Christmas 1966 - Christmas with the Cousins

My cousin Deb, in the middle, is holding me. Diane is on the left and Danny is on the right. Photos taken at Grandma and Grandpa's apartment above their bakery in Two Harbors.

Christmas 1966 - At Grandpa Lou and Grandma Alice's

Christmas in Two Harbors. Grandma Alice and Grandpa Louie hadn't moved into their house on 6th Avenue yet. When these photos were taken they were living in an apartment above their bakery.

Top photo: Aunt Alice Mae photographs me along with the cousins.

Middle photo: Uncle Dale is on the far left.

Bottom photo: Grandma gets a shot too.

Christmas 1996 - Grandpa Louie

Grandpa Louie died in early 1997 so the Christmas of 1996 was his last. I have fond memories of holidays with both him and Grandma Alice in Two Harbors and spending time in the bakery they owned together.

Gifts - Colorful Pots and Pans

My earliest Christmases (late 1960's/early 1970's) were spent at my grandparent's houses in Two Harbors, Minnesota. Grandma Alice and Grandpa Louie owned a bakery there which they operated from the mid-1950's to 1981. Grandpa Les worked for the railroad but retired around this time and Grandma Jean stayed at home. Jean and Les also owned a cabin on 40 acres of land about eleven miles just outside of town. I loved going to two Harbors and visiting all of them at their houses but also loved spending time at the bakery and cabin.

It was about 1971 and Mom, Dad, Sam and I were up in Two Harbors for Thanksgiving. I remember sitting on a big unopened bucket of lard in the storage room by the back entrance of the bakery. My brother Sam and I were paging through Grandma Alice's Montgomery Ward Christmas catalog and looking at Christmas toys. What I decided I wanted most was something the catalog called Colorful Pots and Pans. They were big colorful plastic toys modeled after kitchen items but with faces on them. There was a skillet, coffee pot, saucepan, etc. I never got them and I don't remember feeling too disappointed. Once we got back to Minneapolis I'm sure I came up with something I wanted even more.

This past weekend my friend Noel and I were putzing around a Minneapolis antique store and I stumbled upon what is pictured here. If this isn't the actual product I saw in that Montgomery Ward catalog then it's eerily close!