It’s easy, as an adult, to get bogged down in the un-fun, stressful aspects of Christmas. The mall becomes a madhouse that empties your wallet. Meals have to be planned and cookies baked. The house has to be decorated, inside and out, cards must be sent, and presents need to be wrapped. And that’s not to mention all the tension and drama that can arise when family members come together. But most of us, if we dig deep enough into our photo albums, can find evidence of a time when Christmas was just awesome.
Do you remember how it felt, as a kid, when you woke up in the middle of the night, wondering when it would be okay to rouse Mom and Dad to see what Santa put under the tree? My little brother used to get us all up before dawn, until my parents told us we had to wait until 5 a.m. I’d go in his room around 4:30 a.m., and find him wide awake, bouncing in anticipation. We’d sit on his bed and watch the clock, and talk about the size and shape of packages under the tree that we’d examined and shaken and committed to memory. We’d talk strategy: who’d wake Mom, who’d wake Dad. At 4:58, we’d run to our parents’ room and jump on them. Finally, we’d drag them out to the glory of the tree, already lit up, our one big toy each set up and ready for play.
“My husband and I discovered we both saw the same Santa, when I was 4 and he was 5 in the ’40s.”
Like me, many of our community members at Show & Tell can remember that magnificent moment when they first saw their new bike or doll or teddy bear—and they have the family Christmas photos to prove it. Or, to put a fancypants name on it, they shared their vernacular photography. If you’re feeling low on Christmas cheer, check out these snapshots, like the picture of marcobabe13 (above), holding her new doll in 1952.
Click through the slideshow below, and I promise you’ll be feeling jolly in no time flat.
Slideshow: Christmases Past
Merry Christmas to our Show & Tell community!
You'd Better Watch Out: Krampus Is Coming to Town
Dreaming of a Posh Christmas, in Postcards
You'd Better Watch Out: Krampus Is Coming to Town
Cowboys vs. Spacemen: How the Toy Chest Was Won
ChristmasCollectible Christmas items range from antique hand-crafted pieces like blo…
Mari Tepper: Laying it on the Line
Nice Ice: Valerie Hammond on the Genteel Charm of Vintage Canadian Costume Jewelry
How Jim Heimann Got Crazy for California Architecture
Modernist Man: Jock Peters May Be the Most Influential Architect You've Never Heard Of
Meet Cute: Were Kokeshi Dolls the Models for Hello Kitty, Pokemon, and Be@rbrick?
When the King of Comedy Posters Set His Surreal Sights on the World of Rock 'n' Roll
How One Artist Makes New Art From Old Coloring Books and Found Photos
Say Cheese! How Bad Photography Has Changed Our Definition of Good Pictures
Middle Earthenware: One Family's Quest to Reclaim Its Place in British Pottery History
Fancy Fowl: How an Evil Sea Captain and a Beloved Queen Made the World Crave KFC
LOVED the pictures. BOY did that bring tears of joy. I remember those Christmas’s and now I need to dig into my suitcase of old photos and look for them.
I loved the pictures the first time around. I’m really happy to see them featured this year!
Two Happy Cousins On Christmas Day