Pricey memories: A Norman Rockwell painting, commissioned...

Pricey memories: A Norman Rockwell painting, commissioned in 1950 to help sell American cars, went to an unidentified Japanese bidder for $264,000 at a New York auction house on Sunday. The oil on canvas is titled “Merry Christmas, Grandma. We came in our new Plymouth.” Judy Goffman, an American-illustrations dealer, said the price was the highest ever for a work by the folk artist. “It’s the first time a Japanese buyer has purchased an American illustrator for that type of price,” said auctioneer Joseph DuMouchelle. The picture was in an advertisement in Life magazine in December, 1950, he said. It depicts a family at the door of a house during the holiday, their arms loaded with gifts.

Christmas Treevia: “I like to get off the beaten path,” says Dallas hairdresser Jay Brewer, whose Christmas tree is suspended upside down from his ceiling. “Every day I come home and hope and pray it’s still up there,” he said of the 7-foot-tall artificial tree with 1,400 white lights and a small motor that constantly rotates it. “Most people get dizzy watching it,” he said.

Don’t Buck Bush: If President George Bush’s wallet were stolen, he might not notice immediately. “You carry cash, but you don’t use it much,” the President confesses in the year-end issue of People magazine. Asked by a reporter how much he carries, he counted his cash--$53--and said: “I’ve had it there for quite awhile.”

Do-si-dogs: Most square-dancers wear red-and-green shirts and swirling skirts this time of year. But the Promenade Pups wear only bandannas. They are a canine square-dance troupe that has performed in the Dallas area for about a year, mostly with humans at their sides. But sometimes the pooches have to stand still when their owners do really intricate steps.