With Christmas less than a week away, I found myself looking back at old Christmas photos. In many cases, there are photos of people that are no longer with us. For the ones I remember, I can look back on the photos and smile. For the ones that I don’t remember, I stare at the photos and wonder.
Case in point – the above photo was taken on Christmas 1970. In the photo I am just 7 months old. The man holding me is my Great Grandpa Becker. I only know him from photos. He would pass away just two months after these pictures were taken.
There may be other photos of him and I together, but these two are the only ones I remember. The lady standing next to us is my grandma, my great grandpa’s daughter. Despite not ever knowing him, I love the fact that he seems to be quite happy holding his great grandson. I wish I knew more about him.
Outside of the people in the photo, I do like looking at the background stuff. The first thing that screams out at me is the paneling. This may be in my grandparent’s basement, but I don’t know for sure. The Christmas tree is probably a real tree. It certainly looks that way. I seem to remember everyone having that type of tree topper as a kid.
In the picture with my grandma, those ducks on the wall I remember well. I may be mistaken, but they may have been hung on the wall of the trailer they had in Caseville long after this picture was taken. I also love that folks still dressed up for holidays. My great grandpa looks pretty spiffy in a suit. I know that there are other photos over the years where men wore suits and ties to Christmas dinner.
On that end table (which was common in SO many homes at that time) is an ashtray. An ashtray was a staple in homes when I was growing up. They pop up in SO many photos. I am going to guess that is an old beer bottle there, too. The thing that is funny about that photo is that I believe that may be an old phone book that the bottle is sitting on.
It is hard to tell, but it looks like a map of Michigan counties on the front. It also looks like the top pages are white (they would be residential numbers) and the bottom pages are yellow (the businesses). These were in every home. There was no Google back then. If you needed a number, you grabbed the yellow pages!
There are times that I wish that I could go back and look at past Christmases. You know, like Scrooge did in A Christmas Carol. I wouldn’t need to be seen or heard, I would just like to watch and observe those loved ones from the past. I would love to smell the dinner grandma was preparing. I would love to once again hear the voices of folks who I have forgotten what they sounded like. I’d love to hear my mother laughing again. I would love to relive the excitement that all of us kids felt when opening presents.
I wouldn’t go back to learn a lesson as Scrooge did. I would just like to experience it all – one more time.
Ok, the last two weeks were flashbacks of a serious nature, so I thought I would find a picture I could pick apart a bit. I know Max over at the PowerPop blog loves these photos.
According to the date stamp, this was developed in 1988 (the year I graduated from high school). That being said, we never seemed to develop film right away, so this could have been taken in 1987. Welcome to a little corner of my brother’s room.
The first thing that hits me are two 70’s/80’s decorative staples – Paneling and wallpaper! I can still remember when my folks hung that astronaut wallpaper. I cannot remember if this was my room first or my brother’s. At some point, maybe before they hung the wallpaper, we switched rooms. Mine had globes and maps on the wall.
While my brother and I are very different, we are also very similar. Case in point: we both had shelves in our rooms for photos and display pieces. My shelves had Three Stooges dolls, a couple autographed pictures, ceramic pieces that my mother had made, and little collectibles. This bookcase/shelving unit was were my brother displayed many of his favorite things and photos.
Before I look at the shelves, I want to point out that in 1987 our band went to Disney in Florida and marched in a parade there. The Goofy hat on the wall was something that I believe both my brother and I had. I have no idea what that red thing is hanging in the upper left of this picture. He may remember.
I have blogged in the past about mom’s ceramics hobby and this photo features some of her work. You can read about that hobby here:
We were obviously into Star Wars back then. Starting at the left on the top shelf is the first Star Wars piece mom made, R2-D2. She may have asked the two of us what pieces we’d like for her to make for us. I seem to remember asking for Chewbacca, who is next on the shelf. The R2-D2 was fairly simple. The detail was good and it had a shine to it. I remember my mom did something different with Chewbacca. For the life of me, I can’t remember what she called it, but it had more of a dirt/flat look to it. You really can’t tell, but in front of Chewbacca is the controls to the Millennium Falcon. I remember thinking how professional the thing looked and thinking, “My mom made this!”
In front of Chewbacca is a small ceramic cat that mom made for my brother. It is much like the little pieces that I mentioned in the blog link above. I have to chuckle at the that coconut next to Chewbacca. We both had one, I think one was just a single person, while it looks like Chris’s may have been two. I think those were banks, but I could be wrong. Did we get those at Disney, too? I think so, but I cannot recall.
