Friday, December 25, 2020

Merry Christmas Saturday Dec 25

Merry Christmas, everyone! What could be better than more vintage Christmas photos? Nothing, that's what.

This first example is from 1971, believe it or not. I would have guessed at least five years earlier at least. The family is gathered around the dinner table, Norman Rockwell style. There is food, but not obscene mounds of it. I see a plate of Brussels sprouts, another with what might be stuffing (can't really tell), a covered dish (mashed potatoes?) and little rectangles of something desert-like. Almost everyone has a glass of milk, so you know that they have strong bones and teeth. The woman in blue is motioning for us to pull up a chair.


This next one is undated; what do you think, late 1950s? Early 1960s? Presents have been opened, but it looks dark outside. Maybe they are like my family, we'd each be allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve. Look at the size of that television! Why would anybody need a TV that large? I love details like the upholstery fabric with the metallic thread glinting at us like stars, the man's bolo tie, and that totally awesome coffee table, with a pair of glazed ceramic girls in leis and grass skirts, supporting a glass top. Maybe this was brought back from overseas after "the war"?
 

It's 1962, and young Scottie is intently hammering away at one of his newest toys, I hope he isn't trying to force a square peg into a round hole. That would mean that Scottie is crazy. Check out his dinosaur jammies! This kid scored big time, with that large blue plastic submarine, an archery set, and Bobo the Clown - let's face it, we all want to punch that clown! I love the Sears "Silvertone" television and the drapes with that mid-century pattern.


And finally, from Christmas 1970 we have these two young girls displaying their loot. There's so much that the sofa can't hold it all. I see clothes (including underwear?), activity books, what appears to be a joke book, a "Rotadraw" with Disney characters, "Pearl and Seashell Jewelry Craft", something with the Sesame Street characters, and other assorted items that I can't quite identify. My mom, dad, and grandparents used to spoil us rotten on Christmas, to the point that I would actually be embarrassed if a friend came over and saw the amount of presents.


I would like to wish each and every GDB reader a warm and happy Christmas.

I am still away from my home computer, but I look forward to reading everyone's comments, and will respond if and when I can.

27 comments:

"Lou and Sue" said...

These pictures are great! So much to look at.

I noticed that the 2nd picture is missing some things!
WHERE are the plastic covers for that couch and chair?!?!
And NO plastic wrap on the lamp shade, either?!?!

I hope that young man, in the 3rd picture, had a sister. Just saying.

Underwear proudly displayed in the last picture. hahahaha!

Thanks, Major, for a fun Christmas post! I wish all you Junior Gorillas a wonderful Christmas and I sure do hope Santa brought you everything you asked for!

Sue

dennis said...

Merry Christmas everyone!
Dennis, Levittown, Long Island, NY

Nanook said...

Major-
What a cornucopia of images-! The family in Photo #1 gets the award for best posture, and best 'pink' tablecloth ensemble. Also, there appears to be a toaster cozy - in turquoise-! Uh-la-la-! And are those 'N O E L' candleholders next to the olive green candle, that Santa is scaling-?

Photo #2 - Oh, Hello-? Check out that pair of "legs" on the glass coffee table-??!! Très chic-! And that appears to be a controller for an antenna rotor sitting atop that fabulous B&W television set.

Photo #3 - Just what is that white, blobby-ceramic-? thing, sitting atop the doily on the TV and next to the glass ash tray-? (I know, you can't take your eyes off of those drapes. Lovely, indeed...)

Photo #4 - Say it with me: Bangs. Ladies, you both look lovely. (And, do I also spot 'sensible shoes'-?? Good for you both).

Merry Christmas to all GDB'ers - and thanks for the great community, here - which wouldn't be possible without The Major-!

TokyoMagic! said...

Wow! I love everyone of these pics.

The "motioning" lady in the first pic, only wore that dress so that she would match the cover on her toaster.

