Basement Baubles

Season's Greetings!

When my Dixon grandparents hosted a family gathering at their house in Roselle it was held in one of two locations - in the backyard for warm weather gatherings, or in the basement for cold weather parties. When the family gathered at 1023 Thompson for Christmas it was down to the basement.

We had all of the amenities there, surrounded by green cinderblock walls. There was a  stove to keep the food warm, a bar which the kids used as a play space and the adults used for adult beveredges, a stereo for music, a big trestle table and benches for seating, and we even had a bathroom down there. Like I said, all of the mod cons (that's modern conveniences, not groovy criminals) that a person could ask for.

The red plastic reindeer.

And of course, at Christmas, there was the Christmas tree. Small, artificial, and because there were young children and pets, decked with plastic ornaments. Naturally, I still have some of them. And they still dominate the bottom of our tree, where a happy tail wag from our pooch is not a recipe for disaster. These suckers bounce, and bounce right back.

Here's a peek at the party in progress, Christmas 1961 or 1962.

The best part of any holiday - the family! Second best, the food! Those ladies could cook.
From left to right : Alice (Rimkus) Karvoius, and her daughters : Tess, Estelle, and Sophie.

 Here are a few more baubles for you.

This one says "Merry Christmas.

The reindeer were always my favorites.