We had a double-birthday in the family last week. Our son-in-law Garth celebrates his special day with his one year old son, Nicholas! They had a huge party in their yard and the weather cooperated. My daughter and her husband are blessed with a large group of friends and being near the same age, they have quite a ‘gaggle’ of kids.

They arrived at 3:00 and as they filtered in we counted 20 children, 6 of them under the age of one, the others between one and three years old! I took my daughter aside and teased her about the ‘child per age’ rule, meaning if the birthday kid was four, you’d have four guests. That worked fine when she and her sister were growing up. It was manageable and not too overwhelming. But in spite of the large group of kiddies, things went very smoothly. There were no formal games, but they have a large, inflated pool and some enjoyed that. Others played in the sandbox or a water table and they have an impressive swing set, so everyone had something to do. They also have a large dog so some kids just threw the slobbery ball or frisbee. A few kept busy running away every time the dog came near. It worked out just fine.

We did not stay to witness the gift-giving, but from the size of the packages, all neatly wrapped, we are sure they were awesome. Back when we were kids, we’d usually get a ball and jack set, perhaps a bag of marbles, (wish I’d have saved all of those), a coloring book and crayons, perhaps a book of cut-out dolls, or similar dime-store treasures.

On the way home, I commented to hubby how very different things were ‘back in the day.’ Besides the difference in prices of the gifts, the games were customary; we’d play the same games at each party. There was a round of pin the tail on the donkey, or red rover, tiddly winks or perhaps a board game.

One of my favorites was drop the clothespin in the milk bottle! A rather simple game requiring minimal dexterity, but we’d all laugh when missing a simple shot. Back then, you’d get milk delivered in gallon jugs, glass ones, right to your door. One time my mom opened the cap and was shocked to find a bunch of mushrooms inside. She promptly called Doc, our milkman, who made a ‘house call’ to see what her concern was. He peered inside and saw the ‘bobbing brown blobs’ that did indeed look like toadstool tops. But upon further examination, he chuckled, pulled one out, and you guessed it, these were wooden clothespins. What a hoot! Someone had left a few in the bottom and the bottle cleaning system could not get them out because they ‘clogged’ at the top. We laughed about that every time a birthday came around.

I have another ‘vintage’ birthday memory. My mom went to the door to find a young lad named Gary calling out for Vicki, my younger sister. (That’s another thing, we did not use phones or door bells, you would just yelled out “Oh, For….and the person’s name”) Gary came by quite often but this time he was very neatly dressed, hair slicked back, a nice shirt and long pants, even though it was summer. He held a package with a bow on it and asked if he was late for Vicki’s birthday party.

My mom was surprised since this was June and her birthday was in November. She called Vicki down and once she turned the corner, a big smile lit up her face. She grabbed Gary’s arm and invited him inside. She asked him “did you get it, did you get it?” I was downstairs by this time and mom and I were really curious. What was going on? And how was it I did not know what was happening?

In any case, it turns out that Vicki had been to a friend’s party a few weeks back and Gary had bought a copper horse figure as a gift. Vicki had been enthralled with it and asked if he would get her one for her birthday. He said “sure” and asked when it was. She said “next week Saturday.” And you get the rest. Now Vicki was only 6 at the time so it is somewhat understandable, but of course, mom made Gary take it back, explaining it was a little early for gift-giving and to keep it until November. Vicki was a bit sad and she was also punished for lying, being sent to her room and not allowed to go out and play for the entire day.

Looking at our vast paper supply downstairs, I pulled out a few old greeting cards and found they were as ’simple as the times.’ Sweet graphics and charming messages. No super-heroes or scary monsters on the front or stars such as Hannah Montana singing a song when they opened up. The cards also came in boxes of 20 – called “Occasional Cards” and with messages of get well, best wishes for a happy wedding, anniversary or just friendship. Instead of the $3.95 price tag on today’s single cards, the boxful would be $1.00!

Many of the cards had a cut-out or a surprise inside like a “captain’s hat” the birthday boy could punch out and wear.

Many people collect older greeting cards today. The favorites are from holidays, especially Christmas and Halloween, and of course, the always-treasured Valentines. Some collect for the theme, maybe wanting Scottie dogs, or horses. Others collect foil backings and some just like whatever oldie they can find. They can be found at antiques stores and auctions and are often not very expensive. Nostalgia is evidently not too costly, and it sure helps to bring back memories of special times and events in our lives.

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