December 1955. Here's our family's entry in the Shorpy Christmas tree sweepstakes. Devoid of any jolly celebrants, unfortunately, but at least we have my mother's curtains and drapes. Many vintage ornaments are in evidence: Santa heads, houses, a table lamp, a mushroom, an angel, a prizefighter, some birds with spun glass or celluloid tailfeathers, and one of my personal favorites, a big one we always called "the stars and stripes forever" on the left a little more than halfway up. Some were from my Mother's family and dated back to the early 1900s, including one that still had wax drippings on it from when you actually lit your tree with candles. On the right, our Motorola hosts the Nativity scene complete with plastic Wise Men. Sharp-eyed observers may note that on the window seat, the fishbowl, vacant a year later, here appears to be inhabited. My brother recorded the available-light exposure details for this Kodachrome slide on the mount: f2.8 @ 1 second, during which he jiggled the camera slightly. View full size.

June 3, 1924. "Leonard and Edna Wilbur," children of Navy Secretary Curtis Wilbur. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

Washington, D.C., circa 1922. "Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co." The maintenance shed. National Photo Co. Collection glass negative. View full size.

Art class circa 1940. "Montgomery High School students, Maryland." Our third or fourth photo from Montgomery High. Anyone have an old yearbook from there? National Photo Company Collection safety negative. View full size.

"Secretary Davis, Christmas tree, 1921." James J. Davis, Secretary of Labor in the Harding, Coolidge and Hoover administrations, moonlighting as Santa Claus. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

Washington circa 1914. "H.E.F. & A.W.L. in Detroiter." Herbert E. French, driving, was the owner of National Photo Company; "Artie" Leonard was one of its photographers. They're at the Tidal Basin on the Inlet Bridge, with the Washington Monument in back. National Photo glass negative. View full size.

The Raleigh Hotel at 12th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington circa 1920. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.