Next to that coconut is one of the best pieces my mom ever did – Yoda. This was the final Star Wars piece she worked on and it was fantastic. She was always trying new things and for Yoda’s coat, she used some kind of sandy stucco stuff that really made it look cool. The detail on this piece was just amazing.
Before moving to the last piece on the top shelf, I have to point out that the US and Italian Flags on that shelf were something that we both got while in Epcot, a trip that (for me) was cut short because of an ambulance ride to the hospital (it was nothing).
The last piece on that shelf may be the piece that started it all for my brother’s Wonder Woman collection. He has always loved the show, the comics, and everything about her. At one point he had enough Wonder Woman stuff to fill that entire book case. Today he has a Wonder Woman ROOM!
As you move down a shelf, there are a load of pictures that I know just by looking at them. Even though they are blurry in this photo, I know exactly what they are. The first is a photo of my folks, my brother, and my grandma in Florida. It was one of those “old time” photos. I was off with my friends when they had it taken. Then there are photos of my Aunt Jodi and my grandma. I’m not sure where the cross came from, but it looks like maybe there is a rosary hanging from it. (We were raised Catholic, but no longer practice that). Then there is a photo of my other grandparents, my cheesy senior picture, my brother’s favorite photo of him and my grandpa, a Polaroid of a lot of us on squeezed on the couch with my other grandpa and our dad, and finally another old time photo of Chris and my dad in some Civil War get up.
I have to admit that the dog on the shelf below the photo shelf looked familiar. I kept thinking it was something like Teddy Ruxpin and I wasn’t far off. Long before they produced Webkinz, Ganz made Wrinkles Talking Dogs. When I looked it up, it said it was a puppet.
Each one of those dogs had a tag with a number on it, making each one unique. Ebay had one for sale – for $400!! Yikes.
Back to the photo…I remember Garfield being a big deal around this time. All of the school book sales had Garfield books, the book stores always had a big display of them, and it was always on the front page of the Sunday comics page. Not to mention the TV show and movies… I don’t remember my brother being into Garfield, but there he is with Odie. Another picture of grandma and Jodi in on that shelf, too.
Here’s where it get’s sketchy, but I can make out most of the rest of the photo. Below Garfield are Disney’s Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Goofy (that’s a tiny bit of his hat you can see). My brother has always loved Disney and goes there almost annually. If I had $5 for every Disney Character he has taken a photo with, I could maybe fund a trip to Disney!
Just a couple more observations. Next to the Disney stuffies, you can make out the top of an old time radio. I think, and I may be wrong, my brother and I both had one of these. You could listen to AM/FM radio on it and on the side was a spot you slid a cassette tape in to listen to it. We had MANY old radio shows on cassette and listened to them often.
Finally, in the bottom right corner of the photo is a TV. I laughed out loud when I saw the dials to change the channels on it! My first thought was that the box on top of it was a cable box, but it is too early for that. I’m pretty sure that was my brother’s alarm clock. That TV was the one we played Atari and Nintendo on back in the day. We may even have had a Betamax video player in there. Those were the days!!
I’ll have to find a photo of the shelves in my room to share one day. If I do, I will warn you, my room was always a disaster!
As my birthday approaches this coming week, I thought it would be fun to look at a birthday from the past. These photos will take you back 46 years to my 8th birthday.
The first thing I notice about this photo is the fact that my folks didn’t develop the film for over a year!! I find that hilarious.
The little dude in the awful brown and yellow outfit cutting the cake is yours truly. Look at that mop of hair!! This was probably one of the last birthdays I was sort of skinny.
The lady in red is my beautiful mom who made my birthday cake. At 8 years old, I’m sure I didn’t ask for a train cake, it was probably one of the cake pans she had already in the house. Just looking at this picture makes me miss her even more.
I cannot be sure, but I am guessing that my aunt is to my mom’s left. It looks like she is sitting on one of these green bar chairs we had. My brother is to my right with a party staple – Towne Club pop!
As I tend to do, I want to see the stuff in the background, but so often the photos are blurry. There are some things of interest here, however. I do not for the life of me remember the olive green corded phone on the wall. I do remember my mom and dad sticking notes with numbers and such above it. It looks like there might be a couple index cards there.
Directly behind my mom, up against the wall, I can make out what is probably a macramé plant holder. If memory serves me right, there were sea shells woven into the plant hanger itself. My mom hand plenty of plants in the house and at one point I had made her a plant hanger at summer camp.
