Christmas, 1958.

Obviously, Mommy was taking the picture. Dell was resisting the onslaught of the popping flashbulb. I was trying to prove that I belonged on "The Mickey Mouse Club" more than Karen. There's George in his cowboy pajamas. Is Daddy asleep or has he had more than just that one beer? He's got his Lucky Strikes. Note the creche, the Christmas tree, and the inexplicable 1950s pattern on the curtain. The dolls are not Barbies. Barbie comes out in 1959. We are Barbie-innocent here in 1958 with our Ginny dolls and Jill dolls.



And here's a second photo from the same year. The classic dangling string approach to displaying Christmas cards was used. Pole lamps seemed perfect. Surely, in the future everyone will always want three lights on a pole that can be wedged between floor and ceiling. Nice kitty-cat appliqué on the shirt.



Here's the last one in this set. That's my grandmother, Elsa Tausig Althouse, known as Mom. Look at how dressed up people got to visit their grandkids. Shiny stockings, black pumps, good dress, curled hair. A special Christmas pin (which probably had a string to pull to make Santa's nose light up). She expected my mother to dress us up too. You can see I'm in a skirt. I don't suppose Mom appreciated the dirty Keds though. We're engaged in that time-honored Christmas tradition: explaining the presents.