Gathered around the kitchen table

January and May 1962 — This week my slides show two birthday parties which took place at our family’s house in the early 1960s. The first one celebrated my sister’s 10th birthday in January. She wore a very special dress and shared the day with four of her good friends.

Four months later, my mom baked a birthday cake for my first birthday that included animal cookies marching around the edges and into the center. I love these images not only because they include family members but because they show the house where I grew up. My mom still lives in that house, but the interior has naturally changed a lot in the intervening years. Still, I can vividly recall the white dial telephone on the wall, the cabinets and the built-in oven, the window curtains sewn by my mom, and the old wall-mounted can opener (seen in the background of the second picture, below).

A double exposure