My Second Birthday

My Second Birthday

Cake! 

Note the big black phone with the rotary dial -- they all looked like that. (And there was ONE per household.) The cord was cloth-covered -- this was even before the advent of coiled phone cords. 

(Man, I am OLD!!)

Also note that contraption behind me. That was called a "bathinette". The top was a changing table for changing diapers, etc. If you lift up the top, underneath is an oilcloth basin which could be filled with water to give baby a bath. Underneath that was a shelf for holding diapers, washcloths, and other supplies. This one was in use for my brother Ricky, who was just a month old at the time of my 2nd birthday.

Now let's talk about my hair-do:

My hair was thin and fine and straight as straw. So, of course, I wanted to have curly hair. Real curly hair. Shirley Temple hair! It was a constant topic of conversation between me and my mother. The first attempt to remedy the problem was this -- one curling iron ringlet just behind each ear. Believe it or not, just a year or two later my mother actually gave me a home perm!

Even with a perm, I'm no Shirley Temple!

This was cropped from a larger photo --

That's me on the right, with my cousins Donna Kay and Cindy.

Here are some more pictures from my 2nd birthday.

That's Mom standing behind me as I investigate the cake decorations.

The doll bed and quilt were birthday presents. Don't know if that was a new doll I was trying to feed a bottle to. Probably was. I always got a new doll for my birthday and Christmas.

I still love baby dolls.

This is my favorite picture of me and my dad. He was just home from National Guard camp.