1962 - Thanksgiving in Sacramento

I may have included this occassion somewhere before. The date is approximate as these few slides were in a box marked 1968.

We always had Thanksgiving with the Beittel family. We alternated between our house in Sacramento and their house in Marin County. This year we were in Sacramento sitting on our back patio. Sandy's the big kid, feeling very superior over all of these LITTLE kids. I notice that June has been found, she was usually was the one who went missing at some point.

Sitting left to right

Lynn B
Mark B
Pam G
Charlie G
June B

1962 - Aptos

The next 4 pictures were in a box marked 1968 but, I'm thinking 1962. Here we are on the beach at Rio Del Mar with the cliff in the background. I don't know what this looks like now. Pam with her glasses. My mom looking good, slim and healthy. Somehow I have a doll, why?

1962 - Unknown dressup occasions

We will finish up 1962 with two unknown dressup occasions in our front yard. In the first Sandy and Charlie are in the front yard with mom, I don't remember my dress and I have no idea how I got my hair to do that as it is so thin and limp but, folks, there's the proof. My mom is wearing maybe some kid-made necklace or belt? Paper flowers? Unknown.

Edit: Just noticed that Pam's eye is patched here. May be why she has turned her head so far to the left on the tricycle.

The second occasion also one features me in a dress I don't remember. But i definitely remember my mom's dress, I think she had it for a long time and I always liked it. Notice she is wearing a splint on her arm. She had some neck problems which presented as problems in her arm (That DEFINITELY sounds familiar) She eventually had successful surgery in San Francisco (before or after 1962?). Interesting that Charlie and Sandy both have neck problems in middle age.

Pictures feature the front yard and the no-touch car. Farewell 1962!

1962 - Piano duet

Sandy and Patty Shupe on their way to their piano duet performance. This was a big show involving young piano students playing duets in a very large venue (probably the Memorial Auditorium) Many many rows of pianos were set up in rows on the auditorium floor. The children filed in and sat in pairs at the pianos. Then we all played the same duets. My partner Patty and I had somewhat matching pink dresses, I don't know if that was planned or not. This striped freshly ironed ruffled pink dress made me somewhat uncomfortable because the buttons went all of the way down the skirt. Apparently we are both wearing crinoline slips that made the skirts pouf out. White socks and mary janes, natch. Looks like I could make my hair curl. Also features a picture of Charlie and Sandy; I must have been proud of the purse I got to carry.

Another dress up occasion for well-brought up children.

1962 - No Touch Car

The brand new 1962 Plymouth Belvedere wagon, without even have a front license plate dominates the foreground of the picture. My father dubbed it the 'no touch car' with my brother in mind. Likely unfairly, but maybe not. I think he still suffers the injustice of always being the one accused if something showed up awry.

The appearance of the neighborhood, those neat homes across the street, holds more interest for me. This next weekend, Dennis and I travel to the Bay Area for a memorial and, on Monday, drive to Sacramento for a 'heritage photo session'. I've written the current owner of this home plus the Wilhaggin home asking if I could come back and take 'after' pictures (which I intend to post here). Both called me (Yippee!) and said we could come. We were last in Sacramento in 1995.

1962 - Pam on a slide

3 year old Pam going down the slide. She looks pretty intent. Where are we? Something tells me that we are at the playground at the family recreation center at Aerojet. We didn't go out there very much because it was so far away but I was always very impressed when we did go. Big swimming pool, elaborate playground. Companies just don't do that anymore :(

Is it Aerojet? The willow/oak trees in the background are giving me that clue.

1962 - Pam in red suit in Aptos

Pam in a red bathing suit and glasses in Aptos in the summer of 1962. She's squinting, is that her 'good eye' she's squinting? What is that little kid thinking, do you remember, Pam? There aren't too many pictures of me before age 10 and the parents didn't have the camera.

Don't know who's in the chaise lounge next to you. Somebody wrapped up, blanket and thin arms in long sleeves. Doesn't look cold though.

I know that Pam's vision's problems were first identified from a photo viewed by Gayle Zwissler's mother. Mom was proudly showing around the baby pictures and she said "Goodness, what is wrong with that baby's eyes?" Mom grabbed the picture away and the eyes showed as crossed in the picture. She took Pam to the eye doctor straightaway.

A curious thing about the pictures of Pam. In 1962, she's hardly every smiling, always looks strained and troubled. Because of the patch and the glasses? But we'll see in later pictures that she's usually smiling brightly and mugging for the camera.

1962 - Dinner in Monterey?

