Family Photo Album – Birthdays and Presents

I continue to go through photos, albums, and other family items in order to document things for future generations.  Next up, a family photo album that was stashed away in my parents’ home.  To start from the beginning, click here.

For most kids, birthdays mean presents and what kid doesn’t like presents?  But in our family, it also meant pictures.  I think it’s been pretty well established that my dad loved to take photos even if, at times, they weren’t the best.  I’m sure happy he documented us growing up!

The next page it titled Cary is six, First party in new home. 



My big sister is right in the middle behind the girl with blonde hair.  I’m not sure but that just might be me sitting next to the blonde.  I just love the way the little girls were all in their fancy dresses to go to a birthday party.  It was a big outing in 1958!  I have no idea who any of these kids are but maybe my sister will know one or two of them.

Another shot.  It’s fun to see our house right after we moved in and sold 55 years later after my mother’s death in 2013.  Most people wouldn’t notice the difference but for those who have been in the house, notice the sliding glass door out to the backyard on the left which was later converted into a step down into a great room.



Presents! 



Turn it around so we can see what you got!

I don’t remember my mother ever baking our birthday cakes but I do remember some pretty cute ones.  Look at this doll cake.



And the birthday girl at the table.  Oh, oh, oh – I recognize the girl right in front of the doll cake but I can’t come up with her name.



My family will appreciate the hutch in the background – look how clean it is!  Again, proof that my parents didn’t spend a lot of time updating their house is the picture I took a few weeks after my mom passed away.  We left the house just like she’d left it when she went into the hospital and a few weeks after we’d left, we came back to start the arduous task of cleaning out the house.  I don’t know why but something told me to go around the house and snap a photo of some of the rooms before we started tearing it apart.  And here’s the same hutch frozen in time.



Next was my birthday about 8 months later!

Queen Deb is 4

Pay attention to the white bench I’m sitting on.  More on that in a minute.

And she gets more and more

Oh shoot, I can’t make out what that gift is.  And, sadly, I have no idea who any of these girls are.  The one to my right could be Merle Axelrad.  We were friends early in elementary school, which I hadn’t started yet, and went to Temple together.

I guess I can never complain that I didn’t get presents even though my birthday is 11 days before Christmas and, often times, right smack dab in the middle of Chanukah.  I can’t tell what this is – maybe it’s just the ribbon and bow?



And my sister finally jumped into the act.



Back to the white bench I was sitting on above.  I remember that bench was always on our front porch and over the years we used it for many pictures.  Check out my daughter in 1976 all dressed up for Halloween – little devil!



And the following year it got a little spookier.



When we were splitting up things while we were cleaning out the house, my sister’s daughter wanted nothing more than to take that bench home as it held sweet memories for her of visiting Grandma and Grandpa.  And last month when I visited my sister, the bench was on her front porch.  Wonder how many more kids will sit on that bench and pose for a picture?

Family Photos – Mother’s Day and Fun

I continue to go through photos, albums, and other family items in order to document things for future generations.  Next up, a family photo album that was stashed away in my parents’ home.  To start from the beginning, click here.

It looks like Mother’s Day, May, 11, 1958 was spent in Fresno.  Knowing how much my dad liked attending the Modesto Relays, I’m guessing that he had another motive for planning a trip to Fresno that particular weekend.  Very smart, when you think about it.  “Mother, I’d love to spend Mother’s Day with you” when in the back of his mind he was probably thinking “Score, I can be a good son AND attend the track meet”.  A quick google search brought me to the Wikipedia page for the Modesto Relays, now known as the California Invitational Relays, which is an annual track and field event typically held the second weekend of May.  Smart man, my dad.

I used to dress my girls alike when we’d go somewhere with lots of people as I felt it was easier to remember just one outfit as I was scanning the crowd.  I guess I got that from my mom.  We were stylin’!

