Oh my gosh, it's almost 2024! And I just know that it is going to be the BEST YEAR EVER. It's just a hunch. But before we get there, we get to celebrate the end of 2023 with parties. Big parties, small parties, they're all good. Of course I will be celebrating by sitting in a darkened room and staring at the wall, but it's what I enjoy.
Sue B. (of "Lou and Sue" fame, though this is not a Lou Perry photo) sent me this first scan, a rather unsettling image of guests staring at the camera with their freaky metallic masks. It's like a scene out of "Eyes Wide Shut" (oops, my fingers wanted to type a bad word starting with "S"). Two ladies sit on the laps of their husbands, which is kind of naughty, but everyone knows that GDB is rated "R" - RESTRICTED! Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult.
This next one is from my collection, it is labeled "New Year's Eve 1955", but the clock is past midnight, so... welcome to 1956! The women enjoy classic noisemakers, while the man brandishes a revolver - something he tends to do after his sixth martini. Luckily his wife made sure that there were no rounds in the chamber - this is not her first rodeo.
Next is a picture from New Year's Eve, 1957. The kids are only allowed to stay up this late for very special occasions; sis is in her jammies, but her little brother is ready to party all night. Soon that pointy hat will be replaced by a lampshade, and he will be singing "Danny Boy". AGAIN. He's going to be so hung over in the morning!
I hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year's Eve!
For TokyoMagic! - - -
Major-
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy how so many NYE images sporting adults always have them looking way more 'naughty' (and sillier) than the youngsters. Gotta love those braces [suspenders] on junior.
Thanks to Sue and The Major. And a very Happy New Year to all.
Staring at a wall is greatly underappreciated; a lost art. Oh well, time marches on. Enjoy your wall gazing, Major.
ReplyDeleteUnsettling is right, it looks like a scene from The Shining! All that's missing is Lloyd the bartender.
I do like the icicles on their tree. They look like the old kind made of lead (so tasty!). On the left, I see an elephant's trunk, tusk, and lower lip. Or maybe it's their pet squid. They were a popular pet back then, but they fell out of favor when people began to notice that their beloved squids would dry up and turn brittle if not kept in water. This one appears to be in the dried, brittle stage... alas.
I suppose that's an actual cap gun that Mr. Martini is brandishing; loaded with actual caps. That's actually a pretty good noisemaker, actually. (Guess what the word-of-the-day is! ;-))
Interesting texture in the wall covering. At first I thought the texture was on the photo paper itself, but this is a slide, right? Plus the peoples' faces don't have the texture. (Guess what the other word-of-the-day is!)
Sis looks kinda out of it. I think they woke her up and dragged her downstairs to celebrate the New Year. The flocking on the tree looks too uniform to be strayed on. I think it's just that color; a white artificial tree. I'm always amused by the little feather on the ends of the noisemakers. I guess it's there to tickle the person when you annoyingly blow the noisemaker in their face. I think only the high-end noisemakers have the feather. (Another word-of-the-day!)
Let's all do our part to make 2024 a good year. Thank you, Sue and Major.
^ Sprayed on, on strayed on. That would be silly.
ReplyDeleteSprayed on, not strayed on. [sigh]
ReplyDeleteOne of the ladies in that first pic is barefoot! Ooh la la! And it looks like she's about to do her infamous Sharon Stone impersonation.
ReplyDeleteMajor, you didn't identify that issue of LIFE Magazine for us (last pic)!
Thank you, Major and Sue, and a very happy New Year, to all!
Note to self: buy cap gun and caps.
ReplyDeleteWhen the kids were little, we used to set the clocks forward two and a half hours and celebrate midnight at 9:30. That way, they could enjoy ringing in the new year, we all got a good night’s sleep, and nobody was cranky in the morning.
I hope the white manger scene ornament on the tree in the last photo occupies an honored place on some family’s Christmas tree today, like the tree topper we have that belonged to my grandparents.
TM!, are you saying she’s about to slap Paul Verhoeven?
Chuck, I didn't know that she did that! I had to look it up. It sounds like it was a well deserved slap.
ReplyDeleteEeeeeegad, that first pic could be titled "New Years in Hell!," which would make a great musical, by the way.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the second picture goes, all I can say is that at least it's just a cap gun. Around here they have to remind folks that firing guns into the air isn't the safest way to ring (bang?) in the New Year.
Yeah, those kids look kinda out of it. Of course they would later brag to their friends about how they got to stay up! (even though it was probably just for the time it took to snap this picture)
Happy New Years Eve everybody!!!