I want all of the furniture and that TV, in the second pic!

I had/have an inflatable punching bag just like that clown in the third pic (the toy, not the kid), but mine is "Yogi Bear." And Yogi has a protruding rubber nose that squeaks when you squeeze it, but it looks like that clown might have one, too (again....the toy, not the kid!)

I think I recognize that "Jokes" book in the last pic. I believe my brother had it and I think it was a "Pop-up" book, but I couldn't find it when I searched ebay, just now. We also had that Bugs Bunny book, in the same photo. The title of the book is "Something Fishy" (which is also the title of an early Dolly Parton song!) Even though I still have that book around here somewhere, locating it on ebay was quicker:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Warner-Brothers-Bugs-Bunny-SOMETHING-FISHY-Tell-A-Tale-childrens-book/282329844510?hash=item41bc2b8b1e:g:XvUAAOSw241Yfwms

Merry Christmas, to all!!!

TokyoMagic! said...

Ooops, I meant to type that I love "every one" of these pics, not "everyone" of these pics! I hate it when I makes mistakes like that from typing too fast!

"Lou and Sue" said...

I'm back with more comments:

Picture #1:

See that little angel(?) statue, with the red dress, on the window ledge next to the 3-candle thingy? What is she holding??

Also, it's interesting to see how adding turquoise stain to your cabinets really does bring-out the wood grain.

Picture #2:

The lamp base coordinates with the coffee table. How cool is that!

Picture #3:

Nanook, I think that blobby ceramic thing is one of those wall plaques that has 3D fruit or flowers on it. We had a set of them on our walls, in the 60s.

Those curtains coordinate nicely with that bedspread in the S&H Green Stamp catalog that I attached to my comments, two days ago.

"Lou and Sue" said...

That terrazzo flooring in pic #3 was indestructible!

K. Martinez said...

Merry Christmas everyone!

Chuck said...

In the first photo, the guy in the tie reminds me of, the guy playing John Glenn in the National Gepgraphic miniseries The Right Stuff (currently streaming on Disney+). I'm positive the younger woman across the table from him is his sister; they have a definite sibling look about them. Or maybe the woman is just obsessed with his looks and has had plastic surgery to match him. Hard to tell.

Second photo - I love the string of C7 bulbs amongst the garlanding in the window...and pretty much everything else in the photo.

I love the action in the third picture. It's too bad Scottie's newest toy is an electric piano. Poor kid misunderstood the expression "hammering away at the keys." Sadly, Sue, that is his sister.

Fourth photo, left side - there's a copy of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie (tan border with an illustration of a covered wagon). Note that this was taken four years before the TV pilot aired, a testament to the polularity of those stories. To the left of that is a blurry cover of what appears to be Mickey, Goofy, Donald and Pluto driving a red car. And, as we all know, "Rotodraw" is just "Wardotor" spelled backwards.

Thanks for another great set, Major. I wish you and the all Gorilla Guides the very merriest of Christmases!

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas everybody!
I think the family in pic 1 is a little too wild for me! And where is the ham or turkey? Did they forget???
The coffee table in the next one is notable in that the girls...uh...forgot their bathing suit tops. I think I see that well positioned leys took care of the issue, however. Classy!
Tbe third pic was taken right befor Bobo had enough and attacked Timmy. That hammer came in handy and Christmas was saved! Also, who wouldn't want a blue blow molded sub?
And finally those girls in pic 4 seem to have a ton of stuff, until you realise that it's mainly clothes and books. How sensible.
Thanks, Major!

Anonymous said...

Photo 3, on the blue/black chair, I spy with my little eye a Daisy Lazy S Ranch gun and clothing rack. It looks like there were several different models (one available as late as 1966), but this appears to be the one in the photo:

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/QvoAAOSw4qZdj6sZ/s-l300.jpg

Andrew said...