Mother’s Day 1958 Geraldine Martin Levy, Gordon Levy, Loraine Gunzendorfer Levy Carolyn Levy, Deborah Levy

The look on my face below cracks me up.  Was I thinking “no matter what you do or say I’m not going to smile”?

Mother’s Day 1958 Gordon Levy, Deborah Levy, Carolyn Levy, Geraldine Martin Levy

Mother’s Day 1958 Gordon Levy, Carolyn Levy

I remember playing with those yard games – what fun! 

Mother’s Day 1958 Sig Levy, Loraine Gunzendorfer Levy Deborah Levy, Carolyn Levy

This is pretty much how my grandparents always dressed – Sig in a suit and Loraine always, always in a dress.  And this was in the backyard of their home.  I wish I could remember them in some other type of clothing as this looks so uncomfortable.

And later that year, it looks like we visited Yosemite and played in the snow.  As a family growing up in San Jose (= no snow), this must have been a pretty exciting time for two little girls.

Yosemite Snow 1958 Deborah Levy, Geraldine Martin Levy, Carolyn Levy

Wow, that’s a lot of snow! 

Yosemite Snow 1958 Carolyn Levy

And at some point in 1958, we went to Family Camp.  I wrote a bit about Family Camp here. 

Family Camp 1958 Miss America Debbie

Looks like it was crazy hat night.  I wonder who made my hat?

Family Camp 1958 Carolyn Levy, Deborah Levy, and ?????

Those are some pretty crazy hats!  But who is the mystery person on the right?  Anyone, anyone?

Family Photos – Hanging Around

I continue to go through photos, albums, and other family items in order to document things for future generations.  Next up, a family photo album that was stashed away in my parents’ home.  To start from the beginning, click here.

Next page includes our grandparents – we spent a lot of time with them when we visited Fresno.

Dig in, Sig 1957

This picture of my grandfather, Sigmund Levy, is just how I remember him – a little mischievous and quite a character.  That’s my sister sitting with him and looking like she’s thinking about digging in, too.

Dinner at the chicken farm – 1957 Sheldon Hunter, me, Clara Fitzgerald Martin Hunter (standing), Loraine Gunzendorfer Levy, Geraldine Martin Levy, Sig Levy, Sister Cary

I guess that empty spot would have been for Clara and my dad.  When I posted this photo before a fellow blogger commented about the pearls my mother and grandmother were wearing – can you even imagine that attire today?  We had a BBQ last night and we were all in shorts and t-shirts – no pearls in attendance!

The next two photos are fun – not only the photos but it looks like my sister wrote on the back so we’d know who it was.  Good thinking!

Our Mother

Looks like she had no intention of sharing her mother with me!

The tall & short of it 1957

What’s really interesting about this photo is that my dad wasn’t very tall – maybe 5’9” on a good day.  I always knew my grandfather was short but he was REALLY short. 

And my sister wrote on the back of this one, too.



Next up – random photos of cute little girls.

Oh, so sweet 1957

I wonder if he meant the girls or the goat was sweet.

Cary’s 1st school picture 1957

Now this is definitely one of the sweetest faces ever!  I was able to spend the day with my sister last weekend – she hasn’t changed a bit!

Grandmother back from Hawaii 1957

My grandparents did like to go to Hawaii.  They always took a cruise and as this picture shows, Grandma was always dressed to the 9’s.

Cotton what? 1957

I always loved cotton candy but what a mess!  I can just imagine what our faces looked like when we were done eating this mound of sugar.

Cary on the shutter

No selfies necessary when there was a big sister to take the photos!

No caption for this photo but I know it was 1957 and I know it’s my sister.  What I don’t know is where this dog came from as it wasn’t one of ours.  Maybe she was doing her best to look cute while she begged for a puppy?

Family Photos - Christmas and Birthdays

I continue to go through photos, albums, and other family items in order to document things for future generations.  Next up, a family photo album that was stashed away in my parents’ home.  To read part 1, click here.

The next page of the photo album shows us sitting with Santa.  Although we were raised Jewish, my mother just couldn't bear to leave Santa out of our lives.

