Ghosts of Christmas Past- the 1960's

Since I have very few pictures from Christmas celebrations in the 1960's the entire decade will be condensed into this one post. I know there are more pictures out there somewhere. It is my guess they are on slides and I have done very little with those up to now. As I work through the family collections I will gather them together and hope to post them in the years to come. For now this will have to be sufficient.

We begin in 1964. Mom is on the left leaning over toward me. She is in her mid 30's. I'm 10. My brother David's head is obscured by my older bother Jay. David is 8 years old and Jay is 12. From the looks of the Christmas tree we have helped decorate by creating the paper ring garland.

 In this picture with her back to us is our Grandmother Byrdis. Mom and I are looking at something. David is looking at us. Dad is facing the tree and Jay is on the far side of him. We are at our house and not at my Grandparent's home across the road. Since everyone is accounted for except Grandpa he must be the photographer.

We are still in 1964 and the three brothers are working their way through the gifts under the tree.

Jay and I are working on something. David is clearly amused by our efforts. If you would notice one thing about him. It would be the belt. You might ask why it is pulled so tight. He has a problem that I never had. He was thin. He wore slim waist jeans and they were still to big around the waist for him. I wore husky jeans and at times had trouble getting them snapped and zipped. Ain't genetics fun?

The picture above we jump ahead 3 years. It is 1967. Jay is 15, David is 11 and I am 13. I remember those years and the best I can do is say I am sorry. I know that raising three boys wasn't easy and the fact that we were allowed to live to be adults is all the proof I need that our parents loved us. So there is what I have of the 1960's.

Ghosts of Christmas Past- 1957 to 1959

My younger brother David has arrived and we celebrated his first Christmas in 1956. There aren't many pictures I have found yet for the remainder of the 1950's so we will lump the end of the decade into a single post. Some of the pictures did not have dates so I was forced to do a bit of guesswork to settle on an appropriate year. It was generally based on how old we seemed to be in my opinion. As I have stated to others in the past, if you disagree write your own blog and state your opinion. I write this one so I get to determine what is true when evidence is unclear.

This is the picture I used to establish my baseline for evaluation of undated pictures. It is dated December 1958. David on the left is 2. I'm in the center and 4 years old. Jay is on the right and is 6 years old.

We appear, at least to me, to be about the same age in the picture above. As for the toys in the picture. I remember spending lots of time playing with the yellow crane in the middle. The truck on the far right to my recollection was a tow truck. Last I knew it was still around the home place somewhere.

This is the one that has given me the most trouble. Jay and I seem younger. Perhaps it fell in with the 1956 or 1957 area when David was an infant.

Back to the year with the yellow crane. We are in the house where we all grew up. It was a good Christmas and looking back at it they all were. It lacked the excess Christmas seems to demand now but it was a different era. We had a roof over our heads, food on the table, gifts and toys to play with. It seemed there could be little more that three boys could want. When I look at those three faces I see nothing but a childhood of happiness. I hope when Mom looks at this she realizes what a great job her and Dad did. We grew into teenagers in the 1960's, went to college and all graduated college in the 1970's. Got jobs and worked and supported ourselves and our families to the best of our abilities. I don't know that it takes a village to raise a child but it certainly didn't hurt to have our grandparents across the road watching out for us, keeping us under control and encouraging us to do our best.

Ghosts of Christmas Past- 1956

Once again the family has grown. In August 1956 we welcome youngest and final brother David to the family. Dad has managed to hit the jackpot and has three sons to deal with and no daughters. He grew up with his sister and I think after seeing how that went had no desire to parent a daughter.

Here is the new addition to the family. This is one of his Christmas pictures.

He's only four months old but seems to be getting along well.

The three brothers. Jay on the left, David in the center and me on the right. Jay would be about four and a half, I would be two and a half and David would be four months.

We seem to get moved around the house for this series of pictures. In some we appear to be less than thrilled with the experience. There is never an appearance of presents or a Christmas tree yet all of the pictures were labeled Christmas 1956. It leads me to believe these were taken for distribution to the grandparents in Illinois and Connecticut.

This is where it appears at least Jay and I have had enough of picture taking. The thrill of that job has passed and it is doubtful that even threats will cause any different reaction.

Oh yeah, you can declare this photo session over. You are down to David's cooperation and he doesn't know how to not cooperate. It is clear the other two of us do.

