Santa’s Star(fish)

People are endlessly creative. I struggle to pass by handmade Santa Claus pieces when I am thrifting or garage sale hunting. The problem is there are entirely too many out there, made in remarkable mediums, including ceramic, wood, gourds, cornhusk, lightbulbs, cloth, wax, and, apparently, starfish. There are also an obscene amount of cheaply made ones, mostly from China, at which I turn up my nose. When I bring home a handmade Santa, I tuck it into one of the storage bins in our basement, rarely recalling what I’ve gathered until it’s time to bring up the holiday bins. When unpacking, it becomes a bit ridiculous as all the “new” Santa’s emerge.

I have been purging the holiday decorations – getting rid of things hubby and I have no attachment to, selling vintage pieces and donating others to a thrift store. Some things I’ve passed on to the kids, especially those things that have meaning for them. But sadly none of this seems to apply to Santa. If he was handmade, I become sentimentally attached. I often wonder why people get rid of these art projects, as someone somewhere put a good deal of effort into making them. And the handiwork is often amazing.

This year the collection grew significantly. I had stopped at a garage sale this past summer at a small home in our town. The owner had moved into a care facility and the sale was run by neighbors which was very sweet. On a table in the driveway was a fraternity of handmade Santa’s. Dear lord I was overwhelmed. They were not priced, so I tried to pick a favorite one or two, figuring they may be expensive. I then learned they were a $1.00 apiece. Ok, game over. I picked up 12, though I did sell one on eBay for $32 (apparently Johanna Parker papier-mâché Santa’s from the 1980s are collectible).

I was recently poking about the local thrift shop and found a beautiful ceramic one, passing on two sewn ones from the 1980s –they were a tad too “country living” for my taste. Another one - made out of a starfish – was also at the thrift shop, but I struggled a bit deciding whether to buy it. It feels slightly peculiar, and I still have not decided if it is a creative use of the poor starfish, or sacrilegious to the animal. It reminds me of the antique ivory dresser set I have.

The set was from my grandmother, Katharine Strong Humphrey Osborne (1905-1987), though it is unclear how she got them. I am guessing they were her mother’s, Margaret LeBoutille Strong (1874-1906), who died after Katharine’s birth. I get a queasy stomach when I hold them, but realize the poor elephant died over 100 years ago for these things to be made, and to not treasure them is also disrespectful of the elephant’s death. In my great grandmother’s day, there was no concern for the animal involved, and, as the set was saved by my grandmother and my parents, it clearly was considered a valuable item. My mother displayed the set on a dresser in my eldest sisters’ bedroom, and eventually she gave them to me. I have them stored in a cloth bag and remain unsure what to do with them. (Suggestions are welcome).

But, the starfish! Good grief. It is hard to fathom how that was considered a “canvas” to make a Santa. But who am I to judge? I love all the carved wood, cloth-stuffed, ceramic made Santa’s, and adding a starfish Santa seemed a good idea at the time. It does still make me cringe, but art is not always about loving something. Sometimes it is about making you think.

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