Comments on: The Famous Christmas Tree, Denver, CO, 1956

By: Everett G. Senter, Jr.

Everett G. Senter, Jr. — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 04:31:07 +0000

Hi, Gano Senter family! I miss you all and the gatherings at Christmas, and the mechanical birds that chirped sweetly in the living room (some in cages, some not) and the weird electronic instrument in the basement that played a tune by waving your hands around it in precise ways, and the 4 man electro-mechanical band, the player piano, Laurena playing the piano and singing, the phones on 100 foot cords, the museum of memorabilia from his Alaska days, the many stories of his trip when intentionally “Shanghaied” to get to see more of the world. The Gano Senters had much more of interest than just the tree, although the tree was perhaps the most spectacular single item. To answer some questions, the tree limbs were removed from the other trees and holes were drilled into a thick main trunk and the tree limbs added so that ornaments could be hung virtually at every spot on the outside of the tree, until the limbs were nearly impossible to see. But you could still smell them and see a few needles here and there with tinsel and angel hair hiding much of the rest. Lorena was a no nonsense woman, an accomplished parliamentarian, and likely brooked no nonsense from others. I can imagine that she would have gladly performed the first castration herself as a warning not to mess with anyone in a dress. Gano was also capable of expressing himself quite well, and loved to hunt and fish with his Inuit friends (Gano was “adopted” by an Inuit tribe when a tribal leader found Gano asleep in the sun after he fled the ship; with long blond hair he was evidently thought to be a sun god or gift from same). If his shop did not serve fish on Friday it was probably because all the other restaurants did, so why be ordinary? That was not his style. The question needs to be asked, what did his cafe serve on Friday, mountain apples and wild geese? Whatever it was, I am sure it was interesting. Gano was my grandfather Clive Lyon Senter’s brother and they both shared adventurous lifestyles, being able to recite beautiful long poems, and fully able to entertain children and adults with no notice required, as smoothly as a magician. Colorful and talented brothers. I’m proud to remember them at this time. Merry Christmas.

By: Jeff Tyler

Jeff Tyler — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:24:37 +0000

I lived in Gano’s house for 3 years proir to its demolition in 2005 and found the cast iron Christmas tree stand used for the tree in the pic. If anyone is interested in the tree stand, please let me know. I have hundreds of items that belonged to Gano and Laurena Senter.

Thanks – vauntmedia@gmail.com

By: Gano

Gano — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:56:35 +0000

Tracey (comment on 11/16/2010) is my daughter and Gano and Laurena Senter were my grandparents. I am named after my grandfather i.e. Gano Senter Evans. Robin (comment on 12/2/2009) will no doubt enjoy the fact that I, my two sisters, and cousin were all born in the house that where she had her son and so enjoyed.

For about 50 years, my grandmother decorated that tree (s) alone, family would bring down boxes and do support work, but she placed each of the 4-5.000 ornaments on the tree. Family members were allowed to work on the take-down project.

The tree was open to the public every night from just after Thanksgiving to early January (held open for the Denver Stock Show in January) The logistics of running 10,000 people a year through the house to get an oral presentation along with a light show in the living room were an amazing feat considering that the whole family was on call every night. We would often have people show up on our porch on Xmas morning and request to see the tree. No one was ever turned away.

As the fame grew, the Senters’ received ornaments from all over the world. Sometimes, they arrived from the post office with the only address being “Senter Christmas Tree, Denver CO.

There is, of course, a long history of what caused my grandmother to want to collect such a massive array of ornaments and have such a large Xmas tree, but that’s beside the point. It’s true that the Senters’ led an interesting and colorful life.

By: Tracey

Tracey — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:43:20 +0000

Thats my family. In looking for info on the tree I was directed here. Not quite sure what your intrest is? Any how, it once was a fabulous tree that many enjoyed. It was a tradition for my family. A great memory!

By: Robin

Robin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:37:48 +0000

I was so happy to find this photo! I have been doing research on the Senters. After the Senters died in 1986 their house was sold to Gates Rubber company. I was fortunate to be able to rent their 5,ooo sq. ft. house where my son was born. Unfortunately it was torn down about 5 years ago to make room for new construction. Seeing a photo of this beautiful tree in what was my living room is amazing. Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas!

By: Liz

Liz — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:35:20 +0000

So wait – did you see the actual tree? Or was the scrap book all she had?? I would’ve been a little miffed, myself….!

By: William

William — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:16:45 +0000

I love your site and all those incredible period pictures. How I wish I could have grown up in mid century California.

By: Dennis

Dennis — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 04:30:49 +0000

I saw this tree when I moved to Denver in the early 70s. It was in a gift shop in Englewood CO called Kathy’s Import Chalet. When I saw it the frame was made out of chicken wire and the ornaments hung or laid on it. It was all enclosed behind a glass box and smo of the ornaments were broken just because of the age.

By: Phil

Phil — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 20:46:42 +0000

The tree is holding up the house.

By: Trish

Trish — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 11:23:30 +0000

Holy COW! I LIKE it.