async='async' data-ad-client='ca-pub-1704385665578974' src='https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js'/> December 2022 - Welch House 1900

The Gumdrop Tree...A Christmas Tradition

It's a tradition in our family to have a gumdrop tree at Christmas time. I guess it started with my Grandma,  my Dad's mom. She passed away when I was a baby, but I always heard stories of her gumdrop tree.



 
Although I heard the stories of the gumdrop tree, I really didn't know what one even looked like, it was hard for my little girl mind to imagine. When I was about 9 or 10 my Mom bought a gumdrop tree for our family. It was a fun tradition to look forward to. I loved placing the gumdrops on the tree one by one until it looked perfect. I did not eat them though, I'm not a huge fan of the taste and back then I think my Mom bought the spiced flavored gumdrops.


My son loves gumdrops, he will eat them all year round, just not the spiced kind. A few years ago I purchased an old fashioned gumdrop tree for our family, to continue my Grandma's tradition. Today my son and I sat together at the kitchen counter and decorated our gumdrop tree. We listened to Christmas music and sang along as well. He's still in that age where Christmas is magical and he is excited to do stuff  like this. I am cherishing every moment because I see him changing and he will be grown up before I know it. 



Remember my Grandma's gumdrop tree? Well, we recently found it...and here it is.

No it isn't wearing any gumdrops this year, I left it exactly how I found it inside it's box with these tiny mercury glass ornaments decorating its branches. I don't know if I will ever decorate it with gumdrops as it is so delicate. I've noticed that it has been glued together in places and missing some branches as it has seen many Christmas seasons in its lifetime. I would say that her gumdrop tree is probably from the 70's.



I absolutely adore it! I didn't get a chance to know my Grandma but I've always felt a deep connection to her as if I did.  My Dad would always tell me how much alike her and I were and what great friends we would have been. Having this little tree means the world to me as my Dad is also gone as well.  Holidays without my Dad have been hard, but this little gumdrop tree makes me smile and I feel like he and my grandparents are not so far away.




I never thought I would ever see my Grandmas's gumdrop tree, but here it is sitting on my kitchen table next to mine! I am blessed to have it and share it with my son, and someday my own grandchildren.




My Grandma...



Do you have the holiday tradition of a gumdrop tree? What are some holiday traditions that your family has passed down?

Thank you for visiting!

-Larissa