Seattle 1978

Seattle 1978

Friday, December 30, 2011

Old is new

I can't decide if this post should be "old is new" or "new is old".

From the family White Elephant game this Christmas, my daughter and I scored big.  At first when I opened mine, I wasn't sure what it was. But as I pulled it out, I loved the shimmery beauty and sparkly, tinkly tone of these vintage silver spoon wind chimes

From Visiting Vintage

They're so lovely! And I'm delighted that these were repurposed this way.

And then my husband who had the last pick stole this epic Think Geek Star Trek Enterprise Pizza cutter from his twin sister for our Trekkie teenage daughter.  Who'd a thought a 1960s clunky toy space ship could be such a thing of beauty?!
From Visiting Vintage

It is so reflective, I couldn't help but try to capture Christmas lights in them.
From Visiting Vintage

I'm pretty pleased my daughter loves a retro TV classic so much.  And I love that "old can be new" or "new can be old".

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Seattle December 1978

My favorite elective in high school was photography.  In December 1978 we took a field trip to downtown Seattle and wandered around shooting anything we wanted.  I feel a bit awkward now doing street photography and taking photographs of strangers - but being a teenager and being on assignment I guess I felt entitled to do so.  We shot black-and-white so we could process the film and develop the prints ourselves.  I took over sixty photos but most of them I had only seen in contact print size since I only enlarged a handful of them.  A few years ago I came across the negatives and took them in to be put on a CD and it was pretty exciting for me to see them big.  If these look familiar to some of you I shared them at the time with Vintage Seattle and you may have seen them there.

(Photos removed. I may post them again if I can prevent them from being shared for profit by others.)

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Holiday Party Prep 1966-1967

Getting ready for party time!
Before you get all dolled up with a beautiful 'do

From Vintage Goodness

You'll probably want to decorate
From Vintage Goodness
From Vintage Goodness
And make sure you have extra table and seating space
From Vintage Goodness
(I still have two from this vintage - we certainly got fourteen dollars worth out of them)

Have lots of great music for the Hi Fi
From Vintage Goodness
Prepare fun party food and beverages
From Vintage Goodness
From Vintage Goodness
From Vintage Goodness

(I never thought to "try it hot")
From Vintage Goodness
From Vintage Goodness

(And this has a bonus to enhance your decor)
From Vintage Goodness
Enjoy your family and friends this holiday and party season - this is something that should never change!
(American Home Magazine ads from Decembers 1966 and 1967)

Monday, December 5, 2011

Christmas Music through the years

I know I'm not alone feeling deeply connected with Christmas music from the past. Classic versions of many holiday favorites just make it feel more like Christmas. A personal favorite of mine is Julie Andrew's Joy To The World. I still have the vinyl! I also still have my vinyl of Gene Autry's Rudolph the Red-nose Reindeer
From Visiting Vintage

Another LP I have includes Simon and Garfunkel's 7:00 O'Clock News/Silent Night - have a listen if you haven't heard it.
From Visiting Vintage

I took guitar lessons in Junior High - I was pretty proud of myself when I learned how to play Silver Bells - I still have the ditto!  (Note to self - describe to teen age daughter how school assignments used to look and smell)

From Visiting Vintage

The family piano plays a big role for me at Christmas time and the rest of the year.  Below is family sing-along at the piano in 1974 - my Dad had an ear for music and would take requests.

From Visiting Vintage

The piano here is from the 1920s - according to family lore when my Dad's parents got married in January 1929, they rented a furnished apartment in Bremerton, WA.  The previous owner was a Deputy Sheriff (possible surname Allen) and for reasons unknown to me, skipped town in the middle of the night leaving through a back window with his family.  Later the family was washed away in a flash flood somewhere in California.  Some day I'm going to see if I can find anything to authenticate this story but in the meantime, the story of the piano is that it originally belonged to him and was left in my Grandparent's first apartment.  My parents later inherited it and "antiqued" it as shown above (GAH!).  Sometime in the 80's or the 90's they had the ivories replaced and thankfully refinished the body and this is how it looks today.

From Visiting Vintage

The sheet music on the right in both photos is the same.  Here is some old Christmas sheet music in the family collection

From Visiting Vintage
Irving Berlin's White Christmas copyright 1942, I Believe In Santa Claus dated in my grandmother's handwriting December 1945 and Carol of the Drum that I tried to play on piano in the mid 70s.

My Grandmother played on this piano, my Dad learned to play on this piano, I TRIED to learn to play on this piano and my daughter has learned to play on this piano.  This makes me smile.

Many years ago my mom recalled my favorite decoration was a music box wall nativity that played Silent Night when the string was pulled so she gave it to me.  This also makes me smile.
From Visiting Vintage

More "modern" is my Best of Christmas in the Northwest CD - this the cover unfolded because I love the lyrics to Another Wet Seattle Christmas. Album presented in 1994 by the now defunct Ernst Home and Nursery.
From Visiting Vintage

VERY meaningful to me is every Christmas Eve service that I've attended since I was very young is concluded with individual candle lighting during the singing of Silent Night.  I don't have an old photo of this important tradition for me but this is a couple of years ago at my church.

From Bellevue

Merry Musical Christmas to you!!