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.