Summer of Photos from the 1970s: Late 1970's Christmas Morning

The joys of a late 1970's Christmas! I remember waking up that morning to some pretty amazing stuff. I ran down the hallway and into the living room and didn't even know where to begin! Some things were on display on the hearth (where Santa left stuff when he came in through the fireplace) and some things were wrapped by my parents and ready for me to tear them open. It was a good day! 

Here's the rundown:

1) A dolly that looked just like me, and as you can see I was bouncing off the walls in happiness because my holiday morning hairstyle is already falling apart! I always wanted a daughter, even then - at the time, this doll was the closest thing I could get to that! 

2) A Snoopy house - you could wind up Snoopy and he would walk right in! Woodstock was there on top proudly flying a flag. 

3) I think the little blue house that is somewhat obscured by my curls is a Weebles house? (Weebles wobble but they don't fall down as the commercials used to say!) 

4) An aardvark with a velcro tongue that you would push around on the floor and he would pick up big blue felt ants. He could also pick up socks laying around your room if you didn't feel like picking them up yourself. He was affectionately named 'Alvin the Ardvaark' by Kenner, a toy company known by multiple generations from 1946-2000. 

While the gifts were great, it was the energy that was in the air that I loved most, the anticipation, the excitement. As a toddler tries to understand the world around them, there is this realization that that, even though life was full of packing tuna sandwiches in a metal lunchbox and heading to preschool early on a regular weekday, there were these days in the year set aside for pancakes on the griddle, and stuffing on the stovetop; days that were for joy, for love. 

And the big brass candle holders sporting garland and ornaments couldn't be more 1970's if they tried. They wanted to match the gold shag carpet. If you are looking for a Gen X Christmas aesthetic, you've got it all right here...and to the far right on the hearth is a box of 1970s matches, perfect for lighting a 1970s fire in your fireplace at the end of a holiday, when a good time was had by all! 

(c) 2024, Chloe Koffas

All rights reserved on photo and writing

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and the Glow of Autumn Lights

Gen Xers grew up with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving as a mainstay TV special every year just before the big Fall holiday. I loved to watch it decades back as a kid with a bowl of popcorn. If it was snowy or a little stormy that night, that was even better.

Below is the wood crate diorama my daughter and I put together many years back. In the actual story, the Thanksgiving meal takes place outside on a sunny day. We tried capturing this, though it just seemed to lack something - like it was missing the kind of magic the pumpkin patch had in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. So this turned into a different interpretation - more of a late in the day scene. Maybe this is how it would look if the meal got delayed until evening....

Lucy is mostly unseen in this special, maybe everyone needed a break from her - we put her over in the shadow in the corner. 

Three inch tall friends gather around the table for a late in the day Thanksgiving dinner -
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is served! 

What was supposed to look like falling Autumn leaves in this scene looks more like wall paper. And now that I think about it, the scrapbooking paper beneath the table that is supposed to look like grass actually kind of looks like 1970's green shag carpet. Strangely, all of this actually works for circa 1970's interior design when  A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving was created since all these colors are in earth tones....this outdoor scene accidentally became an indoor scene, true to its era! Sometimes things don't turn out exactly how you thought they would, and sometimes it ends up being better that way. 

One piece of toast emerges from a tiny toaster.

Snoopy's feet can be seen on the left, as he was in charge of making toast for the special occasion. On the right is a bowl of popcorn (in this case, broken up mail packaging pieces).

We took these pictures way back in 2018, they were forgotten about and just recently found, just in time for Thanksgiving 2023 which is perfect since this year is the 50th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. The original broadcast was on November 20, 1973. From then until now, this is one of our truest touchstones as a generation.

Years back, my daughter drew jellybeans and pretzels on paper and we taped then onto Calico Critter plates. 

The handles of the wood crate look like windows, the Autumn garland and lights show through on the other side, although sometimes the purple lights look hot pink, though we'll just go with it. 

Woodstock cuddling with Snoopy behind a plastic bread loaf as they look at the Thanksgiving table

My daughter took this picture to make it look like you are looking inside at the cozy warmth of a table of gathered friends while the frosty purple glow cast down by the moon gives you the chilly feel of an Autumn night.

While I truly miss the collective experience of watching this holiday special at the same time as everyone else did when it came on traditional broadcast television, it's now on Apple TV+ and can be streamed anytime. This means you can watch it at your convenience after you've made toast, popped your popcorn and picked up pretzels and jellybeans from the store. 

Thankful for those who've been reading this blog since it started in 2011. Happy Thanksgiving. 

You can see the diorama we made for the Great Pumpkin here: It's the Great Pumpkin!

                                                                                               (c) 2018, 2023 Chloe Koffas - all rights reserved

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