Ghosts Of New Years Past

New Years Eve - 1956
Times Square - New York, NY
Happy New Year from fifty years in the past.

Christmas Traditions

My family always has seafood for dinner on Christmas Eve.  For most of my childhood, my Grandpa and I would pick it up at Long John Silvers, but in recent years, Grandma made her own.  This year, she tried to do the Feast Of The Seven Fishes, complete with homemade crabcakes.



For Christmas Day, Grandma makes a lasagna that's packed full of mozzarella and rigot cheese.  I'm pretty sure the rigot (which she pronounces "row-goo-t") is ricotta, but she swears that it's different.  Whatever you call the cheese, the lasagna is delicious!

Christmas Manger

My grandmother has been putting out this manger every December since the 1960's.  In recent years, she has put an old Christmas tree skirt over the orange hassock in the parlor and set it up there.  She and my grandfather always go overboard with presents, so they're laid out in piles around the parlor until Christmas Eve.

Tetrabrachius Santa's Got His Hands Full

Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine
January, 1956
Cover artwork by Ed Emshwiller.  I especially love the book "How To Manage Reindeer In Space".

Interstellar Stop For Cookies And Milk

Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine
December, 1951
Cover artwork by Ed Emshwiller.  Check out that tentacle-like Christmas tree!

Community Bulletin

This channel has been broadcasting on Service Electric Cablevision in for as long as I've been alive.  The screen changes every ten seconds or so and has announcements about church fundraisers and other community events with the occasional advertisement about what pay-per-view movies and shows are available to purchase.  Local radio plays on audio, and because it's all Christmas music this time of year, it's not uncommon to see a home in Hazleton that has this channel on in the background just for the music.

Space Carols

Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine
December, 1953
Cover artwork by Ed Emshwiller.  I'd like to believe that they're singing "What Can You Get A Wookiee For Christmas".

Big Kitty

Gendo is a pretty husky cat.  He's also one of the sweetest animals I have ever known.  When we rescued him from the animal shelter, he was very thin and had a persistent cough like he was trying to get a hairball up.  The vet put him on prednisone which cleared up his breathing problems, but also caused him to gain a lot of weight.  Today, he's a healthy, happy cat who likes to lay on my grandmother's kitchen table.