Betty Ulrich…Homemade Christmas is most memorable
By Eva Hallam Solberg
Published in the PCN
(Ed. note: Betty Ulrich stopped
into the office of the PCN one day and was coaxed to tell her most memorable
Christmas. Her parents were Floyd and Bella Hardin who married in 1913, and
moved in a wagon drawn by a team of horses to a ranch 65 miles south of
“For months ahead, Mom had everyone save the tinfoil which came from
inside tea cans, tobacco, gum wrappers, etc. That which was colored was
especially coveted. We made hearts and stars out of it to decorate our
Christmas tree, either a bull pine or a fir tree, cut by Dad. Popcorn was
popped and strung along with rose hips, which we just called rose berries, to
make the tree pretty. Four-inch spiral candles fit on holders on the tree, and
from a week or so before Christmas until New Year’s Day, the candles were lit
for a short time each night, with oohs and aahs expressing the family’s
delight.