"Snots, you roll over and let Uncle Clark scratch your belly." - Eddie, "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation"
Like most events from 1975, there is very little information, photos, or memories of this, my fifth Christmas on Earth. There are a couple of spectacular shots taken in our living room of my Mom and me basking in the afterglow of the gift-opening ritual. Other than that, I have relied on Bill and Dottie for the few snapshots taken on Christmas Eve at Arline and Carl’s. The rest requires mostly speculation. Read the rest of this entry »
Here is a brief reminiscence about a small rocking chair I once had. This small wooden chair was given to me sometime around the middle of the 1970’s decade. No one seems to remember where exactly it came from – possibly from my parents or Grandma Range as a Christmas gift – but I know that I spent many a happy a moment in it, parked in front of the TV, watching my favorite Saturday morning cartoons like Land of the Lost and The Monster Squad or sitcoms like Shields and Yarnell and Gilligan’s Island. Read the rest of this entry »
I offered up a few anecdotes from 1975 in prior postings (namely here), but this one deserves one all of its own. There is no way I can be certain that this actually occurred in 1975, but I would imagine I was not much older than three or possibly four when it happened. I well-remember shopping at the downtown Rikes department store in Dayton, formerly on the corner of Second and Main. I loved to browse the toys, records, and View-Master slides. In that day and age, there were seldom any worries about leaving me alone for a few minutes to peruse the merchandise. Read the rest of this entry »
This brings to a close our 1975 Florida trip. (Interestingly, when I started putting together this website, I had no photos or info about the trip whatsoever). If you are still wondering why there are no further photos from Disney World since my Dad was obviously wearing his camera in the shot taken in front of the 20,000 League Under the Sea ride…well, there were a few slides. But unfortunately, there were no people in them – so weren’t really worth displaying. Most were actually taken inside the It’s a Small World ride and were rather dark. But just to satiate your appetite, here are a couple of the better ones of Disney World in 1975. These beautiful shots provide a glimpse of Disney from this era. Actually, the knobby little knees in the bottom right hand corner of the photo above right do belong to me. I think there was an attempt to get me into a shot with the famous mouse before the tall lanky girl stepped in and ruined everything. Read the rest of this entry »
It is clear from these three photos that I not only enjoyed the swimming pool, but also the salty sea and sand. This, again, is our 1975 trip to St. Pete Beach, Florida. My Dad, in his desire to take some artistic shots, took some lovely panoramic photos that not only featured my Mom and me enjoying the beach, but a landscape of the coastline where we were staying, and a broad view of the ocean – framing little old us along with a passing sea vessel. There’s nothing artistic about the bottom photo – but it’s my favorite. Read the rest of this entry »