Nanook, people seem to get pretty crazy on New Year’s Eve. I always assumed it was because Dick Clark whipped them up into a lustful frenzy, but Sue’s photo looks pre-“New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”.
ReplyDeleteJB, what I like about staring at a wall in the dark is if you touch your eyelids, you see little flashes. Like fireworks! Oh, I also do a lot of drugs. Lloyd the bartender is great and all, but I prefer Grady, the previous caretaker. What a nutty guy! Lead “icicles”… I don’t know for sure, but I think a friend of mine had lead tinsel on his tree, we used to take strands off, roll them up into little BBs, and throw them at each other. I’m sure that the gun is a cap gun (or maybe it has no firing function at all), but it still looks odd to see it pointed at that lady’s face from such short distance. When I was little, my parents would let us stay up until midnight, which always sounded fun, but by 10 o’clock, I think we were having a hard time staying awake. I seem to remember that my dad liked to make lime daiquiries on NYE (serving them in these cool 70s black goblets), and he’d let us have tiny sips! I probably would have liked them, if it wasn’t for the alcohol.
JB, straying is never silly, flocking should always take the right path.
JB, or WAS it strayed on? I’m not sure what it means, but it can’t be good.
TokyoMagic!, back in those days, being barefoot in public was scandalous, and possibly a jailable offense. Keep your naked feet to yourself, you hippie! Sharon Stone impersonation? She’s going to fight Arnold Schwartzenegger?
Chuck, can you still buy caps and cap guns? I used to really like those more expensive caps, I forget what they were called. They weren’t the flat paper things with a little blister of gunpowder, instead they were little plastic cylinders that made a much bigger bang. My mom hated them because they were so loud. Fooling kids by resetting the clocks is great and all, but I remember when my grandparents would come to visit, and then they’d get us up early on January 1st to watch the Tournament of Roses parade on TV. Eventually we had fun, but boy, we did NOT want to get out of bed.
TokyoMagic!, I did not know that Sharon Stone slapped Paul Verhoeven, was she pretending to be Will Smith?
Stu29573, I assume that you remember watching TV back in the day when Guy Lombardo, who was a fossil at that point, was the highlight of any NYE telecast. As they said on The Flintstones, “It’s a living!”. And I never fire a gun into the air, I prefer to fire it at street lamps and imaginary WWII airplanes. Seeing that third picture made me nostalgic for those late nights on December 31st!
Major, you did it! You identified that Life cover! You are truly awesome!
ReplyDeleteI did not know that Sharon Stone slapped Paul Verhoeven, was she pretending to be Will Smith?
Yes, and as she slapped Mr. Verhoeven, she shouted, "Keep my #@%&#$ OUT of your %$#@&%# camera lens!"
That first pic is very disturbing to say the least. That would scare any youngster from participating with the "adults" at midnight. I'd lock the bedroom door if I could. Yikes! No doubt those are lead icicles. We had them and would recycle them for years. Even into 1969 based on a picture I have. So now I know why I have these odd physical quirks (I'm kidding but don't ask the wife).
ReplyDeleteThe cap gun which we hope is true, and likely so since I had my own collection of them at that time. I recall a fellow who would shoot off a flare gun in the middle of the street with, you guessed it, a real flare! Of course, he did it with real flair (pun intended).
Yep, being ushered into the living room to watch Guy Lombardo and the band play Auld Lang Syne was a big deal.
Well, it's time to prepare for the festivities of a New Year. I am getting reports from Australia that the future looks bright. So everyone get those shades ready!! KS
These are pretty funny pictures, of course, everyone looks funny when sloshed.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed, photo 1 is pretty spicy for the era, no wonder they are all wearing masks.
I wish I still had my cap pistol, it was a kid-sized "six-shooter" replica, I remember it as if it were yesterday. I would also sometimes set fire to the red paper strip caps with my magnifying glass. Good times. Major, I never saw the louder caps like you describe, they sound like fun!
Glad to see the kids pic.
Mom and Dad always watched Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians play. The show must have been in New York and rebroadcast, I suppose. No one ever went out on New Years. If the Canadians were Royal, why did they belong to Mr. Lombardo? Shouldn't they belong to Queen Elizabeth back then?
Mrs G and I went out a couple of times before children, but for many years now (and the foreseeable future) NYE is a living room sofa event. My kids also stay in their respective homes, we are a family of duds, I guess.
Cheers to all my Junior Gorilla friends, and a big thank you to Major Pepperidge for hosting the year-long party. Wishing all of you the best possible New Year. We will talk again in 2024.