I have to laugh at the classic Mr. Coffee Coffee Pot on the counter. I think every family member had one of those except my grandma who only used a percolator for coffee. It looks like my folks have stacked up stuff on the counter, which was a constant. I remember my dad moving stuff off the coffee pot whenever he had to make coffee.
I really tried to make out what looks like a bookcase, or maybe part of the stereo in the room behind my mom. It looks like it may have photo albums on there, but I can’t be sure. That was usually the spot where the TV was, but it could have been in a different spot at this time.
I had originally only wanted to post the one photo, however, after looking at another one taken the same day, I had to share for one reason – the ugly wallpaper! Get a load of that terrible pattern!
I like this picture a lot more than the other, because I have a cheesy grin and it screams 1970’s! For example, the paneling up half the wall. Paneling seemed to be in every house back then! Then, of course, the Polaroid cameras that every had back then. I’m surprised that these pictures were not taken with one!
If you look at the middle of the table, you will just be able to see a bit of one of mom’s plants. It may have been what she called spider plants. She used to have pieces of those plants in jars, vases, and pots all over the place! And just above my head is the bottom “tail” of one of the many plant hangers mom had.
The weird thing about these photos is that I can tell you without seeing them, who was there to celebrate with us. Both sets of grandparents, my aunt, and my folks. It was never really a big deal, but I loved those little birthday parties.
Oh, to go back 46 years just to see those folks who are no longer here ….
It’s time for another Friday Photo Flashback. While I was looking for Halloween costume pictures, I came across a photo I have never seen before of my brother.
From what I can tell, this was taken at my parents house and has to be fairly soon after we moved in. I am almost positive that it is our house because I recognize the yellow curtains on the basement windows.
I don’t know what event was being hosted in the basement, but it seems to be some sort of gathering. Maybe it was my communion party or something. My brother is holding flowers, so maybe it is a birthday party, I really don’t know.
Most of the paneling is still up in the basement at my folks house, though the basement is quite darker now as people rarely go down there. The man standing on the far left looks like my mom’s dad. He is standing in front of what used to be the “bar.” My dad had bottles of alcohol on there and those white mugs, which can be seen in the pitcure.
On the floor, to the right of my grandpa is a case of Towne Club! You used to go there with the crate and pick the flavors you wanted. It was a staple at all gatherings growing up. It’s awesome to see that in this picture.
I do not recognize the desk next to my brother at all. I don’t know where it came from or even how long we had it. It probably wasn’t long, as I don’t recall it being down there at all!
The craziest thing in this picture (beside the pants my brother is wearing) is the stereo on the desk. WOW! It is obviously a turntable with a tuner and the 8-Track player!! Whether or not this is the 8-Track recorder my dad made tapes on I cannot be sure. It is probably just a player. I wish I could zoom in closer on this picture because I’d love to see it in more detail!
What a find this picture was! The one thing I have to wonder is how much detergent my mom had to use to clean the stains on my brother’s pants!! It looks like he was playing in the dirt somewhere!
It’s another Friday Photo Flashback! Here is today’s photo:
I am unsure of the year on this photo, but I’m going to guess I am 6 and my brother is 4. We are in pajamas, so I am guessing that we are at our house, possibly in our kitchen. I guess that because of the flooring. I know we had paneling in our basement, but before they painted I thought there was paneling in the kitchen, too.
Outside of the terrible paneling, the first thing that jumps out at me is the extremely cheesy smile on my brother’s face. As a matter of fact, that’s why I chose this picture. I chuckled out loud when I saw it. The laughter was brought on partly by his grin and partly by the fact that we are dressed as cowboys in PJ’s!
I love that my brother is wearing sleeper “footie” pajamas! It seems to me that I am wearing some socks that don’t match as part of my ensemble. I’m truly a hodgepodge of whatever was available to wear it seems. I would think that my brother’s hat would match my outfit better, but it must have been too small.
I am almost 100% sure that the guns we are holding were made of metal. These would have been smaller than the ones I would play with when I was 11 or 12, but metal none the less. I have to crack up at the ridiculous looking belts with holsters. I am sure that they made of cheap plastic and probably ripped from the belt after a few times of placing the guns in them.
I don’t recall if these were a Christmas or Easter gift, but I’m sure that they were received on one of the two holidays. I wish I knew more of the story surrounding this photo.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 