It must seem like we got dressed up and went out to dinner a lot but that was not true. Going to a restaurant was a once-a-year occurrence in my family and involved serious wardrobe requirements. Even now, when my mother hears that my husband and I are going to be ushers at a memorial, she says "well you better get him a new shirt!"

Where are we? My guess is that we are in Monterey on an outing during the vacation, possibly going out to dinner. Doesn't look like Santa Cruz or San Francisco and certainly not Sacramento. The gray sky and costal fog was likely a welcome respite from the brilliant harsh valley summer. Usually I can remember the dress that I'm wearing but not in this case, nor do I remember the polka dot outfit worn by my mother. Notice we are all wearing proper white sweaters. That was what you were supposed to wear when you were dressed up. Must be summer because my mother is carrying a white purse!

Wouldn't want to take my 8 year old brother into a restaurant too often...

Even I might be getting a little tired of 1962. But we soldier on!

1962 - off to the beach

In Aptos at my 'favorite' house across from the beach. From the shadows and our poised stances, Charlie, Pam and Sandry are just leaving for the beach across the street. I'm in my hat and my Brahms sweatshirt. Pam looks tiny, as she was. Better run that boy at the beach before he drives you nuts!

Typical succulent coastal flowering plant there on the left.

1962 - Aptos

For several years, my family spent a week every summer in Aptos, a small beach community on Monterey Bay between Santa Cruz and Monterey, California. We rented a series of small vacation homes near the beach near Rio Del Mar beach. My favorite house was this one, right across from street from the beach. A quiet State Park beach at that time, with great surf and not too much development, you could walk the beach at sunset (my mother's favorite).

Definitely 1962 in California. Check out the cars in the parking lot and the signature bright light. Easy to get to the beach, just across the low brick wall.

Us and the Beittel kids again. They might have rented a house there also. All six kids probably eating lunch at the picnic table. On one side, I'm in between, Lynn and June, likely acting as the superior big sister. Squirrely Charlie, Mark and Pam (always looks so small) on the other side. Noontime, look at the shadow, we will likely be at the beach in the afternoon.

A welcome change from the unrelenting summertime heat in Sacramento. Sometimes it was foggy or windy there. I loved the area even then, grateful that I could attend college right nearby. The palm trees suggests Southern California but...

You can expect many pictures of Aptos in this series. Wonder what this prime piece of California real estate looks like now. Not likely to have a modest vacation rental on this corner!

1962 - One in a series

My father spent a long time time taking pictures with his slide camera. He mysteriously twiddled the dials scowling at the settings. You had to stand there for quite some time before he would actually snap the picture. Sometimes, his subjects did not cooperate despite his orders to "Keep still!".

This same day at the small amusement park, he saw 4 year old Lynn B petting the goat, very cute. But he took a long time getting things just right. Meanwhile Lynn had lost interest.

One in a series of pictures like this.

1962 - Sandy and Lynn in the fun house

The same day at the small amusement park in the Santa Cruz mountains. There was a 'fun house" probably with odd mirrors and lights and who knows what. I was always the oldest in these excursions, the babysitter and the dishwasher, the one who was supposed to be responsible. I thought of myself as vastly superior. Possibly the 'fun house' was a little scary and i was supposed to take Lynny through, there was a window to look out and my father took the picture. Don't think Lynn (age 4 or 5) liked this, she's holding onto my hand pretty tight.

1962 - Ginsburghs and Beittels in Santa Cruz Mountains

The Ginsburgh and Beittel families got together frequently, for Thanksgiving and for some summer outings. They have remained close friends and we recently mourn the loss of Dan Beittel.

This was a visit to a small amusement park (likely long gone) in the Santa Cruz mountains.

Besides the usual
Sandy age 10
Charlie age 8
Pam age 3

The Beittel kids are (please correct if I have the ages off)
Mark age 7
June age 5
Lynn age 4

And the moms in this picture, Claire and Sue Beittel.

What a passle of kids. Fro left to right
Sandy, Pam, Mark Charlie June, Lynn

There is a lot of height in the Beittel family but you can see how miniature Pam looks here, there's only one year difference between her and Lynn in the pink and red dress. I remember that "Brahms" sweatshirt, it was very cool IMO.

1962 - Mom and Pam at the beach

But what beach? The foliage and the flatter terrain implies the east coast to me. It just doesn't look like a California beach to me. I think we did make a trip to the east coast some time around here. But Charlie and Pam are not in the picture and I doubt mom would have taken the camera if she went by herself. Anybody have any clues?

