Christmas in the 1950s

In some ways, but certainly not all, my family bore some resemblance to the Parker family of Jean Shepard's classic A Christmas Story. One needs only to view the above picture of me, circa 1957, to see shades of Ralphie. Our family did not have a leg lamp, however. To my mother and father's eternal credit. But we were weird in our own way, as are all families.

Christmas 1957. I had it in my head that I wanted a policeman's uniform. I have no idea why, but that's what I wanted. Somehow, my mother found one for me, and I was so excited. When school reopened, I wore it to school. During recess, some kid hurled a snowball at me and knocked my hat off. It was a message, and I never wore it again, at least in public.

Christmas morning was very much the same for many years. Waking our parents up very early, waiting for my father to get his camera ready. We had to wait for the formal pictures of the tree and then the family before we could tear into the presents. Once we did, we would make short order of the pile below the tree.

I'm in the red pajamas - this picture if probably from 1959 or so. My little brother Brian holds the gun - he's a killer until this day and I'm still wary of him when he has a weapon.

I remember lots of train sets - the video games of their time.

Yes, this looks like my family. Once we were six, now we are four.

Thanks to my brother Brian for patiently scanning these old 35mm slides.

Chilly Scenes of Winter

Growing up in upstate New York in the 50s and 60s, I have very clear memories of snow. Lots of snow. Most winters, we would get at least one big blizzard which would dump several feel of snow on us in a very short time. We would have to dig our way out.

These pictures were taken by my father. According to my brother Brian, who scanned these shots from slides, they are of the Blizzard of 1966, which shut down most activities in Rochester for nearly a week - one report I saw online stated that around 100" of snow fell on the Oswego area, east of us.

The big red house is the house I grew up in. At the time it was 100 or so years old, though my parents made a number of improvements and built a large addition in the back. When my parents bought it in 1945, it was a working farm with some 72 acres. They sold it in the early 80s. The one remaining visible vestige of the farm is the old chicken coop, the small building in the left center. We used to climb on up to its roof and jump down into the snowdrifts.

Looking down Slocum Road - Ontario, NY.

Mush of this snow we had to dig by hand, though my father had a small Farmall Cub tractor to plow the driveway. If you like snow, this is a great place for you.

This last photo is much earlier - probably around 1954-55. My sister Liz, brother Tom, Dots the Wonder Dalmatian, and me.

Downtown Rochester - May 2009

A trip home would not be complete without some travels around the downtown area of Rochester. I do, after all, call myself Rochester Slim and I seem to need to connect with the city from time to time. Much of my past and legend begins and ends there.

The photo above is looking south at the Genesee River. To the left above center is the 1905 Lehigh Valley Railroad station, now the Dinosaur Bar B-Que.

In 1940, Rochester was the 23th largest city in the U.S. and in the late 40s and early 50s even had an NBA team - the Rochester Royals (now the Sacramento Kings). By 1990, it had shrunk to 66th. From 1927 until 1956, it even had its own subway system. I had heard about it, but never knew that some ruins of the abandoned system still exist downtown. So it was very cool to be able to sneak down into the old station along Court Street.

The Gannett Building, with the distinctive Times Square Building and its deco-style "wings" behind. When I was young, the city had two newspapers, one evening and one morning. Now, like most cities, they have sort of 1/2 of a newspaper.

The High Falls.

The Genesee Beer brewery. I helped keep them in business through the years.

Sadly, the Rochester Red Wings were on the road while I was in town, so I didn't get to go to a game.