They say the key to getting one good picture is to take lots of them and throw the bad ones out. Some of these should have ended up on the trash heap. Damn I've got big ears.

Stop back tomorrow when we finish Christmas in the 1950's.

Ghosts of Christmas Past- 1955

My first Christmas was in Connecticut my second is back in Illinois. Back in rural Sparta Township. The house I grew up in. The house I can close my eyes and see in every glorious detail. Many things change in life. So many new experiences. Yet through it all that house is still there, always there.

I'm in the foreground and my older brother Jay is in the background. One of the other things that hasn't changed up to this point is my clothing. Apparently I really liked bib overalls. Christmas is more of a thing this year and at 21 months of age I'm getting into the act opening gifts. Jay would be just short of three and a half years old.

When I first looked at this I thought it was just me in the picture. If you look to the left you can see Jay's outline. He has, unfortunately, lost his head to the bright backlighting. Photography can be tricky. Even with all the tools of digital imagery some things can't be fixed.

This is Jay and I with our Great Grandmother Byrd Oyler celebrating Christmas 1955. Her husband George Washington Oyler had passed away on November 21, 1955. The interesting thing to me in the picture are the two picture frames in the corner. Copies of the pictures in them, in different frames hang in our house in Illinois. They are pictures of my Grandmother Byrdis when she was a little girl. I cannot tell you her exact age in the photos but she appears to be under 10 years of age. That would mean the pictures were taken sometime before 1917.  Jay is old enough to have memories of Byrd and George Oyler. Try as I may there is just nothing I can recall. Sometimes all you have is old photographs. So, a moment captured in time. A moment that shows she was happy to be with us and we were equally pleased to be with her. Sitting on Great Grandma's lap being loved. Life was good.

Life, like a river, constantly flows toward a sea of change. This would be the last Christmas for Jay and I as the two brothers. Our younger brother David would come along in 1956 and be the final piece in our family puzzle. Stop back tomorrow for a look at Christmas 1956.

Ghosts of Christmas Past- 1954

When we last visited it was 1953 and my brother Jay was celebrating his second Christmas and his last as an only child. March 1954 rolled around and I arrived on the scene. I will spare you, for now, pictures of my first few months. We will move on directly to Christmas. This blog is like being a kid. You get to skip all the boring holidays like Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving to go to the one where people give you presents.
Going through old pictures is really an opportunity to learn about yourself and your family. To discover things you didn't know. Before happening across the pictures I share with you in this blog I would have said I hadn't spent a Christmas in Connecticut. It turns out that was where I spent my first Christmas. When you think about it, doesn't it make sense. Mom was 24 that Christmas. She had been in Illinois for two years. Home for the holidays. A chance to show off the new baby (me) and spend time with her parents and siblings. I remember taking the trip east as a teenager. It was a long two day ride in the car. Sitting in the back seat with your brothers trying not to do anything so stupid that Dad would be willing to stop the car and dispense some roadside discipline. The rides I remember were taken on the interstate highway system. In 1954 that didn't exist. No McDonald's to stop at for a quick meal. Howard Johnsons would have been the stop. It was back in the day of the small town motel with mom and pop style diners. When you go off the interstate now most of those places are gone. We don't spend much time seeing the sights along the way. Get on the interstate and make tracks for our destination. Don't see much between here and there. Got places to go and not things to see. I miss those old roads, those old diners, not so much the roach motels. Enough of that, on to Christmas 1954.

It doesn't look much like Christmas or Connecticut from this picture but it is in fact both. I include this one just to show that apparently my training to work in juvenile detention and prison was started when I was a toddler. Being behind bars didn't seem to bother me then.

It's looking more like Christmas in this picture. Child safety has made big strides since the 1950's. Finally, it looks like I can rock that bare midriff droopy diaper thing. I recognize that facial expression. Clearly I was taking a dump.

The picture above is me, my maternal grandmother Harriet, my maternal grandfather John and my older brother Jay. My presence does not seem to be ruining his Christmas. He is holding toys and I have a rattle. WTF?

This picture from left to right is my Uncle John, Mom, Jay, Grandpa John, me, Grandma Harriet, Uncle George and Aunt Harriet (everyone calls her Dolly). The good news is I was dressed for the picture and like the bib overall look.