I got a bin of those orange lightbulb (C7 - thanks Chuck!) candles at a church garage sale years ago for five cents. I think that the design on the base might even be the same as the one here, but it's hard to tell.

Merry Christmas everyone!

JG said...

Quite a collection today, thank you Major.

Love that coffee table!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

JG

Nanook said...

Yes, the Disneytime Rotadraw. LOOK HERE

Here's the Sesame Street Players. CHECK THIS OUT

And finally, the MAGIC PAD.

JC Shannon said...

The first photo is too perfect. Are they...pod people? You decide. That coffee table is to die for. I want it. The bang sisters really cleaned up that year. Although, socks and underwear aren't the best pressies. Merry Christmas to all the GDB family out there and of course Major. "I want an official Red Ryder carbine action 200 shot range model air rifle"

Irene said...

What a great set of photos to peruse today. In Pic #1 that china looks a whole lot like the china passed down to me from my Mom. It was purchased pre WWII in San Pedro according to the story my mom told me. I very seldom use it though. Pic#2 - Yikes - that coffee table!!! My Dad would have liked that - wink, wink.
Bruce and I got tons of gifts also. We still had our grandparents nearby and so between them and our parents we got lots of "loot". Growing up, Christmas was a wonderful time at our house and I have lots of great memories.
Merry Christmas everyone. Going to be sunny, warm and pleasant here in Southern California but we sure do need the rain.

Kathy! said...

Wow, great hauls for these people of the past! Looks like a Jello square in the first pic. Wearing shoes on Christmas morning in last one? Girl on left: “My favorite present is this pencil!” Nice cozy photos. Thank you Major, and Merry Christmas to all and to all a good day and night!

MRaymond said...

Merry Christmas, Major, and to all the GDB members.

Nanook said...

Also wondering if in the first photo, the silver-trimmed object sitting between the percolator and the turquoise cozied-toaster isn't a twin lens reflex camera - perhaps, even a Kodak Duaflex II, III, or IV-?

Sunday Nigt said...

Merry Christmas Major and to all the great people who post here! This is by far the best thing on the Internet.

Anonymous said...

Its all in perspective. 1970 was 50 years ago. And yet, it looks so much simpler than I remember it. Compared to the bounty available of gifts today...I feel like I grew up in the depression! Merry Christmas! KS

Chuck said...

My wife just pointed out the carded Skipper (Barbie's sister) clothes set behind the Rotodraw. I alert on uniforms, she alerts on anything Barbie.

TokyoMagic! said...

Nobody has mentioned the Weebles Tree House (on the sofa) in that last photo. "Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down!"

Here's the commercial for the Weebles Tree House:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rpcY7NGVxU

Chuck said...

Thanks, TM! My wife and I were trying to figure out what that was. It looked so familiar.

TokyoMagic! said...

Chuck, I thought someone else would know what it was. It looked familiar to me, but I couldn't identify it. I went to ebay and typed in "vintage tree house toy," and it came up.

Major, is the man sitting on the right (in the first pic), the same man we saw in the 1971 photo which you posted on Thanksgiving of this year?

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0pb00q7ZG8Q/X7v2ZszIR2I/AAAAAAAAV60/4pbXwT6j8ikvs4CujSlI9JglzEoRpCFcACLcBGAsYHQ/s1094/Thanksgiving%2B1971.jpg

Major Pepperidge said...

Lou and Sue, I think maybe that photo predated plastic slip covers? I hate to admit it, but when I was a kid, I went over to a friend’s house, and his mom put plastic slip covers on much of the furniture, and I thought it was cool! I think it’s a pretty safe bet that the boy in #3 had a sis. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

dennis, a belated Merry Christmas to you too!

Nanook, yes, the toaster cozy was a new one on me. I can’t tell if the candleholders spell out N-O-E-L, but you’re probably right. The white blobby thing looks like some sort of kitsch sculpture, though I can’t quite decipher it. And the bangs in photo #4 are just right, I think my little sister had the exact same kind of hair.

