NONE SHALL PASS!

I have been put in charge of helping scan and update the old family photographs.  I’ve really enjoyed seeing some of the truly old ones, the ones of relatives in big hats and fancy clothing we aren’t quite sure the name of.  Sadly many of the older photographs are in better shape than the newer ones from my childhood.

I came across this photograph, and that is my brother Paul in the knight costume.  I’m the skeptic sister standing behind him on top of some log.  Our conversation about this photograph went something like this:

Me “Do you remember this?  I remember putting on the helmet and I couldn’t see a thing through it, but this wasn’t for Halloween was it?  I’d be a costume also.  What the heck was this for?”

Paul “Where did you find that?  I sort of remember the costume but not the box part.”

Me “That’s not a box, that is your trusty steed.  We had to make costumes when we were kids!  You couldn’t just to go a party store and pick one up!”

Paul “I think my shield has to do with the Maryland flag?”

(please take a moment to pity the children of the great state of Maryland.  When you have to draw your state flag, it is almost impossible.  My brothers and I all suffered through having the draw that darn flag at some point in our elementary school education.)

Flag of Maryland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Paul “Also what are you standing on, where did those logs come from?”

Me “I don’t know, we didn’t have big trees.  I don’t remember those at all!”

The odd part is we both remember the helmet, and our reaction that it was pretty darn hard to see anything through.  This costume also took a lot of work.  From the horse to the sword, to say nothing of the attempt at the salute to the flag of Maryland on the shield, it is impressive.  Obviously some adult help was involved.

I also found these odd photographs, which show what children had to do for fun before we had cable TV and the internet.  

I am playing with a HOOP. Pong hadn’t even been invented yet…

I am playing with a HOOP, like some poor Victorian child.  A HOOP!  This is so sad.  Even sadder, someone thought this so exciting they needed to take a photograph of it.  Remember, you didn’t waste film.  If you took a photograph of something, and I remember my camera would have a roll of film where you could take TWELVE pictures and you made those twelve count, it was IMPORTANT.  Hoop playing was obviously still a big sport when I was little.

Dress up with stuff from mom’s closet. My mom’s fashion was not the inspiration for any of “Mad Men”.

Also we didn’t have a box of cool dress up clothing bought from Disney.  We just went into our parents closets and put on their clothing.

I can’t say I remember with any fondness playing with a hoop, in fact I can’t remember playing with a hoop at all.   Maybe if we’d had more exciting toys we would have better memories of these vague photographs.  Still, how we forgot that knight costume, and just what it was for, is beyond me.

Related articles

• The Maryland Flag (kev424262.wordpress.com)
• Costumes tell a story (defeatdespair.wordpress.com)

Categories: Family, Travel

Tags: 1960, 1960 fashion, children, clothing, Costume, dress up, fashion, Flag of Maryland, Halloween, knight, Maryland, Photograph, Recreation, The Walt Disney Company