This picture is my Grandpa John, Uncle John and Grandma Harriet. There were lots of Johns in the family. Both grandfathers, my Dad, my bother, a cousin and later on our youngest son. When someone said "John" several heads would turn.

I have apparently worn out my welcome and been returned to my holding cell.

There you have my first Christmas. A Christmas season of travel and family. Isn't that what Christmas is all about? Getting to spend some time with your loved ones? Too many in those pictures are no longer with us. It would be good to once again share a holiday with them. So, dear reader, enjoy your loved ones while you can. Put aside hard feelings and hurts of the past. Choose to remember all that is good in life.

Ghosts of Christmas Past- 1953

There are some things you can never know. You can put the effort in to being in the other guy's shoes. The fact is you can never really know. My older brother is celebrating his second Christmas. It will also be his last as an only child. Mom is 6 months along and in March I will arrive and ruin the solitude he enjoys. I will never know what it is like to be the only child. To have a Christmas that is not shared with a sibling. There is no bitterness in that statement. It is just the way life works. So, what did Christmas look like for Jay in 1953?

A few things to note in this picture. Jay's first Christmas was celebrated in the big house across the road. Mom and Dad had moved to the farm and Grandma and Grandpa had moved to his mother's former home in Galesburg. My Great Grandmother Emma had passed away in April 1952. Grandma Byrdis wanted to live in town. Grandpa gave it a try but by June of 1953 or so the hired man who lived in the small house was gone, Grandpa had done all of town living he could handle. So Mom, Dad and Jay moved to the house across the road. The house where I grew up. The house where Mom still lives. It also appears from the picture above that Jay was a very active toddler. The Christmas tree seems to be in jail. The toys look like fun. A tricycle, the large stuffed bear, the toy train and the wheeled popper thing.

Your first Christmas doesn't mean much to you. As an infant you have no idea what is going on. It really is a holiday for the new parents. You can see from today's pictures that Jay is really into this Christmas. It is HIS holiday.

Some people like having their picture taken. I think Jay is one of them.

The present opening continues. I spend more time looking at the background of these pictures and seeing the house of my youth. While it has changed in many ways, there is so much that remains the same. Today it is pictures of my older brother and his Christmas. My mind can fast forward to times when my children and grandchild open presents on the same floor.

It makes you wonder how we all didn't end up with ADHD. A bunch of new toys and you want to play with them all. Right now! At the same time! NOW!!!

Every good holiday ends in the kitchen. What is a holiday without a celebratory meal? So it looks like 1953 was a good one for brother Jay. Toys, attention, food, what more could a young boy want? A brother to share it with?

Ghosts of Christmas Past-1952

In keeping with last night we jump ahead 18 years and a generation in my family. My parents John and Anna were married on February 3, 1951. Here is the lovely couple on their wedding day on the left side of the picture. The Maid of Honor was my aunt Sally. The best man was one of my dad's navy buddies Charlie Owen. He's where my middle name came from.

In 1952 they were blessed with a son. My older brother John Jay. This is the story of his first Christmas. If you look closely you may notice some things you saw last night. Mom, Dad and baby Jay left Connecticut in November for the farm in Illinois. Dad had to return and left the navy in early December.

The picture above is the proud new father with his 5 month old new son experiencing their first Christmas together.

If you look closely at the wall to the left you may notice the pictures hanging on the wall are the same ones that were hanging there in 1934. Tree looks similar as well. I had to call mom to confirm all this. She stated some of the items in the 1934 picture are still in use and are in my younger brother's bedroom.

The picture above is the best I have of my brother on his first Christmas.

No Christmas would be complete without a visit with the great grandparents. This picture is my brother Jay, Great Grandmother Byrd Oyler and Great Grandfather George Washington Oyler. They were the parents of my Grandmother Byrdis. My brother has memories of them from his childhood. Mr. Oyler passed away in 1955 when I was one and Mrs. Oyler passed away in 1957 when I was three.

So there is my older brother's first Christmas. It was also a special Christmas for my mom. She had moved away from her home and family in Connecticut to live in BFE with a young farmer. He had deposited her in rural Illinois with a 5 month old infant and returned to the east coast to complete his term of service with the United States Navy. I cannot imagine being 22 years old and on my own in a strange place with a young child. It is easy when you don't take the time to consider everything how strong and brave your mother had to have been. So 1952 was a year of change and new experiences.