The Great Christmas Tree: Buttons, Earrings, and Anything Sparkly
My wife’s mother, Wilma Boltz, was never one for throwing much away.
Much of her frugality came from her mother and father who raised three boys and
Wilma through the Great Depression. Instead of throwing away a shirt or a pair
of pants, the shirts were used for rags to clean around the house and out in
the barn. Prior to the shirt becoming a rag, Grandma Andersen, Mother Boltz’s
mother, would cut off the buttons and put them in a jar for safe keeping and
for using later.
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| Mother Boltz at her 89th birthday |
Earrings were no different. According to Joanne, her Grandmother
Andersen always wore earrings even though she lived on a farm in Annis, Idaho.
She dressed in the morning, dawned her apron, and put on a pair of earrings,
many of them the clip on types so ubiquitous in that generation. Very few women
ever had pierced ears back then. Rather, they lived with clip on, fancy in the
day but not necessarily now.
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| John, Joanne, Mother Boltz, Lou Jean, and Kevin--The Boltz Family |
Mother Boltz kept up with the tradition, cutting and clipping and
saving. Buttons and earrings were kept in an old multi-colored can, with
patterns on the outside with a sharp rimmed lip. Joanne doesn’t remember when
her mother created the famous button/earring tree. “It was always a part of
Christmas,” said Joanne. “In fact, I don’t remember a time when it wasn’t up
during Christmas. There used to be two of them. This one and one that was
lighted.”
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| Lou Jean, Mother Boltz, and Joanne--the Boltz women |
Apparently, the two button trees were the same, except one of them had
Christmas lights. Mother Boltz poked a hole through the fabric and stuffed
colored lights through, following the shape of the natural tree. When the
lights came on, they literally caused the buttons and the earrings to just sparkle.
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| Tree with wood frame |
If you look close at the button and earring tree, you can see a
definite pattern. The tree is encased in an 18” x 22” wooden frame. The
background is black velvet. Mother Boltz placed the sets of earrings and
buttons on directly opposite sides, making up the tree’s perfectly shaped edge.
In the middle, she glued on various buttons, beads, colored glass, and old
earrings of various shapes, sizes, and colors, all sparkly. Pieces and parts of
old gold chain weave in and out of the jewelry and make up the “garland” for
the tree.
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| Whole tree on felt |
The base of tree is an old sliver pin that she had collected from
somewhere.
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| Bottom of the tree |
The star at the top is a small piece, comprised of crystal stones.
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| Top of the tree |
I suspect the button/earring tree will continue to be a part of our
family for years to come and then be handed down, never thrown away, especially
knowing that all of parts and pieces of this glorious tree were saved and
squirreled away for some use in the future.
Anna Rose, our daughter, said, “Even when we lived far away from
Grandma, the Christmas tree helped me remember the moments we shared.”
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| Joanne, Hailey, Anna Rose, Mother Boltz, Shawna--Anna Rose's high school graduation |
Now, the tree will be remembered as it should be, not as old buttons,
earrings, and pieces of glass. Rather, it will the memories of time past with
Mother Boltz, a source of wisdom for saving odds and ends to be used at a later
date to make beautiful things.
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