Kmart Family Photos

I have been sorting through boxes of family photos lately and have come across some real gems. A handful of photographs from high school and of my graduation. Many pictures of both Minneapolis and Philadelphia that I took as reference for various school projects, and which are now fascinating microcosms of 80's fashion. A few images of Doug and I back when we actually took vacations to places like Cozumel and Montserrat. Many pictures of our two cats who are now in cat heaven. And of course, beginning in 1993 when our oldest son came to live with us, tons and tons of family photos.

I have boxes of photos of classic family photos: freshly birthed babies, babies breastfeeding, naked crawling babies, babies covered with food, sleeping babies and crying babies. Halloween costumes, Christmas, school program performances, birthday parties, vacations in Jackson Hole, Wyoming (including the buffalo that was right outside our hotel room window), visits with family, first day of school, LAST day of school, panoramic shots, picnics in the backyard, plastic swimming pools in the backyard, girls playing soccer, my son as a boy scout, endless, it's just endless.

Of course I have photo albums which is where all the really good photos are, but they badly need updating. I think the last time I added any new ones was in 2003. And now switching over to a digital camera has really messed up my system and I haven't figured out a new one yet. I miss having all those pictures (and negatives) in my hands, or at least in boxes, you know?

Anyway, I think some of my very favorites are these photo booth pictures. The Kmart in North Logan, Utah had a beautiful old black and white photo booth and a good evening's entertainment was to take the kids there and give them each a few minutes alone in the photo booth. The first time we did it was with our oldest son, who pretty much just sat there and drank his soda (top left), unconcerned and not understanding about posing for a picture, while sitting on a stool behind a curtain. Doug and I laughed for days about that. He finally got the hang of it a year or so later (top, second from left) and even smiled. My oldest daughter, did her crazy, poser smile in the first shot but it all kind of spiraled downhill after that and she looks pretty ticked off by the last one (below, middle). I see that we tossed the baby in with our four year old son (below, bottom) and then of course we always did one where we all piled into the booth and made silly faces. And/or tried to keep a wiggly kid in the shot (top right). Good times.

Alas, no photo booths within at least a few hours of where we live now, plus they all seem to be full color now anyway, which is somehow very disappointing to me. When the black and white photo booth was eventually replaced with a color booth at the Kmart in Logan, we considered making an offer on the old one, but of course having it in our living room would have taken all the novelty away. It probably would have turned into a clothes hanger or a toy bin. A big heavy toy bin with chemicals.

So I will settle for putting all of these strips into their own photo album as yet another lovely reminder of days gone by.