Hey! It's Nanook's birthday! Yes, Sue B. reminded me. And she also sent a series of scans from a vintage birthday party - date unknown, but probably from the Renaissance.
Whoa, that's some cake! Yellow frosting reminds me of desert sands, while various cowboys shoot it out, some on horseback. It's like a John Ford movie! The plates are "Flintstones" themed, but who's complaining? Everyone has their very own balloon to inflate later.
I'll never forget going to a neighbor's birthday party, when I was a kid, and watching the boy spray saliva all over the cake when he blew out the candles. I passed on the cake, much to the mother's astonishment.
Oh boy, I see some party favors! Sadly I can't tell what they are. Birthday Boy has a nice stack of presents, I'm sure that the red beribboned box contains a ball peen hammer. 1,001 uses! On the washing machine, a sweet toy race car.
"Here, Marky, open this!". She knows that he really wants that ball peen hammer, but he'll just have to wait. But it's OK, he's about to discover that he has a subscription to GQ magazine!
Happy Birthday, Nanook, and thank you, Sue!
**************************
Kids! They are omnipresent, and omnivorous (just sayin'). Hand a kid a rock? He'll try to eat it. It's hilarious! I picked out two vintage photos of some vintage kids, just for the halibut.
First up is this three year-old (?) proudly holding his toy tractor, which must be new because I don't see the usual paint scratches and dings, and the tires are still glossy. Don't play with it, kid, in 70 years it will be worth, I dunno, $100? Why have fun now when you can have money later? My uncle Harold (in Minnesota) had a very old toy tractor in his basement (on a shelf next to the Hammond electric organ), and he generously gave it to me long ago. Of course I still have it. Uncle Harold and Aunt Florence were such good people, I remember them fondly.
This photo is from the 1960s, but 30 years earlier these kids would have been in Our Gang comedies. I'll call them Clarence, Violet, and Barnaby. They're giving that groovy "soapbox car" (there's probably a more appropriate name) a helping hand, maybe they lived on a slight hill so that gravity did the work. The car is made from pegboard, wagon wheels, scraps of lumber, and a length of clothesline for steering. I had hoped we might be able to see the year on the California license plate, but no such luck.
A very merry birthday to you, Nanook! And a very merry unbirthday to the rest of us!
ReplyDelete"It's like a John Ford movie!" All it's missing is the Vasquez Rocks! I guess I'll forgive the impasto look of the frosting. It IS supposed to be a rough, rocky, sandy, desert scene after all. This must be very early 1960s. If it weren't for the Flintstones plates, I would've said late fifties because of the stripy shirt, and the flowery curtains.
Major, other kids' germs are good for you! It exposes you to all sorts of things that will give you immunity in later life, and keep you from becoming allergic to stuff! by refusing that piece of cake, you risked your life! ;-)
A GIRL?!?!? How did she get invited?! This is a BOYS party! Also next to the sweet race car is a bowl of plastic grapes, like every mom had at that time. Just to the right of the bowl of grapes, there is a bunch of twisted metal parts, and maybe a pair of tin snips. No idea what that stuff is about.
I envy Marky. Not every kid gets a ball peen hammer for their birthday! The dream!
Thank you, Sue, for the phun photos!
Don't let the cuteness of Tractor Kid fool you! Even at that young age, he could destroy any toy in less than a minute! When he grew up, he raised Killer Swans for Disneyland.
The Our Gang kids have a sneaky, devilish look about them. Even their little dog looks sneaky! I'm guessing Dad had a hand in building that soapbox car.
Pure Americana today, from both Sue and Major. Thanks!
Sue-
ReplyDeleteYou've outdone yourself for my birthday celebration-! I certainly hope 'Mom' was filling those [handled] paper cups with champagne, getting all the kids thoroughly schnockered-! Thankfully, you included the 3rd and 4th images ending the confusion as to which boy was stuck with the Little Miss Earring Sets-! I see there are 'more-manly' favors for the actual boys in attendance.
(NOTE: the 1965 or '66 RCA Whirlpool washing machine pulling double-duty as a countertop). Sorry, JB...
Thanks, Sue, for kicking off my celebration with a bang-!
Major-
That's a 1963 Oldsmobile apparently bought from Nowling's Oldsmobile in Downey. As the license plate has a 'white' renewal tag - that would make it 1964.
Thanks Sue and The Major.
I wonder if there was a kid who no-showed to the party. There seems to be a place setting and a hat that is not being used. Those balloons are just like the ones that Jack In The Box used to give out with every order. Does anyone else remember those? That was before they "blew up" Jack in the commercials, when they were trying to revamp their image. So dumb.....they just ended up bringing him back some years later (in commercials), but they didn't bring back the giant fiberglass "Jack" head on the sign or on the drive-thru ordering speaker. Who was running that company, Disney?
