Monday, November 25, 2013

Vintage Christmas Cowboy {Tinting Old Photograph}

cowboy 3 wm

Well now, I could not leave out my only brother, in the vintage holiday photograph tags! At Christmas of 1958, Keith was age 4. This picture was taken at my Mamo and Grandad’s home, THE location for the “big Christmas” for us as we were growing up. Each of the grandchildren (I was the oldest, thank you very much) had a stocking with our name (or an abbreviation of the name—mine said “Barba”). The stockings would have basically the same contents each year: nuts, some candy, and always an orange in the toe.

To my knowledge, many (if not all) of us have continued the “stocking tradition,” and the stockings over my fireplace now have the names of my four grandchildren (ages 20, 20, 18 and 7), the great-great grandchildren of my Mamo and Grandad.

I could write a book about the memories from my grandparents’ Christmases, and many of the memories are traditions carried on today in my own home, like the stockings. Not many feet from where Keith was standing was the baby grand piano, where I first started “banging” on the keys as a child, around which we sang Christmas songs, with my aunt playing (and later, me). Now I have my own baby grand piano, and the same songs are sung now by the three succeeding generations.

This year I put my Tag Tree up early, and it has been fun to take some of the tags I am making right now and put them directly on the tree. I would expect this particular Vintage Christmas Cowboy tag will be on its way to my brother’s tree, after my siblings come to my house for our “family Christmas” this year.

keith christmas 58

1 comment:

Keith Wilson said...

This is great! How awesome was I? A very realistic toy gun, and to think I didn't grow up to kill anyone! Ah, those were the days when "political correctness" simply meant you voted for the right party.

I remember those Christmases clearly as well. In particular, I remember The Year Christmas Died at Mamo and Grandad's house...Artificial tree. ALUMINUM. With a color wheel. When I walked in the door and saw that tree, I died a little bit. What great memories.