2/28/14

Venetia's mother couldn't have imagined when she snapped this photo of her daughter and twin sons, John and Elton, that it would one day inspire her teacher to cast her as The Statue of Liberty in the West Philly Grade School's Bicentennial pageant!

By this time sick to death of basting the turkey the old fashioned way, Rhonda finally up and dumped all the broth and residual grease and debris right on top of the bird, much to Matt, Renee and Sam's bewilderment.

Having been told that it was dress-up day and to report to Chip's back yard in one of his mom's housecoats, Rodney was greeted by this line of jeering pranksters upon his arrival...

Until the waters from the "Flood of '62" had receded enough not to do harm to Cliffie's good pants, he was forced to wear last year's pair when playing (or even walking) outside...

Mrs. Borax was a real stickler when it came to bath time.  Not only did Spence and Marty have to scrub down thoroughly, but Chester, Mittens and Patches had to each take a turn in the tub as well!

The sleeping arrangements may not have been the most ideal, but no one could deny the fun to be had at one of Cathy Karbkount's bi-monthly pajama parties!

2/26/14

So small was the town of Sour Pear, Illinois that often the leftover couples for the Snowball Dinner Dance were a bit askew in their height differential.  At least Penelope and Bryan were able to make up some of this disparity in their complimentary colors...

Long before the concerns over driving while texting, a Mr. Sherman Tankerton ran his dry goods delivery truck off the road while composing a letter to his wife Henrietta.

One last happy moment before Bob splashed his wife Helen's hair with pool water, resulting in a very chilly dinner and a downright Icelandic bed that night...

File photo of Sara Lee Colquist on the day she was attacked by three hungry pelicans who mistook her swim cap for a strawberry gelatin mold with marshmallow fluff on top.

A rare, happy, family shot of Trixie Helpmate, who most often left her three children to their own devices while she and her pal Goldie sat around on benches in scanty attire in a effort to meet men.

After six unsuccessful attempts to snap a portrait of Eileen without her toppling over, the exasperated photographer finally came up with this idea of a fabric-covered box to help steady her long enough to get the job done.  Photos in subsequent years would be staged without the equilibrium-challenging bow on her head...

2/24/14

Initially, not one member of the 14th Street Bluejays even wanted to let Emile "Shorty" Weiss try out for the team, but once they saw how powerfully he could hit (not to mention how surprisingly fast he could scamper), it wasn't long at all before he was a star player for them!

The Scherzinger sisters probably thought that Myron was merely taking a nap under the bench they were all lying across, but in actuality, he was praying that, after the Sunday pot luck dinner they'd just eaten, the bench would not give out and crush him!

No one served up better spiked punch than Ted, but since the last party he threw had ended up in a stemware-throwing cataclysm, he only had the one glass left for this evening.  Thankfully, it was sizable enough for sharing...

June Marie had fun burying her mother Evelyn in the sand during her nap.  Unfortunately, Evelyn woke up to find that her daughter had ridden home with friends and thus had to beg a couple of lifeguards to dig her out!

Whenever Wainetta showed up for one of her long-weekend visits, she came prepared.  There was always a small trunk full of clothes that had to be lugged in, but she also had this suitcase filled with hair for every occasion...

Ron was proud of his bachelor pad complete with it's cozy back yard, but what really made him a hit with the ladies was his see-through patio table, which afforded glimpses of his athletic legs and never failed to win him the right kind of attention...

2/21/14

The bad news is not that Veronica landed neck first onto the little length of picket fencing following her dismount from the swing set.  The bad news is that this was the last remaining piece of a fence that had previous stretched all along the garden before she had begun her "practicing" for a charity trapeze act!

As Beryl examined the hearty catch that Myron had just brought back from his morning turn at the reel, it dawned on her suddenly that she hadn't packed nearly enough Ritz crackers and Crisco with which to bread and fry them all up, thus ensuring an unwanted drive into the local town.

Felton was constantly coming up with new and amazing energy-saving creations.  This one, unfortunately for his wife Charmaine and their two kids, saved HIM more energy than it did anyone or anything else!

It was here that little Willie Gilligan learned the basic principles of sailing that would serve him so well when he grew up to become first mate on the S. S. Minnow...

Dawn Marie learned early how best to ensure plenty of coverage of herself in the Sweet Orange High School yearbook.  Not only did she have a sixth sense of where the photographers were, but she excelled at "action shots" like this one of her dancing the "mashed potato" during their Spring Fling.

As the judges were already making their final decisions in the 4th Annual Miss Sugar Cube Pageant and Silent Auction, Cathy, Patrice and Angela felt comfortable downing a few canapes since they hadn't eaten anything for 12 hours prior to the competition!

2/19/14

Manolo knew that his rockin' new stereo equipment was going to delight and entice Trina when she finally got there, but, nevertheless, he decided to seal the deal by shoehorning himself into his foolproof date-night jeans.

At last everything made sense to Mary Agnes...  All those requests from Glenn for tighter skirts, lower necklines, redder lipstick and even a bleach job for her hair were put into perspective when he took her on a dream date to the grave site of Marilyn Monroe!

