At Patsy Camp's house, even Santa Claus wears the stars and stripes. From Memorial Day until after Sept. 11, the home's interiors are swathed in vintage bunting, old banners, flags and uncountable items sporting red, white and blue.

Mrs. Camp collects holiday memorabilia, which she uses to deck the halls at Christmas and outfit the home in Easter finery. George Washington and Uncle Sam – not to mention representations of the Stars and Stripes – are invoked repeatedly in toys, doorstops, figurines, advertising novelties and wartime marketing.

"I do all the holidays," says Mrs. Camp, who raised three children in the Lake Highlands two-story. "What I have collected the most is Christmas, then Halloween and patriotic. Easter is quite a bit, too.

"It takes me a good two weeks to put up Christmas, but patriotic stays up the longest." She says reminders of America's history and affirmation of American values seem apt decoration to honor the memories of those lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

Most of the December decorations are whisked away in January, but a few large Santa figures are in residence permanently. Mrs. Camp drapes a length of vintage bunting, shawl-like, around one's shoulders and ties a piece diagonally across another Santa's chest and belly, like a sash on a visiting dignitary. They blend in with the colorful jumble of collections and curiosities displayed in every room, including the bath.

Mrs. Camp's husband is a collector, too. In fact, she began collecting vintage Christmas decorations to keep her spouse company while he prowled through antiques malls, fairs and shops for American cast iron and Dr Pepper memorabilia.

"We went to the East Coast on July 4 one year and I saw the bunting on all those old houses," recalls Mrs. Camp. They were spectators at the annual old-fashioned parade in Madison, Conn. "There were a fife and drum corps, the high school marching band, Shriners on motorcycles. It was a really neat hometown kind of feeling."

In addition to patriotic emblems made from fabric, the trove includes picture frames dating from the two World Wars and intended to display a family's military men. Other wartime examples in her collection feature Christmas cards and tree ornaments dedicated to the soldiers overseas.

A book released today by Ten Speed Press, 100 American Flags by Kit Hinrichs, Delphine Hirasuna and Terry Heffernan, says the flag of the United States has been personalized in a range of expressions since the banner was first described by the Continental Congress in 1777. It was not until Congress passed official standards in 1912 that the flag itself took on a fixed appearance. By then, many liberties had been taken to sell a product, decorate an item and celebrate an occasion.

There are flag pins, sand pails, pillow covers, parade parasols, tin noisemakers, fragile paper lanterns, snap-on hood ornaments and children's Uncle Sam and Betsy Ross costumes. American symbols were appropriated to sell tobacco products, canned goods and soft drinks.

"Noisemakers, party favors and other objects with Stars and Stripes themes," according to the book's authors, "have been a part of every Fourth of July celebration since the country declared its independence from England in 1776."

In the 10 years Mrs. Camp has been collecting this genre it has become a favorite of regular visitors to her house. "I think it just touches people's hearts," she says. "This stuff was meant to be thrown away. It wasn't meant to be saved. The first time I saw it I just fell in love with it."

The popularity of eBay online auctions has allowed Mrs. Camp to build a large collection in a relatively few years. Online, she has been exposed to many more choices than she would have encountered by stopping at antiques malls and shops on her travels or attending antiques fairs. "Before, the only place I could find those things was on the East Coast," she says. "I think people are decorating more for July 4 – though not as goofy as this.

"The kids used to say I'd put a Christmas garland on anything that didn't move," she says, laughing. "Now they say that about the bunting. They think I have enough bunting."

Her most recent acquisition, vintage yardage in good condition, cost $200. "The more common patterns you can get for a lot less."

Dallas and Texas do not usually decorate for the Fourth in the same way as one of the original 13 colonies might, she observes. While there are plenty of American flags in sight, porches and doorways are not often swagged in colorful bunting or hung with banners. Maybe, she thinks, they should be.

After all, the pride and patriotism the sight stirs in her feels good: "The colors, the patterns, how we used to celebrate the soldiers coming home – and celebrate the country."