Thursday, October 22, 2009

Friday My Town Shoot Out~ Classics of Childhood

This week's theme is classics of childhood, chosen by Ellise.

When I think of my childhood, my most cherished memories involve my grandparents.



This is my Mamaw and my Papaw.

It's hard to believe that they are only in their 30's here.

They seem so much older to me.

Mamaw and Papaw lived in Bakersfield, California

and I grew up in Stockton, California until I was ten years old

So it was always a treat to go visit Mamaw and Papaw.

Gosh, how I loved them so.

I remember one Christmas I had asked for a maxi dress.

I begged and begged for one.

and when I opened one of my presents at Mamaw and Papaw's house

I giggled with joy and twirled around holding that dress up against me.

My sister got one too.

Here I am at 8 years old, in Dec. of 1972 wearing my brand spanking new maxi dress.





It appears that my bow is tied in the front instead of the back.  How funny.

Every year Mamaw and Papaw sent us birthday presents in the mail.

I always looked forward to their packages because inside the box

was always a pair of boots or gloves, my favorite things.

Here is a pair of gloves I got when I was eight or nine years old.

Yep, they are the original gloves and they are kind of dirty.

After all, they are more than 35 years old.

 I cherish them so much because they remind me of Mamaw and Papaw.




I loved these gloves and wore them all the time.

I felt so glamorous in them.

I think I was more like a little adult as a child.

My favortie TV show when I was in Kindergarden was Perry Mason.

I would get dropped off by the bus after school at noon

and my mom and I would watch Perry Mason

and I understood what was going on.

We also watched a soap opera called Love of Life or something like that.

I loved books of all kinds.

When I was younger I asked Santa Claus for a sky blue binder.

How many kids do you know who wants a binder for Christmas?

My sister and I loved marbles. 

We collected and saved our marbles for a long time.

I remember we had over a thousand marbles.

When we moved to Bakersfield, we would walk to a store called Cornet

and buy marbles by the bag fulls.

We had steelies, cateyes, dogeyes, perry's and solids big and small.

I really could write all day long about all my childhood classics. 

I'll post a few more photos but first,

I want to write about the places that will forever remain classic to me.

Mamaw and Papaw owned a board and care home

so we spent a lot of time with the mentally disabled.

(back then, before it became a politcal issue, it was the mentally retarded)

My grandparents were so good to their clients it just makes me smile thinking about it.

They had fun with their people. (clients/mentally disabled)

On many occasions we went to dances with them

We went roller skating, we went for drives, we went to Magic Mountain and the Pike.

We rode the rides with them and laughed and held their hands.

We rode horses and went to horse auctions.

Those were amazing times and Mamaw and Papaw were the best.

I just don't know if there are any grandparents on the face of this earth who are as good

as they were.  I really miss them so much.

Mamaw was my best friend before I moved to Las Vegas.

She passed away three years later, my papaw sixteen years before that.

Anyhow, enough of that.  On with the classics.

I found this second place ribbon that I received for softball.




Here is a doll that my mom had custom made for me when I was 15 years old. 

My sister got one too, only with a different outfit.

Beware, she's kind of dusty.




The base of her body is made from a clorox bottle.

This is my baseball glove.




It belonged to Papaw, but at some point I took ownership in my early twenties.

I love this baseball glove and I always admired it when he had it.

I used to have a dark brown glove.  This one is black.

It looks brown, only because it has been used a lot.

I was on a softball team last year, so it has been good to me through the years.

Sometimes, when I put my hand in it, I feel like I am holding his hand.

It's good.  It makes me smile.


Oh, I even have an item from my husbands childhood to showcase.

This is a ceramic pixie or elf that his mom painted.




She and all three of her boys painted ceramics together.

I am so lucky that my husband has this.

I really like it a lot and I think it's really cute.

I have him sitting upstairs keeping watch over us.

Oh, the classics......

My sister and I would buy 45 records from Montgomery Wards,

Ice cream cones from Thrifty drug store,

Steak Um Sandwiches from Woolworth's,

clothes from Gemco,

slushes from circle K

Fun dips from the little country store.

We would eat whole tomatoes fresh from Mamaw and Papaw's garden.

There was no Chuckie Cheese.

Our favorite pizza came from Straw Hat and Shakey's.

The original pizza joints.

We visited the Easter Bunny at McDonald's.

Does anyone remember TRAX shoes?

We thought we were so cool.

I know I'm leaving out so much I would like to tell you about.

Maybe some other time.

I look forward to seeing all of your town shoot outs this week.

For anyone who is interested in joining this group or you would just like to

see what other town bloggers are posting please visit here.



Thanks for stopping by.  You all have a great weekend.

30 comments:

  1. Perry Mason used to be my favorite too! I remembered playing with cloth doll which I did myself and playing with marbles with my brother. My 2 sons have marbles too but they didn't actually played with them like we did. So I hijacked them and kept in my vase!

    ReplyDelete
  2. JarieLyn! What a wonderful post you've shared - to learn so much about you, like this, was a treat!

    I never knew that this dress had a special name, the maxi dress?! I was wearing one in my kindergarten picture :) I like mine too - there were very few dresses that I liked.

    I look back at the photos of my mom when she was the age that I am now, and the ones of my Gram when I was little....isn't it a strange feeling to think of how we feel at our age and who they seemed to be when we were little?

