Christmas past
Christmas loses a lot of its significance without a family to share it with. So, this time of year especially, my mind just naturally wanders back in time to Christmases long past...
Christmas, 1955, at our old home at 539 E. Foothill Blvd. in Glendora, California. I'm 15 months old, and I already have a nice collection of plush toys. (I have an even nicer collection of them now!) I actually still have the old mohair teddy bear that's behind and to the left of the monkey. "Mama Bear" belonged to my mother when she was a girl, so the teddy would be around 90 years old now.
And this one, also from 1955, was taken at my Aunt Lorraine's house at 609 Marine Ave. in Manhattan Beach, California. *chuckle* Nice to see Dad here displaying his customary enthusiasm for the Christmas season!
While we're here, I may as well introduce Lorraine Taylor's boys. That's my cousin Timothy at lower left, and Barry at right. Today, they're still older than I am!
It's odd there are no photos of Christmas, 1959. You'd think there'd be pictures of our first Christmas in our new home. I think I know why - probably the only ones taken were home movies. I remember Mom gave Dad a Bell & Howell movie camera for Christmas, 1958, and the most memorable gift of 1959 was a set of floodlights for indoor movie making. (I still have our home movies, but I don't have a way to play them anymore.)
Anyway, at the new Covina house, we had a real tree for the first couple of Christmases. Then Mom got this spiffy aluminum Xmas tree in 1961. It was pretty, but I hated having to put it together and take it apart every year. Made having a tree more of a chore than anything.
1961. I remember this Santa, and I remember that jacket, too! I got it for my fifth birthday. I remember wearing it at a ballgame in Glendora Park with my grandmother, and us walking back home together at night. In this picture, from December 1961, I'm seven, and you can see the jacket is already way too small for me, but Mom let me keep it longer because I liked it.
About Santa here - I remember thinking he was really real - that this one was the true Santa Claus. I think he was the Santa at May Company that year. Santa in the basement that year, too. Ah, all the little things that lodged in my memory, stuck there even to this day...
1962. My fly being open here kind of spoiled the shot. ;)
1964. My piñata from school! I was the first kid to swing at it, and I busted it right open! No one else got to swing at it. I win! :D A rare trophy of victory, I actually kept that piñata in my attic until I moved away from home for good in 1983...
I usually hated getting clothes for Christmas, but there were some exceptions, like this kimono in 1966. I really wish I could have found a picture of me in my Nehru jacket the following year! I got turtle necks and hippie medallions, too. So I did get some fun apparel sometimes. It wasn't all just underwear and dress shirts.
Christmas, 1955, at our old home at 539 E. Foothill Blvd. in Glendora, California. I'm 15 months old, and I already have a nice collection of plush toys. (I have an even nicer collection of them now!) I actually still have the old mohair teddy bear that's behind and to the left of the monkey. "Mama Bear" belonged to my mother when she was a girl, so the teddy would be around 90 years old now.
And this one, also from 1955, was taken at my Aunt Lorraine's house at 609 Marine Ave. in Manhattan Beach, California. *chuckle* Nice to see Dad here displaying his customary enthusiasm for the Christmas season!
While we're here, I may as well introduce Lorraine Taylor's boys. That's my cousin Timothy at lower left, and Barry at right. Today, they're still older than I am!
It's odd there are no photos of Christmas, 1959. You'd think there'd be pictures of our first Christmas in our new home. I think I know why - probably the only ones taken were home movies. I remember Mom gave Dad a Bell & Howell movie camera for Christmas, 1958, and the most memorable gift of 1959 was a set of floodlights for indoor movie making. (I still have our home movies, but I don't have a way to play them anymore.)
Anyway, at the new Covina house, we had a real tree for the first couple of Christmases. Then Mom got this spiffy aluminum Xmas tree in 1961. It was pretty, but I hated having to put it together and take it apart every year. Made having a tree more of a chore than anything.
1961. I remember this Santa, and I remember that jacket, too! I got it for my fifth birthday. I remember wearing it at a ballgame in Glendora Park with my grandmother, and us walking back home together at night. In this picture, from December 1961, I'm seven, and you can see the jacket is already way too small for me, but Mom let me keep it longer because I liked it.
About Santa here - I remember thinking he was really real - that this one was the true Santa Claus. I think he was the Santa at May Company that year. Santa in the basement that year, too. Ah, all the little things that lodged in my memory, stuck there even to this day...
1962. My fly being open here kind of spoiled the shot. ;)
1964. My piñata from school! I was the first kid to swing at it, and I busted it right open! No one else got to swing at it. I win! :D A rare trophy of victory, I actually kept that piñata in my attic until I moved away from home for good in 1983...
I usually hated getting clothes for Christmas, but there were some exceptions, like this kimono in 1966. I really wish I could have found a picture of me in my Nehru jacket the following year! I got turtle necks and hippie medallions, too. So I did get some fun apparel sometimes. It wasn't all just underwear and dress shirts.