ReplyDeleteNanook, I would have been perfectly happy with the Little Miss Earring Set. I would have opened it immediately and clamped one or both of them to my nose! ;-)
Happy birthday, Nanook! And many more......on channel 4! And Frankenstein on channel 9.
Thank you, Sue and Major!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday Nanook! Many happy returns of the day!
ReplyDeleteThank you Sue and Major for the party pics, getting us in the swing of the celebration and the weekend! I’ll bet Marky put that hammer to good use.
That toy tractor is not only exactly like one I had, but is the same model as one of my Dad’s real, full-sized tractors. A “Farm-All” by International Harvester (or IH in the colloquial). I don’t have either tractor anymore, but I do have a little IH grain combine toy with many scratches, dings, and good memories of playing in the dirt.
I love the kids with the soapbox car. That looks like so much fun.
Thanks Major, good memories today for all of us.
JG
Happy birthday Nanook and thanks for the swell birthday photos Sue!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Nanook! Did you get a ball peen hammer? I didn't get my first ball peen hammer till I was 10.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if anybody passed out after blowing up the balloons.
That's a swell soapbox with 2 kidpower. Nice to see girls involved.
Thanks, Sue, for the homemade cake. They're usually the best.
And thank you, too, Major.
Zach
JB, ha, somehow I think of Star Trek when I think of Vasquez Rocks! We’d drive by Vasquez Rocks on our way to the Sierras, and I always thought of the Gorn. I always wondered why nobody else seemed concerned about that kid’s “spray” on the cake, maybe they didn’t notice. I don’t get sick very often, so I must have ingested other germs. The girl… sometimes there’s a sister. It happens! Yes, nno idea about the twisted metal. Those old cast iron tractors were pretty tough, I think many from those days have survived. The paint might have been worn off, and there might be rust, but those things were hardy. I think you’re right, a parent definitely helped with the soapbox racer.
ReplyDeleteNanook, yum, champagne and birthday cake. Two things that were never meant to go together. Or were they? I can just imagine Mom at the local five and dime picking out party favors, and being sure to choose at least one girly thing. Nowling’s Oldsmobile in Downey? Did the Carpenters drive past that establishment all the time?
TokyoMagic!, I didn’t notice the “no show” table setting. Maybe that kid always turned up late, I have acquaintances like that. They love strolling in 30 minutes late, and being the center of attention. Ugh. I don’t remember balloons at Jack in the Box. But the Valley Relics museum has one of the original fiberglass things that you would order from in your car, it’s wonderful. If I had tons of money, I would want one!
TokyoMagic!, you are welcome!
JG, Sue is so good about getting party pix. I always tell her that I’ll just wish the person a Happy Birthday, but she’ll have none of it! She goes the extra mile. My great aunt had a farm, and a very old tractor, I was always jealous of my older brother who was only a tiny bit bigger than me, but they let him “drive” the tractor. I never even got to sit in the funny metal seat. I think I also have a grain combine, also given to me by Uncle Harold, it even has the metal “chute” for directing the grain into a wagon. It’s in a box somewhere.
Steve DeGaetano, thanks for checking in!
Zach, I don’t know how you even got by without a ball peen hammer until you were 10. Did the other kids laugh at you? They can be so cruel. But I suppose that when you finally did get one, it was all the sweeter. Those kids need to put an old lawnmower motor on that soapbox racer and really terrorize the neighborhood.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANOOK!
ReplyDeleteSave me a piece of cake, I'll be back later. (Those earrings are mine.)
Dear All-
ReplyDeleteThanks for the birthday wishes. It's much-appreciated-!
Regrettably, not a single ball peen hammer was included in the stash of presents. To bad too, as although I have three hammers in my collection - a Vlchek HC316 16-oz claw hammer; a Proto SF100, a soft face hammer w/replaceable plastic heads, and an Estwing DH-18N 'Deadhead' Mallet - there's not a ball peen hammer in sight. As the primary use for a ball peen hammer is shaping and forming softer metals, I don't have one in my collection.
It seems more often than not, one finds ball peen hammers among very small tool boxes used by, how shall I put this... 'non-maintenance/construction pros'. In other words, often found co-mingling with a set of cheap pliers; a 'medium' straight-blade screwdriver with a small, non-ergonomic hard, plastic handle; a #1 Philips screwdriver with a worn tip, mounted atop a handle type similar to the aforementioned straight blade; dull scissors; and a semi-rusty needle nose pliers. You get the idea.
Happy birthday, Nanook!
ReplyDeleteNanook, you've been snooping in my toolbox!
ReplyDeleteJB, now we know what to get Nanook for Christmas!
ReplyDelete^ A semi-rusty ball peen hammer?
ReplyDelete@ JB-
ReplyDeleteYES-!
A belated Happy Birthday to you Nanook! KS
ReplyDelete