Photobooth

Oh, the ‘Photobooth’...remember how much fun they used to be? Little did we know that those old strips of 4 pictures would someday become a hot collectible. And although I am a true collector at heart, this is not one of my collections….not yet, anyway.

What I’ve put together here are all family members, including myself, my husband Jerry, our sons, Todd and Eric… an aunt, an uncle, a few cousins, a couple of grandmas, two  brothers, and a sister are all part of this ‘Photobooth’ collage.

It’s very unusual to find the 4 photos in tact as a strip, more than likely, since they were meant to be cut apart, you’ll find individual photos….some were kept, some given away. When you find some of these great little gems, you’ll notice that the poses vary from serious, almost portrait style, to downright silly..tongues out...noses up...kissy faces….and any other weird poses that one could think of doing in a very short period of time before the next photo was shot. That was the fun of it, not to mention the fact that they were instant...you didn’t have to wait for them to be developed….you had your photos in hand right then and there….and back then they only cost a quarter per strip.

If you look hard enough, you can come across photos from the ‘20s and ‘30s….that far back, since the Photobooth was invented in 1926. Photos from those eras and also WW II, are a great find. And even though photobooth’s are still around, somehow, they’re just not the same.

PANDORA.....one of my favorite things!

Last spring, I had been seeing advertisements in magazines and on TV for Pandora charm bracelets (Pandora Website). They really caught my eye because of the beautiful colors of some of the beads....reds, blues, aqua’s, greens, pinks. At that time, I was under the impression that you bought the bracelet complete. Well, that’s not the case, as my friend Jan explained to me. She has been collecting Pandora charms for four years now, and has an amazing bracelet to show for it. Most of her charms were gifts, some were purchased to remember places that she and her husband, Joe, had traveled to, and all have special meaning to her.  

Now, I just had to have one of these gorgeous bracelets!! With our 40th wedding anniversary coming up last October, my husband Jerry decided that a charm bracelet would be a great anniversary gift, and I wasn’t about to argue with him…..so, we went charm shopping at our local Pandora store.

I decided that I wanted to choose glass charms in my favorite color, aqua, and that the silver charms would depict my love of the beach, and also for my sons and daughters-in-law. This would start my bracelet. Since my birthday was prior to our anniversary, I also received charms as gifts for that occasion. How lucky can I possibly be!!!

When our anniversary actually came, Jerry decided that I needed to start yet another bracelet, so when we went to a local Oktoberfest in Ellicottville, NY, I started my second bracelet. This one would be in browns and white for the autumn season, and most of the charms would fit into that category, and also to celebrate our anniversary. Some of the silver charms that I have are a gold/silver acorn, a pumpkin, a heart, a ghost (from my son Todd, and daughter-in-law, Jenna….because Todd said that I had always made Halloween a really special and fun holiday), a giraffe (from my son, Eric, and daughter-in-law, Sarah…because when Eric was little, we made an annual trip to the zoo every October). I also included a charm that I had purchased when on a shopping trip to New York City, a Christmas tree that represents the Rockefeller Center tree…..and a silver & white agate that my Mom gave me this past Christmas.

So now, it was time to think about Christmas…..and once again, Jerry thought that another bracelet would be a terrific Christmas gift…...YES!!!! How ever does he read my mind????? Sooooo, we went bracelet shopping once more!! This time, my color choice was blues and lavenders/purple…..it almost looks like a beautiful periwinkle when they’re all together…...Oh, such FUN!!!!

When I would pick out 3 or 4 to choose from, Jerry would always say, “I think that you should get them all!”. Oh Boy! Oh Boy!!! This bracelet has a variety of glass and silver charms that I chose just because they appealed to me for some reason or another. And again, I received some of them this past Christmas. The last two were ones that Jerry bought for me just the other day, a Valentine’s Day gift….a snowflake with a blue stone, and a lavender enamel charm. I have room for one more on this bracelet and then it will be complete.

