashua, NH, for the 10-day forecast, but frigid temps are already here. This snow is expected to stay around for the rest of the week at least.

A few snowman competition entries

Currently, there's a snowman competition within the mill apartments with entry of the above creations. Residents vote online or by paper ballot. The winning entrant will receive a one-month indoor parking spot. If the winning resident already pays for an indoor space, that amount will be credited to his/her account.

Snowmen keeping warm in our apartment

While, this snowfall was less than expected, yesterday was a good day to be indoors, so a pot of homemade chicken soup was on the F&P menu. Today, Grenville is trying out a focaccia recipe, so our dinner is all set. We hope that everyone who had snow and cold temps are safe and warm — think Spring, 58 days away on March 20 !

Friday Funnies

Recently, in a local thrift store, I spotted these ruby red shoes and thought of — can you guess what?

That's right, the ruby slippers sported by Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) in the 1939 American musical fantasy film, The Wizard of Oz. True, they don't look the same, but these were much less costly. It's amazing at what some uber-rich folks buy for who knows why.

Glinda, the good witch, gifted the slippers to Dorothy

The ones shown below sold  at auction in December 2024 for an astounding $28 million — for shoes without any rubies !

Dallas-based auction house, Heritage Auctions, had estimated they would surpass $3 million since online bidding stood at $1.55 million before live bidding began. Fast bidding surpassed that figure, some bidders phoned in offers and bidding ended in 15 minutes with an unknown buyer. Figuring in auction house fee, the total cost paid was about $32.5 million — all for movie memorabilia with no real jewels, the slippers are made of sequins. (The previous auction record for entertainment memorabilia was $5.52 million for a windswept white dress Marilyn Monroe wore in the 1955 film,The Seven Year Itch.)

Ruby red slippers that went for $28 million at auction, December 2024 

Ironically, in the 1900 The Wizard of Oz book by Frank Baum, Dorothy's slippers are silver. Production company MGM chose red so they would stand out against the yellow-brick road featured in the Technicolor film. The costume team made multiple pairs to ensure against damage during filming. Only four pairs are known to have survived and are owned by private collectors. A pair is displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 

In 2005, this pair of the iconic footwear was stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in the late actor’s hometown of Grand Rapids, MN, after a thief smashed a glass display case. Their whereabouts were unknown until the FBI recovered them in 2018. The later convicted thief said he'd been told the slippers contained real jewels. 

The pair has been on loan to the museum, Garland's 1920s restored birthplace, housing a Judy Garland and Wizard of Oz collection. After their recovery, they were returned to their owner, Michael Shaw, a California collector.  In 1969, he had bought the shoes and a gingham dress from former MGM film costumer Kent Warner for $2,500. When stolen, they were insured for $1 million.

Grand Rapids wanted to get the shoes back and bid in the auction. The museum had solicited donations to boost the amount raised by the city of Grand Rapids at its annual Judy Garland festival. Minnesota lawmakers had also set aside $100,000, hardly enough as it turned out. 

And, not only did the thrift store have a pair of red shoes, but also these actual red slippers. The shoes and slippers together were less costly than the movie ones. Full disclosure, while my name is Dorothy, I've never owned a pair of ruby red footwear of any type.

(In answer to a comment, the only thing obtained during this thrift store visit were the red shoes and slippers photos; however, I did do a clothing drop-off.)

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

It's good to be home without clicking my heels 3 times.

An Unexpected Sighting

Photo was taken by myself and published in this local online publication

While we've become accustomed to viewing various types of bird life on the Nashua River from our 5th floor mill apartment window, such as gulls, Canada geese, Mallard ducks, cormorants and great blue herons. This was a very unusual site last week when we spotted this pair of Mute Swans. (All of these photos were taken indoors from our apartment.)

This pair stayed close to one another the entire time

This pair was quite attentive to one another during the half hour or more that we watched until they were out of our viewing. According to online sources, Mute Swans (Cygnus olor) mate in a complex ritual. They will stare at one another doing up and down neck motions and will often raise both heads together to look at each other with sideways glances turning their heads from side to side They are known for being monogamous and forming long-lasting relationships, usually until one of the pair dies.

Hopefully, this pair will return again, so I could take some photos from the riverbank. Gusty winds and frigid temps made going outdoors very uninviting last week.

FYI: The first photo above was published in the Nashua Great American Downtown online publication last week. Thanks to all who asked in the comments.

Friday Funnies Reveal

Last week's Friday Funnies post was based on the film below.

From the comments received, it was clear that, unlike ourselves, either not many bloggers are avid holiday film watchers or were not familiar with this one. Congrats to fellow blogger Emma (Leaves on My Tree) for correctly naming the film.

For all the non-movie fans, here are the answers:

• Christmas with the Kranks was a moderate box-office movie success.
• It was based on Skipping Christmas (John Grisham), a best-selling book.
• Luther and Nora Krank plan to skip it after daughter Blair left for the Peace Corps.
• Neighbors Bev and Walt Scheel had a pet cat. Bev had health issues.
• Vic  Frohmeyer was the neighborhood leader, his son was Spike.
• A character, Marty was in several scenes and flew off as Santa in a Volkswagen.

Synopsis

After their daughter, Blair) leaves for service with the Peace Corps before Christmas, Luther Krank (Tim Allen) totals up that $6,000 was spent for Christmas the previous year with nothing to show for it. He convinces wife, Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) to forgo the traditions of cards, gift-giving, donations, entertaining, tree buying, decorating and instead take a Caribbean cruise for less cost. This plan irks Christmas-obsessed neighbors Vic Frohmeyer (Dan Aykroyd) and Walt Scheel (M. Emmet Walsh), who are determined to win the best decorated street competition. Every home was to feature an oversized Frosty on the roof. When the Kranks refuse to decorate with their snowman, they become neighborhood outcasts. When Blair unexpectedly is returning home for the holidays, the Kranks are faced with pulling together a holiday party on short notice. Neighbors are relunctant to help until Frohmeyer reminds them the party is for Blair, not her parents. All ends well with much help from the neighbors. Krank gives the cruise to the Scheels.

The movie was panned by many reviewers, including film critic Roger Ebert who gave it a single star. Some have labelled it as one of the worst movies that includes everything wrong with how some celebrate Christmas. Despite this, it's viewed regularly at the holiday season and has become a cult favorite. Full disclosure, we have a DVD of the film.

Filming

Christmas with the Kranks takes place mainly in the Kranks' fictional neighborhood of Hemlock Street in a suburb of Chicago, ILL over the course of Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. But, none of it was filmed in the Midwest part of the U.S. The town was built in a parking lot. 

Former Downey Studios and Christmas with the Kranks Street (internet source)

After a search for filming locations, filmmakers decided to set up the neighborhood in an empty location and selected the parking lot of a former NASA/Boeing site in Downey, CA, about 15 miles from downtown LA at Downey Studios. The first three weeks were spent designing houses. In the next 12 weeks, hundreds of carpenters, plasterers, and painters built what would become the largest exterior set ever built for a film which included 5 complete homes and 11 facades at a cost of $5 million. The film's producer stated the set would be available for other movies, TV series and commercials to use afterwards. However, film workers claimed their health problems were caused by toxic residues and hazardous conditions at Downey Studios. The studio closed in 2012 because of these issues, also a lack of profit. Today the site is home to the Promenade at Downey retail center.

Not all of the film's scenes were shot at Downey Studios, as it didn't have a downtown backlot set. Instead, the production team filmed the movie’s urban scenes at other CA studios and locations. A scene involving Chip’s Market was filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood in the studio’s New York Street area. The stationary store, where Nora didn’t place a holiday card order, was also filmed there. A supermarket scene was filmed at Cordon's Ranch Market in Glendale, CA. The scene in which police officers apprehend a burglar was filmed at Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank. A mall scene was filmed Westside Pavilion Mall in LA, which has since closed.

And, now you know, the rest of the story, and that's all, folks, almost . . .

We met up with this Frosty on Main St in Lititz, PA, last weekend

Friday Funnies

Free Frosty! and We Want Frosty! are words that came to mind this week as holiday decorations were being dismantled at the local mall.

Does anyone know why?

This crated snowman is a hint. here's another one, these words are from a movie.

Many who watch holiday movies regularly may know the answer. And, to see how well you can do, here's a holiday-related trivia quiz (possibly the last until December). 

Ready or not, here goes . . .

• In what 2004 movie were these lines featured?
• What is the title of the 2001 book on which it's based and its author?
• Can you name the main couple (bonus point for daughter's  names)?
• Who were the pet-owning neighbors (bonus point for type of pet)?
• Who is the neighbor who vocalized these words (bonus point for a son's name)?
• Can you name the mysterious party guest; who is he is at the film's end?

As always, no prizes, just braggin' rights. Answers posted next week.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

We're on a PA & NJ road trip to visit family, including a new great niece

Un-decorating Christmas

Never seems as enjoyable as putting everything up had been — tree, lights, ornaments and decorations — all in anticipation of the merriest time of year. 

But, all good things eventually end which, for us, meant taking down Christmas paraphernalia last weekend. The original plan was to leave everything in place longer, but we're going on a short road trip to visit family in PA and NJ this weekend into next week. It was easier to handle this task beforehand. 

Many of our combined holiday ornaments and decorations hold special memories as many of yours do as well. Here's a look at some of ours, including details about many favorites.

All the ornaments are removed from the tree and placed on the sofa, then separated to be stored by type (wood, glass, penguins, bears, etc.). While we weren't in a hurry, it seemed to take a shorter time to pack everything away than to put it up. Before Christmas, we listened to holiday tunes and enjoyed egg nog and some home-baked treats — doesn't everyone?

There's a supply of clothespin Santas, snowmen and snowflakes. The snowmen ornaments at the bottom left were gifts from grandchildren and to ourselves.

The trio of hand-crafted gnomes were purchased on a cross-country road trip several years ago. Originally planned as gifts, they were misplaced, found after the holiday and have remained in NH. The shell wreath was a holiday gift from family. Bells because every time you hear a bell . . .

These two ornaments are among the most delicate in our collection. Both hand-painted on shells and purchased in VA. The penguin shell was purchased at a holiday craft fair on the VA eastern shore. The one on the right is the Hope and Glory Inn, Irvington, VA,  where we stayed on our honeymoon. It's one of the oldest in our collection.

The icicle ornaments are made of glass and came from VA and NH. The white ornaments (top right) are Lenox. The snowflakes were hand-crafted by a co-worker's mother many years ago and have been displayed on our NJ, VA and NH trees.

These wood-crackers made in Germany were bought years ago in NJ as holiday gifts for my late mother. After her passing, they were retrieved and are displayed in our home annually for the Christmas holiday. The angel was another holiday gift, the snowman a thrift store buy.

There's a number of Boyds bears ornaments on our tree, mostly bears and penguins, and oddly enough not a frog in this group. The fire engine bear is a reminder of Grenville's former profession as a NJ firefighter. 

These Boyds bears figurines which, of course, include a penguin and frog are displayed on  bookcases during the holidays. All were purchased years ago when we lived in NJ.

The figurines in the above photo hold special memories. The happy couple are vintage salt and pepper shakers that belonged to my mother. The bear sled is a music box that was gifted by Anne, a special NJ friend a few years before her passing. Displaying these at Christmas never fails to bring back memories of both.

Charlie Brown and friends were waiting to be put away until next Christmas (the tree had already been repacked). These were purchased at an after-Christmas sale in PA several years ago for the incredible price of $1 each. I haven’t seen any like these since then.

These bears and moose were ready for a long hibernation in the storage unit; however, a few others remain around the apartment year-round.

The un-decorated tree was taken apart and placed back into its box. Ironically, the year we had planned to purchase a live tree, management issued a notice that these were no longer permitted (fire and safety reasons). As we were out shopping that day, we bought this tree which alternates holiday seasons with the village display. After being un-decorated, Grenville disassembled it and with the packed totes all were ready for a return to the storage unit. Conveniently, storage units are located a short walk down the hallway as there's no basement or garage storage here.

There was a water shutdown at the mill apartments this week and since temps were frigid, we went to the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, NH, to walk around. We hadn't been there before the holidays and Santa had already left. Workers were removing his spot and all the holiday decorations. Very soon, the Easter Bunny will be taking up a seasonal residence, possibly on the same couch.

Do you take down decorations right after Christmas, New Year's Day or later ?

An addendum to this post to share that a fellow blogger, Jon, mentioned here before, has been going through tough times with various medical issues. Hospitalized on Christmas Eve, he's currently in a TN rehab facility. Jon has shared details openly on his blog Lone Wolf Concerto, and his most recent post (Cold Night's Journey) included a mailing address to which I'm sending a card. If you are so inclined, perhaps you would also send a note or card of encouragement for the New Year, just a suggestion.