Monday, April 25, 2011

Walking Down Memory Lane...

Here I am Walking Down Memory Lane on Memory Lane Monday that Miss Donna began a few months ago. This photo hangs on my "Rogue's Gallery" wall. I don't exactly know why but I like this photo. Then again this photo makes sad and happy at the same time.
I am the older sister pulling the wagon. I am about seven years old. My sister in the back of the wagon is 4 years younger than me so she is about 3 here. My sister in the front of the wagon is 12 months and 12 days younger than her sister so that makes her about 2 in this photo. That is a bottle hanging from her mouth.
I never look at this photo without thinking and feeling WAIF. We look like such waifs that are orphaned with no one to take care of us. All our worldy goods are on our backs...clothes that are very much hand-me-downs and definitely do not have any fancy designer labels. Marie has her bottle...and she is not letting go of it. Joyce and I each have a balloon. I am not certain why I would have a balloon because I really dislike balloons. Not in general but just for me personally. I don't like how they pop at any unknown moment. I don't like blowing them up because it hurts my head. I really don't like how balloons make your hands smell! Something like rubber which I dislike also.
We three sisters each have the same haircut but I can remember mine got a permanent. Oh how I really hated those days. Some woman cutting your hair when all you wanted was the long hair you had before she started. Then she would pull it and wrap it way too tightly around some little rod contraption until your entire head looked like you could receive radio transmissions. Uh-Oh...now comes the smelly stuff that always made me think I would pass out after throwing up! My poor eyes would water so badly that it looked like I was crying. My mother would be right there telling me to sit still and behave. How rude!!! I was being poisoned and she was happy about it. :o) Then the big heavy dome of heat that would burn your entire head but you sat under it until the hairdresser lady was done looking at her magazine or talking (gossiping) or maybe cutting some one elses hair too short. Whew! I am done with that torture and now I look like a frizzed out poodle. Not the look I ever wanted or enjoyed. What was my mother thinking? She had very long beautiful smooth hair that she braided in one very long queque down her back. No perms or hair salons for her. Why me? YUCK!
Life was simpler back in the olden days. I can attest to that. It is not often, if ever, that you see kids playing with a wagon on a sidewalk.
I love old black and white photos. It leaves your mind open to creatively color the images. To imagine what time of year it might be and what color the leaves on the trees might look like. Did I match my clothing or wear whatever was in the "play" clothes stack. We wore a dress to school and then came home and changed into play clothes. Do kids even do this anymore? Is this old REX wagon red? I love red wagons. In fact Mr. C has a red wagon that he used for hauling batteries and tires when he was racing cars and I will not let him throw that rickety old wagon away. I think some sub-contractor even ran into it with his truck but I won't let it go. We use it around the property and it resides in the garden house. Nope, cannot throw it away while I can still enjoy the memories of red wagons and childhood with my sisters.
Life was simpler back in the fifties.
Thank you for letting me share some of my memories with you.
I hope you get out some of your old photos and enjoy going down memory lane this week...

9 comments:

  1. Prekrasna i fotografija i okvir.
    Preslatke ste ti i tvoje sestre.
    Te stare fotografije su tako lijepe i nostalgične.
    Ćao

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  2. I, too, like the black and white photos. I had rags put in my hair every Sunday and we wore dresses to school. I have a wagon also. Were those the good ol' days???

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  3. I love imagining around a black and white photo too and I certainly remember getting permanents. My mother was determined I would have hair that would hold a curl so I got one about every six months - ick!
    I was a child of the sixties but we played the same and ditto for school clothes and it was the same for my kids when they were small - no permanents though!!

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  4. Hi Sherry:
    Really nothing quite like the impact of black and white photos...and then you have the memories to go with them, too!

    I was lucky in that I didn't get my hair permed until I was in my late 20's. I know...What was I thinking? I also love how we remember the "tortures" of our mothers. Mine used to cut my hair for me - usually my bangs. I have a cowlick in the front. Try to hold it down and cut it evenly. Let go. BOING! uneven bangs. Repeat a few times until all you have left is not much - sticking straight out! ARGH! lol

    Thank for sharing your precious photo and the stories to go with it for Memory Lane Monday. I really appreciate you joining in!

    Hugs, girlfriend.
    xoxo
    Donna

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  5. Sherry,
    That is sad. I find it interesting because my first thought was how cute you were and how nice to see you and your sisters playing with the wagon (I was a child of the fifties, too, and we had a lot of fun just playing). I, too, look at my old pictures and see the sadness where no one else does.
    Thanks for sharing so openly about your picture and your childhood.
    Hugs,
    Suz

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  6. Beautifully written! I felt like I was right there with you, suffering the pain of the perm!
    I was just telling my DGD about how my Mom used vinegar as a rinse to cut the soap after washing my hair. TO THIS DAY, I HATE the smell of vinegar! LOL
    Easter egg dying always brings it all back.

    Thanks for sharing.
    Rett

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  7. I have the most horrible pictures of my frizzy home perms, I wonder why they did that? I will have to ask my Mom, maybe it was new or something?

    Carol

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