Christmas in Jennings in 1973

I had a difficult time deciding on what photo to post this week.  Last week I thought of a theme to continue through these next few weeks.  I even found a photo that would go with it, and it was in the family line that was up for discussion.  But then I thought about Christmas approaching.  The last two years in December I’ve done two posts from Christmases past, and I thought I’d continue that tradition.  So much for my ongoing theme I came up with.  None of my Christmas photos fit that theme.

Then I had to pick an old Christmas photo that was just perfect!  I had worked on this photo from 1973 a few months ago.  I like the photo, even though I don’t think it’s particularly good of me.  But it’s such a good representation of the Landry household at Christmastime during the 1970s.  It shows the old furniture, the traditional ornaments we used, and all six of us Landry kids.

I started to second guess myself and thought about picking a photo from exactly 50 years ago, but that one needed some editing.  This one was ready, so that’s what you’re seeing.  I hope you like it.  If not, too bad.  It’s what you’re getting!

The place was 758 Lucy Street in Jennings, Louisiana.  The time was Christmas Eve of 1973.  As you can see, there are more than just the six Landry kids in the photo.  That’s because in August of 1973 my oldest sister Jodie got married to Dennis Franklin.  I don’t usually talk much about him, but he was part of the history of our family.   He is the guy sitting down on the floor on the left.  Jodie is sitting next to him on the floor.  I think she made that groovy outfit that she is wearing.  She got her sewing machine from Mee Maw’s (my paternal grandmother Germaine Erie Patureau Landry) sister Lorena.  Aunt Lorena died in 1972.  Mee Maw died on September 2, 1973, which was just a few weeks after Jodie and Dennis’s wedding.

Standing up behind the newlyweds is my younger sister Jamie.  She is standing beside the musical instrument that brought her great notoriety when our family played at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor in Lake Charles a few years later.  What’s that you say?  You don’t see a musical instrument?  It was not a traditional musical instrument.  It is the jug that is holding the cattails on the stereo system.  She and my dad would play dueling jugs and bring down the house at that old pizza joint. 

On the right of Jamie and also on the stereo system you can see the nativity set that the family would put out every year.  It was a charming ceramic set that my mom got early in their marriage.  In the center of the photo is the Christmas tree for the 1973 season.  I can make out many of the homemade ornaments that we would make from year to year.  One year we made ornaments out of felt.  Another year we painted wooden cut outs of different shapes.  I don’t see any of the white “clay” ornaments we made out of baking soda, salt, and water.  (An online search showed the ingredients of baking soda, corn starch, and water.  That may have been what it was.  I just remember them tasting salty!)  It seemed like we did that a few years.  If you know what to look for, you can even see a few musical instrument and angel ornaments.  Those were always on the Christmas trees.

Sitting at the base of the tree is my older sister Karen.  Of course, she is wearing a blue shirt.  It was her favorite color.  It didn’t matter if it was light blue, medium blue, or dark blue.  She loved her blue.  Behind her is the oldest Landry boy.   That’s Rob.  He had graduated from high school that year and was in his first year of college at Louisiana Tech in Ruston.  He was a fan of the band Chicago, and I believe that’s what is on his shirt.  I remember him playing along with those old albums on his trumpet.  Sitting next to Rob is Al.  Funnily enough, he wasn’t as big of a fan of Chicago, but he did end up living in Chicago.  Al started high school in 1973 and he also played the trumpet.

And lastly there is me.  Like I said, it’s not my favorite photo of myself.  It’s probably because I have those clunky black glasses on.  I was in the 7th grade at the time.  That was at Northside Junior High in Jennings.  My dad was the band director at Northside at the time.  I was a paper boy and delivered papers on Lucy Street and May Street.  In March Karen, Al, and I would change our looks when we got our first pair of contact lenses.

The times they were a-changin’.