Vintage Kids
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!
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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.
4 comments:
A very merry birthday to you, Nanook! And a very merry unbirthday to the rest of us!
"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-
You'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?
Nanook, 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!
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