    I really, really enjoyed reading this post :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love your this recollection post. I do agree that your grandparents there looked a bit old but I'm assuming that they must have been out a lot and working so much. Or maybe it was just the clothes. I laughed a bit when I read that the base of your custom-made doll is made of a clorox bottle. And, it's expected that children wear their clothes the wrong way (chuckles)!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I saw the ribbon and thought you took it from my drawer. You win! Great post.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This post is so awesome!! It brought back so many wonderful memeories to my mind. You are very talented with your writing. I have so little time lately it seems that I'm just throwing things together. But I still want to do the F.S.O.s
    Yes I do remember Trax's and Maxi dresses and Perry Mason, my mama and grandma love them some Perry. I use to walk home from middle school and stay with my grandma and we would watch Gereral Hospital and One Life to Live. I watched those two soaps until my boys went to school, then I had to get a life :)
    Thank you for all the time and energy you put into this shoot out.
    Smiles.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a blast to the past! I grew up in San Diego, traveling to Valley Center to see Granddad, and we had all the same favorite spots.
    Shakey's Pizza. Ice cream from Thrifty. Steak-Ums at Woolworths (a really really special treat to sit at the counter on swivel stools in the middle of a store - the idea! - and have a grilled ham&cheese and a milkshake). Cornet!
    Thank you so much.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Loved your post. My grandmother and I used to watch Perry Mason all the time. My wife and I now love old reruns. And the comment about feeling like your are holding Papaw's hand when you put on the glove almost brought a tear to my eye.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a special tribute to your grandparents, these clear little vignettes that go so well with the photos. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I loved your post - my grandparents are a huge part of my life, too, and I feel so lucky to still have them here :) Happy Friday!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I like the Post, keep up the good work

    ReplyDelete
  11. JarieLyn this is a wonderfully enjoyable post. The one that really hits me is the maxi dress. I HAD to have a maxi skirt so desperately, but we never seemed to have money so my mother made one for me. I wore it all the time! I was in 6th grade when I got it. Such memories are fun.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love this nostalgic piece.. so full of fond memories. I think it's so cool that you have so many items from your childhood. Great post - and tribute to your grandparents. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Just catching up - your last post on the yucky motel room had me thinking I didn't need another trip to the coast! We have a dog, too. It seems they put us dog lovers in dog rooms where the dogs actually pee on the floor! Sheesh

    This post was a blast from the past. I was with you on the many of foods and places to eat. Your grandparents sound so special. You were so lucky to have such kind people in your life.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I was a big fan of Perry Mason too. I was reading recently that, while there were two cases in the series he didn't win, there were never any he lost.

    Your post was very tended are brought back a lot of memories for me.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I collected marbles, hung out at Woolworth's on the swivel stools. I watched Perry Mason too. Your Grandparents loved you so much and left you with these amazing memories. The fact that you have included so many vivid moments tells me you have a great eye for details. Your Grandparents were very forward thinkers to care about developmentally challenged individuals. Thank you for sharing so many interesting and nostalgic recollections, JarieLyn.
    I love the gloves! =D

    ReplyDelete
  16. Such a marvelous post. I loved Perry Mason too!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh how wonderful is this!! I loved the post - every word! How wonderful to have such devoted and caring grandparents!! Wonderful hon thank you so very much for sharing!! Hugs, Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  18. great memories. great post. what a lovely couple and what a gift that they gave you such wonderful memories.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Jarie Lyn, I read how you feel your grandfathers hand when you slip your hand into his old glove and I felt the warmth of my grandad's hand as he took me for walks and taught me about birds, he loved birds. Thank you for resurrecting such a treasured memory for me. That was a lovely post, so nice to learn more about you by reading about your childhood.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thanks for a great post! Grandparents are classic in and of themselves, aren't they?

    ReplyDelete
  21. wonderful trip down memory lane. I never have heard of a maxi dress! beautiful memories for you.

    ReplyDelete
  22. after less than a paragragh I was reading this with a lump in my throat. I suggest you do a long version and bind it - like a photo book for YOUR grandchildren.

    we some overlapping memories of childhood - definitly grilled cheese sandwitches from Woolworths were the BEST. You seem to have been a tomboy, I was very much delegated to girly things, paper dolls for one. my brothers had marble collections a mesh sack of marbles was like 10c!

    loved you story.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I certainly hope my grandchildren will love me and remember me as well as you do with your grandparents. They made a difference in your life. You seem so young to have so much history! I once had gloves like that...I had forgotten.

    ReplyDelete
  24. So many great memories!! Thanks for sharing all the pictures with us! You really took us "there".

    Thanks for playing this week ♥

    ReplyDelete
  25. What a beautiful post and tribute to your grandparents. Very touching. I had to lean forward and squint when I saw the picture of your grandparents because your grandfather looks so much like mine! Also, LOVED the maxi dress, lacy gloves and ball glove (and the fact that you asked for a sky blue binder. So cute.)

    ReplyDelete
  26. What a great walk down memory lane. Your post almost became like a poem when you were listing your memories. Your love for your grandparents really comes through.

    ReplyDelete
  27. This is a fabulous post. I really enjoyed the words as well as the pictures.

    Well done...and 1,000 marbles! Wow!
    I wouldn't play with the other kids cause we played for 'keeps' and I didn't want to risk losing mine. But my Papa always gave them back. LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  28. We grew up at the same time, and in close proximity to each other - the Thrifty where we would ride our bikes to get ice cream cones is still there, and they still sell ice cream cones, but not 5 cents a scoop anymore! I remember fun dips and pixie sticks and trax shoes - and g.a.s.s. shoes too, and gemco!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Oh my I loved reading this post. You have a great childhood I can say. And you still those stuffs of your childhood. I admired you for that. You have a great husband too.

    Thanks for sharing your classic childhood. It inspires me.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I loved reading about your memories of mamaw & papaw. I never got to meet papaw of course but it warms my heart to hear how much love there was.

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails