Tag Archives: Dad

The Fruit Basket

May 26, 2024Family, Musings, PhotographsChristmas, Dad, fruit basket, kevin, momDona

Christmastime 1969 my family was given a fruit basket as a gift. It’s possible it was the first fruit basket we ever received because we took at least three photos of it.

In the above photo, Kevin, Mom, and I sit beneath the Christmas tree with the Fruit Basket in front of us. We’re all dressed up, so we must have been heading out to a relative’s soon — so it could be either Christmas eve or Christmas day.

This is a perfect photo to show off my mom’s creative endeavors. Mom’s painting of the African American woman was based on an image she saw in a magazine. It hung in the living room for a long time. I have it now, along with another, similar-sized painting of an Asian man with a rickshaw.

To the right, and below the painting is another craft mom made. It is a candle holder made out of several terracotta pots, partially spray painted black, then shellacked.

Also in this picture could be the only proof that mom made stained glass windows out of tissue paper and tape. I think mom wanted curtains over the windows and dad did not. Dad got fed up with the tissue paper stained glass and took a razor to them. After that she put black tape on the windows to represent segments of a stained glass window. I think Dad took a razor to that too. They eventually got wooden shutters to put on the inside for privacy.

In these two photographs Dad looks sad, angry, or depressed. Kevin looks mischievous.

Dad rarely smiled for photographs, but usually had a smile in his eyes, but in this case I don’t see any of that. I wonder what happened to make him so sad. It could simply be that he didn’t want to pose with the fruit basket but mom wanted him to so he was being passive-aggressive about it.

The first photo shows the curved shelf I remember well from the kitchen. I can see mom’s recipe box. on the second shelf.

I do have memories of the (or a) fruit basket and I think they might have gotten it from Dad’s workplace — this might have been the year he began working for Reber’s Appliance. I don’t know, however, why so many weird photos were taken of it.

Dad’s tiny harmonica

March 4, 2023Family, Memories, MusicDad, navy, Pee Wee harmonicaDona

When I was a kid the top drawer of my dad’s dresser was off-limits. That didn’t mean I never looked in the drawer. In fact, whenever I had the house to myself I would open the drawer and check out the contents. There were things I didn’t understand until later like a potholder set with male and female reproductive areas depicted, including fake fur that represented pubic hair. There was also an envelope that contained photos of a nude woman — these are pretty mild in today’s world. Classic, even.

There were two musical instruments. One was a Jaw harp (my dad called it a “Jew’s harp” but I always heard “Juice harp”) that I was not allowed to play because it could knock out a tooth, according to my mom. My dad would play it now and then, I think he was probably pretty good at it. The other musical instrument was a Pee Wee Harmonica. He would play that too, and I know he was good at it. I gave him a full-sized harmonica for Christmas one year and he played that for us. He was always appreciative of our compliments, I can remember his smile after playing.

I don’t think I ever really looked at the printing on the side of the Pee Wee harmonica, but it says it was made in Occupied Japan. Dad was in the Navy from 1948 to 1951 so it makes sense that he got this during that time since the Smithsonian American History website lists the date these were manufactured as 1945 to 1951.

It has a little circular hook to attach to a keychain, but I’ve been meaning to clean the Pee Wee Harmonica up and put it on a chain to wear as a necklace but never got around to it. Maybe today is the day.

What’s in Your Wallet? — Dad

February 25, 2023Family, Memories, ThingsDad, elgin, illinoisDona

I made a similar post about things in my Mom’s wallet about a year and a half ago. Here are some from my Dad’s wallet. These were probably what was in his wallet when he died.