Merry Christmas! It's time to take a break from eating Christmas cookies and drinking eggnog. Now that I am more health-conscious, I drink non-dairy organic soy nog. It's terrible! But I do feel healthier.
As per GDB tradition, I have some vintage Christmas photos to share with you, starting with three that are from Sue B's collection (since these are not "Lou and Sue" photos, she asked me to use the GDB watermark, in case you were wondering).
Here are four brothers, posing with a globe of the Urf for some reason. One is pointing to Florida, the other to... Illinois? "Here are the latest sightings of the ivory-billed woodpecker!". It looks like the youngest boy is around 7, while the oldest might be 18. And when you are 7, an 18 year-old might as well be 30. The boys should have worn their ugly sweaters, there's not much of that holiday spirit in the pic.
Next is a cute picture of a girl gazing lovingly at her new doll, which even came with a fancy stroller so that she can practice parking it at Disneyland. I was always jealous of my friends who had tinsel on their Christmas trees, but my mom had a fear that somehow the tinsel might cause a fire (shorting out the electric lights or something). I also think she didn't want to deal with putting it on the tree and dealing with more mess.
This next one is from the same household, but with a different cute kid - this girl is playing with some unidentifiable game of skill. I can't quite tell what the other items are under the tree, but there is a creepy doll glaring at us from the background. Did it just blink??
Next I have three scans from my own stash of vintage slides. This first one is from 1963 - at first I thought that the boy looked like he is about to burst into tears, but then figured that he is probably squinting from Dad's bright lights set up just for the photo. No, I really do think he's about to cry. Well, Christmas can be an overwhelming experience for a kid. He got a Monkey Gun and that sweet red toy convertible, so he's done alright for himself. I hope that castle was for a younger sibling.
From the 50s comes this scan that was a bit too dark, but it's still worth a gander. There's a nice stack of boxes beneath the tree, but nothing's been opened yet. Some of those boxes look suspiciously like clothing. Which I realize is actually a lovely and practical thing to give, but... not much fun for a kid. It's dark outside, maybe this family opened one gift on Christmas Eve like mine does (or used to do)?
And finally, from 1960 we see this fun photo of a happy boy trying out his desktop chalkboard, complete with an abacus (?). He is not only wearing a feathered headdress (genuine turkey feathers, I believe), but has a cowboy hat on the chair nearby. I love the old TV with the crèche on top, and the homey mid-century furniture.
I hope that all of you enjoy a warm, wonderful Christmas day!
(I'm still out of town, but will be back real soon)
Major-
ReplyDeleteThese are all lovely Xmas images - if not a bit weird, at times. I believe that "sweet red toy convertible" in the 4th image is a 1959 Cadillac. And 'Sis', in the 5th image, gets an extra present in her stocking for having the straightest bangs-! I don't think I've ever seen a white, or 'ivory'-colored plastic base used for a pair of "rabbit ears", as seen in the 6th image, sitting on top of that mystery brand B&W television.
Thanks to Sue and The Major.
Merry Christmas, everyone-!
1) This is a Christmas card? Well OK then. Maybe that one brother is pointing to Cuba?
ReplyDelete2) The way the tinsel is hanging, and catching the light, means it is made of lead rather than the fly-away plastic tinsel which came later. I would call that "stroller" a baby buggy, or as our Brit friends would say, a pram.
3) Major, creepy dolls don't blink; they stare, STARE, and STARE SOME MORE! One of the items under the tree is a "Good Time Picture Puzzle". No idea what the picture is though. I also have no idea what that "game of skill" might be.
4) Maybe the kid is still half asleep? His mouth is sort of smiling, but his eyes are still in Dreamland. I'm wondering what that set-of-something is in the box next to the castle. I can't quite read the text. Looks like the kid also got a (early model) slot car set. Cool! What the heck is a "Monkey Gun"?
5) Hmm, Mom seems to be enjoying the moment, but the two kids look kinda robotic... Stepford Kids! I like the wrapping paper with the stars on it.