TokyoMagic, I always dress to match my toaster. So you still have your Yogi Bear punching bag? If it’s in good condition, it might be worth some bucks to collectors! Very cool that you recogniz the “Jokes” book and the Bugs Bunny book! Does Dolly Parton really have a song called “Something Fishy”?

TokyoMagic!, I am reporting you to HQ immediately. If there is a loud knock on your door, you’ll know why.

Lou and Sue, I think the little angel is holding a candy cane? It’s hard to tell because the bright outside light kind of obscures the details. And what is UP with that weird blue-green stain?!? It’s not bad, necessarily, but it is kind of odd. Good eye on the lamp in photo #3, I didn’t even notice that magnificent work of art. And I thought the blobby thing might have been some sort of stylized kittens. Hard to say! Hey, maybe they got those curtains through the S&H catalog. Stranger things have happened.

Lou and Sue, I do love me some terrazzo!

K. Martinez, same to you!

Chuck, I haven’t checked out the miniseries version of The Right Stuff yet, I assume you like it? I agree, the woman is almost certainly the sister of that one fellow. C7 bulbs? Is that what those are called? Modern LED lights are beautiful, but for me there’s just something about the classic C7 bulbs. The kid hammering away on the “electric piano” is like John Cage, he loves to experiment with music. Good eye on the “Little House” book and the Mickey/Goofy/Donald/Pluto book (or is it a Christmas card?). Please don’t say “Wardator” three times in a row while looking in a mirror.

Stu29573, ha ha, that family knew how to party! Why one time, Mother took two sips of wine! It’s true, we still laugh about it to this day. Don’t you think that there might be the remains of a turkey in the middle of the table? It’s hard to say, and of course the plates still look clean, so I’m not sure WHAT is going on. You’ve been reading too many Stephen King books (re: Bobo attacking)!

Major Pepperidge said...

Anonymous, thanks for pointing out the Daisy Lazy S Ranch gun! I would have never known what that was.

Andrew, very cool that you found a bunch of those bulbs at a garage sale! “Years ago”… you were already interested in “old stuff”!

JG, I need all of my furniture to match that coffee table. Then I would finally be 100% happy!

Nanook, oh man, you did what I was too lazy (or too strapped for time) to do. Thanks for those links!

Jonathan, I think the family in photo #1 is cool, and they look like badasses! It really is kind of amazing how much stuff those girls got, between mom and dad, and two sets of grandparents, they won’t have room to put the items away.

Irene, I love that your mom had a story about her china, bought in pre-war San Pedro! So great. My mom inherited so much china from her mother and grandmother, and it sits in boxes or on shelves gathering dust. It’s too fancy to use! We are already wondering what to do with it eventually. Wasn’t it great being spoiled silly on Christmas morning?! And yes, we are halfway through what should be our “rainy season” with hardly a drop.

Kathy!, you might be right! If it IS a Jello square, it is full of stuff. Fruit? Rhinestones? Maybe those little girls had cold feet and needed their shoes. Or the mother made them put them on. A belated Merry Christmas to you!

MRaymond, thank you!

Nanook, I was wondering what that was! Your guess is certainly better than mine.

Sunday Night, thank you so much! This group is the best.

KS, isn’t it crazy to think that 1970 was 50 years ago? I can’t believe it. I’ve tried to remember to “count my blessings”, knowing how so many people are less fortunate than I am, it helps to put things in perspective for sure.

Chuck, ha ha, I love it! I’m glad that your wife is helping out!

TokyoMagic!, oh man! Weebles! I remember the Weeble Tree House, but I think I felt like I was already too old for it when I saw the ads for it.

Chuck, proof that Chuck and has family don’t know EVERYTHING?!

TokyoMagic!, good grief, you have a good eye! They’re my slides, and even I didn’t connect the man in both of those photos. You’re obviously right. I am impressed.