No post last Wednesday, and just a short one today.

Like so many of us, my family won’t be traveling to holiday get-togethers this year. So this week we’ve been busy wrapping and shipping gifts to distant loved ones. I’m usually not this organized this soon, but we decided to ship early this year, to avoid the rush and make sure everything arrives in time for the big day.

It must have been easier when you could just do your shopping in town, put the packages on your sled, and walk them home…

The author’s father, John, with sisters Carol and Shirley and Christmas packages, probably near their home in Evanston, Illinois, early 1930s. Collection of Reed Perkins. Click to open larger photo in new window.

More history coming next week.

Be well, stay safe, and wear a mask if you have to go out.

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Notes:

• Who remembers sales clerks asking “would you like that wrapped?” during the holiday season? I wonder how many of these gifts were wrapped at home, and how many at the shops?
  
  
• During the pre-digital (film) camera era, I remember it was mandatory that all “spontaneous” snapshots of children required the kids to line up, face the bright sun—as this would make the “best exposure”—and squint while the photo was taken. No exceptions allowed.
  
  
• I thank the muses of fashion that I did not live at a time that required me to wear knickers or little bow ties. Of course, tastes in fashion are often odd, capricious and/or inexplicable; in the late-1960s, I desperately wanted a Nehru jacket but was over-ruled by my very square (i.e., totally non-groovy) parents. Alas.
  
  
• I love old photos, black-and-white as well as color images; I have mixed feelings about colorized photos. But you do miss out, sometimes, with black-and-white. For the record, all three children in today’s photo had bright red hair.