Decorations abounded while shoppers browsed the stores for treasures, brightly colored Dickens-era characters made passers-by do a double-take, and a handbell choir performed on the corner of Market Street and Second Street Saturday morning.

It was the season’s second downtown-area open house, sponsored by Main Street Portsmouth.

The Boneyfiddle area stores were stocked with unique and many one-of-a-kind items for shoppers.

“I have clothing of the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s,” said Andy of Andy’s Vintage inside Ghosts in the Attic. “We’ve had a lot of people come in and buy hats because a lot of people decorate with hats.”

Andy was having a sweater sale with all sweaters priced at $1, and coats at 30 percent off.

“A good wool coat is very hard to find today at less than $200 to $300 dollars,” Andy said. “We have them for $40, 30 percent off. I specialize in purses and especially hats. Hats are my favorite.”

She said she also sold a wood plane to a customer who owns a furniture business.

Doug Besco was keeping warm inside the cozy confines of Remember When.

“We sell glassware, pottery, a lot of cups and saucers, and at lof of cookie jars,” Besco said. “I also have new items for giftware, a little bit of furniture.”

The cold, crisp air was penetrated by the distinct sound emanating from the Fairview Missionary Baptist Chuch Bell Choir performing on the corner of Market and Second.

“We’re set up here playing Christmas carols just to make things Christmassy,” said Laurel DeAtley, the handbell choir director.

The precision of the participants was fascinating the crowd that had gathered to experience the sound.

“We usually practice an hour and a half to two hours at a time when we practice about every other week,” DeAtley said. “Most everybody in our choir reads music so that’s a plus because they already read music and play other instruments as well.”

Across Market Street lifelike figures dressed in period attire looked like they too might be doing some caroling.

“They are a representation of Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ story,” Debbie Doll said as she put the finishing touches on some of the paper mache’ figures. “They are not specifically carolers”

Doll said she found the clothing at the Goodwill store and her closet.

“I took shoes from whoever I could find shoes from. There’s a lot of shoeless people walking around right now,” Doll quipped. “Main Street (Portsmouth) approached me on it. They had seen it in Cambridge (Ohio) and I looked at it on the Web site and started getting on the internet and looking at period clothing. It’s my favorite period anyway. I have watched Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ about 60 times in the last few months.”

Sue Burke was setting up the Christmas trees as a backdrop to the display. The trees were next to the flower baskets, which contained a lot of seasonal greenery.

“These are the flower baskets we put up every spring and they look so ugly during the winter, so we decided to try to do something different this year,” Burke said. “So we decorated them to make them look better. And over on the esplanade we have our big flower pots, and we put a lot of greenery in there. We’re adding a little bit every year since we are so short of funds. We’re just doing what we can to make it look better for the holiday season.”

Frank Lewis may be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 232.