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Dear Mr. Scrooge, (Bob Crachit would never address you as just "Scrooge.") I'll start off by saying this is not an "argument" or "fight" here, just a friendly point of opinion. I read your post with interest. As I said in my previous reply to Mel I've been in several hobbies over the years and been on as least as many boards. Some of those boards did not have a "friendly" policy in fact some actually encouraged tension on the board. My experience with those boards were that they shrunk and kept new blood out, blood that could have contributed a lot. In one case the owner of the board apparently could dish it out but couldn't take it and actually abandoned the board. So I agree that the "friendly" way is the only way to go especially on a board like "Planet CHRISTMAS" (my emphasis on Christmas). I don't think I've read any of your posts so I can't comment on your comment style. I'm not one to walk away from a discussion even if it gets heated, I think discussion is good, if you can't take the heat stay out of the kitchen. But one thing I have learned over the years is that Internet board posting is different. Someone once taught me you can pretty much say anything to anyone if you do it with a smile on your face. But Emoticons be damned you cannot read another persons demeanor on the Internet, there is no way you can see that smile when someone posts on a board. I recently got into a fight with a friend because he kiddingly posted something about me on a board. The problem was that I WAS sensitive to the issue for reasons he did not know about or could have understood and that he was kidding me on a public forum where there were others who did not know us and who could have perceived the post as him insulting me and me backing down from it. Yes, we patched things up but not before they got out of hand on the board and that should have never had happened. The other members of the board probably were made uncomfortable about it, I know at least one member was and spoke to me about it. I don't know why the moderator didn't step in, maybe he should have. In any event we are all different personalities, some thick skinned, some thin skinned, and we all have different posting styles. The problem is that when posting on the Internet it is too easy for those personalities to not understand each other, misunderstand each other and to clash. For that reason I understand why moderators have to review, interpret and moderate posts as they deem necessary. I've had posts removed on other boards and after I thought about it I could see their thoughts why .

Mel, I'm a newbie here. I don't post much because I have little to say. You learn by keeping your mouth shut and ears open. So I lurk. And I listen- to guys like you. I don't see the point of posting when you don't have anything to say. It's like posts where someone says- "Does anybody know . . .?" and you have to wade through a bunch of "No, I don't." replies. I have several hobbies and over the years been on many boards for those hobbies. I have found that every hobby has one guy who knows most everything (and I do not mean that sarcastically). They are the "gurus" of the hobby. But they are different personalities, often with quirks like being secretive, unfriendly, intolerant, impatient and somethings downright nasty. I'm a newbie but already I see you as the guru of this hobby, the go to guy, willing to teach and to share. Not all gurus are like that. When I posted my lantern question you told me all you knew (which to me was a lot) AND you posted pictures, pictures of things you must have put a lot of time and effort into finding. You shared and I really appreciated that! A lot of gurus I've met never share what they have, they hog and hoard citing the reason (notice I don't say excuse because their reason is valid) that what they post is taken by others and used without their permission. Having run a web site I understand the problem and their concerns. But I'm getting off course and beginning to "ramble." But you, Mel, you just keep "rambling". I don't see it as rambling I see it as sharing what you know, what you worked hard for years to amass, learn and teach to us newbies. Keep rambling, Mel, cause I'm all ears. Thanks for sharing. BTW- my web site (inactive for technical reasons) is www.POLICENY.com . And I'm posting a photo of my other hobby of which some of my friends consider me to be the "go to guy."

Thanks, Mel. So it is quite old, I'm not surprised based on the lamp cord that came with it. I couldn't find any markings on it.

Can anyone tell me anything about this blow mold lantern? Based on the wire that came with it it looks pretty old.

Thank you, all, for the nice comments. You can't see the nativity set anymore. We were supposed to get 3-6" inches of snow here but somehow I wound up with 14" in front of my house. It's almost time to take the Christmas decorations down but I may have to let some of them thaw out first. It's been below freezing for over a week now but next week it's supposed to be in the high 30's and low 40's so hopefully I can get to things. I remember one year I couldn't remove some items until early March.

I saw one of those lanterns online during the summer and said I have to find one. Was looking for months, finally got one last month.

Hard to say, it's still coming down with another 2 hours to go. First they said 2-4 then 3-5 but from what I see it's going to be between 2 and 3 inches. Thank you. I wouldn't mind the snow so much if it didn't turn to ice. I have to keep the sidewalk clean so people don't slip and fall and that's a lot of work.

We are getting some early snow here in NYC. I took a few shots of my blow molds in the snow. Nothing fancy, I'm a poor photographer, just a few photos taken with my flipphone.

I'm new here so I really have nothing to offer or add to the site. I am mainly interested in blow molds. I wasn't aware of the FACEBOOK pages mentioned but I checked them out briefly. Nice but like someone else said I'm not into FACEBOOK. Too much for me to keep up with. What I've seen here so far looks good. Considering the time of year I thought there would be more activity in the forums but I like what I've seen so far so I will be checking in from time to time.

Wow! Pretty nice display. Must be a lot of work, I think you could scale back a little without too many people noticing (LOL). But according to your web site it looks like you are adding lights every year.

Very nice, looks great.

Very nice, picture perfect. Everything looks great- the sled, the MERRY CHRISTMAS lights, elevated nativity, everything including the leaves on the ground.

Not sure if this fits in with the topic but it seems to. We live in a city, typical urban street with detached and semi-attached houses on 20-60 foot wide lots so you don't have a lot of room for big displays. But I've always put up what I consider a lot of decorations. As time went by and I got older I started thinking why bother, it's a lot of work and does the rest of the family even care? Yes, I would get some compliments from people passing by and small kids seem to be mesmerized by it but not enough to make me feel it was worthwhile. So I started thinking of cutting back and maybe even stopping all together. I should mention here that we have an awning over our stoop and a trellis in our small front yard and they are decorated with at least a few strings of holiday or seasonal lights all year long. One cold night I am out there putting up the Christmas lights thinking to myself this is it, the last year, when an elderly woman with a walker passed by. She said, I always love looking at your lights, they are so nice to look at, they make me feel good. I asked her where she lived on the block. She said she did not live on my block she lived on the next block over from my street. Now this woman could barely walk so I asked how could she see my lights "all the time"? She pointed over to a tall apartment house on the next block and said, I live up there, on the top floor, I can look down and always see them from my window. Well, I have cut back over the years but I still always put out something and all year long. If for no one else I do it for her because I know she is looking down from somewhere and still enjoying the lights.