Early 60s

Early 60s in Rancho Palos Verdes: Aluminum Christmas trees were the rage. Of course we had one. It was all silver and down in the corner by the t.v. there was a light with a four part screen on it that rotated through four different colors which in turn would make the tree look different colors all the time. Life seemed to be so much simpler back in those days. Speaking of the t.v., notice the old boxy t.v. that we had. It was black and white and we would sit around in the evenings watching shows like westerns, and variety shows. I remember sitting around that old t.v. watching the British sensation, The Beatles, on the Ed Sullivan show. Every once in a while, the t.v. would have something not quite working right and we would have to open the back and find the tube or tubes that most likely had burned out. You'd take them down to the store and test them in a machine and then get new ones to replace the burnt out ones. Of course, today, it is just cheaper to junk a t.v. that doesn't work and buy a new one.

For Christmas, we usually had very few presents under the tree that were wrapped. Instead, we'd wake up on Chirstmas morning and find all of our loot just layed out in groups according to who they were for.

In between us is Tiger, our white cat. He was a good old cat but I remember that when he got older, I would sometimes chase a mouse or something through the house and it would run right across his feet and he would just sit there like he was thinking, "am I supposed to be amused?"

Why did Mom feel like we three boys had to have the same pjs on?