one christmas

Barbara and Betty at Grandma and Grandpa Smiths at Christmas. I think I was 8 years old but don't remember. We loved these dolls and grandma made the dresses and knit the sweater, caps and booties. I remember one time Betty insisted that "toodles" had a cold and she rubbed vicks all over her chest. From that day on we could tell which doll was which and which was hers and which was mine. The vicks really discolored the clothe body of the doll . Grandma always gave us a new doll at Christmas.
The pictures was taken on the board walk in front of the house. You can see a bit of the Christmas tree in the window. The house was on the Pennisula in Long Beach with Alamitos bay on one side and the ocean on the other. One time during a terrible story before Long Beach put in the breakwater a big log was washed up by the huge waves and it went right through the front window. They don't have tides anymore since the breakwater.

great grandfather's wedding certificate

This is the wedding certificate of my great grandmother and great grandfather., Judson Losse and Alice Flagg. It is very hard to read as I only have a scanned copy but I copied what it said below. My grandmother was Bessie Losse and her father was Judson Losse. They had 3 children Gracie, Bessie and Harry.

My Great Grandfather & Grandmother Smith

These pictures were taken around 184o in London, England.
My grandfather Percy was b0rn in Sussex, England in April 1881.

Percy Hirst Smith

More old pictures. This is multiple pictures of Percy Hirst Smith. He was born in England and came to the USA.
A couple of these pictures were taken in British Columbia. I am not sure of any of the dates. The picture in the middle is how I remember him to look. Cameron sent me all of these pictures to which I am grateful. There are still more and I will blog them in a few days. The copies she sent were a bit larger but it takes a lot of room and printing so I condensed them. I haver seen any of these pictures before and the last time I say Grandpa Smith was in 1947.

This is a picture of my Grandmother and Grandfather Smith. They were my dad Walter Hirst Smith's parents.Not sure when it was taken but they look pretty young. Cameron (my cousin) sent me this.

old apt house!

Another old picture. This is the house on 4th street downtown Long Beach, Ca that Emily Potter owned.
She lived in the apartment on the rt of the picture and Aunt Blanche lived in the apt on the left. I remember visiting when I was about 5 years old. It was a different kind of place because it had 1 toilet downstairs in the back hall for the downstairs apts to use and 1 upstairs for the upstairs apts. I remember it being dark and the toilet seat was a funny color of black or dark brown. I did not like to use it unless veryyyyy necessary. Great Grandma always had cookies but we had to have oatmeal first. The very small kitchen was had very dark wood cupboards and wood drain boards. There was a pull down bed in the living room. I don't remember if there was a bedroom. Great grandma was always in her rocking chair. She had very white hair that was a little bit yellow and and my mother said that it was because she only washed it once a month or longer. She always had on a long black dress with a white lace collar. I remember the funniest things but I was only 5 when she passed away.
In the summer when my mother was young they would visit great grandma and from there they would go to the pike or the beach. I think in some of the pictures you can see my mother and Aunt Lucille in front on the steps.
There are new apts there now and I went down a couple of years ago to see the house and get pictures but it has been torn down and the apts were build. This is the only I have and it was sent to me by a cousin.