I have since started my daughter-in-law, Sarah, and my Goddaughter, Megan, with bracelets. Sarah's is pink and brown, and Megan's is pink and black, each of their favorite color combinations.  These are things to be passed down someday.

So, what is the bottom line of all this? ALWAYS take my husband Jerry shopping with me!!!!!! And in all honesty, I think that HE enjoys shopping for them as much as I do!

Amish Adventure

Quite a few years ago, so many that it seems like another lifetime, my girlfriends and I decided to venture to Amish country in search of a handmade quilt. Only one of the girls was actually looking to buy a quilt, but it gave us a great excuse to tag along.

We visited four homes that day, the first of which was owned by a young couple. The house was new, and outside, on the porch, colorful quilts were hanging on a clothes line, like a business sign on a store front. We were welcomed inside to view the quilts that were for sale. The rooms were very stark, and very clean. The young woman was dressed in traditional Amish garb, simple, neat, and crisp...and we noticed that her dress was fastened with pins instead of buttons. There was a teenage girl helping in the home, and we wondered why she wasn’t in school. Of course we didn’t ask.

The second home was an old farm house. As we approached the house, a very pungent, and might I add nasty, odor was present, it turned out to be something boiling in a kettle on the porch….it almost looked like bones. We were invited into the house, and as we made our way upstairs to the bedroom, I noticed that sitting on a rocker in a corner of the great room was an elderly, white haired woman, dressed all in black except for her white bonnet. In her arms she held a beautiful apple cheeked baby, dressed in a long white gown and bonnet…...this was a picture to be seen….but we would have insulted them if I had asked to take a photograph...So we just made our way up the narrow stairs to the bedroom. On the bed were an array of quilts, piled atop one another. The woman escorting us started to flip each one back so that we could see the various patterns and beauty of each one. This seemed to be the way they chose to display their quilts, since it was the same at each home we went to that day.

The third home was a small ranch house, again very neat, very clean. A pretty, young woman, who resembled Meryl Streep, except that she had some front teeth missing, showed us in. This home was one large room, with bedrooms off to the sides. She took us to one of those rooms, and again the quilts were piled on the bed. My girlfriend did find a quilt there and it was beautiful. The craftsmanship of Amish quilts is just perfect. It was such a surprise to us when she brought out the charge card machine, since there really weren’t any other modern conveniences in the home…..no phone or TV, but they had the charge card machine!!

Now, even though my friend had already purchased a quilt, we decided to go to one more house. This was a huge old, weathered Victorian home. When we walked in, you could see that the inside was in it’s original condition. Wallpaper was peeling off the walls in places and there was that musty scent of an old house. To the right was a huge room that at one time must have been the dining room, now, it was where they made their quilts. A large stretcher was set up, and around it sat women, girls, and even an old man in a wheel chair. All of them, except for the old man, were working on a quilt. They looked up and smiled, but just kept on quilting.

Quilting needles are called ‘between needles’ and they are very small. A good quilter will get as many stitches on her needle (a minimum of at least 8) as she can before pulling it through the quilt. This makes for tiny and close stitches, and it’s not an easy thing to do.

An older woman took us upstairs. The oddest thing was that we had to pass by a man who was in bed sleeping. I kept thinking to myself that if he woke up and saw all of us, he’d probably think, ‘Wow, I must be in heaven, floozies!’ I’m pretty sure that we didn’t disturb him and he just rolled over. After looking at the quilts and not finding anything, we thanked them and left.

Our adventure was just terrific. Being able to see close up how the Amish live was truly amazing. They were all so hospitable and so eager to show off their craft. I have to say that as we drove off, we saw two little boys sitting in a driveway playing…..I just had to have a picture of this, so we pulled over, rolled down the window, and I got my shot...let’s hope that they weren’t offended. As we left, Amish horse and buggy’s passed occasionally, reminding us of a different lifestyle.

What a great day this was!