6) I guess the parents of this kid were hedging their bets: did he want to be an Indian or a cowboy? So, BOTH! I've never seen a TV with a white-ish cabinet before. I like the piles of wrapping paper surrounding the kid.
Nanook, I'm guessing the white rabbit ears came with the white TV?
Thank you, Sue and Major.
I think the boy with the glasses is pointing to the Bermuda Triangle....showing us where he would rather be at that moment, instead of posing for a family photo.
ReplyDeleteIn the color photo of the boy with the castle and the convertible, there is a camel saddle footstool, just to the right of the monkey gun. And then in the last photo, there are two more camel saddles! We had one of these when I was a kid, and my grandmother had one, too. I forget what the story was, as far as where they came from, but seeing three of these in one GDB post makes me think that they must have been a fairly common thing?
Thank you, Sue and Major! And Merry Christmas, to all!
Merry Christmas to all!
ReplyDeleteYou can still buy you very own monkey gun.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ebay.com/itm/197379946580
Wonderful pics. Merry Christmas to All.
ReplyDeleteI actually think that boy is pointing at Cuba. The boys remind me of several Cuban-American families I know who fled after Castro came to power.
ReplyDeleteI remember tinsel like that. I think we stopped putting it on the tree around 1973 or 74. I was still pretty young, like 5 or 6 (or maybe even younger). I know that the lead concerns were publicized around that time, but I think it was really more about my mom not wanting to deal with the mess. It would get all tangled up with ornaments and we had to wash our hands after handling it.
If you look closely at the packaging on the Good Time Picture Puzzle, you’ll find a (certainly unintentional) Hidden Mickey.
Holy cow - the “Monkey Division” product line put out by Remco was huge! Guns, helmets, vests, even land mines and booby traps! My mother would have never let me have any of them for fear of me turning into a violent little monster (which is why I had to use things like brooms, golf clubs, and hammers as guns), but they look awesome. This is the kind of “boss” Christmas present I would have loved.
I think that wooden castle is also one of the boy’s presents. The open box to his right contains painted knight and medieval archer figures, which are presumably intended to go with the castle.
I love the joy on the face of the boy in the last photo. I hope you all experience that joy today.
Merry Christmas to you all!
By the way, that's a lovely arrangement of dead plants and flowers on the coffee table (in the castle/monkey gun photo)!
ReplyDeleteMERRY CHRISTMAS Gorillas.
ReplyDeleteMS
@TM!-
ReplyDelete"... that's a lovely arrangement of dead plants and flowers on the coffee table".
I believe we referred to this type of arrangement as "dried flowers", etc.
Merry Christmas to the Major and Jr. Gorillas. No group is more deserving of a Monkey Gun from Santa.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to Major and all my Junior Gorilla chums! Wishing you all the very best of days!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the vintage pics too, Sue and Major. We used that strand tinsel until we got the silver aluminum tree sometime around 64-65, and the manger scene also went on top of the TV. Lots of good memories here.
JG
With the craziness of the holidays I'm just now logging on, but Merry Christmas everyone!
ReplyDeleteYes, that first image IS a Christmas 'card.' It even had the family's name printed on the front of it, but we removed it 'to protect the innocent.' They are probably very nice people [but they don't have very good taste in picking out Christmas cards and photos, unfortunately].
ReplyDeleteI hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Major, we're looking forward to seeing you here, soon...safe travels!
I believe we referred to this type of arrangement as "dried flowers", etc.
ReplyDeleteNanook...ha, ha! My family used to buy dried flowers, but they would get arranged tastefully into a smaller vessel, like a vase. I had never seen such a large arrangement of dried flowers sticking every which way out of a big bowl like that! ;-)
A belated Merry Christmas to all! Our day started with a vet call out in the barn and the family festivities rescheduled to New Year's day. We will celebrate a 2-fer then. Cheers... KS
ReplyDeleteKS, I hope the boys are OK!
ReplyDeleteSue....turns out the big boy had an abscess in rear hoof. He's a tenderfoot but getting great care. Thanks! KS
ReplyDelete