I'm starting out a little different for this second Christmastime post. This first photo(actually a scan) is pretty much self explanatory with the note on the top left of the scan. I used this letter once before in a story on Chapples Limited and a prior Christmas post here in Fort William, Ontario. It's such an interesting piece that I thought it would be nice to show it again.....and as usual click on all the following photos and scans once or twice for extra large to view them better.
There is no relevance to anyone I know in this next collage of 3 photos....it's just to show you that not all kids love Santa Claus and not all Santa Clauses love kids. My favourite here is actually the look on the face of the first Santa.....gotta love it.
Now....connected to my first Christmas post is this photo of none other than the star of the last post Roger Rickards sitting on Santa's knee in 1950, likely in Chapples Home Store basement Toyland....he looks tentative but still relatively happy, because he's pretty sure he will get everything he asked for.
Now...in the photo to the right is actually Roger's future wife Barb....a real cutie, but in this photo Santa is whispering in Barb's ear that her wish will be granted many years down the line and she really will get married to Roger....☺
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| Roger...love the helmet and galoshes! |
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| Barb...so cute! |
The following photo is yours truly taken in 1951...a year later....same place....Chapples Toyland in their Home Store. Note that I am not sitting on Santa's knee....He wanted me to but I was much to grown up for that business...but I still got all the Dinky Toys I asked for and in one more year I would have a new baby sister.
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| Another real cutie! |
I don't have a Santa photo of my wife Rosemary but I have this wonderful photo of her taken behind their home back in Angus, Nebraska where she lived until she was 9, then moved all the way to Fort William, Ontario just so that we would meet each other in High School.....and yes, they did get snow in Angus.
The following picture is a family photo including my sister and brother going out for Christmas Trees circa 1959. The picture of just us kids follows this one, but note my dad's '53 Chevrolet in the background with the tree cut and already in the trunk....those were wonderful times as kids, and it's always nice to have a photo with my little sister Daryle and my kid brother Corey in it too.
The above scan to the right is of those wonderful 1953 Chevrolets. That was the only automobile word allowed spoken in our house....other brands never cut it when your dad worked for the Chevrolet dealership in Fort William. The model of his car is circled and the arrow points to the colour it was.
Now... the photo below is my dad loading a tree into his 1958 Chevrolet company car in the same year all these photos were taken - 1959. These trees were likely picked up for the Kam Motors Christmas Party. I loved the fact that my dad started getting a new Chevy company car for a number of years starting in 1957. He was allowed to keep it until it was sold as a Demo then he would get the next years car all brand new. My mom would be driving our own car, the '53 above. I couldn't wait to get my own car when I turned 16.
Here is that great Bel Air look....It was the Impala that had the three tail lights in a row in 1958.
Below is a bit earlier photo circa 1954 with myself my little sister at about two years old(no brother yet), my Dad and my uncle Cyril....with the Christmas Tree in the trunk of his own 1952 Chevrolet here, and next to that, a picture of what his '52 looked like.....surprisingly enough all the cars mentioned above and in this picture were all green.
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| Click for larger photo. |
The following two family photos are a couple of my all time favourites. We are going back here to circa 1940. In the picture is my uncle Henry sitting on the hood of my dad's 1928 Studebaker Erskine. It was called a poor man's Studebaker at the time, but as my dad told me, it was a huge car compared to the Chevrolets or Fords at the time. In those days the word "Chevrolet" wasn't that important because Kam Motors hadn't started selling Chevy's yet.
My dad's first car was a model "T" Ford Touring, which my grandfather sold on him when he was away on his first stint in the army.
Another interesting note is..... what looks like a lady swimmer diving ornament on the radiator of the car....It was an after-market piece at the time and was an image of the famous actress/swimmer/diver Ester Williams.
The picture on the right is my mother♥ with my uncle Henry....well she would eventually become my mother as my dad and her were just dating at this time....I wasn't even a thought when this photo was taken...☺
The last two scans for this post is a picture of Ester Williams and the Erskine, and if you click on the Ersk, you should be able to read a little about this car.
Merry Christmas to all...and shop 'til you drop.....there will still be another post or two yet.
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