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It’s Christmas 1964: snow lying heavily on the ground, gifts under the tree and the house redolent with the evocative aroma of … aluminum. I believe my parents agreed to buy this tree so that Mother wouldn’t be vacuuming up pine needles until Easter. I still have this tree, (and the color wheel) although it’s not quite as fluffy as shown here. My parents had a policy that the un-wrapped gifts came from Santa, so this photo must have been taken on Christmas Eve. Left to right, slippers for Father, a Johnny Seven for one of my brothers and a rudimentary ice-cream maker that came in handy during the Summer months. On the right is a BB gun that was confiscated by Father later, but my older brother probably consoled himself playing with the slot-car track. Yes, it was a pretty good life in my town of Undisclosed Location. Oh, me? I got the dolls and cradle shown on the right.
Merry Christmas to my fellow Shorpy-ites. View full size.
Every little boy on our street wanted a Johnny Seven. How could you resist seven guns in one. The tree is a classic. We actually had the same tree, until our dog destroyed it one Christmas day while we were out.
Oh how I wish I had our aluminum tree with the creaky color wheel. I spent countless hours oohing and aahing at the tree changing from red, green, blue (my fav), and yellow. Such a typical Christmas, always a gun, slot cars, or hot wheels,and dolls. I asked my parents about the tree a few years ago, thought it would be retro cool but sadly they threw it away. Enjoy it while you can!
Hoople365,
Those colored poms about the middle of the tree.. Are those ornaments or part of the tree?
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