Name/Title
Family photo Christmas 1941Description
Photo taken in the Smoking Room at 1440 29th Ave. at Christmas. It was also the occation of the announcement of the marriage of Nancy Gilliland and John Reidenbach who are seated together at front right of photograph.
Emelita Cohen described the tradition of decorating with Christmas trees in her memoir. " I think it was Doug and Bill Gilliland Sr. who started the custom of using trees for decoration. They would wait until the lots closed and then help themselves. As I recall, it was Ken as a boy and me who began the custom of buying our main tree and being given permission to take any leftovers after the lot closed. Then one year I approached the man who was in charge of the lot at Montgomery Wards. I pointed out our house, and told him about our custom of decorating. He liked the idea. It was when I first had a station wagon and I made several trips to bring the trees home. He said,” Hell, I have a truck. I will bring them down.” He would deliver the tree to decorate and the others when the lot closed. I invited him, his wife and her sister to come over for a drink one year so they could see the house decorated. And I always gave him a bottle of whisky as a thank-you.”Create Date
December 20, 2024