While Charlie stood chatting with Madeleine over what sort of groceries he should bring home that night, Mr. Brinkmeyer felt the need to emphasize that during this all-important store-wide sale, it was more important that he got some "good old fashion" work done!

During certain nostalgic afternoons, The Hoovers liked to head back to Scheffel's and reminisce about the day they bought themselves a grandpa there.  Often they would peruse the aisles looking for a mate, but could never find one that was just the right fit for him.

Rae Ellen truly felt she'd hit the jackpot when Randy brought her to The Northern Heights Motor Lodge in Flushing, Michigan, for until that moment she had only read about, but never actually seen, a bidet!

Posing for a holiday photo was fun and all, but what Joanne and Claire really wanted to do was dig into the presents Max had bought them for Christmas, all the while hoping that they contained more much-needed cosmetics and toiletries.

2/17/14

Having scaled The McGregors' 6-foot privacy fence and bounded into their yard in order to catch himself a wabbit, the disappointment was etched on Felix's face once he discovered that his prey was just more of his neighbor's annoying statuary.

After the Stevensons stopped getting mail delivery, opting instead for a P.O. box in town, Rufus became so depressed that they tried everything, including a session at GlamourPaws to help him snap out of it, to no avail...

It always rubbed Hoss the wrong way that Angelique was treated to a day of grooming, tinting and blow-drying while he had to sit at home doing nothing, so he never hesitated to make his feelings known the moment she returned from the salon, often attempting to get rid of that shampooed and powdered scent she had as well!

As they sat their finishing their coffee, Sondra wondered just how long this beard phase was going to last with Al before she took matters into her own hands...

It confounded Myrna that Cherisse insisted on breaking out the good china simply to serve coffee and scrambled eggs, especially if she wasn't even going to dress for breakfast!

Once again, Sylvia's refusal to wear her glasses around the house nearly caused a disaster when she accidentally used drain cleaner instead of Mr. Bubble for little Leon's bath!  Fortunately, he was able to alert her to the situation almost immediately...

2/14/14

Sure it was a lot of trouble to go to just for a hamburger down at Roy Rogers', but Cheryl liked to dress exactly right for any occasion and rarely relaxed her standards.

Hillary's mother was always adamant that she change out of her good clothes before heading to the playground, but at least in this instance when she came home, the grass stains sort of went along with the dress...

For her second wedding, Gwendolyn opted for a pink dress and tiara rather than the traditional white.  About a week into their marriage, however, Kenny was wondering what he might wear to HIS second wedding!

Though initially taunted by her classmates, Cicely ultimately wound up as not only highly popular with the boys, but downright instrumental in getting the girls' basketball team off the ground and running!

As it had worked so well in raising her garden of sunflowers, Nancy decided to water little Cynthia regularly, too, in the hopes that she would finally outgrow her increasingly ragged selection of toddler clothes.

Byron wasn't particularly comfortable sitting this snugly and Cliff didn't even usually drink, but this is what the puppet wanted and the puppet ALWAYS got what he wanted...

2/12/14

After repeatedly catching Jerry giving eyes to her maid of honor, even at key points of the ceremony and reception, Renee was beginning to come up with new ways to use the cake-cutting knife...

All of Suzette's disappointment at not being asked to be a bridesmaid was allayed when Kathy put her in charge of bringing the industrial size jar of mayonnaise to the reception.

As she approached the barn door for her afternoon ride, Madge couldn't easily determine whether it was Champ or perhaps Mrs. Tootmeyer who was responsible for the tooth-grinding odor in the air.

Even when the occasion might be a simple grill-out, Felice believed in stressing to her daughter Mindy how important it was to "do our hair and faces" in case an eligible gentleman might happen along.

Margaret Kay was so thrilled that Herman and Elise were throwing a housewarming party, since it gave her the chance to unveil another one of her combination potted geranium angel food cakes with the Lincoln Log surround!

Killer did as Janet said and posed politely for the picture in his new get-up, but would later exact his revenge when Janet discovered a pile of pantyhose with the feet chewed out of them and a special surprise hidden in the toe of one of her clogs...

2/10/14

And so Jiminy found out the hard way what a mistake it was to rat out Emily for hiding her peas in her dinner napkin until she could dispose of them later...

Nedra liked things to coordinate.  Her headband matched her dress, her earrings matched the lamp and her lipstick matched one of her throw pillows...

Valerie tried to keep a positive attitude, but it was clear that things had really gone down at Sinking Sun Tennis Club when she was called upon to sweep and mop her own court prior to playing on it!

As Barney, Clyde and Willa Rae debated whether or not her hasenpfeffer required either more wine or more vinegar, Rascal decided he really didn't give a care and thought it was great "as is!"

Kelly Jane had been repeatedly warned not to practice her tap routine for the Sweet Pear Talent Mixer on top of the family's picnic bench.  Fortunately for her, the fall was buffered somewhat by the parachute-like action of her Polly Flinders dress.

Shelley had defied her older sister's mandate about playing with her Dippity-Do and, as a result, had to report to second grade that fall with a new pageboy haircut...