The "Little People"

Mom & Dad had received an analog wall clock as one of their wedding gifts. It was black & white & had an hourly chime with a swinging black medallion at its base. It was vertical & rectangular & hung from the wall against the side of the house at the foot of the staircase leading to the second floor from the entryway foyer. It hung in a frame which perplexed me as a child.

The walls of the house were plastered in a swirl with a cream, or off-white paint color. As a child I'd considered this clock to be two pieces. One which was the actual timing device, where the Roman numerals were painted; the other, the long, vertical, simple, black frame.

I'd understood this clock incorrectly. The "two pieces" as I'd understood them to be were attached with a white-colored piece - which had no "swirl" in it because it wasn't plaster (😎😂).

It was because of our decorating at Christmas that I came to understand this clock. It wasn't that it was "off limits" throughout the rest of the year; I'd pass it many times throughout the day to get from the bedrooms (all of which were located on the second floor), to the main floor beginning at the foyer, or even to the basement & outside.

This clock wasn't something I ever found myself pondering less I was decorating it or sitting ten plus feet across from it - through the foyer - in the living room, which is where I sat while I concocted my disillusioned concept of the clock as two pieces rather than the one that it is.

By happenchance we began placing particular ornaments atop this clock, more specifically, atop the clock's frame. The ornaments which found their way to that frame's top were what we deemed the "Little People". There were a few others, such as a snowman & a Christmas tree, which where of the same make & mold, so they were affixed in place atop the frame alongside these "people", which were little ornament Christmas carolers.

There were roughly half a dozen figures in total. I remember them being about 2" high, unlike those in the image link, which are 1-1/4" high. Click this link for other varieties of these sets. Kurt Adler seems to be a modern day popular artist of these. This set is similar to the one we had as well, though there are no "Little People"/carolers included.

Somewhere during the subsequent years, placing these "Little People" atop that clock's frame created a finality within me; I'd feel decorated. Christmas was definitely coming; I was ready. I'd actually sigh a deep breath. And with the innocence of someone of my age at the time, I'd wear a smile & feel contentment I can only work toward at my age today.

When I moved out Mom made sure I took our set of "Little People" with me in so that I could still feel that feeling of completion; that Christmas surely was on its way.

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