It's Christmas! All Over the World!

I thought I'd post some of my favorite old family Christmas photos.  Here you can see the evolution of my paternal grandmother's trees - her tiny tree (that's the back of my head, my brother and my dad circa 1962):

Her flocked tree (me rippin open gifts, and I guess my grandmother's handing them to me, probably around 1961):

Her real tree (cousin, brother, cousin, me):

Her aluminum tree (front to back - step-cousin, cousin, step-cousin, brother, cousin, me):

More photos!

My brother - new cowboy guns with holster and our American Bricks.

Christmas 1964 - see my wooden shoes instead of stockings hung?

 Christmas 1965 - Horsman Mary Poppins doll, "Profiles in Courage," and my microscope!

 About 1963 or 1964 - my brother in Santa Claus, Indiana in the middle of summer.

 Christmas 1959 at my maternal grandmother's home.

 My mom Christmas at about the same age in the same room (still have the doll highchair).

Mom with her grandfather at Christmas, circa 1940.

 My brother and I go see Santa - all I want for Christmas appears to be my two front teeth!

 Another Christmas with my mom - a new doll and dollhouse!

 My brother (front), two cousins and me around my paternal grandmother's kitchen table.  Love the floor!

 There's my brother shooting his six-shooter, and me with my Chatty Cathy and a bride doll of my mom's (composition).  I don't know what my dad's holding!

 My uncle (left side), my dad (right side) and their two cousins.  Looks like it's about 1949 or so.

 That's me - Christmas in Massachusetts about 1958.

 Another cousin photo at my paternal grandmother's house, 1964.

 Looks like Christmas 1956 in Kokomo, Indiana.  I still have the black piggy bank - not sure how it survived all these years!

 My brother and me - Christmas 1963.

 My brother and me and my smaller Barbie case (I got two of them that year!), at my maternal grandmother's house in Kokomo, Indiana about 1962.

 My brother, Christmas 1962, at my paternal grandmother's house in Windfall, Indiana.

 My parents, brother and me, looks like Christmas 1964 - Windfall, Indiana.

 Here we are again, Christmas 1963.

Hope you've enjoyed all of these vintage Christmases.  Have a wonderful and safe holiday, however and whatever you celebrate!

(My dog Ralph saying "Merry Christmas" and "Mom, take off this silly hat!" - he lived from 1993 to 2009)



And by the way, here's a really fun and easy craft from Pam and Kate at retrorenovation.com:

HAVE FUN!





My Most Recent Finds

I shouldn't have stopped!  I shouldn't have stopped!  Last night, I stopped at Einstein's Attic, a little thrift store I love that is just down the street and around the corner from me.  Among a few Christmas presents I can't mention right now, I got the following really cool stuff!

First were these two books in "The Boy Scouts" boys' series from the early 20th century.  These are volumes one and two.

I also got this pack of 15 Flair Squares in the blue and green Wildflowers pattern, no. 2708-C 68-A.  The pack was $1.00!  I usually see this pattern in the brown and yellow version.

I also purchased a Christmas tin (not in photo, but a little newer) for $2.00.  Inside, were these vintage ornaments and pins.

I can't believe all the stuff they have in there, every time I go in!  They also have a ton of vintage owl stuff (including a huge clock - the clock had an 18" owl on each side, one snowy owl and one with ear tufts), some cool vintage aprons, other vintage textiles, typewriters, vintage furnishings and accessories, etc.  I never fail to find fun stuff there!

My Newest Paint-By-Number Painting

I got one of my favorite paint-by-number paintings over the weekend - one of a set of two (no one knows where the other one is) that my mom did many, many years ago (don't tell her I said that!).  I've loved it for years.  And the colors in it are some of my favorites - the turquoises, pale yellows, blues and greens - and just a hint of apricot!  Here it is:

Beautiful, huh?  In these photos of me and my younger brother at the piano (circa 1962), you can see the pair of paintings in the background, hanging over the couch - the one on the left is the one I have now:

I think, actually, that the frame is original, but my mother later slapped the gold paint on it to use for another piece of art.  Don't know whether to take it back to the original, more blond wood look or leave it this way - it appears to look fine with the gold.  Anyway, I love it and am so glad to have it!

My "New" Old Chairs!

Yesterday, my brother hauled a chair over to my house, a chair that my parents purchased sometime around 1962.  Here's my poor new chair:

I love it in spite of it's years-in-the-making flaws.  It's from the Broyhill Premier line.  The label was on the seat under the cushion and shows how lovely the fabric used to be.

Here is the way it looked in 1965 (you can just see the corner of it at the right of this Christmas photo of me):

And it's behind me in 1967 on my birthday:

Last year, I brought home another chair (you can also see it in the photo above on the other side of the little round table from the Broyhill chair).  Here's what that one looked like when it arrived:

And here it is in 1966, just to the left behind my sister's buggy:

I love these chairs, not just because they've been in my family for so long, and they're actually mine now, but also because they both have such clean and distinctive lines (and they're both comfortable to sit in, too!).  I wish they'd held onto this couch and chair long enough for me to have them now - I love these: