Christmas 2011 - Christmas with Ed Ames

I've been looking for Christmas with Ed Ames on CD for a few years now. Mom's had the vinyl edition since as long as I can remember. The album was originally released in 1967. As a kid one of my favorite Christmas songs was Carol of the Donkey. I've never heard anyone but Ed Ames sing a this song about a donkey that feels he's not good for much but finds joy when he's the one picked to carry the Virgin Mary on his back. One of my all time favorite Christmas songs is I Wonder As I Wander and my first exposure to it was on this album. Ed Ames has a most gorgeous baritone voice. Listening to this disc has brought back some very good feelings of Christmases past...

Christmas 1967 - Joe with Grandma Jean in Two Harbors

Christmas 1967 - See 'n Say The Farmer Says

From Wikipedia:

"See 'n Say is an educational toy created by the toy company Mattel in 1965 after the success of its talking Chatty Cathy doll."

"In the 1960s, after introducing a line of talking dolls that said different phases when a string protruding form their upper back was pulled, Mattel trademarked the word chatty. Several Mattel pull-string talking dolls and toys were packaged in boxes that read 'A chatty Toy' or 'A Chatty Doll by Mattel'. However, these dolls and toys spoke phrases at randon when their 'chatty ring' was pulled. see 'n Say, introduced in 1965, was the first Mattel talking toy that allowed children to choose the exact phrase they wanted to hear by adjusting a pointer on the toy's face to a particular item and pulling the 'chatty ring.' The Farmer Says See 'n Say made animal sounds when a pointer shaped like a miniature farmer was aimed at pictures of animals on its dial. For example, when pointed at an image of a duck, the phrase 'this is a duck...quack, quack, quack' was heard. Unlike other toys, the original See 'n Says required no batteries. Instead, sound was produced by a simple low-fidelity phonograph record driven by a metal coil wond by pulling the toy's string. The was the same mechanism used in Chatty Cathy dolls."

I loved this toy. I loved pulling the string and being able to pick which sound I wanted to hear.

Christmas 1967 - Joe and Mom

Mom opens presents with me. The Farmer Says toy in the first pictures was one of my favorite presents.

Christmas 1967 - Joe's Wagon

Dad helps me put together my wagon.

Christmas 1967 - Joe and Dad

Dad helps me open presents.

Christmas 1967 - Aunt Linda and Uncle Wally's Visit

Aunt Linda, Uncle Wally and their daughters stopped by for a visit during Christmas of 1967.

Top photo: Aunt Linda gives Uncle Wally (who was being a little stinker) a kiss.

Middle and bottom photos: (Standing from left) Cousin Jeannie holding cousin Beth and cousin Patty holding me. (Sitting) Cousin Lee holds cousin Cathy.

Christmas 1967 - Christmas Tree

My first three Christmases were at the old house. Here I am with our Christmas tree in 1967. Mom made all of the orgami birds that decorate the tree.

Christmas 1967 - Joe's Tricycle

My first set of wheels.

Christmas 1968 - Color Wheel

The following is from Wikipedia:

"An aluminum Christmas tree is a type of artificial Christmas tree that was popular in the United States from 1958 until about the mid-1960s. As its name suggests, the tree is made of aluminum, featuring foil needles and illumination from below via a rotating color wheel."

"Aluminum Christmas trees were first manufactured sometime around 1955, remained popular into the 1960s, and were manufactured into the 1970s."

"During the 1960s, the aluminum Christmas tree enjoyed its most popular period of usage. As the mid-1960s passed, the aluminum Christmas tree began to fall out of favor, with many thrown away or relegated to basements and attics. The airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965 has been credited with ending the era of the aluminum tree, and by 1967 their time had almost completely passed."

"The aluminum Christmas tree was used as a symbol of the over-commercialization of Christmas in the 1965 Peanuts holiday special, A Charlie Brown Christmas. The program is considered a classic amongst Christmas specials, and its mention of the aluminum tree solidified the tree's legendary status while satirizing it as well. Peanuts character 'Lucy' implored Charlie Brown to get a 'big, shiny aluminum tree...maybe painted pink.' Charlie lamented the commercialization of the true meaning of Christmas, ignored his friends' request, and purchased a small, scrawny natural tree instead."

In the bottom photo I'm standing in front and my cousins Debby, Diane and Danny are standing behind me. Behind all of us is an aluminum tree. The color wheel is at the bottom right.