Christmas in 1958, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota


Of course I don't remember Christmas of 1958, I was only eight months old, but I have this wonderful photo, and since it's the season, and I'm feeling all sentimental, I thought that you'd like to time-travel with me.

When I can tear my eyes away from how cute I was as a baby, my eyes go to that chair, which was very modern, very "space age"! And that's my big brother there, who became my big protector, and still is to this day. We didn't live in Brooklyn Park (which is a suburb of Minneapolis) for very long, because I can remember riding around on my tricycle in Mankato, which is south of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis & St. Paul).

This year I'm trying to remember all of my Christmas, which will be my 62nd in a couple of weeks. And I have to admit that Christmas has always been good to me. My parents were typical frugal and thrifty Midwestern people (like I grew up to be!), but at Christmastime they were wonderful, and generous. Whatever negative memories I might have of walking to school through the snow, uphill (both ways, of course!), I have nothing but positive memories of Christmas. We got a LOT of cool toys, some of which I sold on eBay a few years ago.

That truck was probably a genuine Tonka truck. I'm sure that it was for my older brother, and I probably just got blocks or something (whatever babies get). Since this is the internet, someone out there can probably identify exactly what it was. I have no memory of it, although I'm sure that I chewed on it - I chewed on everything, and I probably left teeth marks (when I grew teeth) in that chair, and that couch. Looks like there are some toy soldiers lying around, too. More stuff for me to chew on!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas!
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