JG
In a word "eek!" I continue to be freaked out by vintage people when they are not in the vicinity of 1313 Harbor. Masks: creepy. Very disturbing. Had no idea that NYE's of the "days of yore" were riddled with shiny murder masks. Bare feet: "no". That one woman is flashing us: more: "no". The creepiest things are random doilies: along with sofa and chair placed entirely too close together. I like the lead icicles and still have a small box of them...which are kind of a dull patina now...but the thought is there. I do not lick these like popsicles however even though there is no warning on the label. Pic 2: My my. I have a lot to say. I don't see any cigarettes or big dobbing bird bath wine glasses filled with Cold Duck...that would be totally acceptable. I don't understand the gun...but I don't understand anything in any of these photos. The kids: oh dear...shall I go on? Those costumes do not look fire retardant: just saying. So is it Madonna and Child? or Mary and Jesus? Both are mentioned, so I am confused. Madonna and Child could possibly be a retail brand in the 80's. Clothing for Mommy and Baby: inspired by the movie: Desperately Seeking Susan: which by the way, I think is Madonna's best acting work. I am also getting ready to get into my black box NYE evacuation chamber: where I will also be staring at the wall. The last NYE I recall was 1999 going into 2000. I went to a memorable party in a house that was the first of (possibly) many of the unbuilt Frank Lloyd Wright houses. At the time I thought the house was a bit odd: with a "Boy Scout Jamboree Camp" kind of vibe. I said to myself "no wonder these houses were never built..." I just looked up the house: and it's actually kind of amazing. It's interesting how your perspective will change over the course of 24 years. You can rent the house for your own NYE experience now: (this is not an Ad. but architectural types will enjoy looking at this house.) Happy New Years to Major and the Jr. Gorrilas, thanks to Sue for the thought provoking photos today! https://www.vrbo.com/108255?k_clickid=6b52569ca81911ee817fbbbc0a82b821&CID=a_cj_100231591&utm_source=aff_cj&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=Siteplug_100231591&utm_content=10697640_50aeadd07717bf55efca44a41ddd49d7&CJEVENT=6b52569ca81911ee817fbbbc0a82b821&affcid=VRBO-US.NETWORK.CJ.100231591
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, I know the movie you are referencing, though the name slips my mind at the moment. I’ve never seen it! I dunno, it looked kind of trashy to me. Maybe it’s good, I like some other Verhoeven movies. And everyone heard about “the scene”, I guess I can’t blame Sharon for slapping the director.
ReplyDeleteKS, imagine being a kid who decided to wander into the living room (having been put to bed hours earlier)! Nightmare fuel. I loved cap guns as a kid, though I probably damaged my ears with all of the loud bangs. Wow, a flare gun! That must have been impressive. Boy, I sure hope the future is bright, I’m feeling pretty apprehensive myself.
JG, oh yeah, a magnifying glass was a good way to light caps, though they didn’t “bang” so much as erupt. Like a match, sort of. In a way it was neat to have Guy Lombardo as the official mascot of New Year’s Eve, though I never really understood WHY he was. “Auld Lang Syne”, a melancholy song that I can’t help seeing videos of in my head - crowds going wild in Times Square, kissing and hugging and fondling. Well, I assume there was fondling. My mom and dad would often have the TV on, and would play their ukuleles. which I have memories of falling to sleep to. My mom gave my dad’s ukulele to my niece, but I think her interest in playing it was short-lived. Oh well.
Bu, I’m sure that there were many weirder parties than the one seen in photo #1. When I got old enough, I liked to go see a live show (music) with a friend, it was always a good time. I’m still disappointed that we could not get in to see Screaming Jay Hawkins, especially since he died not long afterwards. We wound up eating at Barney’s Beanery, which was a bit of a letdown. My family was not a tinsel family, my mom thought it was just a mess that was hard to clean up. But I always liked it. I can’t imagine anywhere I’d rather NOT be than Times Square on NYE. It’s like when a girl I knew in college wanted to go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I want to go to New Orleans, but not on Mardi Gras. She went with somebody more fun than me. Whoa, that Frank Lloyd Wright house looks amazing, I do love his style, though apparently the buildings are not necessarily so great to actually live in. Who cares! They look great.
Bu, your comment about doilies made me chuckle. I have a number of them boxed away, as I can't bear to throw them away [since my great grandmother made them], but I also can't bear to display them, either. And, of course, none of the younger generation family members want them. Same with the embroidery-edged pillow cases.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check out that Frank Lloyd Wright house, in just a moment...
I've enjoyed this past year of fun and laughs on GDB, thanks to Major and everyone - THANK YOU!
And Happy New Year to everyone, with love from Lou and Sue.