Ghost of Holidays Past

For the next couple of weeks, we are having Ghosts of Holidays Past instead of the usual On the Road After Dark.

So send in your pictures!  Either as a full set for a post, or just send one or two that will go into a group post.  Be sure to include some text so we know what we’re looking at.  If you want to send photos but not have them identified as yours, let me know that, too.

We haven’t declared war on Christmas, but we did switch to Holidays so all celebrations are welcome!

My father was a professional photographer, so there are lots of pictures of the family Christmases, as well as home movies etc. It’s hard to pick just a few, and I also don’t want to embarrass myself or my siblings, so here some that I chose with that parameter in mind. Be forewarned, I’m officially old, and grew up in the middle of the country, so some of these items and customs might be novel for some of you youngsters! But I’m still impressed by Kodachrome; some of these slides are over 60 years old, and they look great, color and tone-wise!

Montezuma KS

One of the family traditions when I was young was a Christmas Day trip to my aunts house in the tiny town of Montezuma KS, about a half hour away. Here we would gather with my dad’s parents and some of his siblings (most of whom were still in that part of KS), have Christmas dinner, wash a lot of dishes, and open presents. We took turns opening one present at a time, starting with the youngest and proceeding to the oldest, so my grandfather was always the last to get to open his first present. But he always had more than anybody, so he could keep opening presents long after the kids had completed theirs. Here’s a pic of my sister “helping” my grandmother open a present; other relatives can be seen in the background.

Ghosts of Holidays Past: Albatrossity Christmas EditionPost + Comments (24)