Since I was only 11 days old on Christmas 1954, my parents probably didn’t have an opportunity to get a photo to put on their cards. In those days the process to get photos on your holiday cards was much more involved than the almost instant cards of today. Back then you had to take a photo, take the film to be developed, wait a few days, pick up your photos, decide on the pose you wanted to use, back to the store to order a card, wait a few more days (or weeks), pick them up and then – finally – it was time to address the cards and get them in the mail. So it wasn’t until 1955 that I first appeared on the holiday card.
By the following year, 1956, it looks like Dad took a few shots before deciding on the perfect photo for the holiday card.
My mother always told me that she hated the letter “I” and wanted to spell my name without it. Looks like she was trying it out here!
A few years went by and somewhere about 1958-1959, we had grown up quite a bit. Not sure if this photo was used on the holiday cards that year but it’s a cute photo even without the card. Look – Santa and I have matching watches!
A few years later, little brother joined our family and now it became more difficult to pose three kids. But somehow Mom & Dad managed to get it done. I think this must have been 1963. There must have been a typo on the card so Mom wrote a “C” over the incorrect letter and the spelling experiment must not have worked because I’m back to Debbie.
It looks like the following year, 1964, little brother was still wearing the same sweater – way to recycle, Mom! And my name has changed again – this time the confusion was removed and I’m just Deb.
By the following year we’d found a new place to take the annual photo. And finally, my name is changed to Debi, the spelling that I use today. I wonder what we were drinking?
Since we lost Mom this year and cleaned out the home my parents lived in for over 55 years, looking at these photos is bittersweet. So many memories come flooding back and all I can think of is “where did the time go?”
Happy holidays from long ago – and today!
It's lots of fun to look back at years of these old photo cards. I recently looked at the 20 (!) years of holiday photos of my sons and on my "to-do" list is to go find the 22-23 years of holiday photos of me and my brothers. Hopefully I will do so before this time next year so I can blog about it as you have. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great timeline of the holiday cards of your past, Debi! Yes, I can imagine it would be a bittersweet journey to review all the belongings that can be accumulated in 55 years in one home. You know I can so relate, going through the same with my aunt this year. The good in this journey is being able to save what's important to pass down to the future generations.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas. Those cards are delightful. I especially like the one with the mugs of, perhaps, hot chocolate.
ReplyDelete