{"id":96357,"date":"2018-12-24T08:29:55","date_gmt":"2018-12-24T12:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/?p=96357"},"modified":"2019-04-11T08:31:46","modified_gmt":"2019-04-11T12:31:46","slug":"christmas-chez-25-alston-ave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/?p=96357","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Chez 25 Alston Ave"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

 <\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>CHRISTMAS CHEZ \n25 ALSTON \nAVE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would be easy to \nrecall on Christmas morning my excitement in seeing all of the presents, \nsuperbly wrapped and displayed in front of our fireplace, with Christmas\/Holiday \ncards on the mantle framing the scene. What 10 year old wouldn\u2019t love that?  And \nI loved our Christmas Eve Dinner, which was a redux<\/em> of Thanksgiving.  But if memory \nserves, I think Mom added mincemeat pie to the dessert offerings.  I was sure to \nhave watched The Christmas Carol<\/em>\u2026 \nI preferred the Reginald Owen version back then, although I can recall that Paul \nfelt the Alistair Sim version was superior (and I switched my allegiance to Sim \ndecades ago).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, something else \nthat was special for me in 1960.  Christmas was a time when the both of you \nwould have returned home from college. Our home just \u2018lit up.\u201d There were \njig-saw puzzles to do, knock-hockey to play, and that maze game with the steel \nball.  I\u2019m sure that your friends might have been in and out.  But for sure, for \nme\u2026 10 years old at the time, the fact that you were home added to my \nanticipation of December 24, and December 25. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then, {SPOILER \nALERT: this is critical} there was the Christmas \u201cdividend\u201d.  Dad would have \norganized a Christmas Party for Chipp\u2019s New Haven tailors at the loft on Eld St.  Mommie Soph \nwas placed in charge of marshalling the \u201csuppliers\u201d for the festivities.  \nFurther, and this is the dividend part, Mommie Soph would return home, apr\u00e8s \nparty, with the leftovers<\/em> which \nwere consigned to the cool of our porch\u2026 and it was this \u201cbuffet\u201d that provided \nthe fodder for our grazing on Christmas Day.  In my teen-aged years I learned \nthat a cold slice of Pepe\u2019s Pizza for breakfast is hard to \nsurpass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The menu for Christmas Day, 25 Alston Ave:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pepe\u2019s \nPizza (or, more appropriately: Apizza)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Deli, from M&T<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pastries from Lucibello\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Addendum: a case of Scotch Whisky was provided for Mr. Toplitsky, the head of the Tailor\u2019s Union. <\/strong>Not part of our \u201cdividend\u201d\u2026 Dad only had Chivas Regal for 25 Alston Ave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 CHRISTMAS CHEZ 25 ALSTON AVE It would be easy to recall on Christmas morning my excitement in seeing all of the presents, superbly wrapped and displayed in front of our fireplace, with Christmas\/Holiday cards on the mantle framing the scene. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-small-pictures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=96357"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96430,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96357\/revisions\/96430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=96357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=96357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=96357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}