KDW

Reggie on the far left.  Helen on the far right.  I hope we all stay active and adventurous into our senior years as these beautiful ladies did!

Virginia and Helen Karpinski pose on a brick path going down the center of the Karpinski back yard in East Trenton. Virginia stood about 5′ 3″, so I estimate the width of the yard — and the house — stood at about 12′.  Man, those houses were tiny. But so were the people back then.

Kurt, me, Aunt Virginia and Janine sitting on the steps at Grandmom’s house on St Joes Av.  Baby gate in place, to keep the kids downstairs.  And Uncle Henry upstairs!

Yes, that’s me.  And my first turkey drumstick.  I’m not sure what the expression on my face means,,

Polish children are taught early how to handle the bottle and not get falling down drunk.

We obviously needed more practice.

A determined stride forward with a purposeful look in my eye.

Ans don’t you just love Grandmom’s old TV set?

I think this is my mom riding a bicycle on St. Joseph’s Ave. in Trenton, NJ. She looks to be a teenager here so the time is the 1940s.  I like how the focus is on the back, not the foreground. It’s like looking back in time.

The perfect ensemble!  Hair, dress and background flowers all match!

I can almost hear the snores. Aunt Lottie relaxes in a chair with a box of candies and a newspaper on her chest. I love the patterned fabric of the cushions. No idea when this pic was taken.

These photos were slides from a January 1965 visit to Aunt Lottie’s and Uncle Johnny’s house in Red Bank, NJ. I think it was New Year’s Day as a big turkey was cooked and there are decorations on the ceiling.  Red Bank was near NYC so first everyone went to an observation point on the beach to look at the distant skyscrapers.

John DelGaudio (left, in sunglasses) and Hans (John) Dittrich.

Janine Warner raises Joan Dittrich to the telescope so she can see, as Joan’s sister Barbara holds it steady. But Joan looks like she’s crying.

My sister Janine is either helping me stand up or teaching me to dance. Her shirt almost matches the fabric of the chair.

Preparing dinner, or cleaning up after dinner, in the kitchen, left to right: Virginia Warner, Lottie DelGaudio, John DelGaudio, Helen Dittrich.  John DelGaudio is taking meat off a turkey while Helen washes up and Lottie prepares coffee. My mom is just standing there holding a playing card — the ace of spades.

At the dinner table, my dad, Howard Warner, at the far left with my mom, Hans Dittrich in the back. My brother Kurt is on the far right and I am the child holding on to the chair. It must be after dinner because there’s booze on the table. The decorations on the ceiling have the red, green and white of the Italian flag on them.

Joan Dittrich gives a salute. Frank DelGaudio is sitting on the stool next to my mom.

I am not sure what’s going on here. Uncle Johnny looks like he is holding a microphone interviewing Hans, probably on a reel to reel tape recorder. This was a favorite pastime of the family. Either that or he is holding a potato peeler. I don’t know who the man in the black suit is — a neighbor?

That night there was a bonfire in the backyard. My mom, dad, Uncle Johnny, and Hans Dittrich are there but I’m not sure who the other people and the kids are. I don’t think the smallest child in the snowsuit  is me because my walking skills were not so developed.

Like a lot of old film the slides had a color bias so it took a lot of work in Photoshop to get them looking normal again. See this post of a pic taken at the same  time for comparison.