1962 - 3 kids in a wagon

The three siblings in a red wagon. Charlie, age 8, Pam, age 3 and Sandy age 10. In the front yard of the Arden Park home, with the Taylor's home in the background. With those manicured and edged lawns (unlike the green unkempt patches of dandelions and moss that I have). That wagon is looking pretty new. Could be summertime, however because the weather was uniformly sunny and hot, my sister and I would be wearing shorts. Maybe my younger sister got it as a birthday present, her birthday is in August.

1962 - Dressed up

The classic family dressup shot in with 'no touch' car in the front of the Arden Park home. We are all dressed up with an inch of our lives. I don't know where we are going. I remember the dress I was wearing it was all one piece with an interesting blackand white almost digital print on the bodice. The successful 1962 Jewish family in the suburbs.

1962 - Pam and Sandy under flowering tree

Sandy has already been featured in her brownie uniform and Pam under this tree but it's still a cute picture. Pam's curls behind her shoulders. Am I reading that book to her? That California sunshine. The open valley land, I am becoming more curious to see that yard now that I've been steeped in its 1962 imagery.....

1962 - Ginsburgh girl scouts

Mom in her girl scout leader's uniform and I'm a Brownie and Pam...she's a toddler. Mom was the girl scout leader, she was completely committed and me, Sandy, I could never see much in it. To me, scouting could not compare with the library. I endured the activities, I wanted to get back to read my books.

My mother made a deal with the parents regarding my younger sister. She agreed to be the troop leader but she was not going to arrange babysitting. Every parent had to agree to take their turn caring for 3 year old Pam during the meetings, there was a signup sheet. Some parents came over, some couldn't be bothered and hired a babysitter to come to the house. As a result, my sister knew lots and lots of moms and had homes all over the neighborhood.

But my mother was proud to have us in our uniforms. Look how thin she was around the waist, wow. Hated that one piece uniform, kind of scratchy and uncomfortable.

Ironically my two younger daughters are completely committed scouts. I never pushed it, they could be a girl scout if they wanted, I guess. At ages 17 and 21, they just returned from a summer as staff members at the local girl scout camp. Ilana is president of Campus Girl Scouts. It's just natural for them. Heredity, I am sure.

Picture is in the Arden Park home backyard. You can see the back of the workshop, I think there were some storage cabinets. The vista is so open, over the fence and off into valley, sun baked semi-arid land. I think landscaping and irrigation has changed the landscape for now.

1962 - Pam in the blossoms

Three year old Pam underneath the plum tree in the backyard. This tree was fruit-bearing (I think), I remember lots of little plums. Characteristically bright California sunlight even though the season is spring. The sandbox in the background was heavily used by children and cats. The toy wheelbarrow looks pretty new. You can see the partial fence out to the swingset. I don't know if my parents built that fence. Having just arranged for various fencing to be replaced, I know how expensive it is! The concrete area to the left of Pam looked like a small driveway that came out of the back of the garage. Maybe somebody used it as a storage place for a boat. But how would you get a vehicle out of there? I don't remember any doors in the back of the garage, maybe there was. That paved area was a mystery to me. A driveway to nowhere?

Nice smile for Pam, you can kind of see the curls. Glasses but no patch. The more I look at these pictures (of myself), the more I recognize the viewpoint of the child looking out.

My main memory of this tree is reading to Scotchy. When I learned to read, I was SO excited about it. No way, Mom had time or patience to listen to me read (and I wanted to read a LOT). So she sat me down with the dog under this tree and I used to read to the cocker spaniel. Everybody was happy except for the impatient dog.

1962 - Sandy and Charlie at Purim

Sandy and Charlie are dressed for the Purim celebration at Sunday School. I am Queen Esther, Charlie is King Ahashuerus. Traditional for the children to dress up as members of the Purim story and march in a parade at the temple. The Megillah (Purim story) is read aloud and you eat Hamantaschen (triangular pastries stuffed with date or raisin filling supposedly in the shape of Haman (the villain)'s hat. I don't remember much about the outfit that I'm wearing though I remember the bracelet. A Halloween crown on and lipstick. I do remember admiring Charlie's cape made of iridescent gold fabric. Foil enhanced crown and scepter.

Just never did follow through with Sunday School that much with my own kids. Impaired judaism.

Picture taken on the back steps of the Arden Park home. The back of the very nice screened in porch that my parents added. I remember dark aqua stucco exterior walls and deep pink concrete floor on the porch. It was 1962 and looked fine...wonder what it's like now.