Santa and Me

It's a firmly established tradition, the photo of the kids with Santa. It's also a given that the children in the photos will be scared to death, having been passed from loving arms into the lap of a stranger who looks like no one ever seen in a little kid's life.

I've been gathering up our family Santa photos from the 1940s and 1950s. Some are of Bill and his little brother, Ron; and some are of me. I'll show them here over the next couple of weeks.

The photo covers from Bill and Ron's Santa experiences were very retro. One was even done by Leonard Weisgard, who became familiar to me as a children's book illustrator when, much later, I became a children's librarian. Here are three of those covers:

And here is the first in a series of photos of the frightened children in our family, learning about this most peculiar of Christmas traditions. We start with poor little baby Ronnie, who can't believe his eyes:

I will show you more photos in a couple of days.

Family Nicknames

I don't ever remember any of my grandparents; three of them were already dead by the time I was born. Although I might have met my maternal grandmother when I was an infant, my parents and I moved across the country when I was only three months old and she died before I saw her again. So, even though I don't really know what I might have called my grandmothers or grandfathers, I always felt a little jealous of friends and relatives who referred to their Mimi, or Grampy, or Memere, etc. 


Recently, one of Bill's cousins sent some photos of a branch of the Mallozzi family to her daughter, along with the nicknames for her aunts, uncles, and grandparents. She was kind enough to send us a set, too. I was charmed by the names, and hope you might be, too. Here they are. 

Aunt Annie, Noni, Meema, and Beebop

Beebop, Uncle Eddie, [Phil], Meema, Aunt Annie, Boompa and Uncle Jimmy

Boompa, his brother Jimmy, Jimmy's wife Kaye, Mooma, Donnasue

Meema, Beebop, Boompa, Uncle Jimmy, Mooma, Donnasue

Noni & Meema

Uncle Eddie, Aunt Annie and Noni

Uncle Eddie, Aunt Annie and Noni

What do you call your grandparents?

*****

Key to the family shown:


Noni: Allesandra Mallozzi, who was Bill's grandmother (her husband, Vincenzo, is not shown). Bill's mother was a Mallozzi and was another daughter of Allesandra and Vincenzo; and sister to Frances.


Meema: Frances Mallozzi Tucciarone (Allesandra and Vincenzo's daughter)
Beebop: John Tucciarone (Frances' husband)


Aunt Annie: Anna Tucciarone Abazia (daughter of Frances and John)
Uncle Eddie: Ed Abazia (Anna's husband-to-be)


Boompa: Phil Tucciarone (Frances and John's son; brother of Anna)
Mooma: Lydia Tucciarone (husband of Phil)


Uncle Jimmy: Jimmy Tucciarone (Frances and John's son; Phil and Anna's brother)


Donnasue Tucciarone (daughter of Phil and Lydia)