A Christmas Tradition

Every year, when it came time to decorate the Christmas tree, when my mother and, later, my father, would unpack the lights and the ornaments, they'd find light strands that no longer worked, boxes of broken ornaments, and there would never be enough extension cords.

So, we'd all go out to buy what we needed.  When we lived in South Jersey in the late sixties and into the seventies, there was always one place we went to first.  This was a garden center/nursery called Gaudio's.  My parents used Gaudio's in the summer too, for plants, fertilizer, lawn care items, and the like, but it was only when the Christmas season rolled around that Gaudio's became interesting to me.  This store really outdid itself when it came to providing everything needed to decorate for the holidays. 

As well as having aisles devoted to every type of Christmas decorating imaginable and also wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows, Gaudio's devoted one room as a kind of a Christmas wonderland.  Inside this darkened room lit only by strands of Christmas lights, were several Christmas trees decorated in various styles.  There was a winding path among the trees with fake snow covering the floor.  As a kid, I couldn't wait to see this each year and it never failed to get me into the Christmas spirit.  I don't know if I'd be as impressed seeing it now as an adult, but just remembering it now is enough to put me in a Christmas mood.

Indeed, while looking online to see if there was anything on the net about Gaudio's, I was suddenly overcome with a great homesickness for New Jersey, a place I've not seen in over 25 years.  Unfortunately, all I could find were some passing references to this store, and I'm guessing it's no longer in business.  Too bad.

Is there a place like Gaudio's in your Christmas past?   And for those of you who lived in the South Jersey, Philadelphia metropolitan area, did any of you ever go to Gaudio's?