Relax, Laugh and Remember with Reminisce Magazine. Each issue is a "time capsule" of life from the 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's filled with reader-written stories, pictures from the past, embarrassing moments, ads from the Old Days and much more!
THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, I plan to make merry, bake a feast of treats, celebrate with friends, family and loved ones, and keep Christmas in my heart. Meanwhile, compiling and curating the stories for this issue was both poignant and purely uplifting. Our longest feature commemorates the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. As impactful as that day was, our readers relate personal tales of hardship, daring, valor and sacrifice that show a triumph of spirit. Their gritty stories begin on page 28. For a slice of holiday nostalgia, movie watching is a good bet, and It’s a Wonderful Life always delights. Readers share what makes this movie so special to them. We’ve woven in a few bits of trivia about the movie, too. See page 46. Others might…
Christmas comes but once a year, yet some of us collect, save and decorate year-round. Bob Richter shares his passion for Christmas collectibles in a new book, A Very Vintage Christmas, available at amazon.com. My favorite highlights from the book include: A history of holiday decorating traditions Lists of where to find vintage collectibles Wonderful ideas for gift-giving Suggestions for old-fashioned entertaining More stories about readers’ collections begin on page 22 .…
Remember the long-ago excitement of taking spring bike rides and building summer sandcastles? Or how about jumping into fall leaf piles and playing in the first winter snow? Send us your BEST vintage photo capturing a favorite memory of outdoor fun and you could win up to $500! GRAND PRIZE $500 • 1ST PLACE $250 • 2ND PLACE $100 • 3RD PLACE $75 Categories: Spring, Summer, Fall & Winter To enter for your chance to win: 1. Scan original photo. 2. Save as a high-resolution JPEG file (300 dpi). 3. Go online to reminisce.com/ contests and follow the submission guidelines. To enter by mail, please send a quality, scanned copy of your photo and a 50-word description, including who is in the photo and when and where it was taken, to: Reminisce Photo Contest…
“We had a big snowstorm just before Christmas, so we had to build a huge snowman out front. I used a board to set the head on top, and my wife’s scarf became a necktie.”STEVE CHUBRICK LARGO, FL Christmas Directing Debut RUTH McNEILL CORVALLIS, OR WHETHER I WAS WRITING or directing them, Christmas plays were a highlight of my childhood. I was 8 in 1957 when I came up with the idea for a revised nativity story. The three kings would get together in their old age to recall the long trip they made to Bethlehem in their youth. I was mostly in charge but got a lot of help and support from my mother. Cast members and I painted the palace scenery on brown paper in our basement while…
JOHN “SONNY” JOHNSON EAST GRAND RAPIDS, MI MY MOTHER, Mary Johnson, boarded her five-gaited American Saddlebred mare at a barn we rented from a local meat packing company, or slaughterhouse, in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. She would walk or drive daily to the barn to clean the stall and feed, groom and exercise Golden Lassie. Sometimes I went along, accompanied by my best friend, Ronnie Friedman. We were 6 years old and had strict instructions to stay away from the packing company. Being city boys, we didn’t understand the concept of how animals turned into the ground beef or hot dogs we ate. Ronnie and I would help my mother by dropping hay, alfalfa or straw down from the hayloft. We had so much fun in the loft lugging bales with…
I had never been kissed like that before. I completely forgot my boyfriend’s name. In 1947, my sister Marion and I were invited to a friend’s birthday party. My boyfriend planned to meet me there. (He later called to say he couldn’t make it. Talk about luck.) When I arrived, a young man opened the door. He was the most handsome man I had seen in my 16 years—with a black crew haircut, a small mustache and beautiful blue eyes. His name was Tommy. “He’s mine,” I whispered to Marion. After the party started, we played post office. I was extremely shy, but I cheated and got Tommy’s number, 13. Before I could call it, he called my number, 10. (I later learned that he had cheated, too.) I had…
