Mucilage--say, what?

I am really old.

I was looking at some great vintage clip art and came across this advertisement.

I looked at the word.  Mucilage.

Mucilage?

Mucilage.

Why does that sound SO familiar?

Then, I remembered.

When I was in public school (what Canadians call elementary school) we used to glue things with mucilage.

It looked like this.

I had almost forgotten how we would have to cram the rubber stopper onto the page to release the sticky, honey-like glue.

Then along came Elmer's.

And I forgot all about mucilage.

Christmas Memories

As I shop, wrap, bake, clean and fret over the things of the holidays, I have been reflecting on Christmases past, and what made them so special.
I think that my fondest memories were of running out on Christmas morning with my baby brother Greg to see the treasures left out by Santa. We were allowed to play with what was out and have the yummies from our stocking. We usually ran our stockings back to our mom's bed and dumped them out and oohhed and aahhed over it all.

I remember shopping for Christmas gifts with my little brother Greg. We went downtown on the bus together. I remember going from store to store to pick out something for my mom. We decided to pool our money and get a gift of a set of two little statues of a boy and a girl.
On one of our leanest Christmases, my brother A.J. was just a couple of months old. Mom and I and A.J. were cozy in our apartment, it was freezing cold outside. We went carolling with the missionaries, and had them over for Christmas Eve festivities. We only had a few gifts, but it was one of my most memorable Christmases.

I remember that even when we didn't have any money,we went downtown and each of us picked out a new ornament for our tree. It was such a fun memory; we went to so many stores. It was a lovely Christmas, even though the gifts were sparse, and to this day my mom still hangs up her cuckoo clock ornament on the tree (usually hidden because it no longer matches) and we remember that year.

I always remember Christmas Eve the most. My mom always made delicious scottish shortbread cookies. We had yummy egg nog. In later years we began having our Chrismtas Dinner on Christmas Eve. It was great because we would then stretch out that fun day, starting at about 3:00 in the afternoon, and ending with cookies and egg nog. (Another perk is that you can enjoy Christmas morning without having to cook, and you have delicious leftovers to nibble, or just have a yummy brunch and snug in and play all day long!)

My favorite gift that I remember receiving was the Dancerella Doll from my mom and dad. You would pump the knob on her tiara and she would kick her leg and spin.
I still remember the song from the commercial:

Dancerella, Dancerella, dancing ballet,
You can make her spin when violins begin to play,
Back kicks and front kicks, twirling on her toes,
Whirling away to a dance you compose,
Dancerella, Dancerella bows and then,
You can make her dance again!


What are your favorite Christmas Memories?