Christmas With Wilbur and Orville: 1900

Of course...now I see it, even without zooming in it does appear to be either that or a fur hat of some sort to go along with the gun? That is really quite funny, to place it in the tree.... maybe the brothers had a sharp wit as well as a sharp intellect...... Thanks Dave....

Is that some kind of animal in the tree? House pet sleeping or trophy? I have never seen that before.

[Seems to be a fur stole. - Dave]

Two comments:

1) I believe they had a younger sister. Perhaps the girl's gifts under the tree are for her.

2) As a kid, I read a book about them. One interesting anecdote that stuck with me: Before their Dad was a Bishop, he was just a church pastor, and his two young sons got stuck with the boring chore of folding the church bulletins every Saturday night. To deal with this dreary task, they used their creativity and inventiveness to design and build a machine to fold the bulletins for them! I would just love to see this contraption. Most likely it long ago was destroyed, but maybe there's a tiny chance it survived and is in a museum somewhere, eh?

You can see the taps for the gas just before the fixture elbows up into the light mantles (I think that's what they were called). Hard to imagine Bishop Wright spending the money (or even having) the money needed to convert from gaslight to electric. If we think about the fire danger from candles on a Christmas tree, I think we could also offer a bit of concern about a gas flame being so close to a wallpapered ceiling.

The ceiling fixture looks electric, so I guess Dayton had electricity in 1900.

[I think those are gaslights on the ceiling. - Dave]

What great presents--the doll tea and dishes set, roller skates and some very detailed doll furniture, the train--a classic Christmas!

I wonder if the gun under the tree is an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!

By the way, does anyone know what the cup-shaped ornaments on the tree are? I've never seen those before.

No "fragile" leg lamp in the window?

Denny Gill
Chugiak, Alaska

Wow, I'd hate to wallpaper a ceiling.

I wonder how much these toys would go for on eBay.

Wow coin bags, dolls, candles, popcorn, and of course a star at the top. The man's head in the picture on the right is blocked by an ornament. Plus, those books are awesome, now that's a book cover. And is that a rifle I see?

[I think it is! And there's a tag on it. Unfortunately I can't read the writing. I also see roller skates and a toy locomotive. Click here for a closeup of the gifts. But only if you've been good. - Dave]

... has got to be the most optimistic decoration ever.

"nah, it's fine, it wont' burn up"

The toys must've been for nieces and nephews, as Orville and Wilbur were unmarried and (presumably) had no children. I wonder if the wrapping paper was leftover from their printing business.

["Don't bother me, kid. I'm inventing the airplane!" - Dave]

These trees were fire hazards. Also lit by candles, my mom's family tree burned down in the 1930s and took their few gifts with it. Gifting was so much simpler then, without the megahyped products and must have items of today. Dolls, books, toiletries and no batteries required!