Santa's Two Dolls
1956

This was right about my 2nd birthday.

Santa Claus is Coming

Which one is Cary

Ha!  I think my dad's captions are almost as cute as the photos.

Merry Xmas
1956

My mom used to tell me that she hated the letter I.  I'm not sure what the letter I ever did to her but this spelling of my name, Debbe, must have been her attempt to wipe it out of our lives.  She must have been crushed when I changed the spelling to Debi in about the 7th grade.

And then came my sister's birthday in April, 1957, along with a friend, Doug Montgomery.  

Cary's Party
1957

Doug Montgomery's Party
1957

Oh boy, look at that TV!

A helper with the candles
1957

Look at that, it's the original photo of The Greatest Photo Ever Taken in the previous blog post.  It must have been quite an event, and probably pretty costly, to get the photo cropped and printed.  Now we would have it done in seconds.

Young Lady
1957

Sitting Nicely
1957

Ha-ha-ha
1957

Wonder what we were laughing at.  Maybe we were reminiscing about The Greatest Photo Ever Taken.  

Looking behind
1957

A big grin
1957

Cary's Party
1957

WAIT - what?  It looks like I'm opening the present while my sister, the birthday girl, looks on.  Was I one of THOSE kids?

And on to another Christmas.

Xmas Carolers
1957

I think my dad must have some dates wrong because last time I showed this picture which was dated 1956 - looks like I'm in the same clothes.  I can't imagine I would have been wearing the same size one year later.

In other news, I was able to confirm where the photo of my parents at Comstock Bonanza (from part 1) was taken.

I wrote to the Virginia City Tourism Commission and asked about the photo and received this reply.

Yes, this was in Virginia City, the tour was of the old Occidental Mine off State Route 341 two miles off C Street, our main drag.  This was the first mine tour that we know of in Virginia City.  It was bought by a private citizen and opened up in the early 1950s.

And the she asked ME if I had any more photos!  You just never know what you have that might be of interest to others.

Family Photos

I continue to try to go through photos, albums, and other family items in order to document things for future generations.  Next up, a family photo album that was stashed away in my parents’ home.  It doesn’t look too exciting from the outside – just a plain album.



But open up the cover and the early years of my family start to unfold.  My plan is to go through the album page by page and document every photo. 

Someone took a lot of time and care in putting together the front page.  I’m guessing this art work was completed by my older sister – she has always been the artistic one of the bunch. ;-)



And then the photos start and, fortunately, my dad did a good job of providing captions and dates for the photos.  This is the first page in its entirety so you can get a flavor of how he mounted the photos with mounting corners (there is even a supply left for me inside the front cover of the album) and captioned them with silver ink on the black pages.



Here’s a close up of the photo – I’m the little one on my mother’s lap.

The 3 Girls May 1955 Quite a Family

The next page has a few random shots. 

Our Mommy

Our Mommy June 1956

This one cracks me up.  Maybe I was stunned that my sister was spitting on the cake?

The Greatest Picture Ever Taken Cary’s 5th birthday 1957

On to the next page – these seem a bit out of order.

Cary’s 4th Birthday

That is my sister at the head of the table.  Look at the little blonde guy blowing on his party favor.

On the Capitol steps 1956

Check out my curly hair – that didn’t last long!  This would have been in Sacramento, California.

Chris Kringle & Friends 1956

We both look pretty excited to be holding hands with St. Nick.

The Gold Miners 1956

WAIT JUST A MINUTE!  When we were scanning all of the slides we ran across this photo – I smile every time I see it (which is daily since we printed a copy and have it sitting next to our TV).



Is this the same place?  I think it could be!  My best guess at this point is that it is some place in Virginia City, Nevada so I’ve written to the Historical Society in the area and asked if they could give me any information on it.  Hopefully they’ll have something to share with me – stay tuned.

I hope you’ll join me over the next few weeks/months as I continue to go through the family photo album.